ICELAND SAGA: Akureyri

Here's a little snippet of our time in Akureyri (I actually still really don't know how to pronounce this name, so you're kind of on your own).  Our plans for taking a plane to the Arctic Circle where we would get a certificate stating we had indeed crossed the Arctic Line were foiled.  I had tried booking our spot on the plane twice that week, but no one at the appropriate agency ever answered the phone (damn you, Nonni Travel!) and the plane was full by the time we arrived in Akureyri.  Instead we decided to explore the city's botanical garden (much easier to find than the one in Reykjavik, as it was right by our guesthouse and actually exists, which I maintain the Reykjavik one does not).  How do I describe this garden?  If you've ever been to the Missouri Botanical Garden, picture the English Woodlands section, only more manicured and with tons of flowers planted among the trees. It was gorgeous.  The entire place was fairly small, but the intimacy of the property was really very endearing.  Our favorite area was the perennials section, which consisted primarily of all blue, purple and white flowers.  As a warning, all of these pictures were taken with my little point and shoot--you'll know why I didn't bring my fancy camera momentarily.

We were absolutely amazed and delighted by the amount of bees we saw in the garden, both the big old fuzzy ones and the sleek hairless guys.  Joe and I have both noticed a shortage of bees in St. Louis, which is troubling, so to see multiple bees working on one plant was a refreshing change of pace.  Look!  Three on one flowering stalky thing!

I can count 6 in this picture!  We stood in that garden for a good 20 minutes just watching bees, and I remember being so happy.  I was like "Whoooooa!" the entire time--like I had never seen bees before.  There was lots of smiling.  Thanks, bee friends!

Can someone tell me what kind of flower this is?  I think it is so neato.

Me outside of the garden gate.

Ok, so here's why I didn't bring my good camera with me.  Since we couldn't go to the Arctic Circle (damn you, Nonni Travel!) we decided to go BOWLING instead!  We had passed a bowling alley on our way from the domestic airport to our guesthouse and didn't think we could pass up bowling in Iceland--it heightens the already fun times of bowling by tens, if not hundreds of times over.  The bowling alley was completely Americanized, so much so that the wall above the lanes was a depiction of a huge, waving American flag with bowling pins floating across, seen here.

Game one: Joe beat me, but it was only by four pins.  As you can see, we are both terrible at bowling.

We each enjoyed a crispy Stella during play time.

Joe gets a strike!

Here is the Lutheran church at the center of the city.  It sits high on top of a hill for all to see.  Oh, and if it looks like that cross is glowing, that's because it's neon.  The Icelandic Lutherans like to do it classy.

You do NOT want to miss the next post, folks.  You'll see our day trip to Husavik where we went whale watching, but that is not the most interesting part of the day.  Just you wait and see.  Oh, and in case you're disappointed in my crappy garden pics, know that we went back a couple days later because we loved it so much and I took better pictures with my better camera.  Stay tuned.