Of Craters, Rural Postmen, and Cruise Ships

Our journey continued northward. Along the way, we stopped at the Grábrókargigar craters.

We read: From the parking (on the left), the crater system is easily accessible via wooden staircases. Since time was short, our group started by visiting Grábrók only.

On our way, I admired the moss that had grown on the lava that had flowed out of the volcano 3600 years ago. Our tour guide, Andrí, corrected me: "It's not moss, but lichen."

Suddenly, the handrails were missing, so Red Baron had to drop out halfway through because of his balance problems.

Our small group set off toward Akureyri. Along the way, we stopped in Stadur, where in years past six rural mail carriers from various postal services would meet on the 15th of every month to exchange mail. This made the site Iceland's largest postal center. 

The monument was erected in memory of Iceland's rural postal service.

On our way to the Capital of Northern Iceland, Akureyri, we made another photo stop at the plateau of the Holtavörðuheiði highlands ...

... and were rewarded with the view on an impressive rock spire.

After that, Andrí drove us to the Akureyri Botanical Garden, which is located about 45 meters above the port city of Akureyri. Since the garden is located approximately 50 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, it is an interesting experimental and demonstration piece of earth. The Lystigarður Akureyrar boasts approximately 7,000  plants. These include Icelandic species as well as those from Arctic regions and high mountain areas.

We walked down when we noticed a huge cruise ship in the distance, anchored in the harbor.

We approached Akureyri's church. The Akureyrarkirkja is a Lutheran church completed in 1940.

The church's interior is simple in design and sparsely decorated.

The giant cruise ship looms menacingly from behind our bus. What happens to a town of 20,000 residents when several thousand crusaders and crew members suddenly pour into it?

Iceland is sparsely populated, with about 400,000 inhabitants, of whom 40,000 live in the greater Reykjavik region.

We were exhausted from the long bus ride and glad to finally check into our "bungalows" near Akureyri under the mild night sun.

It was just the beginning. Many more highlights were still in store for us.

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