A side trip to a fishing village

Yesterday I got up early to catch a bus for the short ride to Husavik. This little town is best known for whale watching tours. Apparently they have a 97-99% chance of spotting whales. Well I didn't do a tour but I did spend time in the little town checking out some museums.

I started with the whale museum. They had many skeletons from all the different types of whales around Iceland. There's a smaller whale called the minke that I saw while staying at Skalanes. There's also a whale that has a single tooth that grows out of its jaw like a unicorn's horn that is really cool. Can't quite remember the name though. They also had exhibits on whaling and why it was important for the culture to feed people in the harsh winters. There was also the exhibit on sustainability and the harsh pollution of the ocean.

Next stop was the Culture House. This was very cool where they had lots of antique displays of old Iceland paraphernalia including hunting equipment, a recreated setup room of the first co-op for farmers and lots of other interesting things. Downstairs was a black and white photo exhibit and a maritime exhibition with old boats and a whale skull in the picture below on the right. It was really interesting to see how not much as changed. For instance there was a small boat used for seal hunting that was used up until about 1994.

I went to the local bakery for a little treat and got a delicious cake donut with chocolate frosting. I love these small places!

Ok so last stop in Husavik was the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Yes you read that right- a penis museum. Let the jokes begin....

So before mothers start to cover delicate children's' eyes let me explain. This place is dedicated to the scientific study of the reproductive organ of local Icelandic animals. Who am I kidding- it was a museum with pickled whale peepees. There was everything from a hamster dealio complete with magnifying glass for accurate inspection to a blue whale dingaling. For the record that thing was the size of my whole body. The owner even had lamp shades made from reindeer scrotum- the whole place was very tastefully decorated. I only stayed about 15 minutes because a girl can only absorb so much carnal science before things go blurry and you feel a weird nausea coming on.

I finished off the day back in Akureyri with a relaxing swim at the pool and just as I was going for a little walk stumbled upon the local football (soccer) game starting. I'm pretty sure it was high school. I heard music, found the field and asked what was up. Cost of admission: 1000isk- 1 ticket please. It was great fun to sit in the stands with families cheering for the boys and kids beating homemade drums, chanting for the home team. It was raining like crazy and I didn't have waterproof pants so I left after about 25 minutes but it was super cool to be a part of the spectating crowd.