In Search of Elves

After departing Seydisfjordur, I once again drove up into the snow-capped mountains, only this time I noticed all of the waterfalls that lined the route.  On the way in to the city, they were at my back and I was too mesmerized by the fjord in front of me to take notice.  However, they were staring me in the face on my way out of town.  I found a nice picnic table at the top of the mountain where I thought I could enjoy the skyr (Icelandic version of Greek yogurt) I bought for breakfast.  However, as soon as I opened the door of the car, the wind promptly blew it shut again.  I naively tried again, but quickly discovered that the wind was too strong and too cold for me to escape the warmth of my car.  

I continued driving north to another fjord town, Borgarfjordur Eystri. The town is named after the elves (aka hidden people) that have long made this part of Iceland home.  Before I embarked on my search of elves, I first drove to the harbor to see the famous puffins that have also made this area home.  The puffins are a funny-looking, oranges beaked bird that come to Iceland every April, for a unknown amount of time (both the lonely planet and the plaque at the site of the wharf only indicated the arrival time).  I gave up trying to take a photo of them flying, because, like on top of the mountain, the wind was fierce which caused the birds to flop around in the air in unexpected patterns (it is possible that this is their normal flying pattern).

Once I was too cold to watch the puffins any longer, I headed back in to town for lunch.  There are only two restaurants in town, so I stopped at the one with the most cars.  They are known for their fish stew, and although I'm not much of a fish lover, I desperately wanted something hot to warm me back up, so I went for it.  I was happy to discover that the fish flavor was hardly noticeable and it really did hit the spot.  Once I was sufficiently warm, I went back out into the cold wind, this time in search of elves.  There is a spot, not far from the restaurant, called Alfaborg, which translates to Elf Rock.  It is said that the elves don't mind people lurking around, and it is supposed to bring good luck to circle the rock.  I searched and searched, but unfortunately the elves remained hidden.  Perhaps they only come out at dark, which is unfortunate, since it will not be dark for at least a month.

I enjoyed dinner with a group of tourist that have just completed four day hike forms on Seydisfjordur to Borgarfjordur. Just as we were finishing up, a number of locals appeared.  Apparently, this weekend the town is celebrating Christmas in July and all came to the restaurant to prepare for the event by cutting designs into Icelandic bread and by making gingerbread cookies. And you can't celebrate Christmas without Christmas carols, so the music changed as well.  Maybe this is the townspeoples effort to bring the elves out during the light-filled summer months.