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Day 5
The night in the tent turned out to be not so terrible as we thought. It has become a tradition that we set out quite late to the further explorations. This time awaits us the longer way. We’re going to the eastern fjords. Most travellers rather bypass this part of Iceland, by going directly to Eglisstaðir – the capital of the eastern fjords, with a population of 2,270 people :-) – and further north. As suggested Lonely Planet we decided to went off the traditional route and go further to the east to the village Seyðisfjörður. It was a good choice. Although the road to the international port led us by a true winter it hasn’t diminished our enthusiasm. While driving, we just hoped that as we were going down from the mountains to the foot of the fjord the snow would disappear. Guess what ?! It does not disappeared. Once again fell on us the specter of the night in a hostel. We traveled around, we asked the people for recommendations and we ended up in Seyðisfjörður HI Hostel. Hostel is located in a nineteenth-century building, where the hospital was located in the past. This time we felt like we were moving to a hospital from the TV series The Knick (recommended !!!). We came to the conclusion that we have never slept in a more climatic place, both in terms of a building and its surroundings, as well as the manager of the hostel. In addition Mania got its little wooden cot and a box of toys (mainly rubber large dinosaurs! :-)), and we have access to the spacious and super-equipped kitchen. It’s probably the only city in which we would like to stay for a longer time, and let us speak openly – cities are not the biggest attraction in Iceland.
We drove almost the whole day, stopping over and over again to take a picture or to fall into the lesser or greater delight :-) so we arrived to the hostel at about 7 p.m. We ate a quick dinner and we went for a walk around the neighborhood. We’ve come to the church, where in a few minutes was about to begin a concert of Scandinavian music, played by some sailors. At least this is what we understood from the opinion of one of the organizers, who doesn’t speak English well. Yes, it was a concert, but with the music of sacred songs (sung in Icelandic), combined with a story about a cruise ship tour (including Icelandic :-)). We spent there maybe 10 minutes, and left when Mania began to comment loudly on current events. At the exit caught us a man who turned out to be an Anglican priest from the Faroe Islands. After a brief exchange of views he decided to pray for us. He put his hands on our shoulders and asked God for protection for Mani and strength for us to protect her. I am rather far from the church, but the prayer has something in itself, it was like from a different space-time.
After a walk Mania quickly hugged the pillow, and so do we. The next day promises to be also in the car. We’re going north :-).
