Ducking Through Scandinavia

Back in Reykjavik, we walked along the coastline and clambered over Sólfar, a metal sculpture of a Viking ship. We treated ourselves to a meal at the relatively inexpensive Kebob Husio of fried fish and kebabs, and then warmed up with some coffee at Svarta Kaffið. We chatted amiably for hours, sipping on our mochas and observing the clientele, when suddenly, in mid-conversation, I gasped "We don't have any money left!" We had spent our last Icelandic kroners on our trip to the Blue Lagoon having received false information that the bus took credit cards. Luckily, the café took plastic so we were saved the embarrassment of not having enough money to pay for two coffees. On our way back home, we wandered around Yann's exhibit again. (Fun Fact #3: Touring over 20 countries for more than 30 million visitors, the photography display is the world's most seen exhibition ever!) A round of cards, a review of the next day's itinerary, and a sound sleep all around.

Day Three: Gullfoss and Geysir

Kaffitár was hopping the next morning, so we ordered our breakfast to go and went to enjoy it in a patch of rare sunshine on a bench at Tjörn lake. This time, not only did we count the ducks, we fed some as well. One geezer duck came right up to us to be fed, and I think I may have contracted duckpox when I hand-fed a half-blind duck and he mistook my fingertip for a piece of the bagel. We made our daily trek up the main street to book a six-hour tour with Iceland Excursions that day and returned for a power-nap.

The tour of South Central Iceland began with þingvellir (the þ is pronounced as a "th" as in "Thor's Hammer"), the setting of the first parliamentary house established in 930 A. D. (and by "house" I mean wide, open fields precariously resting on a still-active rift between the continental plates of Europe and North America) and later, the first national park established almost 1000 years later. Close to the beautiful, crystal-clear þinvallavatn, Iceland's largest lake, one can see the Öxaráfoss waterfall. (Fun Fact #4: Women found guilty of crimes such as having illegitimate children were executed by being tied up in bags and tossed into the immensely powerful waterfall which led to Drekkingarhylur, The Drowning Pool!) At the wishing-well spring Peningagjá, we looked longingly at the numerous shiny coins glittering in the chasm that mocked our empty pockets. The pure silence and beauty of the area was palpable and it would have been easy to lose hours and hours just admiring the scenery.

On our way to the next spot, we stopped at a farm in the countryside for an unexpected treat of being greeted by the handsome Icelandic horses. Friendly, soft, and gentle-natured, the horses came right up to the road and allowed us to pet them. They were so docile and short-statured that we were tempted to call them "ponies," but our guide warned the group not to call them that because that would upset the farmers who take great pride in their purebred Equus scandinavicus.

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