Djúpivogur, Iceland

Who knew? What appeared as the smallest, the least significant port of all places we visited in Iceland this year, turned to be by far the most beautiful.

Reykjavík is of course, a capitol and basically only place most of the people will be familiar with, however outside of capitol Iceland's cities are really very, very tiny and underpopulated - back home, our villages in a countryside probably boast more inhabitants than what Ísafjörður or Akureyri have here. But it is a summer and no matter where you are, its just lovely to have a walk outside in the fresh air so I went out today (fighting laziness) even thought I knew that Djúpivogur has population under 500 (!) and did not expect anything, really.

I guess to the small local population, arrival of our big cruise ship must appear as invasion: 2 000 guests + crew start milling around in confusion, since people are used to have commercial centres, shopping malls, restaurants and such but there's nothing much here really. If you see the world trough prism of commodities and things you can buy, look elsewhere. There is a supermarket, post office and occasional office building I guess, but most of what you see are simply family houses scattered elsewhere and a wonderful feeling of being close to the nature. Almost like a frontier town, a place in extreme wilderness. 

Once you get over the fact that this is not a typical tourist destination and no, you can't buy souvenirs, fridge magnets and trinkets around here (I avoided souvenir shop but there is one if you are inclined so) you need to step out of the box and start thinking differently. What is here to do, than, since obviously there is no shopping malls, Wi Fi, Starbucks, McDonald's and everything we got used to find everywhere? Like Alice, wondering what is the point of the books without pictures, I had to just let it go and enjoy a walk. Step by step I found out that I am leaving layers of my old self behind - first, I switched off the darn music because suddenly I was overwhelmed with the desire to just breathe a fresh mountain air and listen the silence of the nature. Than I started snapping the photos of mountain peaks looming all over the place and daydreaming about the dazzling panorama around me.

Just by walking aimlessly, I discovered this strange work of art called "The Eggs of Merry Bay" (Eggin í Gleðivík) created by the local artist Sigurður Guðmundsson and they represent eggs of the local birds (look closely, they are all different and belong to different species). It is really interesting how the closeness to the nature made locals so sensitive about our world, diversity and beauty - not having all those Starbucks and McDonald's around resulted in people being very creative, more attuned to the life around and yes, I dare to say, more spiritual. Being so far away from big cities and living harmoniously & respectfully with the nature, local people in Djúpivogur (all 500 of them) must have spiritual awareness that is completely alien to anybody crushed in big towns. The mountains, the sea, the open - and in the evening probably starry - sky, this is all so magnificent. Some of my colleagues couldn't even be bothered to go outside "because there is no Wi Fi and no Starbucks and what's the point"  but I just had the best time being so close to the nature, the sea, the wind and simply walking on the grass. I am absolutely sure that if by some chance I end up living here, I would turn completely into nature-loving, tree-hugging pagan who brews the berries and dances under the moonlight.

The best of all was a little private Heaven, absolutely charming private museum & gallery called "Gallery Freevilli" which is on the way to the Eggs monument - just when you stop to admire the most amazing pyramid mountain (I have never seen such a perfect pyramid) out of the blue there is this little gallery which is free of charge, it is a simply a labour of love of its owner (Vilmundur Þorgrímsson) who collects stones, driftwood, minerals, bones and everything from the nature. If you are inclined to buy something, it's fine, but the whole purpose of this is that he loves to show his collection with no other expectations than to share it with people who will appreciate this - bones, sticks, stones, original Icelandic minerals, rocks and fossils, this is his Heaven and he obviously takes great care about his hobby, in fact, everything around the house is arranged and created so lovingly that its clear it took him probably years to built it all. I actually bought a pendant made from Orca Whale bone which caught my attention instantly as I entered the place and for once its something not intended for other people but for myself. There is a wonderfully creative footpath that leads to the top of the hill above the house and this is where Villi created stone figures who are representing people looking at the sea - mothers, daughters, children waiting for the sailors to return. Willi also has a lovely dog who delights in catching the ball - I told Willi that he is the best thing about Djúpivogur and I honestly think so, what a wonderful, interesting and creative man living in the middle of nowhere and creating his own little world out of the sheer imagination! He made my day and in fact I must admit that - completely unexpectedly - tiny little Djúpivogur turned out to be the richest, the most unforgettable experience in Iceland this year.