And today we are hitchhiking again! This time, it's not possible to not find a good spot. Up the street where we live stands a signboard with the drawing of a raised thumb and the name of the town we're heading to : Garður. It's noon already, we overslept a little.
The night before we decided to have a look on the nightlife of Keflavík. For the first time since we left Rīga we went to have a drink out. Not much of choice but still it was hard to find a place where to have a drink. We finally enterred a small pub where we could drink some over-priced whiskey and beer. Drinking houses of small towns are always interesting, between a family-like home and a local drinkers' den. Those places seem to be the same everywhere, still they actually vary in each countries to show some kind of truth, the real face of people when they raise their glasses. The place we went in yesterday didn't make the exception. Somehow it reminded me a lot similar places in Finland. I don't know if it was because of the local 30 y.o. metalhead drinking with everyone, because of the 60 y.o. daily-drinker who couldn't stand on his feets or because of the gambling machines in the corner of the room, but there were definitly some similarities between both countries! Only Finland probably goes more epic in the extremes reached from sobriety to drunkenness. Beside that the place had some kind of charm. Everything was made to make the place look like on a ship. The metal balcony was shaped as the deck of a boat, facing the ocean. Inside a blonde girl was singing some pop music covers with acoustic guitar (which reminded me a lot of ship's bars as well). Her very cheerful and very drunk friends were making about 50% of the bar's population. One of them, over-friendly and certainly not sober, invited us to join the group and offered us beer. It was really nice to finally get to meet some real Icelanders. For the first time since we are here I really felt like living in Iceland.
Back on the road, hitchhiking was very easy. In less than five minutes we got a ride! Iceland is the hitchhikers' paradise. Except very often there are just no cars passing at all. But when there is one, it stops. Driver was just like the previous ones we hitchhiked in Iceland : around 50-60, friendly and talkative, explaining us everything there is to know about what is around. Arriving in Garður he showed us an empty former retirement home, and suggested us to start a business running a hotel here. He then dropped us at a lighthouse before to turn back to the direction of Sandgerði. The white lighthouse was closed so we went on the pier. It seems this place is a popular spot where to sight whales, seals and wrecked ships. But with thick fog and no binocculars we sighted nothing. However today we could observe many funny birds. Iceland host a great variety of birds which make the island a great place for bird-watchers.
Garður ir ciemats pussalas galā. Pēdējā vieta pirms okeāna. Pēdējā sauszeme pirms Grenlandes. Vietas kontūra un veids man atgādina Kolku. Sajūta it kā stāvot pasaules galā.
I then had the great idea to walk around the cape to reach the next village and maybe see some shipwrecks. What a mistake! The weather made us fast regret this decision and we arrived entirely soaked in Sandgerði.
Island, kêr-glizh! L'Islande, terre de bruine. A peine avait-on commencer à séloigner de Garður que le crachin nous rattrappa. L'été islandais me rappelle l'hiver breton, avec ses tempêtes qui s'abbattent sur les côtes, les vagues tenant tête aux falaises, l'odeur de l'iode et des algues, l'herbe toujours humide et le ciel inlassablement gris, la pluie ou la bruine qui ne s'arrête jamais vraiment. Même les températures sont à peu près identiques. Nous marchions donc le long de la côte, cherchant les épaves englouties, trempés jusqu'aux os. Cétait déjà pénible, mais ça aurait pû passer si seulement les plages islandaises étaient plus simples à parcourir. Mais non! Ce ne sont pas les larges bandes de sables fin de Kurzeme, mais des amas de pierres volcaniques échouées dans un sable boueux. Malgré tout, ce fut une belle ballade. Douchés mais heureux!
The walk was long and tough before we arrived in an inhabited place. We eventually found a shelter in a seafood restaurant. People there were very nice and welcoming. We had hot chocolate and they showed us their yard where they keep crabs and other sea creatures in small pools filled with seawater. Tince looked quite amazed while holding a sea-cucumber. In this scandinavian-style wooden restaurant we dried and waited our bus back to Keflavík.
Back on the road, hitchhiking was very easy. In less than five minutes we got a ride! Iceland is the hitchhikers' paradise. Except very often there are just no cars passing at all. But when there is one, it stops. Driver was just like the previous ones we hitchhiked in Iceland : around 50-60, friendly and talkative, explaining us everything there is to know about what is around. Arriving in Garður he showed us an empty former retirement home, and suggested us to start a business running a hotel here. He then dropped us at a lighthouse before to turn back to the direction of Sandgerði. The white lighthouse was closed so we went on the pier. It seems this place is a popular spot where to sight whales, seals and wrecked ships. But with thick fog and no binocculars we sighted nothing. However today we could observe many funny birds. Iceland host a great variety of birds which make the island a great place for bird-watchers.
Garður ir ciemats pussalas galā. Pēdējā vieta pirms okeāna. Pēdējā sauszeme pirms Grenlandes. Vietas kontūra un veids man atgādina Kolku. Sajūta it kā stāvot pasaules galā.
Island, kêr-glizh! L'Islande, terre de bruine. A peine avait-on commencer à séloigner de Garður que le crachin nous rattrappa. L'été islandais me rappelle l'hiver breton, avec ses tempêtes qui s'abbattent sur les côtes, les vagues tenant tête aux falaises, l'odeur de l'iode et des algues, l'herbe toujours humide et le ciel inlassablement gris, la pluie ou la bruine qui ne s'arrête jamais vraiment. Même les températures sont à peu près identiques. Nous marchions donc le long de la côte, cherchant les épaves englouties, trempés jusqu'aux os. Cétait déjà pénible, mais ça aurait pû passer si seulement les plages islandaises étaient plus simples à parcourir. Mais non! Ce ne sont pas les larges bandes de sables fin de Kurzeme, mais des amas de pierres volcaniques échouées dans un sable boueux. Malgré tout, ce fut une belle ballade. Douchés mais heureux!
The walk was long and tough before we arrived in an inhabited place. We eventually found a shelter in a seafood restaurant. People there were very nice and welcoming. We had hot chocolate and they showed us their yard where they keep crabs and other sea creatures in small pools filled with seawater. Tince looked quite amazed while holding a sea-cucumber. In this scandinavian-style wooden restaurant we dried and waited our bus back to Keflavík.
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