Snæfellsness to Keflavik - Day 5

The final leg of the Iceland adventure took us from Snæfellsness to the airport at Keflavik. Keflavik is about a 40 minute drive south of Reykjavik. Of course, that assumes you know the route and can translate the signs. Back to the saga, we still need to drive a couple hundred kilometers to get to Reykjavik. Enroute, we stopped at Dritvik. This is the site of a small fishing village that disappeared prior to 1940.





Dritvik was in a very remote part of the Snæfellsness peninsula. It was in the southwest part of the peninsula. It is surrounded by lava fields as pictured above. The raising of sheep is difficult in this area. This would preclude the possibility of a golf course as greens keeping would be difficult without the sheep (you know what I'm talking about if you've read earlier posts).

It was the custom in Dritvik, probably in other fishing villages as well, to test potential fisherman. Strength was the yard stick (maybe meter stick) used to determine if one could join the crew. On the beach at Dritvik, 4 stones used to test strength remain. The weights are 23, 54, 100, and 154 kilograms respectively. To join the fishing fleet, the candidate was required to lift the 100 kilo stone up onto a rock ledge about waist height. The stones had names based on the weight: "weakling", "half-strength", "strong enough", and "full strength". Randeen gives "half strength a try (above).

As you can clearly see, I was able to out do Randeen's effort. Surprisingly, the cost of a heating pad and pain relievers is comperable to the US.

In 1948, fishing trawler out of a UK port was broken apart on th rocks near Dritvik. The remains of the wreck remain on the beach. The photo (above) is less than 10% of what is on the beach.

About 19:00 (7PM for US readers), we arrived at our lodging for our last night in Iceland. We had booked a night at the B&B Guesthouse which is located above and behind the best fresh seafood store in Keflavik. We chose this spot due to the fact that it is economical and they provide free transport to and from the airport. I dropped the car at the airport so that I would not need to do it prior to our 07:50 (7:50AM) flight. Svala Sveinsdóttir is the proprietor. All residents share a common bathroom and have access to a kitchen. The place was full by 21:00 (9PM). Many were using food already in the kitchen or brought their own to prepare. There was free internet, but no way for me to connect my computer (one of the reasons I've fallen behind in postings). We asked Svala for a restaurant recomendation and if there was a place to launder clothes. She gave us the restaurant recomendation (where I had the BEST halibut I've ever had) and took our clothes and washed and dried them - no charge. After a good but short nights sleep, her husband to us (along with an Italian couple, from Venice and a French family, from Pau) to the airport. I'd recommend the B&B Guesthoust to anyone who doesn't mind hostel type accomodations.

Randeen's Icelandic fashion tip follows...

What to do when all of your clothes are in the wash and you have a dinner date? Improvise! Noting that the "leggings under dress" are still all the rage in Iceland, I figured why not a simple silk long underwear pairing with my REI designer original multi-purpose skirt? The "flow" wasn't quite there but then you can't expect miracles out of one little suitcase. Sandals are accented with striped socks complimenting the green in the skirt. Top that with a jersey and chipper bike jacket in lemon yellow and you have it - long looks and envious whispers all night long, and you can bet nobody thought I was American!