In Stykkishólmur the weather is unpredictable. There can be sunshine and snow at the same time, but these moments are priceless and in these situations you want to have your camera ready because there are moments with the light and nature that you only see for a few seconds and then they are gone. Today Eldhús found a nice spot down on the dock near a large cliff with an amazing view over the islands of Breiðafjörður.
My brother spent his summers on one of those islands as a kid. He told me he once saw a killer whale throw a seal meters in the air, like in ice skating when they throw their female dancers in the air. But this was not dancing, he was playing with the seal before having it for dinner. Today though we are not having dinner - we are having lunch.
Our chef of the day is a local named Sumarliði Ásgeirsson. He's originally from Reykjavík but after meeting a nice girl from Stykkishólmur he decided to settle there. It's a place that is known for great seafood especially mussels, which is his dish of the day. While he sets up his gas stove I notice our guests out the window so I'd better finish setting the table.
This fine Friday, we welcome five guests, four girls from Australia; Courtney, Tamarra, Rosa and Connie plus one American; Todd Clancy from Atlanta, Georgia. There are a young crowd that were willing to take a day off their schedules in Iceland for a bit of an adventure in the west of Iceland. Todd had been before but the girls were here for the first time. Mostly hoping for a chance to see the northern lights but also two of them wanted to go to a rave with DJ Tiesto. Interesting choices, I wonder if we get them to dance after lunch.
Sumarliði was fast getting his specialty together, mussels in a cream sauce with root vegetables and herbs. On the side he served a nice bread bun to dip into the sauce and as the guests found their seats the chef told them all to "dig in."
Everyone was ecstatic to get seafood as they all admitted that they do not get much seafood in their hometowns. Todd said that good mussels are really rare in Atlanta so it's a good thing they came to Stykkishólmur, a place us Icelanders like to think of as the mussel capital of Iceland.
Sumarliði brought a second portion of mussels to the table that disappeared like the first one, while drinking coffee the group said that they intended to see more of the west this same day. The white peaks of the mountains glistened on this fair day so the group was in for something special. Courtney, a lively one, said she had a new slogan for Iceland that I feel is good to close with: "Iceland. More than a volcano."