Iceland; Ísafjörður, Flateyri, Bolungarvik

We drove around the far North West corner of Iceland, which is quite nice. Quite nice? It’s one of the most remote and lesser visited areas of Iceland! And it’s amazing! Flateyri was a town where the fisherman didn’t used to fish fish. They used to hunt sharks. Sharks for Pete’s sake! And in 1995 an avalanche took out a chunk of the village and killed 20 people. It’s the most rock and roll town in Iceland!

_MG_8357 — Corrugated steel. Classic Icelandic construction.

_MG_8376 — Interesting Cylindrical house near Flateyri

_MG_8379 — Fish drying racks near Flateyri

_MG_8404 — Bolungarvik. A recreation of some old fisherman houses.

Our Great Great Grandmother Guðrún Halldórsdóttir was born in a farm called Gil near Bolungarvik in 1851. She emigrated to Brandon Manitoba in 1890. The only mention of GIL was on the town hall map in Bolungarvik. Casey and I walked down the valley, because the farm road was very rough, and we found this old foundation to a building. Near it was a newer building with GIL on the gate! This must be the place!

_MG_8438 — The stream where our Great Great Gramma (and her parents) probably got their water in the mid 1800's in Iceland

Leif attempts to Golf in Iceland. photo by Casey Norman

The golf course was mad. Fairways intersected with other holes. Streams cutting through it would carry your ball away faster than you can run. Casey and I both got a big can of Icelandic Beer and rented some clubs. We barely made it to the end and only had one ball left.