Iceland's Ring Road - Akureyri to Vogar (Days 9-10)
Glaumbær turf house was an interesting view into the past.
UPDATED: 1/16/2023
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Leaving Akureyri, we enjoyed our drive along the western side of the country, weaving in and out on the Ring Road and wished we had more time to check out the western fjords. Of course, that’s what any good trip does: leave you wanting more.
We had to keep a sharp eye out to make sure we didn’t drive past our first stop, Glaumbær turf house. If you have ever seen a photo of a house that has a turf roof, looks quaint and Hobbit-esque, there is a good chance you have seen photos of Glaumbær. There are other turf house museums throughout the country, but I have often seen photos of this particular spot.
A real life Hobbit hole! Glaumbær turf house, Iceland.
What is important to reconcile is what, to me anyway, looks like an adorable way to live and the harsh reality of turf house existence. The topic was covered in depth in a book I read for the visit, and if you are interested in learning more, check out the blog on books to read before visiting Iceland here. In short, though, turf houses were the mainstay in Iceland and were the type of abode of many Icelanders well into the mid 1900s. They were cold and a harsh way of living. People would get frostbite while inside, and they were not particularly clean based on modern standards. In spite of that reality, it was fascinating to get to tour this rabbit warren of a home.
Research suggests that a home has stood on this site at Glaumbær since the Settlement Era, around the year 900, though this particular building’s oldest spaces are believed to be from the mid 1700s.
A few of the turf gables were stand-alone and for purposes such as blacksmithing. The majority of the 13-building complex was a series of interconnected rooms and hallways, truly an underground house. The last resident moved out not that long ago, in 1947, and the home was then preserved for posterity. To me, it could be fun to spend a temperate-weathered weekend camping in such a place, but living in it all the time and in a cold environment with large portions of the year with little daylight would not have been an enjoyable way to exist.
A blacksmith and other workshops are separated from the tunnels of the main house.
Who knew turf walls could look so cool?
One of many rooms at Glaumbær turf house
Farm equipment of yesteryear at Glaumbær turf house.
Speaking of the Settlement Era, after stopping for a quick bite at a restaurant, our next stop was the town of Borgarnes to tour The Settlement Center museum. We probably spent about an hour and a half at the museum and experienced the two very different exhibitions it holds. Both use separate audio tours that walk you through the exhibit.
The first we did was The Settlement exhibition that told of the early settlement of Iceland, which was predominantly made up of Norwegians fleeing their King Harald and began in 847 when Ingólfur Arnarson settled in modern-day Reykjavik. Early historical records were maintained of settlers in Iceland, so there is a relatively solid history of who arrived when and where. The exhibit effectively shows the way this Settlement Era drove the influx of new-comers into the harsh new environment and began shaping it.
The next exhibit told the story of Egil’s Saga, one of the Icelandic saga stories that I would say is relatively comparable to The Odyssey, only in this case written in historical prose (instead of poetry) and where there was a similar intertwining of people with god-like abilities. This exhibit told the story through the audio while walking through different artistic styles of statues and imagery to capture the essence of the story. It was a very unique way to both hear and see a story, almost like a real-life storybook.
If you are in the neighborhood of Borgarnes, I highly recommend this museum and in fact wish it was something we had seen earlier in our trip. Particularly during the Settlement portion, we heard about who settled different areas that we had already visited.
The highlight of the rest of the drive from Borgarnes to our final destination of Vogar was the Hvalfjörður Tunnel. While we had to pay a toll, it appears the tunnel no longer has a toll according to updated information on the internet. The tunnel was built in 1998 to cut a substantially faster route to Reykjavik. It is about 3.6 miles in length and goes to a depth of 541 feet below sea level. Driving downhill for so long underground was an odd experience and enough to make anyone a tad claustrophobic if you think about it too long.
Our decision to stay at an Airbnb in Vogar was made in order to be very close to the airport. We have learned from prior experiences that a mad dash to the airport at the end of a trip is never fun. When we made this decision, our flight was scheduled for 10:30am but due to the flight schedule rearrangement by the airlines a few months before the trip, our return flight was bumped to the afternoon. In retrospect, I would have much rather stayed in Reykjavik. Stays near airports are always a little depressing (psychologically if nothing else), and this was no different.
But we did use the extra time the following morning to tour the Reykjanes peninsula, which is something we probably would have overlooked otherwise.
This seemed like a short walk but after walking for about 30 minutes and feeling no closer to the coast we had to turn around due to time constraints.
Garðskagi lighthouse on a cold and windy day.
We spent a couple of hours driving with no destination in mind, just to explore. We had a list of potential stops on a map but found that either the area lacked sufficient signage or we were not great at figuring out where some of the spots were. There were some beautiful lava field type areas strewn with rocks and plenty of glimpses of the ocean. We stopped a few times at random pull-overs to take in vistas and for a short hike.
A few other sights were the Bridge Between Continents, a popular spot for people pretending to hold up the bridge, and the two lighthouses at Garðskagi. The older, shorter lighthouse was a bit inland and was built in 1897. Its low height helped avoid conflict with the ocean mist that is so common along the coast. The newer, taller one closer to the water was built in 1944. I have no doubt that our rambling, unplanned, pre-airport travels through Reykjanes peninsula did not do it justice. I would recommend visiting it on a warmer, preferably sunny day as the coastal wind was biting!
Back where we started at the airport, we returned the rental car and realized we could easily walk to the terminal instead of taking a bus as we had on the inbound trip. Arriving with plenty of time to spare, we ate lunch and enjoyed some final beers in Iceland in an atrium area near our gate. There were plenty of restaurant options to choose from.
While the airport had seemed to operate incredibly smoothly until then, the line-up procedures with something like 7-8 flights, no distinct lines, and the ability for someone to legitimately miss their flight as a result of confusion were a bit of a surprise. Then again, for a country that is only in the infancy of this tourism explosion, that actually makes a bit of sense.
Until next time, Iceland. And there will be a next time . . . [Update as of July 2020: Well, we did book another trip back to Iceland to spend 11 days on a road trip through the Westfjords in June/July 2020 but had to postpone the trip indefinitely due to COVID.]
The troops were very happy we came home!
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