Sailing we go

Today we left the lovely Westfjords of Iceland.  We are working our way south towards the airport, since we fly out in a few days.  The main purpose of today was to cross from Brjanslaekur to Stykkisholmur on the ferry.  We had a pretty short drive, so we slept in a little later.  We arrived at the ferry early, so we hung out in the oddly sunny weather.  The ferry crossing took a little over two and a half hours.  We stopped off at the island of Flatey, where only people could get off and on.  It is a neat island, with some accomodation, but it is all walking - no cars.  There are lots of bird areas to see, but we just enjoyed the short view we had.It was a perfect day for a cruise, and the water was smooth.  The wind did get a bit cool, but in the sun, it was fine.  When we arrived at Stykkisholmur, getting off of the ferry was a bit of a chore.  As we were packed in tightly, I had to wait for some slowpokes to come down from the deck to get in their car, so I had room to leave.  Once we were all in the car, we headed west towards Olafsvik (If you were paying attention to an earlier entry, this means Olaf's Port).  On the way we saw a sign for a Shark Meat museum.  It was housed in a family farm that has been processing (fermenting and drying) shark meat for centuries.  Our very enthusiastic presenter mentioned that the boat in the museum was one his Grandfather used to hunt sharks.  The only native species of shark in Iceland is the Greenland shark.  They stopped fishing for shark in the 50's, and now just buy sharks that larger fishing vessels accidentally catch.  The tour finished up with an opportunity to try the shark.   We all looked at each other like "go ahead, after you."  Carrie asked Les if he was going to try it, since he's like Mikey.  He said, "If Jared does."  So, of course, I had to dive in.  We had to marinate the chunk of shark in Icelandic schnapps, and then eat the shark - chasing it with the schnapps.  We both succesfully kept ours down.  So we bought shirts to commemorate the occasion.Back on the road, we headed to Olafsvik.  We noticed that there were a lot of pink banners, balloons, and assorted party favors displayed in the town.  Later we found out that every town in Iceland has some sort of summer festival, and this was their time.  Unfortunately, that rendered our dinner search fruitless in the town.  We checked in to our lodging (called a guesthouse online, but more of a hostel - TripAdvisor reviews here we come!), and walked to find dinner.  The first recommended one made us wait for about 10 minutes before acknowledging us, then told us apologetically, they couldn't seat anyone right now - people had already been waiting for their ordered food for over 45 minutes, and they didn't want to add to the frustration in the restaurant.  We walked across the street to the next one, and they asked if we had reservations.  Unfortunately, they were totally booked for the night. We decided to leave the festival location, and Carrie found a restaurant a short drive away that could seat us.  We knew it might have a limited menu, but they were super nice, so we went.  The last time we had such a limited menu, I was on the short end of the stick with a cold, pre-made sandwich for dinner (but it was good, just not a hot meal).  This time, I won the prize for good eats, with a large chicken breast covered in a delicious sauce.  Chickens seem to be primarily egg-producers in Iceland, rather than meat source.  I was missing it, and I was happy.  Pat had a ham and cheese crepe with veggies.  The salad looked pretty good, but I think Iceland has a moral issue with salad dressing.  They almost never have it.  Carrie said her crepe looked like a quesadilla, but Pat said it was good.  Les and Carrie got gratinzed fish.  Expecting a substantial meal, what they got was essentially mashed potatoes with shredded fish inside, covered with a little cheese and broiled.  They both said it was good, but if you had told them there was no fish inside, they would have believed you.  Both left feeling unfulfilled.  So, we hoped the fast food option inside the gas station next to our lodging would still be open.  Les ordered hot wings.  The clerk made sure he knew they were not fried, but roasted.  There's a new wrinkle.  He said, at least it was solid food.We are definitely winding down for the evening.  It is still early, so I think Les and Pat want a chance at spades redemption.