It is now the 12th day of our trip. 11th day actually touring. We have continued to see awe inspiring landscape and meet wonderful people, many of whom are actually Icelandic. The number of tourists is amazing. 

Some must sees that we have done include the Blue Lagoon and the Reykjavik Art Museum near our hotel. I will not provide a detailed explanation of the Blue Lagoon other than to say it is the result of recent human action and it is truly amazing. I have no pictures but visualize with me changing into a bathing suit in a warm sheltered facility and walking out into 50 degree F with wind blowing over 20 mph and rain coming sideways.  Then slip into the warm water at 100 degrees F loaded with silicate. The expanse of the lagoon is great enough that in unsheltered places the chop can rise to almost a foot. Around the sides are a station dispensing silicate masks for face, a bar with offerings from tea to beer and wine. There is a water fall, a steam room and a sauna. We sampled all of the above. Carol chose not to enter the lagoon and this was wise as the wind and water would likely have toppled her. 

We also went to Flyover Iceland which is a simulated flight over most of the major geological features of the country. The experience is a blend of ultra large bowl screen with seats that move and water spray and various scents as appropriate. It is very immersive and we needed a few minutes to reorient after we exited. It was particularly exciting because it gave us a very different view of places we had visited over the previous 10 days. I would recommend it to anyone in Reykjavik with an hour to spare. Note! although the web site only offers one price, at the counter they have a steep discount for seniors. It was from $40 to $27! 

Some fun stuff: The license plate on our bus:

The bathroom really was small 

The text says “We know the bathroom is rather small, but the good news is that the acoustics make it perfect for singing in the shower. After you’ve practiced and finished your business, come perform for us in the lobby and then we’ll sing you our favorite Icelandic tune.” This bathroom is not as big as our motorhome bathroom and it has a shower. Tight quarters but otherwise comfortable.

We are just back from our farewell dinner and have said farewell to our tour leader Frida and many of our group who will depart early in the morning. Several we will see in the lobby as they depart for the airport around noon. Our departure is 4:30 (1630) from the hotel. We will transit JFK with a night in a hotel there with an early departure for Rochester.

Do visit Iceland if you haven’t done so yet. 

We had been looking forward to meeting the Icelandic Horses since booking this trip. We had two experiences with them on day 6. First at a small farm run by Magnus where we got to visit some of his 65 horses and had our introduction to Five Gaited horses.

Also I had the opportunity to sit on a horse. Unlike my time on Galopan I really didn’t need the mounting block, these horses are short.

Magnus also is a singer composer and entertained us with several songs including “Creme Cheese Cake” for which he is famous, in Iceland at any rate.

From there we went to another horse farm where we we were to spend the night. Included in the display of the horses ability we were to plant trees for an OAT project as part of the farms extensive government subsidized tree planting. The climb to the land where we were to plant was substantial and a car was provided for those unable to make it. I have no pictures of the climb, all my energy went into the climb and Carol stayed right me all the way to the top! Our new friends were thrilled to see her spunk and I was in tears. To celebrate I bought a round for the group at Happy hour. 

I do have video of the horses performing, but I am too tired to edit and post tonight. Well here is one video of the special walking gait

Today, Day 7 was a long drive to Akureryri with a couple of stops along the way. The most interesting were the Herring Museum and Folk Music Center in Siglufjorour (that is spelled correctly). Herring was the gold of this coast  until it left. and the museum is fascinating and the guide, Daniel, was excellent. I really wanted at least another hour there but we needed to get back on the bus to make our dinner schedule.

Yesterday We set off for Borganes in the Northwest of Iceland.  There were famous waterfalls and a wool dyer to see. The next stop was to see the “original” Geysir. It is so called because it appears to be the first one called a geyser and all the others have been named for it, albeit with a slightly different spelling .The original large geyser is no longer performing. 

The most impressive  geological feature was the rift where the North American Tectonic Plate and Eurasian Tectonic plates are pulling away from each other. The movement is in less than inches per year, but the forces are tremendous and the land is scarified for miles and miles with cracks running north and east through out.

There were more falls, and raging rivers as we came to the seat of Iceland government from the late 900’s. I will not recap the last 2000 years of Icelandic history although it is the form of a saga and about as long. Many people died mostly by the hand of others except for those who fell into rivers and lakes. 

After a night in Borganes at the aptly named B59 Hotel (it is located  at 59 Borganes Street) we set out to see goats on the only exclusive goat farm in Iceland where they are preserving the breed of Icelandic goats. The ones that are  not shy will attempt to climb on your shoulder, from behind – or in one case from in front of me.  Here is one confronting Carol in her new bright red poncho.

Neither of us prepared adequately for the wind and rain we have encountered. I now have a new very expensive raincoat which may make an appearance in a later blog. 

We went to see a couple of more falls. I took too many pictures that look like everyone else’ picture from the falls. Then we went to a Greenhouse/Restaurant. We had a wonderful presentation on growing vegetables in a greenhouse with light for 9 months of the years and unlimited flowing HOT water. There is enough that when the sun goes behind the mountain for the winter they flood the greenhouse with hot water to 2 feet down to sterilize the soil for the coming season. All this water is geothermal and is piped in from the nearby hot water sources. They have to drill for cold water separately. The lunch in the restaurant was three different soups, Carrot, Tomato and Mushroom.  YUM

Back to the hotel for a free afternoon with dinner on our own.

Here is the planned route for 13 days in Iceland:

https://goo.gl/maps/QDL6179DBzZD2SmA

We will be touring the west coast of Iceland to the very north by bus and returning by plane to Reykjavik for the last three days of the trip. As we prepare for departure a volcano has decided to show off near the airport. So far it is not disrupting air travel. This is to be expected on this trip. We are traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel – OAT as usual. We are looking forward to a wide variety of experiences including a home hosted dinner and an overnight at an Icelandic farm as part of this adventure.

In addition we will have the opportunity to talk with several experts about the impact of climate change and the use of geothermal energy to reduce impact on the climate. Many Iceland glaciers are dormant as result of climate change. 

Departure is Saturday morning to JFK on Delta and then an evening flight direct to Iceland on Iceland Air.

I have been told to expect good wifi at the hotels so I should be able to blog as we go.