Scents in the morning bring sadness and worry - Week 5, everyday life in the Westfjords

By now we have settled in pretty well here in Isafjörður. The first month went by in a flash. You get used to sudden storms, the changeable yet mild weather, high food costs, unlocked house and apartment doors (we don't lock ours anymore either), relaxed and flexible working hours, spontaneity, and the uncomplicated way of life.
We have also gotten used to complete strangers knowing our names - it's just a 'village' where everyone knows everyone. For example: We always order pizza on Tuesdays and the waiter - even though they have never served us - writes both of our names on the order. It's a strange feeling when complete strangers know your name.

What we haven't quite gotten used to yet is our daily commute to work. Depending on the weather, it only takes about 5 to 10 minutes, but those few minutes can be challenging at times.
The first few weeks, the path was covered in snow and then completely icy. It's not just slippery, but the ground is like a mirror surface and while one foot slides to the left, the other slides forward.
The following week, it was wet and cold, and due to the reflection of light, puddles appeared half as deep as they actually were - so wet feet were the result more than once.
Lately, the path has been clear and it felt like spring is coming (we made the most of every minute of sunshine on those days)...finally, we could walk to work without wet feet or slipping - well, that didn't last long. We had to overcome a completely new obstacle, which was particularly difficult for one of us - the smell of fish in the morning. It's not just a faint smell of fish - no: it's a pungent, unpleasant, and strong fish smell. While one Franzi sheds tears because of the strong wind, the other Franzi feels nauseous the whole way - we're a real dream team...we don't even want to know what it must have looked like to an outsider!

Since March 10, 2021, a blizzard has been raging here (we were too early with our excitement for spring), forcing us to walk to work in ski gear. We have never experienced anything like this before. Without ski goggles, it's impossible to see ahead, and without ski pants, it's impossible to handle the sudden snowdrifts if you want to arrive dry.

Enough about our commute: One thing we still haven't gotten used to (and probably never will) are the exorbitant alcohol prices, it's unbelievable that here you can pay as much for a beer as for a pizza (1000 ISK = 6.57 Euro). The cheapest wine we found here costs 14 euros....definitely not for us Swabians!!!
Another little fact about alcohol: It was banned in Iceland for a long time - only in 1989 was the sale of beer legalized. It's kind of crazy!

Since we have online lectures next week, we plan to visit a town in the north called Akureyri to explore the area. But at the moment, due to the blizzard, it's not even possible to drive to the next fjord, so it remains to be seen whether we can actually carry out our plan...Have we already mentioned that Akureyri is an 8-hour drive away? The next road trip is imminent!

We will update you in the next blog post whether our excursion actually takes place or if we're stuck here...

Sjáumst = see you soon!

'F²' (A new week, a new nickname)