As we awoke today, we realized the planned route we had designed before we arrived was not going to be feasible. The strong winds had torn down one of the flags at the hotel and we watched as an employee tried in vain to remove the other two. We were disappointed we were not going to be able to see Hafragilsfoss, Selfoss and Dettifoss waterfalls, particularly the latter as it is the second most powerful in Europe, but the Safe Travel app showed all roads to it were closed. We thought about going to Leirhnjukur crater but the front desk clerk did not recommend doing so in the high winds. J. R. had to go get the car as the parking lot was ice covered and one of our suitcases decided to roll on its own on the ice. So we settled for a quick drive around the lake.
We battled the wind to make it to Godafoss, the so-called "Waterfall of the Gods", near Akureyri. At 39 feet (12 meters) high and over 98 feet (30 meters) wide, Godafoss is not the tallest in Iceland, but its beauty and historical significance make it one of the most beloved. Godafoss got its name from the year 1000 AD, when Iceland converted to Christianity. According to legend, a local chieftain symbolically threw his pagan idols into the waterfall, marking the nation's peaceful transition to a new faith. The winds were howling but there was no one else at the waterfall so we braved the elements and even used our walking sticks for the first time to traverse the ice and snow.
Snow began to fall as we left Godafoss and we had white-out conditions in a few places as we headed east, which was scary. Luckily there were few people on the roads and we were able to put our hazard lights on and stop until the snow blew past us. We made our way through the Vaðlaheiði Toll Tunnel, a 7.5 km long tunnel on the Ring Road that bypasses the precipitous Vikurskard Mountain Passage, which we were thankful for.
Seeing the red lines on the Safe Travel app showed us our decision not to head north into the peninsula today was a wise one. But it meant we made it to Akureyri much earlier than we had planned. We drove to the Glerártorg Mall, hoping to find some souvenir shops, but most of the stores were either not open or had regular mall merchandise.
We parked in one of the pay lots downtown and went to lunch at Bautinn, located in one of the oldest and most historic buildings in town, built in 1902. Janie had the fish taco with cod, kimchi, pickled red onion, sriracha mayo, spring onion and lime and J. R. had their special burger with mushrooms.
We explored some of the shops in downtown before going to the car and waiting for our hotel room to be ready at 3PM. We drove to the hotel where there was no parking so we unloaded our luggage. The front desk was less than useful in telling us where we could park, pointing vaguely on a map to a parking lot in front of an apartment complex. But luckily it was Friday and parking is free in town from 4PM Friday through Monday morning, so we could park in any lot. Janie took the car to a lot while J. R. began unpacking since we would be here two nights.
We made a reservation at Rub23, directly across from our hotel, where we had several very good sushi rolls and J. R. had to try the Floki, Young Malt, Sheep Dung Smoked Reserve Icelandic whisky.
