The Capital of the Westfjords

Yesterday we were allowed to leave Hotel Nupur to visit the capital of the Westfjords: Ísafjörður. It’s about a thirty a forty minute drive from here along winding roads and a 6km long tunnel. 

A village we saw along the way

Our language course is run by the University of the Westfjords which is based in Ísafjörður so we will be visiting several times over the next few weeks but yesterday we had a tour of the town. We started off at the University Centre, which unsurprisingly specialises in Coastal and Marine Management. In fact, the main building is built inside an old fish factory. Next we went to the harbour which holds a lot of boats that go between here and Greenland.

The streets are full of colourful houses, some dating back from 1700s. There’s quite a lot going on for such a small town (population 2,600) and it has plenty of cafes and restaurants, including a Subway! 

The cinema.

The barbers.

The community is so tight-knit here that whenever someone in the city dies, the flag flies at half mast. In the evening I mentioned this to my Finnish room mate because I thought it was so sweet but she seemed surprised that we wouldn’t do this in Britain. Apparently it’s quite common in Finland too. Hanna asked me if we fly a lot of flags in Britain and I felt a bit sad when I explained that people are tentative about hanging flags in case others think they're a member of the BNP!

We went to the town’s music school for some choir practice! It was mostly to help us with Icelandic pronunciation but it was fun. The teacher told us that the school has been there for 64 years and has only had two principles: one man, and when he died his daughter took over.

I’m looking forward to spending more time in Ísafjörður especially as we’ve been promised a night out there one weekend. Who knows what to expect from a small town Icelandic party but my guess is it’ll be a once in a lifetime experience!