On our way out of the Myvatn area, I asked Ray to pull over to the side of the road so I could take a picture of the valley that we had passed. Oh my God! The midge swarm was incredible! I ran back to the vista, got the picture, and bolted back to the car. Here's the picture (it wasn't worth the aggravation):
Here's what I was trying to escape:
After that, we started off the day with a visit to Godafoss, a horseshoe-shaped waterfall, about 10 Miles West of Myvatn. We took a short trail to the overlook, then another down to the river for perspective.
From there, we headed to a Akureyri, Iceland's second city, kind of a mini Reykjavik. The city has a lovely botanical garden, which is a city park. It showwcases northern plants, which are conveniently labeled. Flower beds, were nicely maintained, and there are paths that crisscross through the park. There was a view down to the harbor where there were two cruise ships docked.
We also stopped at the Akureyri church, that had a crushed volcanic rock facade. It's very modern. Normally there are huge steps that lead up to the church from the city center, but they were torn up and being reconfigured, and were closed. So we drove to the church. We were surprised to see there was a 5 euro charge to enter. So, we opened the door, stepped in, snapped a photo and left.
From Akureyri, we headed to our stopping point for the day, Varmalid ( pronounced Varmaleeth). This was an incredibly beautiful up and down journey through green valleys lined with sheep farms and hay fields, and up craggy mountains. Ray was always looking for sheep stepping into the 2 lane road.
Our hotel is fairly modern, and a sign in the bathroom notified us to take care with the hot water. It is geothermally heated and could easily scald you if you weren't aware you need to temper it. The restaurant at the hotel was very good, although, as in most of the restaurants we've visited, the menu selection was limited, to say the least. We both had the garlic pasta chicken, which was very good.
Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SzXbQWxKg3g2qXjdA
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