HÚSAVÍK OUR HOMETOWN
Most visitors to Húsavík stay in our small Icelandic town (18th most populous) for one or two days at the most.
They come to see the whales, to go on a cruise. If they have the time and inclination, they will visit the magnificent "Whale Museum" (https://www.hvalasafn.is/en/) and warm themselves in the thermal pools at "GeoSea" (https://www.geosea.is/en) while enjoying the panoramic view of the bay with the Cheek Mountains in the background.
The first whale observation expeditions took place in 1995, but the town itself has existed since 870 AD. Its name means "Bay of Houses", because that's what the Swede Gardar Svavarsson, one of the first discoverers of Iceland, called it. This is quite a long history for the European capital of whale watching.
After the Swedes, the Norwegians came and established the first ski school on the island. Centuries ago. Well, maybe not giant slalom yet, but at least a new way of getting around in the Icelandic snow.
Centuries have passed and Husavik still has an interesting history. Once upon a time it was almost inhabited by crocodiles, and in 1969 American astronauts came here.
Skjálfandi is a trembling bay and the ground beneath it is constantly moving due to the motion of the tectonic plates. If we asked scientists, they would look at the seismographs and confirm it.
In Husavik, apart from the thermal baths, is also a hot lake - so hot that it was planned to have crocodiles live there.
And astronauts? Even Neil Armstrong trained here in 1969 before his expedition to the moon. In fact, twelve of the men who set foot on the moon made their first landing in Husavik. Some time later, the famous Icelandic liquorice delicacies Appolo (yes, it's not a mistake, it was supposed to be Apollo, but the producer apparently made a punctuation mistake) were created. And Armstrong tried fishing in the nearby river. It went so badly that the local boy had to give him his rod and teach him.
And finally "Husavik, my hometown". The famous song from the Eurovision Song Contest.
Why am I writing about all this? Well, apparently a lot of people wondered during Eurovision whether the "Bay of Houses" really existed. Yes, it does!
Want to know more? Visit "Visit Husavik" (http://www.visithusavik.com) and the "Eurovision Museum" (https://eurovisionhusavik.com).
