Monday, I woke up ready to ride my bike to the club by 10 a.m. so that I could go to the Westman Islands with the 16 girls team only to find out they weren't going anymore. I decided to just hang out all day and had no plans. At 10:40 the apartment doorbell/buzzer/speaker rang and it was Dori. He was downstairs and was asking if I wanted to go with the U14 boys team. I had about 2 minutes to get dressed and grab a what I needed to take with me. To get to the Westman Islands you take the same road as you do when heading toward the Golden Circle but instead of turning just keep following the coast, so I got to see a part of Iceland I hadn't seen yet. It is about 2 hours from Reykjavik to the ferry which takes about 30 minutes to go to the Islands. These Islands are amazingly beautiful. I don't know how to accurately describe what they look like, other than just saying extraordinary.
It is mainly a fishing island and is very wealthy. They have a large club and they host a big tournament every year. A little history about the Island: In 1973, a volcano on the main (inhabited) island erupted and a portion of the town was completely covered in lava. You can see a few buildings halfway covered in volcanic rock. Fortunately the boats were in the harbor and people were able to escape. Also, in order to keep the dock open they had to pump sea water onto the lava to cool it down and slow the flow. You can still go up to the volcano and feel that the rocks are still warm. Another interesting tidbit is that Keiko, aka Free Willy, is from Iceland and was reintroduced to the "wild" in the Westman Islands. They closed off a part of the ocean that met up with one of the islands as a habitat for him where he lived until 2003.
One thing that everyone who goes to Westman Islands has to do is swing on a rope from the side of a mountain. It was my turn and some locals were explaining the best way to do it. I listened and tried to do what they told me. I jumped and then started to twist around with my back towards the upcoming rock wall. Everyone down below was yelling "NO!" So I got myself turned back around. Unfortunately when I got to the wall I didn't push off hard enough and didn't quite make it back to the other side. I ended up just hanging there with no way to get back to the ledge. They told me to lower my hands down the rope so that I could just let go and fall down. I wasn't able to get me hands any lower and just decided to go ahead and fall. I wasn't too high up maybe 8 feet off the ground but it still messes with your nerves. After I let go my hands hurt for about 15 minutes. They were burning and aching. Even today they are still a little sore. It was definitely an interesting experience. It was fun and I would do it again. Especially now that I know how to do it right.
On the drive back to Reykjavik, we stopped at an amazing waterfall. It comes off a ledge so you can actually walk behind the waterfall. It was incredible.
I will post some pictures soon.
Today, Tinna's mom had us over for a traditional Icelandic fish dinner. We had fish, potatoes, rye bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and hard boiled eggs. It was fantastically delicious. There was also one other item she had me try. It was a rectangle mold of bits of lamb meat. That's all I knew when I took my bite. After I ate it and said that it wasn't bad I was informed that it was sheep head. They take several sheep heads and boil them for a long time which causes the meat to fall off the bone. Then they take the meat and put it in a pan (loaf pan). It has a similar texture to chopped brisket, but with a little gelatin to bind it. All in all it wasn't bad and if served it again I would be able to eat it, even knowing what it was. Definitely not something I would go out of my way to eat again though.
One more full day in Iceland and then back to the real world. Tomorrow I am coaching in the morning, hanging out with Tinna and Linda in the afternoon, practice in the evening and then a goodbye party with my girls. I am going to be sad to say goodbye. It has been such an incredible experience and I hope I can come back.
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