Eyrarbakki
Today was ‘women take the day off’-day, during which the vast majority of Icelandic women took off from work at 2:25 pm to bring attention to the fact that women get paid some 66% of what men get paid (I’m assuming this statistic is for the country as a whole), and should therefore be done at work then. Some 50 thousand people congregated downtown to protest the salary situation, as well as violence against women, even though the weather decided to suddenly turn super-sucky. It should be noted that there are about 200 thousand people that live in the capital area.
Anyway, the ‘day-off’ combined with the fact that Anna is on ‘winter vacation’ from school these days, prompted us to go visit Elsa and her kids in their ‘summer house’ at Eyrarbakki after lunch. As we left for Eyrarbakki (about 50 min driving distance) the weather got windy and it started snowing! I was a little apprehensive about traveling, but it soon became apparent that the ever vigilant road-service had already salted and scraped the roads so there were only a couple of places where the road was covered in snow.
When we got to Eyrarbakki shortly before tea-time it was quite chilly out. We had waffles (yum!) and ginger-snaps (piparkökur) before deciding to go for a walk to explore the tiny town of Eyrarbakki. Once we got everybody suited up, the snow had turned to rain. We marched the kids out to the local convenience store anyway to get some rice, took a quick look at the ocean, and headed back. Once inside again we lounged around, reading newspapers and chatting, while reclaiming lost body-heat.
Elsa cooked a scrumptious dinner and dessert, which we gobbled up. We then gathered up all our belongings (a non-trivial task due to the mountains of mittens, socks, hats and outerwear) and drove back. Kristborg, Elsa’s oldest, got to tag along with us into town to meet up with some of her friends. Ironically, she was the only one to fall asleep in the car, while our two little energizer bunnies kept going and going and going… 🙂
In the living room at Eyrarbakki.
"We shall not be wimps!" Out we went, even though it was cold, windy, and rainy.
Finnur by the house co-owned by Elsa and Þráinn, and Þráinn's siblings. It shall be noted that it was pouring with rain at that point, so the lens was wet, and my fingers freeeeezing. Result: blurry pictures. Sorry!
The kids trudge onwards. They were pretty stoked about the snow, and Anna kept eating it throughout the trip.
I foresee a future trip where we'll actually stick around and use this playground!
Eyrarbakki has lots (well, proportionally) of old wooden houses.
Finnur doing his best to keep himself warm while moving Bjarki along.
A very earthy shed.
Eyrarbakki is basically two parallel long roads. It was pretty empty that day, except for the occasional car going by.
The convenience store. The ocean is behind it.
Up on a ridge, looking at the ocean.
Deciding what to do next.
Eyrarbakki to the left, the Atlantic Ocean to the right.
After a small conference, we decided to head back to base.
Dinner time! 🙂 The kids are clambering down the stairs that leads to the (play-) loft.
Mmmm... yummy food! 🙂
One for the road. Kristborg and Elsa just before we took off back to town.
