History Tour

My mind is buzzing, so full of everything I need to get done...a bit overwhelming at times, the days disappear so fast.  At the moment I have been working constantly on the computer setting up a website for the holiday apartments, I have purchased a domain name and decided to use WordPress as the base template.  I am finding WordPress not as intuitive as Blogger but it seems to be able to do a whole lot more.  I am learning much about CSS files which I have not needed to know anything about for this blog...but I must admit even though it can be quite tedious and I take ever so long to work out somethings (thank goodness for YouTube tutorials), I am enjoying the challenge.   Hopefully I will have it ready to go live in a week or so and then will venture into that other must networking site FaceBook!

Things are continuing to move forward with the renovations, plumbers and electricians have been working away steadily this last couple of weeks. However this type of labour is hidden work and the photos will not look much different from the last time I posted about the renovations. So instead of boring you with those, I thought we would take a little history tour instead.

I visited the local library this week to see if they had any old photos of the Post Office and Unnar, a very helpful gentleman sent me these images.  Apparently there are not many photographs as most pics seem to be taken from the post office side with a view towards the church, although there probably are a whole lot more floating around in private photo collections somewhere. 

Gamla Pósthúsið (the old post house) as it is now called was originally built in 1952/3  as a telephone exchange and post office.  In the late 80's a side extension was added for more behind the scenes space for the postal workers.  In this extension a staff lunch room with small kitchen area, a parcel lift, mail sorting areas and basement were added.

This pic was taken on the 17th June 1963 and is of a gathering for National Day, outside the then telephone exchange and post office.

Not sure when this was taken but it is prior to the side extension in the late 80's.

The top floor (where I live) has always been the residence of the Post Master and families.

 This photo is of another National day celebration on the 17th June 1965. The image has been taken from the road Sudurgata. Today you would not see the post office as the bank building would obstruct the view but apparently back then there was a lovely garden...a shame it has all gone.

This is also a view from Sudurgata, the old home was removed and transported to a new location on the street behind the church sometime in the 80's to make way for the...I have to say ugly bank building.  I think this photo may be from the late 50's looking at the style of cars parked on the street and outside the post office.

A view of the lovely old house from the post office side before it was moved.  Apparently children often walked and played around there and would pick the berries growing along the fence.

A lovely lady Helga Rósa, who lived in the Post Office from 1989 to 1998 with her children and husband, the then current Post Master, sent me these two photos. This pic showcases the building in the centre of Kirkjutorg (church square).  It is also prior to the wheelchair access ramps and there were garden beds under the windows.  I hope to bring back this softer look to the exterior of the building eventually.

This pic is of where the old house was and just before the erection of the bank building

A more recent view, prior to 2008. 

It pretty much looks the same today but without the red post office sign and post box.

Things are not always as they seem!

I pretty much have a 360° view around the town and don't miss much of whatever is going on outside.   A couple of weeks ago I saw this...

 A minute or so later a small crowd gathered

 The police were not far behind,

followed by the ambulance.

However all is not as it seems!

A group of students from the local film school, Skotta Film and FNV (North West Comprehensive), were filming a scene from my balcony.

Here are a few tell tale pictures

and of course the necessary filming of fill in/cut away shots of the bitumen road

(sorry don't know the correct film terminology for this).

Three Dizzy Dames

3 lovely Aussie ladies came to stay for a week, they call themselves the Three Dizzy Dames,  Leith, Laraine and Kate all belong to a Perth chapter of the Red Hat Society which is the largest women's social group in the world, only rules are that you must be at least 50 years old and at all Red Hat events you wear purple and of course a red hat....which pretty much rules me out ever joining!!! However the 3 Red Hat Dizzy Dames are game for pretty much anything and visit me on the tail end of a 160 day world trip.

 Kate, Laraine and Leith on the steps of the Old Post Office

just before they departed Sauðárkrókur.

The ladies decided to stay a little longer than originally planned to catch their breath, relax a little and what better place to do that than in the stunning and serene setting that is Iceland.

My itinerary for tourists was once again given a tick of approval from the Dizzy Dames who seem to thoroughly enjoy the places we visited in the Skagafjördur region.  I  will try and only post images of these places that are a little different from previous posts.  First stop during the week was once again Glaumbær where I think every tourist who ventures north visits to see this lovely restored turf farmhouse and of course coffee and cake at Áskaffi.  Askaffi also has a historic display upstairs and after our tummy's were full we spent sometime perusing these.

 

I just love the old boxes and carved bits of wood

We timed our visit to the local tannery the next day to coincide with the tour of their factory.   We saw all areas of the leather processes including some experimental stuff such as parchment, bird wings and a couple of cats...these of course are found carcasses...no kitty cats harmed in the process.  I was fascinated by these experimental things and a few potential art projects whizzed around my head.  For some reason I was too busy looking and not clicking with the camera...so sorry no pics, however I did find a great little video of the actual tannery here in town created for a BBC documentary and this really is similar to the tour we did...but only shows the fish leather process...whereas we also got to see the lamb, cow and horse tannery processes.

The next day the weather was glorious, the top of my head even got a little burnt would you believe it got to a sizzling 19c...proof below.

So during this heat wave we spent much of the afternoon at the very pretty township in Hofsós

where we explored a couple of the museums.  Each time I go I visit a different museum...one more lot of visitors and I will have seen all 3.

The girls taking a closer look at the Basalt rock formations.

On the way back to Sauðárkrókur, we stopped off at Hólar and took a stroll around the University grounds

The bell tower

more turf houses

 A view over the student accomodation area

 Replica building of the original bishops office using the same tools, materials and building methods.

Of course I happened to mention Geocaching to the girls who became very interested to know more so this is Leith finding their very first cache. 

When we were at the tannery we were told about a handcraft festival that was happening just outside of Akuyreri on the coming Fri-Sun, so we earmarked Fri for that event.  The closer we got to Akuyreri the colder and wetter it became but as we approached the festival the rain subsided and we had a great day.  Once again I have very few photos to share...far too busy looking.  

It was an excellent opportunity for me to talk and get contact details of several fabulous artisans who are producing quality Icelandic Arts and Crafts and I will contact them hopefully in the near future when I am about to open a retail/gallery venture in the Old Post Office. 

Lots of overhead cloud and low lying fog as we entered the carpark...it was quite a chilly day.

But the children don't care as they swim in the outdoor heated pool, rain, hail, snow or shine.

 Most of the handicrafts were indoors, it was very crowded and sellers expected it to be even more so over the weekend.   It is a bit hard to go to something like this and not spend a little money, Laraine bought a lovely felted wool and silk scarf...I was tempted. Kate bought some herbal hand creme and Leith was strong and able to resist temptation.

Laraine's lovely scarf.

I fell in love and went home with a folky ceramic piece and a little miniature bird woodcarving.  

 I think I have a little birdy thing going on at the moment!!!

On Sunday we visited Grettislaug and I think this for my visitors rated best place to experience in this area...I know Gill and Bern also loved it.  Click on the link above and check out this 360 degree panorama view...it's pretty cool.  For 500 kronurs approx $4 AUD each you can soak as long as you wish in the hot pots surrounded by magnificent countryside with a great view of Drangey.

 Drangey

 Kate, Leith and Laraine very much enjoying their soak.

Laraine not wanting to be outdone by the young ones went for the triple...ie from hot pot to icy cold North Atlantic ocean and then back to hot pot.  You can see the relief on her face as she once again felt the lovely warmth of the natural hot water thawing her body. 

 Laraine all rugged up as we looked for the cache here at Grettislaug.

 Sprinkler watering a roof top lawn

We stopped and waved to a group on a horse riding tour on the way back.

Last day Monday was mainly spent at the hairdressers. The girls decided that they all needed a bit of a spruce up before continuing on their journey.  

 

Would you believe that in this small town there are 9 hairdressing businesses.  I booked them into  Móðins hárstofa where I go and they were all really happy with the results and the price which is a lot cheaper than most places in Perth.

After the hairdressers and a bit of a late lunch they took photos of the town from the graveyard and then came back to the Old Post Office for a little craft lesson before dinner in felting soap. 

Kate, Leith and Laraine.

The girls left on Tuesday morning to drive the Golden Circle route back to Reykjavik where there is so much more to see before they fly out on Friday morning to Edinburgh.  All in all it was a pretty full week for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the company of these Red Hat ladies and look forward to catching up with them again sometime in the future.

P.S. 

I just had a bit of a chat to Leith on Skype and apparently they had a sensational trip around the east coast and saw amazing glaciers, icebergs and water falls to name just a few...girls I look forward to your blog update of this. 

Christmas has arrived in Iceland!

 

Saturday the 27th November was a busy day for Icelanders, for a start there was the constitutional election happening, plus the day also signified the beginning of Advent which meant that there were plenty of Christmas festivities to attend.

The constitution of Iceland is really a hand me down from Denmark, the current constitution is from 1944, whilst there have been some changes over the years it has not really been overhauled...so the government decided to be completely democratic and invite citizens to nominate themselves for candidacy and then up to 31 elected citizens would rewrite the constitution.  This idea proved to be so popular that over 500 nominated,  which meant that the public had to select 25 candidates from this 500 whom they thought would be best for the role.  However I think for many this was a monumental task and the responsibility of choosing overwhelming and as voting isn't compulsory in Iceland there were lower than usual turnouts at the polling stations, only about 36% cast a vote compared to the usual 80% who normally turn out for the general elections.

Saturday was also the start of Advent and this meant Christmas lights and decorations could legally come out in full force. The days are getting shorter, dawn is now around 9.30am, dusk is at 4.30pm, with the sun not fully up until nearly 11am and then setting at around 3.20pm.  Icelanders counteract this darkness by lighting up their towns, soon just about every house will have some sort of Christmas lighting and decorations happening, especially at Sigga's.  So on Saturday in the old part of town, where I am, there were markets and stalls/shops open, full of Chrissy decor stuff plus you could grab some homemade soup and hot chocolate to keep you warm as you wandered around outside in the -7 weather.  The hot chocolate was the best, it is made with real chocolate and cream...not any of your run of the mill powdered stuff here...absolutely delicious.

 

 This photo was taken at 4.30pm

 So at around 3.30pm as it started to get dark, the town Christmas tree lights were turned on as they were in many places across Iceland, crowds of people turned up for this event, there were children singing and Santa's popping in for a visit... did you know that there are no fewer than 13 Santas or Yuletide Lads in Iceland and they are all rather mischievious.

 They arrive one at a time from the 12 Dec and leave one by one up to the 6th Jan which signifies the end of the traditional Christmas Season.

 

This video is of the Sauðárkrókur celebrations.

Hello from sunny Iceland!

My first day in Iceland was a sunny 16c in downtown Reykjavik. Beautiful blue skies, no wind and just the freshest, cleanest air to breathe...I feel at home and at peace.
I arrived at my hotel at around 1am on the 10/10/10 after a long but steady journey from WA....no delays, everything fell into place rather smoothly.  

The view from my hotel window of the largest church in Iceland Hallgrímskirkja which apparently took 38 years to build, it was started in 1945 and completed in 1986

 A different view from another window

I had not slept for at least 36hrs and just crashed not expecting to wake up until lunchtime but the old body clock went off at 7.30am in time for a great breakfast and really good Icelandic coffee. Then I went for a 3hr stroll around Reykjavik before I continued on the next leg of my journey. Of course I had camera in hand...looking very touristy.

 The sky was so blue and the weather warm....16c here seems quite cosy compared to Australia and I worked up quite a sweat.

This is a gorgeous old cemetery with twisted trees that in the night would look rather spooky.

 Wherever I was I could always see the church spire which was my marker for the hotel, as I have absolutely no sense of direction.

I arrived back at the hotel at 2pm just in time to pack up my things and take a short cab ride to the bus port and by 3.00pm was on my way to Varmahlíð where Ross and Olga were picking me up to take me to my final destination of Sauðárkrókur.

 some of the views from the bus window...just one fabulous scene after another.

 Lava fields

 
 However in Iceland the weather can change very quickly and go from this

 

to this in an instant...a fog rolled in and

obscured the sun for a good third of the journey.