Today took us to literally and figuratively all over the map. We started at Goðafoss, went to the Forest Lagoon, saw Akureyri, and visited the Herring Era Museum in Skagafjörður. Let’s recap. First, the waterfall. Goðafoss literally translates to Good Falls. They were, indeed, some very good falls. The falls had a wide space with a horseshoe shape that somehow felt like it was more beautiful and less sheer force than Dettifoss. I mean, the moment you start comparing awesome Icelandic waterfalls, you may be a little spoiled on too much natural beauty. Who knows?
But like I said, today took us through a series of different things. The beginning had us climbing around in hiking boots and making our way to the tippy top of a viewing area where we could watch massive amounts of water speed along their way. Then, we hopped into the van and headed to the Forest Lagoon. I loved the Forest Lagoon, but there are some parts that I just didn’t feel fully comfortable with. I am too much of an American to understand European people’s ease with nudity, and to be clear, this is strictly the locker room I am talking about, but it’s just never been my comfort zone. I have always had more privacy than most, though. Growing up, I was always the only girl, so there was never any sharing of bedroom space. I never did a team sport that put me in a locker room. You showed up to gymnastics practice already wearing your leotard. And in college, I went to school close to home and stayed at my parents’ house to save money, so no dorm life for me. I’ve always had privacy. So the part where you have to shower there in a big shared shower facility in the locker room before you put your bathing suit on- not my favorite. I had just showered in the hotel a few hours prior. Not sure why this was all necessary- and you really should have had me washing up with my suit on- it’s been in a hot tub earlier on this trip. But it’s not my lagoon, so it’s not my call.
But once I had adhered to their rules and prepared my skin to get into their geothermal waters, it was pretty great. We walked into very warm water and shared a few glasses of prosecco While we looked at the mountains and trees in the background. The weather was very nice- not too sunny, but not exactly warm outside- perfect for this particular activity.
Cas was braver than I- plunging head to toe briefly into the cold pool. I managed waist high wading in that one, but we both instantly returned to the warm, comfortable water pretty rapidly after that. When we got out of the water and dried off, it was time to head to Akureyri for lunch and a little wandering downtown. Akureyri is a large city, often referred to as the Capital of the North. It’s 37 miles south of the Arctic Circle, but the walk around town was very pleasant. The sun was shining- and it will most of the night- and we stopped for a nice lunch.
After our stroll through Akureyri, it was time for one more stop on the way to the next hotel. Skagafjörður. This was once the bustling spot that fed the world herring. Similar to the American gold rush, the herring industry made this place a real boomtown just over a hundred years ago. To learn about that, we visited the Herring Era Museum. We learned about the industry, the laws Iceland put in place to stop foreign companies from making all the profit and taking it all back home, and the Herring Girls, who were some of the early employees in this industry. With all the men out fishing and doing other jobs, the Herring Girls would clean and gut fish as they arrived, lay them carefully in barrels and add salt to them in layers to preserve the fish for shipping and sale. All things being equal, I will stick with teaching, thanks.
But that was the day- it was all over the place. We did a rugged hike, took a relaxing soak, had a leisurely walk to lunch and learned about women who gutted fish. Not sure any of that sounds remotely connected, but it all made sense in that it was sequential along our travel path. Tomorrow, we head to the Westfjords. It will be interesting, I am sure, and I am particularly interested in the very weird sounding stop we have planned at the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft. But more on that when we get there, I have had pickled herring today, showered in a shared space with other women and seen yet another amazing waterfall. I feel like that’s plenty for a Monday. Have a good night, friends!
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