It's really a joy to drive in Iceland because everywhere is so beautiful. Although it's a long drive today, I never get bored of the surrounding scenery.
Half way driving from Akureyri to Blönduós at Vatnsskarð pass near Varmahlið, we saw a monument by the road side. We decided to take a look and have a short break from the road.
This is a Monument to Stephan G. Stephansson, who was a Western Icelander, poet, and farmer. He was born in Skagafjörður, Iceland but emigrated to Wisconsin, United States in 1873, at age 19. In 1889 he moved to Markerville, Red Deer County, Alberta, Canada.
Stephan was self-educated and worked hard all his life. He wrote after work, and, being an insomniac, he often wrote till dawn. He wrote only in Icelandic and had great influence in his home country.
Next to the monument is a huge piece of land that was fenced up. Apparently, the Icelandic National Grid plan to erect 30 metres high steel pylons with overhead power lines. However, it was not accepted by inhabitants in Skagafjörður as they will only consider underground cables as a mean to transmit electricity in the future.
Some interesting facts. Iceland is actually an energy powerhouse. It generates more energy per capita than any other country in the world and double as much as #2 Norway.
We continued our road trip after a 20 minutes break here.
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