Vogur Country Hotel

     We are so in the middle of nowhere that I couldn't find a town nearby to use as a title.  We are on the edge of the West Fjords area of Iceland, looking across Breidafördur to the Snæfellsjökull glacier and volcano.  We drove 26 miles of "improved" gravel road to get here.  Most of the roads we've been on are relatively narrow, paved roads with fairly narrow shoulders.  They are in good condition and have bright yellow markers along the sides so you can find the road in a snowstorm - helpful while driving yesterday.  The road signs are in Icelandic and we have figured out some of them.  My favorites are the electronic ones that tell you your speed as you enter a town.  If you aren't speeding you get a smiley face, going too fast and you get frowns.  The gravel road was even narrower, but almost no traffic. 

    Several of the places we're spending the night are so far off the beaten path that dinner is offered as well as breakfast.  Last night we had Atlantic Char for dinner - it's similar to salmon and was delicious. However, horse tenderloin was another choice for dinner and was also served sliced with the cold breakfast meats this morning.  Rick tried it and said that it was sort of stringy.   When we returned to our room last night I saw a herd of Icelandic horses just ten steps from the little patio outside our room.  I really enjoyed watching them and was happy not to have eaten one for dinner.

    We have been driving through farm country today and had to stop for mama sheep and her lambs.  This was a day of interesting everyday things to see: lots of lambs, calves, and kids; hundreds of nesting swans and geese, small white churches with red roofs, rushing streams, green fields of new grass, little farms tucked into the hills.  The wind is ferocious today.  It feels like it can blow you off your feet.  My Nordic Visitor Travel Advisor called me on the phone they provide for our use in Iceland to tell me that some roads were closing due to winds and storms in the West Fjord peninsula.  She was worried that we might either not get to our hotel out there tomorrow or get there and be stuck for a few days.   She cancelled our reservations and changed them to an area more inland where roads won't be closed.  I consider this really excellent service!

    So tonight we're at the end of nowhere overlooking snowcapped mountains and a fjord.  We can lay on our King size bed and see the wind blowing the tops off the waves.  We had an excellent, but expensive dinner at the hotel.  (The nearest alternative is back over 26 miles of gravel at a luncheonette which serves hamburgers and hotdogs).  I really loved the cream of celery soup and homemade bread that was our starter.  The slab of butter was served on a flat rock!  (our pitcher of water yesterday had rocks in the bottom that were supposed to have healing powers so we should be real healthy when we get home).  We then had a baked cod type fish with squash puree, and finished with brownies and whipped cream.  It would be nice to walk it off, but even after a dinner like this we would be blown away.