Iceland summer 2024 - wet and cold and rainy

This summer, at least here in South Iceland, wasn't particularly good, at least from a weather perspective.

Cold and wet

I just read in the newspaper that the highest temperature recorded in Reykjavík this summer was only 63,3 °F resp. 17.4 °C - this temperature was recorded in the capital on July 15th and August 3rd.

The summer in Reykjavík was not only relatively cold, but also wet above average - the rainfall in July was 80% above the average for the years 1991 to 2020. The last time there was as much rain as this year was in 1984 .

Counter-proposal: An ideal summer

I actually imagine the ideal summer to be a little different, with more sun, a little more warmth and, above all, several nice days in a row.

Yes, this year there was always a nice day, or at least a few nice hours - as soon as we could, we took advantage of the good weather and ate on the terrace, enjoyed an ice cream in the sun or even an iced coffee ( for me with a little dash of licorice syrup, I love it!).

But several dry days in a row were rare for us this year.

We actually wanted to paint our terrace again this summer, but after all the snow last winter we really needed it. But I can't paint when it rains - well, I can, but it doesn't help because the paint or oil comes off straight away when it rains.

In one day my husband managed to paint at least half of the terrace - by the time half of it was dry and we could put the furniture back down, the dry weather was over again, unfortunately it wasn't possible to continue painting the next day...

The last onset of winter was at the beginning of June this year, when there was plenty of fresh snow in the north and east and roads were closed for days. In our south there was only a heavy storm and a bit of snow...

And throughout the rest of the summer there was one weather warning after the next, with repeated heavy rain, storms and the risk of landslides.

There is also another (yellow) weather warning for tomorrow and the day after (August 30th/31st). The meteorologists are expecting heavy rain in the west and in the Westfjords, combined with the risk of landslides , because everything is simply too wet and the earth with it is also too heavy. Throughout the summer there have been landslides, buried roads and even damaged houses in various parts of the country - everything was simply too wet.

The roads are and were sometimes difficult to pass; especially in the highlands, the rivers carry so much water that many drivers got stuck in their vehicles while fording.

At the weekend a friend wanted to go to Kerlingarfjöll - but she failed a few kilometers from the destination because there had been so much snowfall the night before that the road was completely impassable - and that in August !

This year summer for us apparently only lasted from mid-June to mid-August - and then it was often wet, rainy and cold and windy too.

Let's see if autumn delivers what summer didn't promise...

Winter 2023/24

[Translated from here]

Food Tour at the Old Harbour of Reykjavík

Bite-sized Iceland

I love exploring a city through culinary delights - even (and especially) when I already know the city quite well. In the summer of 2016 I took part in a culinary city tour of the “Reykjavík Food Walk”, and in the fall of 2021 I took part in a “Food Walk” through downtown Reykjavík, then together with my husband.

This time I asked my husband to take part in a culinary event again, and we ended up booking the "Old Harbor Food and Walking Tour", a food tour in the Old Harbor, through the "Get Your Guide" website.

We've already had a city tour through the city center, the "sweet cat tour" didn't fit the dates offered, and I wouldn't have much use for a distillery tour, I don't like alcohol. But we already know a little about Grandi, the old port area of ​​the city, especially with the diverse culinary offerings that have developed here in recent years. That sounded exciting, so we decided to go for it!

The tour currently costs 16,900 ISK per adult, so we paid 111 € (124 US-$) for each of us. There was really plenty of food and we got very full during the tour in a very pleasant way. The offer also specifically points out that it's not just a tasting, but that you can eat so much that you don't have to eat out again afterwards - we can completely confirm that! This price really covers a complete meal with drinks. If you consider that you pay around 20 € for a burger with fries in a very simple restaurant and around 11,000 ISK, i.e. more than 70 €, for a starter, main course and dessert with a beer in a good mid-range restaurant The price for the food tour is really fair - especially since there is a lot of different food.

The tour is designed for small groups . When we were there, there were 5 other people taking part besides us, a young couple and a family of 3, all from the USA. Basically, a maximum of 8 participants are planned per tour. The tour takes place in English.

The tour provider is Bite-Sized Iceland.

Behind it is Sabrina, an American who has been married to an Icelander for over 20 years. They initially lived in Denmark with their children for a long time, but they have now been living in Iceland for several years. This year Sabrina started her own business.

Since she is an immigrant herself, Sabrina has a different view on life and culinary traditions in Iceland than people who grew up eating foods like rotten fish, sheep's head or sour whey as a matter of course. On the other hand, she experiences this through her Icelandic family and probably completely everyday culinary life, especially through her Icelandic mother-in-law. She is therefore the ideal person to "serve" her current home Iceland to foreign visitors in a bite-sized manner and to give an insight into the Icelandic culture, the special features and the food here. You can really see her enthusiasm and interest in Icelandic food!

According to the description, the meeting point for the tour was actually supposed to be at a bakery in Mýragata, near the Saga Museum and the restaurant Matur og Drykkur, but since the bakery has moved, we met at a hotel there.

Since the tour is not just a food tour, but also a walking tour, Sabrina took us on a short walk and told us a lot about everyday life here in Reykjavík. How do the Icelanders live? Why do they love colorful houses? What stories are behind the many graffiti here and behind the small corrugated iron houses? And how do Icelanders celebrate New Year's Eve - and what does the rescue teams' big ship have to do with it?

Sabrina explained all this and much more to us, clearly and with great attention to detail and her personal impressions while walking through the Old Harbor district.

Our first culinary stop was a small bakery where we had the most Icelandic cake to try: Hjónabandssæla, which means "Happy Marriage Cake". While we ate comfortably, Sabrina gave us an insight into the Icelandic cake and pastry tradition.

After the very traditional pastries, we continued with modern Icelandic cuisine - with lamb. Lamb, skyr and flatbread are traditional Icelandic foods that have shaped the island's food culture since the conquest in the 9th century. Here, these traditional foods are combined with traditional preparation methods from the Middle East and a kind of “fusion cuisine” is created. Definitely very tasty!

Afterwards we stopped at a traditional restaurant at the harbor. Founded in 1935, it is probably the oldest restaurant still in operation in Iceland. It has been in the current building for almost 50 years. In the past, it was mainly hungry fishermen and workers from the fish factories here at the harbor who came here, often after their shift. And since most of the visitors had worked in fish all day, the menu at that time mainly consisted of simple and cheap meat dishes, such as svið (= singed head of a sheep) with potatoes and turnips.

Today the customer base has changed, the old fish factories here no longer exist - and so fish dishes are now primarily on the menu here.

During our food tour we were served a selection of typical Icelandic fish dishes. First there was a small portion of fish soup, then several large pans were placed on the table for everyone to help themselves to. That day there was plokkfiskur with rúgbrauð , i.e. pounded fish with the sweet, soft Icelandic rye bread, fried fish with potatoes and fiskibollur, i.e. fish cakes, with onions.

Sabrina said that in the past - not so long ago, when her husband was still a child - it was often customary here in Iceland to eat fish and potatoes 5 days a week, sometimes fresh fish and freshly cooked potatoes and then on the next day the leftovers were processed into plokkfiskur. On Sundays there might also be potatoes with meat, fresh vegetables, fruit or salad were in short supply. You just had to take what was available and feed your family with it. The older generation still lives and cooks like this today, but the younger generation enjoys the variety on today`s menus.

There was even an insight into the Icelandic pub culture, in the oldest operating brewery in Iceland at the historic harbor we were able to try local beer or a non-alcoholic cocktail.

On old photos on the walls you can see what these rooms used to look like when fish was still processed here on a large scale.

In between, Sabrina also gave us an insight into everyday culinary life here - where, for example, do Icelanders shop when they want something really good for invitations, birthdays, confirmations or celebrations? Given the prices here (e.g. lamb fillet for 11,490 ISK/kg, i.e. a good € 75) it's not something for everyday life - but definitely worth it for special occasions!

She also had numerous samples for us in her backpack, from licorice chocolate for baking to dried fish with butter, and always a nice story to go with it, from Egill Skallagrímsson, an Icelandic saga hero from the 10th century, to Johan Bülow, the Dane who founded his own licorice factory in 2007 - inspired of course by Icelandic licorice chocolate!

Our tour ended with eating ice cream at Valdís in Grandi - and of course Sabrina also talked about the Icelanders' passion for ice cream, regardless of wind and weather, and of course also about the typical Icelandic Ísbíltúr .

We definitely enjoyed our food tour with Sabrina at the Old Port of Reykjavík, we got very full in a very pleasant way and had a really entertaining and enjoyable tour!

Takk fyrir!

[Translated from here.]

The next eruption on Reykjanes peninsula

August 23rd, 2024 -
View from the hill at Reykjanesbraut

Fissure eruptions at the Sundhnúkur craters

The Sundhnúkur crater row eruptions are a series of eruptions that began in December 2023 north of the coastal town of Grindavík and east of the Svartsengi power plant. These are fissure eruptions in which a few craters were isolated over time and then gradually went out again. And with the next eruption a new crack opens again...

The first outbreak

The first eruption in this series began on December 18th, 2023 at around 10:17 p.m. A fissure about 4 km long opened up, but narrowed to two craters after just one day. The outbreak ended on December 21st, when no more activity was detected in the craters.

Source: mbl.is / Árni Sæberg

The second outbreak

During the next eruption, shortly before 8 a.m. on January 14th, 2024, a new fissure opened near Mount Hagafell and several small fissures near Grindavík. The lava destroyed three houses on the outskirts of the town, which burned down completely. The outbreak was on January 16th ended.

Source: mbl.is / Árni Sæberg

The third outbreak

February 8th - View of the outbreak
from a hill near Reykjanesbraut

The next eruption followed on February 8th, 2024 at around 5:30 a.m., around 30 minutes after the earthquake began. The eruption occurred in approximately the same location as the first eruption on December 18th. The fissure was around 3 km long. During the eruption, the lava flooded the Grindavíkurvegur and the hot water pipe, leaving the Suðurnes region without hot water for several days. However, the new line was completed in record time.

The intensity of the eruption increased again during the first day and on February 9th no more activity was detected in the craters.

View from the plane
on March 22, 2024

The fourth outbreak

On March 16th, 2024, at 8:23 p.m., a fissure opened between the Stóri-Skógfell and Hagafell mountains. The fissure was 3.5 km long. The lava flowed west and south, but the dikes around the town of Grindavík held.

During the course of the eruption, activity was initially concentrated in 7 to 8 craters, but by the end of March only two craters were active. At the beginning of April there was only activity in one crater, which ended after around a month. The outbreak lasted until May 8th.

The fifth outbreak

The next eruption followed on May 29th, 2024 , when it opened a 1 - 2 km long fissure northeast of Mount Sýlingarfell, which quickly extended to around 3.5 km. On June 4th, activity decreased significantly and then became concentrated in only one crater. The eruption destroyed electricity pylons, Grindavík's power supply failed and lava flooded the Grindavíkurvegur and Nesvegur. Activity in the crater ended on June 22nd.

View from the Reykjanesbraut on June 8, 2024

The sixth outbreak

The sixth eruption began on August 22nd, 2024 at 9:26 p.m., just under half an hour after the earthquakes began. The eruption was in a similar location as before, but during the evening, after a strong earthquake after the eruption began, it opened even further to the north, initially covering a distance of more than 7 km.

When the eruption began, there were around 1,300 people in the Blue Lagoon. The evacuation began around 9 p.m. and was still ongoing when the eruption began, but went without any problems.

We were in the hot pot on our terrace in the evening when a friend informed us by message: "Volcano did start!!!!" We were completely surprised, until the evening nothing had indicated an imminent eruption, even if the experts were The land uplift and the accumulated magma had been expecting the next eruption for 6 weeks. So I immediately grabbed my cell phone and looked it up!

After swimming, we turned on the television and watched the live broadcast on Icelandic television with excitement.

Fortunately, things are looking good so far with this eruption in terms of local infrastructure, the lava is flowing more northwards, so there is no current new threat to the city of Grindavík, and so far no hot water or power lines are at risk from the lava .

On the way to the airport the next evening (August 23rd) we also had a look at the current fissure eruption, not that far away from the Reykjanesbraut - but still several kilometers away, so no danger.

Because so many people stopped right next to the road to look at and take photos of the eruption, the police reduced the speed on a section of Reykjanesbraut from 90 km/h to 50 km/h for safety reasons, and the barrier posted on Grindavíkurvegur was moved a little further down the street so that people could drive in and park safely and securely.

We made a quick stop on a hill at Reykjanesbraut, opposite the entrance to Grindavíkurvegur, and had a nice view of the eruption.

August 23rd, 2024

Unfortunately, we both had an aisle seat on the flight, so no direct view of the volcano. I could only see anything on the cell phone screen of the person sitting next to me and caught a glimpse of the eruption through the front window.

{Translated from here]

Kúrbítssúpa

Zucchini soup

While shopping at Litla Bændabúðin recently in Flúðir, I "inherited" a zucchini from a friend who bought a three-pack of fresh zucchinis, which I then spontaneously made into a very tasty soup at home.

Zucchini are a subspecies of garden squash that belong to the cucurbit family. It is a breed that was originally bred by indigenous peoples in Central America and then came to Europe with seafarers in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today zucchinis also grow in Icelandic greenhouses.

The English name "zucchini" comes from Italian, where this fruit is called "zucchino", a diminutive of "zucca" (= "pumpkin").

In Icelandic, the zucchini is called "kúrbítur".

Ingredients for 4 servings

500 g zucchini

1 onion

2 Tbsp oil

1 bouillon cube / 1 Tbsp vegetable broth powder

500 ml water

1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 pinch of pepper

250 ml whipping cream

Preparation

Peel the zucchini and onion and cut into coarse pieces.

Fry the vegetables in the oil in a large pot.

Pour the boiling water over it, add the bouillon cube or some soup powder and then let the whole thing simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes.

Puree the vegetables with a blender or similar. I didn't puree it very finely because I still like a few pieces of vegetables in the soup, but everyone does it differently.

Add the liquid cream and stir.

Season with salt and pepper, if necessary leave it on the stove for a while so that the soup with the cold cream in it gets a little warmer.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Litla Bændabúðin

The small farm store in Flúðir 

If you come to Flúðir, I can really recommend a visit to Litla Bændabúðin, the small farm store, on the outskirts of the village, by one of the greenhouses here. 

This special shopping opportunity is open all year round and offers daily fresh food directly from the farmer, products from small producers and organically produced food.

A wide range of products

The small farm store in Fluðir primarily sells Icelandic produce directly from various farms in the country.

It sells fresh fruit and vegetables, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, zucchinis, peppers, mushrooms, turnips and carrots as well as strawberries and raspberries from the greenhouses in the area, e.g. from Flúðir itself, but also from Laugarás or Reykholt. 

Some of the fruit and vegetables are frozen directly by the producers and then sold here. 

Many of the vegetables are also sold unpackaged, so you can choose what you want and then pack your purchase in the paper bags provided or take one of the pre-packed bags.

A whole wall in the small farm store is also full of fresh herbs in pots.

There is also a considerable number of meat products, lamb, beef and horse, from steaks and minced meat and hamburgers to smoked sausage ("bjúga"), horse stew and "bratwurstpylsur" in the fridges and freezer counter. 

There are also numerous dairy products on sale, from butter, skyr and ice cream to various cheese specialties, e.g. the delicious goat cheese from the Háafell goat farm in Hvítársíða in Vesturland. 

Local small-scale producers also sell their products in the store, e.g. the woman who brings her home-made jams or the freshly baked, fluffy banana bread. But you have to be lucky to catch these products when they are delivered - they are only available in small quantities and sell out quickly!   

Specialties that you can get here include trout from Tungufellsdalur near the Gullfoss waterfall, which you can then put on the barbecue at home, or honey from the beekeeper in Húsatóftir.

Since spring 2024, the small farm store in Flúðir has also been working with the GK bakery in Selfoss, and the store now sells fresh sourdough bread and rolls, some rye bread, ham croissants or pizza dough made from sourdough or fluffy sweet snails.

There are also various products from "móðir jörð", the organic farm Vallanes in East Iceland, near Egilsstaðir - of course their barley (bankabyggð), but I have also seen muesli and baking mixes there, e.g. for the typical Icelandic lummur (small, thick pancakes).

The offer depends on the harvest and availability! 

There are also various handicraft products, such as wooden coasters in the shape of Iceland in various sizes, pretty figurines or colorful aprons. 

To round off the range, Italian wines, vinegar or organic chocolate from Germany, for example, are also on offer.

Opening hours

When we were there in mid-August, the small farm store was open daily from Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 5.30 pm. The opening hours change, in winter it is probably only open from 1 pm to 5 pm. If you want to go there, it might be best to check the Facebook or Instagram page of Litla Bædabúð, where you can always find the current opening times.  

[Translated from here.]

Skúffukaka í heila ofnskúffu

Icelandic chocolate cake from a tray

"Skúffa" is the Icelandic word for "drawer" or "baking tray" (= "oven drawer"), and accordingly "skúffukaka" is a cake that is traditionally baked as a sheet cake. The classic Icelandic sheet cake, the "skúffukaka", is a chocolate cake with a thick layer of buttercream or powdered sugar icing, often with grated coconut on top or a bit of licorice.

There are an incredible number of recipes for Skúffukaka, and I have already posted various variations here on the blog. Normally I bake smaller recipes, for a 10 x 14 inches (25 x 35 cm) baking tin or something similar, this time we had visitors who I wanted to present to "classic Icelandic cake", and in addition to carrot cake, there were cinnamon rolls and a "strawberry bomb". with meringue, just a complete sheet of skúffukaka. However, we didn't manage to make the whole cake - I froze part of it.

Our coffee table

Ingredients for the dough

570 g flour
740 g sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp fine salt

70 g baking cocoa

1 pinch of ground vanilla

210 g melted butter

700 ml milk

4 eggs

Ingredients for the glaze

600 g powdered sugar

1 pinch of salt

80 g baking cocoa

1 Tbsp cappuccino powder

70 - 80 ml lukewarm water

Preparation

In a large (!) bowl, mix the flour with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, baking cocoa and ground vanilla.

Add the melted butter to the dough, as well as the milk and eggs.

Then spread the dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper, smooth it out and let it bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 30 to 40 minutes until it is completely baked through (toothpick test!).

While the cake is cooling, prepare the icing:

Mix the powdered sugar with the salt, the baking cocoa and the cappuccino powder, then add the warm water and mix everything thoroughly. Be careful not to form any lumps!

Then spread the icing on the sheet cake and let it set.

If you like, you can garnish the fresh icing to your heart's content, for example with coconut sprinkles or a little licorice .

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]