September 18th: Mostly a rest day. For lunch, we headed for a Curry Bowl restaurant only to find that it had apparently been abandoned years ago and its patio overgrown. (Online photos of the place showed tables where those bushes are now.)
So we went to a nearby sushi restaurant instead. The fish was very fresh.
I went for nigiri plus a roll.Carol chose 3 rolls. Probably a better deal.
September 19th: Breakfast at the bakery by the bus station. I went (uncharacteristically) for pizza while Carol grabbed a slice of cheese pie.
Then we took an Uber up to the Gornji Grad (“Upper Town”) section of old Zagreb. And I do mean “up”.
It’s higher than the rooftops of most of the rest of the city, and has great views.
It’s such a steep drop that there’s a cog railway spanning it.
Then we just cruised around the neighborhood for a bit.
I thought I saw a tiny hummingbird in a flower bed, and spent several minutes trying to catch a photo of it. This blurry image is about the best I could do. But I now think that it was probably a hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum).
The graded gravel road we were supposed to take was blocked by a backhoe and a dump truck. We took this to mean that they really really didn’t want anyone to take it. This is how it is. We found an alternate route.
But Google Maps didn’t know that there was a west-side road, parking lot, or visitor center for Dettifoss. It wanted us to drive an extra hour to get to the east-side access point. We ignored it. The west side was all new-ish and in great condition, so it was a pleasant and easy drive.
A short hike later we were at the falls. It boasts the 2nd-highest flow rate among Icelandic waterfalls.
Dettifoss from the west sideThe mist made a rainbow downstream.
For lunch we stopped at Fjallakaffi, a farm-cafe with a good reputation. They are famous for reindeer steak, but sadly weren’t serving the dinner menu yet.
The restaurant is insulated with turf blocks and a grass roof.Carol had the lamb soup. Have I mentioned that the lamb soup is always good everywhere?I tried the Icelandic Moss soup. Yes, that’s moss. Tasted a bit like seaweed.
For dinner, we had a long drive, right through the largish town of Egilsstaðir and out to the small town of Seyðisfjörður at the end of a narrow fjord. It has an excellent harbor, and Viking cruise ships stop here. It’s perhaps best known for its “Rainbow Street” and “Blue Church”.
We were on a grail quest for Icelandic sushi, and after having our “Viking sushi” tour canceled, this was our best shot. We were not disappointed. The sushi at Norð Austur – Sushi & Bar is all fresh, all local. We started with a “sashimi plus hot rock” plate, where you sear the items as much as you want. The smoked monkfish in particular was a delight.
On rock: smoked Monkfish. On plate: Scallops, Lemon Sole, Salmon belly.
Then we had the large nigiri/sashimi combination:
Nigiri plate: top: Uni, Mackerel, smoked Salmon, Clam, seared Salmon; bottom: Scallop, Salmon, Shrimp, smoked Char, Lemon Sole. Sashimi plate: Scallop, Char, Lemon Sole, Salmon belly. 6500 ISK = US$51.31. But no tipping or tax added to that, so would be about the same as $41 + 8% tax + 15% tip.
This was the best and most memorable meal we had had in Iceland so far, ranging from very good to astonishing. I joked that we should just stay in town for the rest of our trip, and eat here every night. (Note: Reservations are advisable, and some dishes have to be ordered well in advance as they take hours to prepare.)
Energy and Time 