Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch?

So here i sit in Siglufjordur. The herring capitol of Iceland-- or at least it once was. A spectacularly quaint town perched beneath towering peaks at a fjord. It´s hard to believe that I left Akureyri this morning and that I have miles more to go before I set up camp tonight. I´m "on the loose" with a ford focus hatchback. winding my way back to reykjavik. After leaving Akureyri this morning though I stopped back at Dalvik. It´s "the big fish day!" where the entire town shuts down for a huge festival and gives away free fish to anyone who comes. It was a mad house. People everywhere, mostly icelandic. Boys swimming, booths of handknit sweaters, singers in traditional icelandic garb singing... "let it be". And of course, free fish.

The lines were daunting but i couldn´t go to fish day and leave empty handed and I was hungry! So I scoped out the dozens of vendors looking for what I thought would be the best meal. And so I ended up with my meal of fish balls, Salmon with lemon and dill, and chili spiced halibut. Complete with a roll and coke. For the grand price of free. And let me tell you. It was perhaps the best fish I have ever had in my life. Spain ruined olives, Argentina ruined steak and now perhaps Iceland has ruined fish. I can´t imagine ever tasting anything so fresh and perfectly cooked again in my life. And this was just one line I had stood in. If I had had all day I could have stood in each line and gorged myself to utter satisfaction. It was amazing. But alas, I had to get on the road and drive over the mountain to where I now sit in Siglifjordur.

Judging from the quaintness of this town, which sits just 60km south of the artic circle. I didn´t do too much of a trade off. But tonight I will probably dream of that fish.