I had a very long sleep, so long that I couldn't sleep any longer although it was still early. At 7.30 a.m., I was ready to leave for the bus station. The weather was a little gloomy with slight rain...
When waiting for the bus, the two German women who took the same bus around Snaefellsnes and stayed at the same hotel showed up. They were going to Akureyri. We had chatted for a while until the bus, which was actually a big van, came.
When the bus arrived at Vatnaleid, the bus changing point, another small bus was already waiting. Then, a hassle took place when a small bus couldn't accommodate all passengers heading to Reykjavik and only I would like to go to Stykkisholmur. The drivers tried to change my destination to Borgarnes, so that both buses could go to Reykjavik. I insisted that I wanted to go to Stykkisholmur and my ferry to Flatey was leaving at 9 a.m. Then, the two drivers were arguing something in Icelandic. It was already 8.45 a.m., the time I was supposed to be already in Stykkisholmur. Thankfully, a british passenger went to the driver and said on my behalf that I had to take a ferry at 9 p.m. At that moment, the driver realized the time. He started the engine and drove speedily. He constantly checked his watch while driving. It was already 9 a.m. when the bus enter the town. I was pretty sure that I had already missed the ferry. The bus driver brought be to the door of Seatours, the ferry office. I entered the office and asked whether I was still in time to catch the ferry. The answer was that I could try to run the the pier which was more than a kilometer further. After paying the return ticket (3560 ISK), I existed the office and prepared to run. Suddenly, a car approached me and the driver said to me "come in". Without asking who he is and to where he would bring me, I found myself in the car driven towards the ferry Baldur. I got an emergency service! With this service, I could make it on the ferry of Flatey island.
The harbor at Stykkisholmur looked nice even on a cloudy day like today. I was surprised to see that the ferry was really full. However, I managed to find a place to sit and calm my excitement down to the normal condition.
The ferry sailed in Breidafjördur, an extensive and shallow bay on the west coast of Iceland between the Snaefellsnes peninsula and the West Fjords.
After one and a half hour, the ferry arrived at Flatey. The ferry stopped at the old freezer factory. Flatey (flat island) is the largest and most populated island in Breidafjördur. It has been in habited for more than 1000 years. It is only 2 km long, 4oo m at the broadest and only 20 m at the narrowest.
A large number of bird species breed in Flatey.
I took the trail along the coastline to village that was a cluster of a dozen houses near the old harbor. It was very windy but rather sunny.
Sheep were everywhere on the island. Those in the photo below were the only sheep that didn't run away when I approached to take a photo.
The two sheep on both sides of the large sheep in the middle turned their back to me when I was trying to catch their photo.
Hjallsvikskirkja was the village church built in 1926. The church mural ceiling depicting the history of the island was truly amazing. Baltasar Samper, a Catalan artist, painted this mural in exchange for a place to stay on the island.
Across the trail situated a cemetery with graves dating back several hundred years.
Next to the church was the little yellow house that was used to be Bokhladon, the oldest library in Iceland.
The wreckage of ships which ran aground east of Flatey...
The tide seemed low today...
The eastern part of of Flatey was a nature reserve since 1975. The protected area was closed during the breeding season between 15 April and 20 July. However, I saw many people entering this protected area with no care of what was said on the sign.
Black sheep...
Lundaberg (Puffin cliffs) is the highest point of the island which is only 16 meter above the sea. The flatness of the cliffs helped me catch photos of puffins more easily without a super zoom lens. Puffins were really cute but looked funny when flying.
The northern shore of the island towards the village...
Many colorful old houses were under renovation...
An old tractor was placed in the yard of a house.
Then, I dropped by at Restaurant Plassid next to Hotel Flatey, having soup of the day (vegetable soup: 900 ISK) and bottled water (250 ISK)
The photo below shows Felagshus, the oldest house built in 1834.
The old harbor in the village...
I reached the harbor well before the schedule of the returned ferry. The walls of the old fish freezer factory looked interesting...
The weather became nice and so warm that I couldn't stand wearing my jacket.
Ferry Badur arrived at the harbor at 1.30 p.m., 15 minutes later than the schedule.
The old factory viewed from the ferry...
The sail was nicer when the wind became milder.
The ferry approached the harbor in Stykkisholmur a bit after 3 p.m., meaning that I had almost 2 hour time before the the bus would leave for Reykjavik at 4.55 p.m.
I decided to go to Vatnasafn (Library of Water), an installation by American artist Roni Horn at the town former library on Bokhlödustigur 17.
A view towards Adalgata where the oldest houses and church in the town was situated.
The building and the location of it made the installation more interesting in my opinion.
A constellation of glass columns contains glacial water, including the glacier tongues of Vatnajökull and the glaciers of Hofsjökull, Langökull and Snaefellsjökull. On the floor, words in both English and Icelandic describing the state of weather are inscribed. The inscription aimed to bring visitors into a world of weather. I actually didn't think that the latter part does function as it aimed.
I left the Library of Water around 4 p.m. and thought weather I should go to the Norwegian House or just walk around to see old houses in town.
However, I brought myself to the Norwegian House. When entering the house, I asked if 30 minutes would be enough to walk around the house. The answer I got was that even 10 minutes should be enough. So, why not? The entrance fee was 500 ISK with a personal guide, very good service indeed.
The house was built in 1832 by Arni O. Thorlacius, a local fishing vessel owner and entrepreneur. It was the first wooden residence with 2 full floors in Iceland and one of the 3 largest residential homes of the time. He was a rich man who late became a farmer with a large landholdings and agent for the Danish king's estate.
The second floor of the Norwegian House has been furnished as an upper-class home in a town would be in the 19th century in Iceland. Furnishing and household details were reconstructed from the original home of Arni Thorlacius. Some items were original pieces from his home.
The photo below imitated the room where Arni used to meet his tenants when they came to pay rent. Arni would sit on the armchair and the tenants on the bench. I noticed that the space between the bench and the table was much longer than that between the armchair an the table. This revealed the importance of how a space could be divided in order to limit the territory of the lower class.
This was the reception room where only honored guests were invited.
The mirror in the photo below was in the guest room. Arni had many visitors, both Icelanders and foreigners, most of which later wrote about the hospitality and cultural environment of the Norwegian House.
The photo below show the room Arni's mother-in-law who lived her final years with her daughter and son-in-law. It was believed that once, when Arni needed money, his mother-in-law took gold coins from the chest (in the picture) and gave them to him.
This room in the photo below imitated Arni's office. Arni had his interest in weather. He had kept weather record since 1854. Arni's observations were the first continuous weather records kept in Iceland.
The bedroom of Arni which was used as a sitting room during the day. Arni's wife was renown for her cookery and many splendid dinner parties were given in the house.
In Arni Thorlacius' day, the attic was used for storage. Today, it contained various historical items from the local region.
The ground floor of the house had an exhibition showing blue items. Everything was in blue colors...
Leaving the Norwegian House around 4.30 p.m., I decided to walk on Adalgata towards the gas station where the bus would depart. Many old houses from the 19th century were located on this street. The house in the picture below was Tang & Riis on Adalgata 1 built in 1890.
Stykkisholmskirkja was built in 1878 on Adalgata 3a.
I arrived at the gas station well in advance. So, I went to the town bakery Neabraud bakari on์ the opposite side of the street (its address was actually on Nesvegur 1) and grab a chocolate donut (120 ISK). It was delicious, soft and not too sweet.
The bus came on time. It was very warm on the bus with the sun shining straight to my face... I finally arrived at the BSI Bus Station at 7.15 p.m.
Having arrived at the residence, I took shower, ate and read my mail. Around 9 p.m., Clair came to tell me that they would go for a drink around 11 p.m. Although I was really tired, I decided to join...
After 2 drinks in 2 different bars on Laugavegur, I left the gang around 1 a.m. I knew on the following day that they stayed until 6 a.m.! If I have joined them, I would have been dead by now...
For some reason, I couldn't sleep until almost 3 a.m., so that I continued making the tree a bit. However, sleeplessness wasn't too bad as I could take a picture of the colorful sky viewed from the kitchen's window...
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