Iceland Day 6: hanging out

Our first full day in Húsavík was a welcome no-car day. In the morning, we went for a hike: speedy Elias and Stefan to the top of Húsavíkurfjall, and my mom and I about halfway up.

The hillside had a cultivated patch of an Iceland rarity: trees! Our guide book says there are so few trees in Iceland that there's a joke about them: "What do you do if you're lost in the woods in Iceland?" ("Stand up.") The trees on Húsavíkurfjall are planted in orderly rows with well-tended trails meandering through them. The trees are tall enough that we could imagine getting lost in them, had they covered more than about two city block's worth of land.

After taking the scenic route through the forest, my mom and I found ourselves below the trail we needed to take, so we took the direct route up, following a path alongside a ski lift.

The mosses were shockingly green.

What goes up must come down.

We had planned to go on a whale and puffin watching tour of the bay in the afternoon, but only got as far as taking dramamine (provided for free at the ticket desk!). The weather was gray and windy, and when we went down to the harbor, the guide on the boat told us the water was very choppy, and she strongly encouraged us to wait for a calmer day. We rescheduled, and went to visit the Whale Museum. Along with displays on whale skeletons and whaling history, they had a displays of kids whale art.

Happy whale

Dubious whale

5th graders' art exhibit inspired by Moby Dick. Abbreviated version, but still: 5th graders and Moby Dick.

25m-long skeleton of a blue whale that beached in Iceland in 2010