Well, I liked the shower fixture--great water pressure. Andy said that he had trouble navigating past the towel warmer, and I suppose the opening is a little narrow for someone his height and girth; but I really like that there is no shower curtain to contend with, just a glass wall.
We were feeling a bit pressured to get to the shuttle bus on time; we didn't want to miss our Game of Thrones Tour!!! So we opted for a "to go" breakfast: 1 slice whole grain bread w/ ham, turkey, and cheese for me, and a jelly, ham, and cheese on white for Andy. We rushed to get to the shuttle, but it was late. No loss, we got to chat with a nice family from London.
There was also a quirky music store with an electric ukulele or two, a sitar, and other less recognizable instruments that I would have loved to try! In the storefront window resided in a place of honor two songbooks of Queen Adele...
I will need to invest in a nice warm jacket and a hat, I think. It is cold--and windy! Oh well, off to the G of T tour--
Our tour guide is a young blond guy, looks like college age or so--he kind of reminds me of Rolf in The Sound of Music--and full of information...apparently, Reykjavik is the northernmost capital city of a sovereign nation. The entire country has a population of about 330,000, about 2/3 of them there in the city. It doesn't seem that crowded, but I suppose I'm comparing it to DC.
The foliage reminds me of scrubby tundra flora--that goes on for miles and miles and miles...starkly beautiful...buttercups, dandelions, Icelandic sheep prancing about all over the countryside, at least 'til the yearly roundup. It's interesting: the farmers let the sheep cavort wherever they want, on anyone's property, but at the roundup, every farmer collects them all, after which they are sorted according to the owner's respective tag on the sheep's ear.
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| The gorge on the lower left depicts the Bloody Gate--who knew? Amazing CGI... |
So it seems that the Game of Thrones tour is not for the faint of information about the show; to the uninitiated, like me, it seems like a tour of the wilderness. It didn't take too long to realize that, unless you were clued in to the Season 1 battle on the mountain or the Season 3 episode about the Bloody Gate, it would just look like a rocky gorge in the middle of tundra. But, notwithstanding the expectation with subsequent disappointment that there would be no castle bridge from which to throw a family member, it was a fascinating account of the geology and history of a vibrant, volatile country.
The island nation itself sits on two tectonic plates which are moving away from each other at the rate of about an inch a year; in era accounting, that is quite significant!
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| This lake is growing as the tectonic plates separate. |
Dotted throughout the desolate flatlands surrounded by low mountains were piles of rock too intentionally ordered to be coincidence; at first they looked to possibly be burial mounds, but, no, they were cairns,
directional markers. It is illegal to move any part of the centuries' old markers or add to them as they did provide direction to travelers in an otherwise barren wilderness.At some point we stopped for lunch at a little roadside gas station/diner/ convenience store.
Andy got a hot dog or two and I chose a schnitzel sandwich--tasty! That cup is for the fries--kind of like mayo, which I know Tim would appreciate! The cook had also made a sturdy oatmeal raisin bar cookie, kind of like portable granola, which seemed entirely appropriate for a trek through the wilderness! While we were there, I got smart and bought a ski headband of warm grey with white snowflakes; I hadn't been skiing in years, but I knew the value of keeping one's ears warm. It turned out to be a good investment/souvenir!We had a minor mishap on the way to the Bloody Gate; as we rode along the straight, okay, boring, highway, we heard a rather ominous sound emanate from the front of the vehicle. It turned out that the bus driver's side window had shattered as we were riding along. It was not a large deal, no injuries, but we couldn't proceed for long; so the tour company sent out another bus--a sturdy VOLVO!
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| Reminiscent of the braided river at Denali |
To distract us from our tenuous circumstance, the tour guide lulled us with the history of the treeless expanse surrounding us; it had been a thriving community until the 10th century or something, when it succumbed to a large (volcanic) explosion. We had already seen the steam vents from the geothermal pockets in the region that heated water and provided other power to the area, but this particular locale looked rather innocuous in that regard. The land had recovered for the most part over the centuries though it is still uninhabited. However, ruins were found of a farmhouse which has since been recreated a couple miles farther along on the road.
Before we ventured there, though, the bus crested a hill and came to an abrupt stop. "You remember Season xxx when yyy happened to zzz? This is that place; you have about 30 minutes to look around." What could possibly be any different than the last three stops of rock and scrubby grass? What indeed! As we exited the bus, we were treated to the vision of a verdant steep valley filled with the sound of three waterfalls racing over the cliffs into turquoise pools. It was gloriously beautiful.
I was grateful for my thin white sweater, but it seemed that it was also a favorite of the tiny flies that frequented the area, some of the only insect life I saw there. It became obvious as I started down the stone steps into the valley where the wind subsided that they were swarming around it, so between that and the realization that going all the way down into the valley also meant coming back up just as far, I opted for the breeze and remained topside. We still got some great pictures--Andy has some gorgeous landscapes which I will insert later--an opportunity to try out the Olloclip in several applications--the macro and fisheye lenses produced some great images, even with my shaky hands.
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| This flower is about 1/2" across-- |
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| --which means the fly is about 1/4" in size, but you can see the serrate on the edge of the beautiful iridescent wings. |
The historical farm building was interesting, what with its sod roof and retaining walls, but what I found more interesting there was to note how far inland the lupine had spread; it was apparently a transplant of the Alaskan lupine that had proven its invasive nature, much to the dismay of the native plants. At least it's pretty!
The last place we stopped before our return to base was to see the Icelandic horses in action; we had seen a few out in the fields, but it was fascinating to learn their history and what a part of the culture they have become over the centuries. These stocky, small of stature creatures were brought over by the Vikings, and their bloodline has remained pure; no other horses are permitted on the island, and any horses that leave are not allowed to return, for breeding reasons but also to prevent spread of disease to which their isolation might make them susceptible. We saw a demonstration of their versatility and even temperament; they are so calm that we were permitted to get selfies with them.
Our trip back was a little late because of the bus mishap, and we were a little concerned because we had to make the shuttle to the bus to the airport; the tour guide worked out something, but as it turned out, when we returned to the hotel, there wasn't a record of it. Oh well, we hitchhiked along on a different shuttle. As we waited for ANY shuttle to arrive, we got to chatting with a lively group of retirees from Colorado Springs. It turns out we were all going to Munich on the same flight, so we saw them at the airport, too, once we got to the gate.
It also turns out that Keflavik had a nice airport, small enough to have to walk everywhere. We bought some duty-free Icelandic liquor and chocolate!
The food court had a remarkably tasty pizza and a yummy grilled ham and cheese sandwich.
It was a fairly pleasant flight--Andy was more comfortable in his seat on the aisle--it was a 12:30 am flight that arrived at 6:30 or so in the morning.
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