May 1: Rest day in Akureyri
I'm taking a day. Akureyki is one of the bigger towns along the ring road, but mostly it's been four heavy days so it's probably wise to take a break.
The best news: the place I'm staying has a breakfast buffet. Including cinnamon rolls and waffles. And eggs and bacon and sausages and three different kinds of cereal (though the ones I’m carrying are better). Not much fruit though, perhaps because it has to be imported. I ate like I was going to cycle all day, but then my only exercise was a bit of a walk, so I didn't have any need for lunch.
Akureyki looks a bit like a high mountain town: it's surrounded by snow-covered mountains, the wind is icy, and going anywhere means going up or down a steep road. But it's also right on the sea and has a working port and the big tourist attraction here is whale watching tours. This Is Iceland, I guess.
I headed out to have a look around just after breakfast, and after five minutes of snowfall and a headwind I figured getting tomorrow's route arranged was more important. Also folding my laundry. And planning out the stops for the rest of the circuit.
When I went out an hour later the weather wasn't much better but I didn't have any more excuses. I wasn't keen to spend hours getting frozen on a boat so I went to the visitor's center, the art museum, the mall (partly to thaw out, partly to get a sandwich) and the giant Viking beer can.
From left to right: the place I’m staying has a weird collection of pictures, including historic photos, some paintings that look AI generated, and this movie still. The Viking beer can. Sculpture at the visitor’s center. Got to be What’s the Time Mr. Wolf, but why is it in English and does Iceland actually have wolves? More street art I liked.
The visitors center was in a very stylish building, and the staff were able to confirm that the aviation museum was closed today, sadly.
The entrance cost for the art museum was a bit too pricey for me, so I browsed through the art books in the bookshop. They had a few prints there too, but sadly the pieces I liked best didn’t have books about the artist.
The mall included a big supermarket, food hall, and shops with the standard brands. Pizzas were about 30 euros. (Are Icelandic salaries large to match?) I’m still feeling vegetable deprived so I picked up a small cucumber and some fruit. They’re not great. I expect they are imported, which means a few weeks in cold storage.
There was also the two-storey high Viking beer can. I needed to take off my glove for the photo, which meant I did not take many pictures.
From left to right: rainbow street. Mountain views everywhere. Harry Potter in Icelandic. More mountains. “Sail” sculpture by Jón Gunnar Árnason, commissioned to celebrate the centenary of the Eyfjörður Commercial Association (KEA) in 1986. Stop lights in Akureyri are heart shaped.
During the afternoon it did clear up, and changed from completely overcast grey skies with driving snow, to a cloudless blue sky and calm air. I'd been forewarned that Iceland weather is changeable, but this was still impressive. Still just as cold, too.
Actually: since today’s weather was mostly an awful northerly wind, with snow, and unusually cold, I think this was a very fortunate choice for a rest day.
