west is the best?

the first taste i got of how laid-back iceland is was on the way to stykkisholmur on the snaefellsnes peninsula in west iceland by bus. the bus left late from the capital because the driver was busy helping two backpackers fit their bicycles in an already packed luggage compartment. we were about fifteen minutes late, and the connection time to catch the second bus in bogarnes was a scant five minutes. after we passed akranes and started for borgarnes, i began silently freaking out. yes, i was that guy who asked the bus driver (when nobody else seemed to care) if he could radio the other driver to tell him to wait.

you know what he said? “don’t worry, that bus would never leave before this one arrived! even if we were ten hours late!” OH MAN, love iceland. now i get it. it is one of those kind of places.

although we didn’t get to spend much time on snaefellsnes this time as i had my heart set on that ferry for flatey, i am really glad we got to go there at all. the weather was fantastic, we had fish and chips at finsen’s truck (above– probably best fish n’ chips in iceland!) two different times, enjoyed a pleasant outdoor cafe experience at the ferry building, and climbed sugandisey (below), the island attached only by a thin piece of land from stykkisholmur – so worth the climb for the beautiful island views and that deep blue sea.

we also spent quite a lot of time stalking around borgarnes, west iceland’s supposed capital which houses the excellent settlement center, telling the tale of egil’s saga. borgarnes is really important to this saga, so it was fun walking along the shore, noticing important historical sights, and meeting cats. someone even asked us if it is our cat… nope. but i like the image of a couple bringing their cat on a trip to iceland.

at about a month removed from the trip, iceland definitely left me wanting more – there is so much beyond the south coast to uncover. i’m just glad i even got to dip a couple of toes into the underrated west.

from there, we were off to meet our host for the first time and to get ready for two weeks on a west iceland farm.

that’s all she wrote for trip recaps and such, although i may have one or two more iceland-related posts up my sleeve in the next couple of weeks. if you’re behind, catch up on other iceland posts here!