On our second day, we drove from Egilsstaðir to Akureyri, as shown with the blue line on the map in the first post about our trip. We woke up in the morning and went for a swim in the local pool. We were the youngest people swimming by about 50 years, but a couple of laps and a soak in the hot tub was just what we needed to get rid of the kinks that came with sleeping in a car. After the swim (and amazing shower), we got coffee at the local N1 station, which offered free Wi-Fi, and were on our way. I drove for the first part of the day, so not too many scenic pictures got taken on the drive. I did get to drive over a haunted bridge, though! Apparently there is a monster living underneath who sometimes feasts on travelers - but we got lucky.
Our plan was to go to Dettifoss - the most powerful waterfall in Europe - but the road was closed due to poor driving conditions. There was a second road option we could have taken, but our car was not insured for it. Our main attraction of the day was the Mývatn area, which is a community around a large but shallow lake. We drove around the lake and went for a little hike to enjoy this beautiful spot.
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| Beautiful view along the drive to Mývatn |
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| Sulfur on the ground at Mývatn |
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| Geothermal waters at Mývatn |
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| Mývatn |
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| The Mývatn geothermal area |
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The Mývatn geothermal area |
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| The Mývatn geothermal area |
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| Lake Mývatn |
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| Lake Mývatn |
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| Lake Mývatn |
After driving around the lake, we continued on to Húsavík, on road 87. In this town there is a Phallological museum, the only one in the world, but the curator was out of town on the day we were there. We wandered around the town for a bit, and then continued back to route 1.
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| The Icelandic Phallus Museum |
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| Húsavík |
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| The Whale Museum was expensive, so we decided we already knew enough about whales! |
Heading towards our final destination of the day, Akureyri, we stopped at Goðafoss ("The Waterfall of the Gods"). This is the waterfall at the end of the river Skjálfandafljót, and it is 12 metres high and 30 metres wide. In the year 1000, when Christianity became the official religion of Iceland. statues of Norse gods were thrown into the waterfall.
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| Goðafoss |
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| Goðafoss |
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| The river beneath Goðafoss |
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| Goðafoss |
Finally, we reached Akureyri. The first stop was, of course, the Christmas House, or Jólagarðurinn. Anyone who had known me through at least one Christmas knows of my obsession with candy canes, so driving 20 minutes out of the way to get the delicious candy shouldn't surprise anyone! In Akureyri we went swimming and worked up our appetites by goofing off in the pool and on the water slide for a couple of hours. I had the most amazing discovery when getting dressed after the pool - tan lines! I didn't think it was possibly in Iceland. They've completely faded by now of course, but they were nice while they lasted! We finished the day with a delicious meal at Bautinn, which was celebrating its 40th birthday.
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| Akureyri |
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| Santa's clothing drying |
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| The world's largest advent calendar |
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| Inside the Christmas House |
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| Christmas tree and lots of candy! |
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| The church in Akureyri |
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| Funky graffiti in Akureyri |
