Friday 9/2/16

We saw the Northern Lights last night.  We left a wake-up call at the front desk and the phone rang at 11:30.  We went out into the parking lot and saw them.  Unfortunately, there was a cloud cover so the color was muted, but they danced across the sky and we watched them for about an hour - so beautiful. My camera did not capture them as there was not enough light, but one of the group has a really fancy camera and he thinks he got some shots and is willing to share and John thinks he picked some up on a video that he took.  The memory will stay with me forever - it was a lovely display.  After breakfast this morning, we took a tour around the Snaefellsnes peninsula.  Our first stop was an unexpected one as our bus driver is local to this area and knew about a hidden waterfall - it was lovely.  Our next stop was at Sandy Beach to look at harbor and grey seals.  We saw both kinds fishing just off shore.  We also saw what we thought was a cormorant drying his wings on a rock, but apparently it was a shag, which I have never heard of.  We then went for a walk along the cliffs ear the ocean.  Most of the birds have migrated already, but we did see kittiwakes and Arctic terns.  Some of the group left us partway along as the second half of the walk was over lava fields.  I stayed with the walking on group and at one point I looked out over the water and saw a fin.  At first I thought it was a porpoise, but realized that the dorsal fin was way too big.  I then realized it was an orca (killer whale) and there were two of them.  I looked back and saw that Kelly had also spotted them so I let  out a great shout and everyone up ahead got to enjoy the view - quite exciting!  Our hike ended at a tiny restaurant, where the others had gone by bus.  It was quite warm so we were able to sit out on the deck and enjoy seafood chowder and lovely homemade bread.  Dessert was skyr with loganberry sauce - yum.  Our next stop was a National Park.  They had a small exhibit in the ranger station - all about the sea life in the area and the fishing industry.  We took pictures of a nearby lighthouse and then saw some sheep grazing on a sand spit - they seemed to be enjoying the dried seaweed.  Our next stop was to a farm, where besides normal farm animals, this family is famous for its Hakari.  This is a shark that can get up to 23 feet long and live for 400 years.  They get the sharks from accidental catches in the fishermens' nets - some years they get 20 and other years, 100.  They get the meat off the shark and let it putrify in closed boxes for 3 weeks.  Then they hang it and dry it for 3 to 4 months.  When it is dry, they skin it and eat it as a delicacy.  This process has been known since the 1400's and this particular family has been doing it for 400 years.  They had cut small cubes of it for a tasting (which Dave and I did not participate in).  You get a cube on a toothpick and dip it into a shot glass of "Black Death", a type of alcholic drink for 5 to 10 seconds, eat and then follow with a Black Death chaser.  The smell was enough to put me off, but those who tried it, including Kelly, said that it wasn't bad - in fact, she had seconds.  This particular shark pumps urine into its flesh to maintain its osmotic balance and apparently you could die if you ate the fresh meat.  This is why they putrify and dry it.  Not my cup of tea.  The young lady who showed the film and gave the presentation, was from Italy.  She is over here for the season.  She was charming and gave a great explanation of the whole process.  We walked out to the drying shed, which had a stronger smell of shark to see the hanging pieces and then helped to feed the ducks and chickens.  There were 3 baby ducks and they were very cute.  They also had quite a few of the Islandic horses on the property.  We went back to the hotel and the five of us, Lana, John, Kelly, Dave, and I walked down to the harbor for dinner.  Kelly had steamed mussels and the rest of us had fish sandwiches on squid ink rolls.  Everything was very good.  If I wake up in the middle of the night, I may look out to see the Northern Lights again as it is not as cloudy today.