You could spend your whole holiday on the ... - Land og saga

The Reykjanes Peninsula
The Fisherman’s Friend
Grindavík’s cosy café culture
What I love about Café Bryggjan is its
solid authenticity in a town that has
served as one of Iceland’s most important
fishing centres for the last 500 years. Located
on the quay of Grindavík’s harbour, the
popular fishermen’s café has an almost
museum-like feel to it. It is decorated with an
interesting variety of sea-related memorabilia.
Photo after photo of retired fi shing vessels
line the walls. The well-worn wooden fl oor
would no doubt have some stories to tell, if
A Different Iceland
Salty Tours takes you to places other tourists will miss
Visiting Iceland is a thrill. Time is
limited and you promise <strong>your</strong>self
to return and see more. Most people
have heard of the Golden Circle tour
encompassing a few of the country’s
highlights. However, there is so much more
to this country of hidden secrets than this.
floors <strong>could</strong> talk. About the
only thing that might seem out of place is the
plaster bust of John Lennon that is su<strong>spend</strong>ed
from the ceiling and a large poster of the
Beatle above the piano in the corner of the
room. The owners are retired fishermen who
just happen to be big Beatle fans!
When the weather allows, you can sit outside
on the deck to sip <strong>your</strong> coffee, tea or glass of
wine, or enjoy the cosy atmosphere inside
where light lunches of soups and sandwiches or
home-made cakes are served. On Wednesdays,
the house specialty is a traditional lamb soup
and on Fridays it’s lobster soup, using the
freshest ingredients, of course.
Every year, Café Bryggjan hosts its
very own ‘Cultural Week’ with some of
Iceland’s well known poets, writers, and
musicians, performing their works. And
if you stick around long enough, someone
may just strike up an old Beatle song on
that piano in the corner!
Café Bryggjan
–EMV
Miðgarði 2 • 240 Grindavík
+354 426 7100
kaffibryggjan@simnet.is
www.kaffibryggjan.is
Salty Tours’ owner, Þorsteinn, is an
expert guide. Visitors he takes on tours
consistently give him rave reviews on sites
like TripAdvisor.com because he takes
them to see and do the unusual, sights
commonly missed by tour groups but which
are easily as inspiring and interesting. His
commentaries alone are worth the trip.
Whether you plant <strong>your</strong> own tree or visit
a rare goat farm, stand on the continental
divide or enjoy the multi-coloured
landscape around boiling mud pools, you
will certainly have fascinating memories to
take home—and, hopefully, plenty of fi lm
and photos to prove it to <strong>your</strong> friends. Yes,
he can also take you to the Golden Circle,
if you ask, but you’ll miss the crowds and
see them in a different light.
He’ll pick you up from <strong>your</strong> hotel
for a day you will not forget, leaving
you with that, “Can we do that again?”
question on <strong>your</strong> lips.
Salty Tours
–ASF
Borgarhrauni 1 • 240 Grindavík
+354 820 5750
tgk@saltytours.is
www.saltytours.is
Mamma Mia
Tantalise <strong>You</strong>r Taste Buds and Satisfy <strong>You</strong>r Stomach
Grindavík’s a great place to stay when
exploring and touring the amazing
sights of the Reykjanes peninsula—but,
wherever you stay, there’s always the
question of where to eat! Just 200 metres
from the campsite—and right opposite the
newly-opened Magma museum, close to the
harbour, is one of the hottest additions to
the restaurant scene, Mamma Mia.
This comfortable restaurant is a
pizzeria with a full complement of pizza
sizes and types, all hand-made and
stone-baked with a delicious crunchy
crust. They produce their own ‘Mamma
Mia’ pizza topped with tuna, shrimp
and mussels—a real speciality.
No restaurant in a fi shing town would
be complete without a selection of seafood
dishes. Grindavík is famous for its saltfi sh
or bacalao, as the Spanish call it, that
is so popular in Mediterranean
countries. Alongside this
delicious cod dish, you will
also find the freshest
plaice, straight from
the harbour just
metres away.
Whether you are
hankering for a hamburger or are looking
for a traditional lamb or beef steak, you’ll
fi nd them here, as this is a restaurant with
a wide selection of dishes on its menu.
Mamma Mia offers a choice of sandwiches
with different original fillings, if you’re
looking for a lighter meal. With such a
variety of meals available, you can visit
often and try a new dish each time.
The restaurant serves drinks of all
kinds, including beers, wine and spirits.
It’s a lovely place to dine outside in the
warm summer evenings, sheltered from
any wind. The fresh sea air is both
stimulating and restful.
Mamma Mia has seating for 30
outside along with the 60 places inside.
This makes it a convenient stop for
lunch or an evening meal for tour
groups visiting the museum. They also
run the coffee shop in the museum, to
which they add life with portions of
salt fish that you can snack on as you
enjoy the exhibition, besides offering
the usual drinks and snacks.
Seated in the coffee shop, you have a
view over the harbour and can watch the
boats returning and unloading their catch.
Mamma Mia is open from 11:30 until
10 pm - or later, and you can order their
pizzas to be delivered to <strong>your</strong> hotel,
guesthouse or the campsite - even the Blue
Lagoon and Northern Light Inn.
Mamma Mia
–ASF
Hafnargata 7a • Grindavík
+354 426 9966
mammamia@mammamia.is
www.mammamia.is
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