Friday the 25th of July we will go for a swim in the sea by Sauðárkrókur with an local sea bathing specialist Benedikt Lafleur. Benedikt offers organized sea bathing tours in many parts of Iceland, especially in the northwest, where he is used to bathe himself and run his scientific studies. He is one of the most experienced sea swimmer in Iceland and is nationally known as a sea swimmer legend, for his countless long distance swimming in Iceland and in the English Channel. He is currently working on a study in Kiev about sea bathing. Benedikt has helped hundreds of people to make their first step into the sea and gathered a lot of knowledge from their inestimable experience of sea bathing.
The sea is in walking distance from the hotel so this trip is a big health package and it’s free.
Friday the 25th of July – a evening-walk with guidance to the surroundings of Sauðárkrókur. Even tough the midnight sun of late June has darkened a bit at the end of July, the bright Arctic summers of Iceland still offer great outdoor experiences and the surrounding of Sauðárkrókur are well worth a visit.
Saturday the 26th of July we will welcome Einar Kárason, an Icelandic writer born in 1955. He started his career with poetry in literary magazines from in the late 1980s’, but in 1981 he published his first novel in a triology commonly called by the name of the first book, The devils island. The stories were later filmed, and Einar’s co-writer in the making of the manuscript and the director of the film was Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, mentioned below. In his latest novels, Einar has revived several of the strong characters from the Sturlunga era. Einar Kárason has received numerous awards for his publications, and is for example a four times nominee to the Nordic Council Literature Prize.
Sunday the 27th of July NSU participants will be invited by the municipality of Skagafjörður to visit the historical Battlefield of Haugsnes with guidance around the area and some historical explanations. The Battle of Haugsnes (Haugsnesbardagi) was fought at a low peninsula south of Flugumýri in Skagafjörður on April 19, 1246 between two hostile Chieftains in Iceland during the Sturlung Era (Sturlungaöld), a period in Iceland’s history, marked by violence and conflicts.The battle was fought with the most casualties in Icelandic history. They brought more than 1000 men to the battle (close to 2,5% of the Icelandic population at the time) and ended in about 110 casualties in total.
Haugsnesbardagi marked one of the stepping stones towards the end of the Icelandic commonwealth, which came to an end with the signing of the Old Covenant (Gamla sáttmála) in 1262 and brought Iceland under the Norwegian crown.
After having been introduced to this dramatic history, it’s ideal to regain one’s coziness in one of Iceland’s most interesting swimming pool’s at Hofsós, enjoying the breathtaking view over Skagafjörður and Drangey island from the hot tub.
Thursday the 29th of July we will enjoy a night at the Sauðárkrókur cinema. where we will ll be watching an Icelandic film. Friðrik Þór Friðriksson has been invited to come and tell us about movie making in Iceland. Friðrik Þór, born in 1954, started his film making career in the early 1980s’. His second feature film “Children of Nature” (1991) was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film and it took the Grand Prize at the 4th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan in February 1993. Friðrik also starred in Lars von Trier´s 2006 comedy film “The Boss of it All”.
His work with author Einar Kárason, our Saturday visitor, includes besides Devils Island, Skytturnar e. White Whales (1987) and Fálkar e. Falcons (2002). Friðrik Þór Friðriksson is noted for the strong visual style of his films including stunning images. These films are both deeply personal and strongly rooted in Icelandic culture, often depict characters at the crossroads of tradition and modernity.
Among his other works is the documentary A Mother’s Courage: Talking Back to Autism, locally named the Sunshine Boy, premiered at the Toronto film festival 2009, and nominated for the Voice award in 2010. His latest feature film Mamma Gógó was a candidature for European film awards and among others won the audience award in Festróia – Tróia International Film Festival in Portugal 2011.
Wednesday the 30th of July is our last whole day at Sauðárkrókur and it will be marked that fact. The children’s circle “harvest festival” and the annual NSU Football Championship will take over the afternoon. In the evening we will gather up for gala-dinner and later that night for a sad farewell to the first departures leaving with the midnight bus for Keflavík.