Scotland 2019 16: Dunkeld

Our time in Fife was over, with the next stop being Pitlochry.  The journey took us back through St Andrews, over the Tay Bridge to Dundee, then around Perth and north up the A9.  Lunchtime happened to correspond with the town of Dunkeld, so we decided to stop off and take a look.  Dunkeld is small and very attractive, with several shops and eateries (including an excellent bakery where we bought bridies and cake) .  It also boasts a part-ruined "Cathedral" - really not much more than a parish church - which has quite a chequered history.  The Battle of Dunkeld was part of the 1689 Jacobite rising, supporting the deposed James VII of Scotland against William of Orange.  As a result of the battle, the Cathedral has lots of holes caused by musket fire which are clearly visible today.

Dunkeld is a lovely place, and is thoroughly recommended for anyone who needs a bit of respite on the long drive north.  I'm sure we'll be back there at some point.

Iceland 2.16: Grenjaðarstaður

It was Sunday - a week since I'd arrived in Iceland - and a moderately lazy day for us after the exertions of the Kjölur Route.  We started with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel in Akureyri, and I've included a few photos to show the kind of fare which was on offer.  What I haven't included is the bottle of cod liver oil - presumably taken at this latitude to avoid Vitamin D deficiency during the winter months.

We were heading eventually for Mývatn and Reykjahlíð, but since we had plenty of time on our hands we decided to visit a handicraft centre at Grenjaðarstaður.  A great idea in principle, except that neither the road signs nor the car's satellite navigation system seemed capable of getting us there.  Even Harriet, my resident geographer and map reader extraordinaire, was unable to stop us getting lost in the middle of a large hydro-electric power station.  We weren't the only ones, as it happens, and a German car seemed to be using the same "scenic" route as us.  Either that or we were being followed...

We discovered that Grenjaðarstaður was another set of traditional turf houses, as well as being an outlet for local handicrafts.  It was probably the best of the turf houses we'd visited in Iceland (and this includes Laufás two years ago), partly because there were very few people around, but mainly because there was so much more interesting stuff to see.

There was a church on site, and I was keen to take a look inside.  Again I didn't have time to use a tripod, but the Fuji X-T1 and 10-24 OIS lens allowed me to capture the elegant simplicity of the interior without too much difficulty.

It was then time to sample the handicrafts and indulge in the (free) coffee before hitting the road again, this time towards Mývatn.

Iceland 2.15: Hólar and Akureyri

Suitably fortified by our lunch at the "adorable bakery" we headed for Hólar: the site of the second bishopric in Iceland (the first is in Reykjavík) and famous for being the location where Guðbrandur Þorláksson translated, and then printed, an Icelandic version of the bible in 1584.  It is also highly unusual in that the front of the church is made from red sandstone which was quarried close by.  Sedimentary rocks are almost unheard of in Iceland, and it was necessary to import a Polish stonemason to teach the locals how to work with it.

The inhabitants of Hólar clearly make very good fertilizer, if this tree is anything to go by!

The interior of the church was rather different to those we'd visited elsewhere in that it didn't have the classic barrel-vaulted ceiling.  It also possessed a rood screen and an elaborate triptych altar piece, of box construction with gilded carvings on the inside and paintings on the outside.  The custodian explained that the altar piece would normally have been kept closed except for special occasions, but is now on display permanently.

We were shown the rear of one of the panels, depicting two rather gruesome martyrdoms.  The larger painting is of Saint Sebastian (he of the arrow piercings), but I had to do some research about the lady with a sword through her neck.  It appears that she might be Saint Lucy, although this has yet to be confirmed.

These are the font and the organ from the church.

As we still had quite a distance to travel we set off for Akureyri, retracing a journey we'd made almost exactly two years previously.  The conditions were complete different, however: instead of driving rain and zero visibility, this time we had sunshine and a clear blue sky.  As a result we made good time, so decided to visit the nature reserve at Krossanesborgir on the outskirts of the town.  We saw the usual suspects (golden plover, whimbrel, redwing and loads of gulls) but we also had a rock ptarmigan cross the path just in front of us.  One of the images shows just how close the nature reserve is to the working port, with what looks like an oil terminal in the background.

The weather started to cloud over, so we headed to our hotel in Akureyri.  While having a well-earned shower (remember there was only cold water at our hut in Kerlingarfjöll) it started to rain, but not very heavily.  Hungry after a long day's driving we walked into the town centre to see if our favourite kaffi was open for business.  It was!

I snuck a picture of a fire hydrant into the previous set, but I think I may have got away with it...

After an absolutely excellent dinner we wandered around the shops for a while.  Rather than concentrating on the beautiful (and expensive) items available, my eye was taken by the large amount of "ice tat" on sale to tourists.  A micro-sheep, Viking helmet or naff model of a troll, anyone?

The rain cleared eventually, and we walked back up the hill to the hotel.

Akureyri had lost none of its charm since our previous visit, and I still think it's a much nicer place than Reykjavík.  I'm sure we'll find an excuse to go back there at some point in the future.