Glymur

Last weekend, we decided to go for a short hike and to take a look at the Glymur waterfall. It has the biggest vertical drop off of any waterfall in Iceland, however it is not as impressive as other waterfalls because the river itself is quite small.

The waterfall is found near the base of Hvalfjörður. Which meant that for the first time we drove on the edge of that fjord instead of taking the Akranes tunnel.

When we got to the end of the road, we started hiking. Unfortunately we had no map and no real idea of where the waterfall should be, so we wandered around aimlessly for a while until we found the right river. We were not able to see the waterfall since we ended up at a point quite downstream from it (it's a well hidden waterfall) and the sun was starting to set. So we'll have to go again later and find the damn thing next time :). But it was a nice little hike anyway, and the weather was quite nice. Here are some pics!

Uphill skiing?

Small stream

Jó sinking into the hay

The waterfall is somewhere along that ravine to the right

Looking down onto the river

Some basaltic columns

Hvalfjörður, before sunset

Páskaegg 2008

In a similar vein to this post from last year, here is the deconstruction of 2008's Páskaegg.

Just like last year, I got a Páskaegg at work. A páskaegg is a chocolate easter egg, which is hollow and filled with various candies inside. Once more, I got the Nr.7 Nói Síríus behemoth, with 750 grams of sugary goodness. The egg also comes with a málsháttur, which is a proverb or saying. Think of a Chinese fortune cookie, except that in this case adding "in bed" at the end makes no sense.

We're over 2/3rds done with the egg and candy. Luckily the dentist's appointment is in a few weeks, and we are currently are going to the gym, so that should mitigate the effects somewhat.

Cutting the egg open

A look inside

An emerging chicken... Wouldn't it be cool if they maybe had a chocolate dinosaur inside, just like in a dinosaur egg? No?

The sugary innards

The saying: "The river stops at its mouth". Sounds pretty obvious to me.

More Northern lights!

Last week we got another SMS notification alerting us to the appearance of the Northern lights :). This time we drove to the Western end of the city, near the Grótta lighthouse. Since there are no houses in that area we had a better view. And indeed there were already several cars parked there and people watching the lights!

Unfortunately when we got there the lights were starting to dim, but we still got a couple of shots.

Filling up the sky

A view of Esja at night, thanks to the long exposure

Hamborgarabúlla Tómasar

Hamborgarabúlla Tómasar is a small (or even tiny) burger place by the harbor, about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. Whenever I feel like having a burger, that's where I go. In contrast to the usual international fast food chains, that place has a lot of personality. And good burgers!

The decor is very eclectic, with random signs, children's drawings, movie posters and whatnot pinned all through the place. Plus it has its own street sign, "Burgerjoint"!

Seen from outside

This is where you place your order. Notice all the signs.

Kids' drawings

This is my favorite one: "Bonbon" is on the left and he is lost; an endless rainbow is in the middle (complete with the infinity symbol) and a dog is on the right. The arrow pointing to the dog simply says, "You"

The big table, with a view of the boats

"Dish of the day"

The restaurant opened in this location on April 10th 2004, which happens to be the exact day Jó and I got together! We're a match made in ground beef heaven.
A burger, a few bites in. Notice that the meat is a bit undercooked. It's always the way there, which makes it a bit tastier and also gives an added small thrill as you risk illness for the burger