On the second day of our Westfjörds Adventure . . . following an early morning walk and an energizing breakfast in Heydalur . . . Haldόra and I set out to discover one of the trails of my family roots; namely my Granny Karitas’ origins who was born on a farm called Eyri in Skötufjörður; a relatively small fjord that we would drive through on our way to the town of Isafjörður where we had planned to stay the following two nights.
Apart from wanting to discover family roots we also planned to enjoy some of the area’s leisure activities and scenic countryside; some of which were even more spectacular than I had imagined!
It didn’t take us too long to find my granny’s birthplace but instead of a farm the only thing we could see on the property was a red container, left there by the present landowner . . . that I refused to photograph!! This was, of course, a bit of a disappointment but instead of hovering around we kept going and before long we arrived at Litlibær, a small farmstead that was originally built in 1875 and reconstructed in 1969 by the National Museum of Iceland that shows how Icelanders lived for centuries.
Today, Litlibær has a museum on site and is the home of a cozy Icelandic café that is renowned for its waffles. As I'm sure you would expect from two foodies, we ordered a waffle with coffee for two that, alas, turned out to be the worst coffee of the whole trip!
At least the weather was tops and the waffle we shared on one of Litlibær's outdoor picnic tables was quite tasty . . . served with delicious homemade jams and whipped cream . . . the Icelandic way!
Before leaving the area we went to another must visit attraction; namely seal watching in one Iceland’s best spots . . . just a short walk down the road from Litlibær.
Here we were thrilled to see quite a few seals basking in the sun . . . but a bit too far away to catch in a really good photo. In any case the area and the scenery is beautiful (as seen in the photo above), and as I always recommend when travelling throughout Iceland . . . don’t forget to bring your binoculars (if you have some) to enjoy the birds, seals and sometimes whales!
We arrived in Isafjördur a couple of hours later having made a few short stops in the small fishing village of Súðavík, 20 kilometres from Isafjördur, where in 1995 an avalanche destroyed a big section of the village that has since been re-built in a safe nearby location.
The town is also known for the locally made chocolate, Sætt & Salt,that is tops, and its family garden, Raggagarður, with a playground that is very popular destination for families with young kids.
After checking into our hostel, Mánagisting-Guesthouse, a short stroll around town and a visit to the nearby forest/park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
we headed towards the town of Bolungarvik, one of Iceland’s oldest fishing outposts (14 km from Isafjördur) that has a big indoor swimming pool with adjacent hot-pots that we wanted to try . . . but turned out to be the most disappointing pool of the trip as it was very crowded with children and teenagers jumping in and out of the pool without being disciplined by the lifeguard present . . . something that surprised me as it made it impossible for anybody else to enjoy a bit of swimming! The hot-pots were nice though but also too crowded so we ended up sitting in the sun . . . enjoying a decent cup of coffee on the house!
We spent the evening walking around Isafjördur admiring some of the old buildings in the vicinity of the harbor before turning in . . . happy and tired . . . and ready to dream about our next adventure the following day!
My Westfjörds Adventure - 2021/3 coming soon . . . .