Monday 4 November 2013--We're headed back toward Reykjavík today, but
first will have a look around the local area. The ring road runs inland along the
eastern side of Reynisfjall, the ridge that forms a headland west of Vík. A minor
road then leads down the western side, past the farm Reynir in the hamlet of
Reynishverfi to the black sand beach, Reynisfjar. All of these names derive from
Reyni-Björn, the Norwegian who was first to settle here. There are spectacular
basalt columns in the cliffs by the beach, and Reynisdrangar can be viewed from
a different angle. Legend has it that these jagged rocks were trolls towing a boat
through the tide, turned to stone when they were caught in the sunrise. I'm not
sure why the boat turned to stone, too.
Back along the ring road and down another side road, we come to the next
promontory along the coast, called Dyrhólaey. There are more peculiar rock
formations here, and a nice view east back to Reynisfjall. To the west, the black
beach stretches as far as we can see. It looks almost satiny from this height. A
cleft in the cliff leads down to a sheltered beach, and the light above and the
remnants of some maritime hardware--a mooring cleat, a pulley--suggest that this
was a working harbor not all that long ago. It's hard to imagine how the mooring
cleat would have been used, so high up above the water on the clifftop.
Then we are off to the northwest, following the Ring Road through Selfoss
and on past Reykjavík. We pass through the Hvalfjörður Tunnel and turn off
toward the town of Akranes for a look around. We haven't booked a room for
this evening, and this is the first of two possibilities. It is, at first glance, a
charmless place, and after making a loop through, we move on.
Another half hour up the road, a causeway and bridge cross Borgarfjörður to
the town of Borgarnes, which sits on a little spit of rock extending from the
northern shore of the fjord. It's about a quarter of the size of Akranes, but
seems to have a bit more charm. Too bad if it didn't, because this is where we're
staying, in any case--it's getting late in the day, and there isn't another town of
any size for a long way. There's a surprisingly large hotel, and we're lucky that
there are a few guests already booked in--otherwise it would have been locked
up. The hotel clerk recommends Eddu Veröld for dinner. It's a handsome little
place, and the food and beer are good. Very quiet, though...about what you'd
expect on a Monday night in early November in a small town in Iceland, I guess.
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