Dettifoss collects water from the Vatnajökull glacier. The falls are 100 meters wide with a drop of 44 meters. The sound was deafening.
Because it was such a rainy day, everything looked gray.
Here's a map to show the route for the second half of our trip. Now in the east we drove mostly west, and then south to finish back in Reykjavik.
We went to Húsavík in part because they have a well-regarded whale museum.
We liked their hand drawn map showing Húsavík as the whale capital of Iceland.
In anticipation of our upcoming whale watching trip, we also learned about humpback whales. They migrate 25,000 kilometers each year, feeding in the polar waters during the summer, and giving birth in the tropics.
The museum had eleven whale skeletons on display. We started with the biggest, a blue whale. Pete could only capture part of it in this photo. Blue whales can be up to 27 meters in length and weigh up to 173 tons; It is the largest animal ever to have existed. This photo shows the whale on its back looking up through the ribs.
Upstairs we saw several other whale skeletons, with videos of how the museum prepared them for display. For example, it takes several years to remove all the oil from the bones.
None of the whales were killed for their bones, but some had drowned due to fishing nets. This is a Meinke whale, a smaller species of baleen whale that is common here in the waters off northern Iceland.
Because of the rain we didn't linger in the town of Húsavík, but we did get a quick look at their church.
And we mailed a few postcards.
Nearby was Geo Sea, a new geothermal spa that we were eager to try. Marge and Kristina hustled up to the entrance that was built into the hillside.
Geo Sea is located on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. From the baths we could see many fulmars and gulls flying over the cliffs. It was a lovely setting that reminded us a bit of Esalen.
We were warmed to the core by soaking in the tubs. Kristina and Marge look much happier and more relaxed as they left Geo Sea.
We drove to Akureyri, the fifth largest town in Iceland with a population of about 19,000. We would spend three nights here.
The next day Marge opted to hang out and relax. She enjoyed exploring the charming town.
Cynthia, Kristina and Pete spent the day exploring Lake Mývatn. The first stop was Skutustadagigar for its extremely rare false conical craters.
We didn't stay too long, as there were tons of midges. At some point we had learned that Mývatn means midge in Icelandic, but we hadn't remembered to bring our head nets with us.
We were luckier at our next stop, Dimmuborgir, where we saw lava pillars like this one.
We read how the pillars had formed: First lava flows over a marshy area, creating a lava lake. Below the lake, the water in the marshland heats up and becomes steam. The steam shoots up through the lava lake, pushing some lava up with it, which cool into cones. This structure was named Kirkju, which means church.
We couldn't go inside the 'church' as it was a steep drop off under the arches, but this photo gives some context of the rocky environs.
Cynthia is a city manager, which is a pretty stressful job. She quipped, "I should show this to folks who complain about my city's roads - it could be so much worse!" It took Cynthia about a week to really decompress and relax on her vacation.
Lake Mývatn was visible from most of the sites we visited.
At Hverir we saw sulfurous mud springs and steam vents.
The smell of sulphur was so strong that we decided not to linger. Cynthia snapped a selfie of her and Kristina while Pete took a photo of the steam vent.
Then we headed to the Mývatn Nature Baths to enjoy the warm, milky waters.
We could smell a little bit of sulphur here, so we took off our silver and copper jewelry (or it would turn black). The water has a large amount of minerals that prevent bacteria or vegetation from growing so they don't need to use chlorine to keep it clean. The water wasn't deep so we were on our knees most of the time, which enabled us to soak up to our necks.
We sought out the hotter parts of the pool first, then soaked where the water was a little cooler, about 40 degrees celsius.
As we left we drove the Bjarnarflag Geothermal Power Station. Later we read in Wikipedia that the power plant supplies hot water and heating for the village of Mývatn, as well as the 'geothermal brine' to the Mývatn nature baths. No wonder the water looks so similar between the two!
The next day the four of us went on a whale-watching tour. We chose Keli Sea Tours because we liked their story and the small size of their boat. Their boat is named Áskell Egilsson for their father who built it, who was also known as Keli.
Keli Sea Tours is run by three brothers. First they gave us waterproof suits that act as flotation devices. There were lots of zippers and velcro fasteners to figure out.
It was a beautiful day so we didn't need the hoods, but Cynthia and Pete modeled them anyway.
Here we onboard the boat and leaving the dock.
This photo shows the bow of the boat, with our guide Egill up top.
Egill and his two brothers bought the boat about three years ago because they wanted to save it from being sold for scrap metal, and they wanted to offer whale-watching tours as a side business.
Egill clearly loves his side job and he shared lots of info about the whales and the area with us.
Their boat can hold up to 30 people but there were just 14 passengers on our tour. The captain and Egill were in touch with this boat as we cruised in the fjord looking for whales. It's the same type of boat as the Áskell Egilsson.
Pretty quickly this humpback whale's tail was spotted as it went down for a deep dive.
Then we realized there were two whales. The closer whale is slightly bigger, as you can see by the fins. Egill thought it was a mother with a mature calf. We followed them around the fjord while they ate krill for about 90 minutes.
We typically saw them take a few surface breaths (about five minutes apart), then the whales would make a deep dive.
The dive started with the characteristic humpback arch.
Followed by the tail coming out of the water.
With a final classic view of the tail as the whale dove deep.
The name of fjord where we saw the whales is Eyjafjörður.
It was really fun to watch the whales while enjoying the sunshine on the fjord.
This was our view as we returned to land. Remnants of nearby glaciers were still visible in the mountains.
We spent three days in Akureyri, and we all enjoyed our time here. This building is the Hof Cultural Center. It was designed by Arkitema Architects and built in 2010.
Inside the Hof Kristina sat next to Vilhelmína Lever, a shopkeeper and restaurant owner in Akureyri. Vilhelmína was the first woman to vote in Iceland and she was also the first woman to get divorced in Iceland, so she was a trail blazer. She interpreted the law that said all men with property could vote to be all people who owned property could vote, and cast votes in 1863 and 1866. Women's suffrage in Iceland didn't start until 1915, similar to the US. The artist who created Vilhelmína was Adalheidur Eysteinsdóttir.
The town of Akureyri was chartered in 1786. It was fun to walk around and see the different buildings like this 'fish-scaled' slate shingled building.
About 20% of the population works in tourism, and there were plenty of cool crafts like this Icelandic sheep made of both wool and volcanic stone.
The trolls date back to Norse and Scandinavian mythology. These stone dwarves had been modernized with Icelandic wool sweaters and hats.
We had to wait for other tourists to finish taking photos with these trolls so that Pete could get a chance.
We liked these pot headed and traditionally dressed figures out front of the Kaffi Ilmur restaurant.
Here's Kristina heading up to Kaffi Ilmur. Formerly a saddlery for about a hundred years, the same family now use the building for a restaurant.
We sat upstairs as the views were better.
Being vegan has made it harder for us to eat in some countries like Iceland. But with some research we found restaurants that would work for us. We enjoyed the chickpea fritters and tomato soup.
As we entered the restaurant, Cynthia checked out their huge display case of bakery cakes and saved room for dessert. Her choice was called bomba.
Here's a closer look at all the meringue, whipped cream and chocolate that made up this decadent dessert.
After dinner we headed back to our Airbnb cottage located on the ski hill overlooking Akureyri. Note that the sun doesn't set in the summer until after midnight.
The four of us played a lot of bridge on this trip. Cynthia, Pete and Kristina had learned in their 20's but hadn't played in years. Marge was an excellent teacher and we also used the Bridge Bears website to learn the detailed conventions.
Check out this strong hand Cynthia played. Yes, we bought puffin playing cards.
All too soon we had to leave our cottage in Akureyri and drive to west. On the way we stopped at
Glaumbær, a museum featuring the traditional turf farmhouses.
The first building we peeked into was the Smithy where horse shoes and farm equipment was made.
These turf houses date from 1840 to 1910, and were made of driftwood and turf. The alternating layers of sod made a zig zag pattern in the walls. There weren't many windows. Glaumbær has been a museum since 1952.
The interiors were hard to photograph because it was dark inside. This was the main hallway that led to ten interior rooms. The kitchen and pantries had unfinished walls like the hallway too.
Keli Sea Tours is run by three brothers. First they gave us waterproof suits that act as flotation devices. There were lots of zippers and velcro fasteners to figure out.
It was a beautiful day so we didn't need the hoods, but Cynthia and Pete modeled them anyway.
Here we onboard the boat and leaving the dock.
This photo shows the bow of the boat, with our guide Egill up top.
Egill and his two brothers bought the boat about three years ago because they wanted to save it from being sold for scrap metal, and they wanted to offer whale-watching tours as a side business.
Egill clearly loves his side job and he shared lots of info about the whales and the area with us.
Their boat can hold up to 30 people but there were just 14 passengers on our tour. The captain and Egill were in touch with this boat as we cruised in the fjord looking for whales. It's the same type of boat as the Áskell Egilsson.
Pretty quickly this humpback whale's tail was spotted as it went down for a deep dive.
Then we realized there were two whales. The closer whale is slightly bigger, as you can see by the fins. Egill thought it was a mother with a mature calf. We followed them around the fjord while they ate krill for about 90 minutes.
We typically saw them take a few surface breaths (about five minutes apart), then the whales would make a deep dive.
The dive started with the characteristic humpback arch.
Followed by the tail coming out of the water.
With a final classic view of the tail as the whale dove deep.
The name of fjord where we saw the whales is Eyjafjörður.
It was really fun to watch the whales while enjoying the sunshine on the fjord.
This was our view as we returned to land. Remnants of nearby glaciers were still visible in the mountains.
We spent three days in Akureyri, and we all enjoyed our time here. This building is the Hof Cultural Center. It was designed by Arkitema Architects and built in 2010.
Inside the Hof Kristina sat next to Vilhelmína Lever, a shopkeeper and restaurant owner in Akureyri. Vilhelmína was the first woman to vote in Iceland and she was also the first woman to get divorced in Iceland, so she was a trail blazer. She interpreted the law that said all men with property could vote to be all people who owned property could vote, and cast votes in 1863 and 1866. Women's suffrage in Iceland didn't start until 1915, similar to the US. The artist who created Vilhelmína was Adalheidur Eysteinsdóttir.
The town of Akureyri was chartered in 1786. It was fun to walk around and see the different buildings like this 'fish-scaled' slate shingled building.
About 20% of the population works in tourism, and there were plenty of cool crafts like this Icelandic sheep made of both wool and volcanic stone.
The trolls date back to Norse and Scandinavian mythology. These stone dwarves had been modernized with Icelandic wool sweaters and hats.
We had to wait for other tourists to finish taking photos with these trolls so that Pete could get a chance.
We liked these pot headed and traditionally dressed figures out front of the Kaffi Ilmur restaurant.
Here's Kristina heading up to Kaffi Ilmur. Formerly a saddlery for about a hundred years, the same family now use the building for a restaurant.
We sat upstairs as the views were better.
Being vegan has made it harder for us to eat in some countries like Iceland. But with some research we found restaurants that would work for us. We enjoyed the chickpea fritters and tomato soup.
As we entered the restaurant, Cynthia checked out their huge display case of bakery cakes and saved room for dessert. Her choice was called bomba.
Here's a closer look at all the meringue, whipped cream and chocolate that made up this decadent dessert.
After dinner we headed back to our Airbnb cottage located on the ski hill overlooking Akureyri. Note that the sun doesn't set in the summer until after midnight.
The four of us played a lot of bridge on this trip. Cynthia, Pete and Kristina had learned in their 20's but hadn't played in years. Marge was an excellent teacher and we also used the Bridge Bears website to learn the detailed conventions.
Check out this strong hand Cynthia played. Yes, we bought puffin playing cards.
All too soon we had to leave our cottage in Akureyri and drive to west. On the way we stopped at
Glaumbær, a museum featuring the traditional turf farmhouses.
The first building we peeked into was the Smithy where horse shoes and farm equipment was made.
These turf houses date from 1840 to 1910, and were made of driftwood and turf. The alternating layers of sod made a zig zag pattern in the walls. There weren't many windows. Glaumbær has been a museum since 1952.
The interiors were hard to photograph because it was dark inside. This was the main hallway that led to ten interior rooms. The kitchen and pantries had unfinished walls like the hallway too.
Pete did get a good shot of the lunch pails used by the farm workers to take their lunches with them to the fields. Behind the pails you can see the turf walls.
This is the 'living room' where 22 people slept, ate and did winter work such as carding wool and sewing.
Watch your head, Marge! She was in the 'master suite' off the living room where the husband and wife who owned the farm slept.
We checked out the guest room, by far the nicest room in the house but it likely was cold. The ceilings felt really low.
Throughout our trip we had been seeing the iconic Icelandic horse, but it wasn't until today that we had the opportunity to stop and photograph them. They are smaller than horses we are used to seeing in other countries.
Their manes and tails were often quite long and impressive.
We stopped at Kolugljúfur Canyon. According to the legend, it was named for the troll who carved the waterfall and canyon with her hands. Behind us are the five 'finger grooves' where the water flows down into the canyon.
The soil was a bit slippery but none of us took a fall.
While we were hiking we received this photo from our friends Tommy and Rhona. They recently bought their first tandem bike and have been enjoying riding it from their home in Edinburgh. We think they will have tons of fun riding a tandem together.
We broke up our drive to Ísafjörður by spending a night in the tiny town of Holmavík. The next morning, we stopped for a soak in the geothermal pool at the Hotel Reykjanes. Allegedly the longest pool in Iceland, we had it almost to ourselves.
We took a break at a view spot. By this time we were in the West Fjords, which had Pete's favorite scenery of the whole trip.
Icelandic sheep are known for being extremely hearty but also for being skittish. An abandoned farm had been taken over by some sheep and Pete got some great photos of the squatters.
We stopped at the Arctic Fox Center to learn more about the only native mammal in Iceland. Visitors were allowed to gently touch the fox taxidermy mounts. Of course we wanted to pet them to see how their fur felt - really soft! This is a 'blue morph' arctic fox, whose fur stays brown (or gray or blue) all year round.
About 20% of the Icelandic arctic foxes are white morphs but most are blue. This one is curled up the heat-conserving pose. The fur of the arctic fox is the best for heat-conservation of all mammals and they don't begin to shiver until the temperature drops to -70 degrees celsius.
The center also had an orphaned arctic fox in a pen outside. Rory has been raised by people so he didn't seem bothered by us walking around the outside of the pen.
Rory is a blue morph. The white hairs on his face don't mean he is old, they are just part of his markings.
It was sunny and relatively warm when we arrived in Ísafjörður. We visited the Museum of Everyday Life, which we enjoyed a lot.
One of the exhibits was entitled Untraditional Tradition and included this quote:
That evening we learned that the weather would change from the best days of summer to the worst, overnight. Uh oh, we had an all day kayaking trip planned. Feeling adventures, Cynthia, Kristina and Pete decided to go for it. Here we are near the start of the paddle, dressed in wetsuits with booties, paddle jackets, spray skirts, life jackets, hats and gloves. Our guide Steve took this photo and told us we were in front of the "Church of Kayaking."
The two double kayaks were staged in the meadow so we could load the equipment and our lunches. Cynthia and Kristina look cold because they were! The temperature was about 8-9 Celsius (high-40's Fahrenheit), cloudy and windy.
Fortunately, once we started paddling we warmed up. At first the waves and wind in the fjord weren't too bad. But as we headed out of the calming confines of the sheltered water, the wind and waves picked up and paddling got a lot harder.
It took us about two hours to paddle out and across a narrow channel to Vigur Island. We landed, warmed up with some tea and ate the lunch we brought, then took a walk to see the birds. This view shows puffins near their nesting burrows.
Vigur Island is home to countless Atlantic puffins, guillemots, eider ducks and arctic terns. We were able to see the puffins close up. They seemed to still have their colorful mating beaks, which they will shed later this summer.
According to Wikipedia, "the male Atlantic puffin builds the nest and exhibits strong nest-site fidelity. The inside of the burrow is usually lined with material such as grass, leaves and feathers." Puffins are probably the cutest birds we've ever seen.
People have lived and farmed on Vigur Island for hundreds of years. Currently the farmers harvest eiderdown from the nests of the nesting eider ducks, (hopefully) leaving enough down in the nests to keep the eggs warm. The family who runs the tea house has been on Vigur Island for over 100 years. They are of Swedish descent and their grandmother used human hair (perhaps using the hair of recently deceased loved ones) to weave into amazingly intricate art pieces like this one.
When it was time to head back the winds had increased. The paddle back to the start was even harder, so we don't have any photos to share. Fortunately our capable guide Steve led us back safely. It was hard work (and Pete still has sore forearms and elbows a week later), but it made for a grand adventure.
The next day we continued making our way down the West Fjords, stopping at Dynjandi to enjoy all the falls.
Dynjandi was Marge's second favorite waterfall. We thought it looked like a wedding cake.
The nearby mountains show the steep, rocky faces that the water flows down, making the continuous white appearance of Dynjandi.
Our last area to explore on the trip was the Snæfellsness Penisula and Snæfellsjökull National Park. It looks drier here than other parts of Iceland, but it wasn't. The bryophytes were growing over the lava rocks, giving the appearance of dried grass.
We had good weather to explore the national park. There were more unique lava rocks.
We toured a lava tube. Here our guide shows the three chambers we would take the stairs down to see.
The lava tube was formed only 8,000 years ago. This was the second staircase we took to get down to the third and lowest chamber. Luckily we all had a flashlight as it was completely dark inside.
This is Londrangar, volcanic pillars along the cliff that are the remains of a crater eroded by the sea.
We stopped for soup in the town of Arnarstapi.
Then went for a walk along the cliffs. We could see part of Snæfellsjökull, the glacier-peaked volcanic mountain.
With all the sunshine Pete captured the reflection of a smaller peak on a lake.
The sea cliffs were nesting grounds for gulls. Ironically the bird scat helped to define the basalt contours of the cliffs.
There were hundreds of common gulls on this rock.
All over Iceland we saw these iconic crystalline basalt columns.
The arctic tern babies had hatched and the fledglings were learning to fly.
We wondered why this whimbrel didn't fly away as we walked past on the path.
Then we spotted her chicks with their leopard-patterned down coats.
The 10,000 krona Icelandic bill features a golden plover with a chick.
All the natural beauty of the Snæfellsness Penisula seen under blue skies made this area a highlight of our trip.
It was almost time to head back to Reykjavik. We hiked up the Eldborg Crater.
Marge wore her new Icelandic wool cap and her rain gear as she hiked, because the weather was back to gray skies and occasional drizzle.
We were all glad for the stairs with chain handrail as we climbed up the last steep section to get to the top of the crater.
The lava had a smooth layered look, likely due to its viscous consistency during the last eruption, which was 1,800 years ago.
From the top we could look down into the crater. The red colored lava rocks at the top reminded us that the Harpa Concert Hall had been named Eldborg and featured a deep red color.
A nearby mini crater beckoned, so we climbed down to see it.
Then we hiked back to the car. We assumed there were sheep in the area, and the fence and gate were to keep them off the craters.
In our final dinner together in Grundarfjörður we went to charming restaurant named Bjargarsteinn. It had previously been a house, then it was moved here a few years ago.
We had a lovely view of Kirkjufell Mountain from our table.
Kirkju means church. Here's a closer look.
Their vegan option was excellent. It included (starting at 6 o'clock) mashed sweet potatoes with pineapple, grilled asparagus, roasted cauliflower and mushrooms, and pickled beets.
What a wonderful adventure! We feel so fortunate to have been able to share it with Cynthia and Marge.
Next we'll be in Berlin.
Watch your head, Marge! She was in the 'master suite' off the living room where the husband and wife who owned the farm slept.
We checked out the guest room, by far the nicest room in the house but it likely was cold. The ceilings felt really low.
Throughout our trip we had been seeing the iconic Icelandic horse, but it wasn't until today that we had the opportunity to stop and photograph them. They are smaller than horses we are used to seeing in other countries.
Their manes and tails were often quite long and impressive.
We stopped at Kolugljúfur Canyon. According to the legend, it was named for the troll who carved the waterfall and canyon with her hands. Behind us are the five 'finger grooves' where the water flows down into the canyon.
The soil was a bit slippery but none of us took a fall.
While we were hiking we received this photo from our friends Tommy and Rhona. They recently bought their first tandem bike and have been enjoying riding it from their home in Edinburgh. We think they will have tons of fun riding a tandem together.
We broke up our drive to Ísafjörður by spending a night in the tiny town of Holmavík. The next morning, we stopped for a soak in the geothermal pool at the Hotel Reykjanes. Allegedly the longest pool in Iceland, we had it almost to ourselves.
We took a break at a view spot. By this time we were in the West Fjords, which had Pete's favorite scenery of the whole trip.
Icelandic sheep are known for being extremely hearty but also for being skittish. An abandoned farm had been taken over by some sheep and Pete got some great photos of the squatters.
We stopped at the Arctic Fox Center to learn more about the only native mammal in Iceland. Visitors were allowed to gently touch the fox taxidermy mounts. Of course we wanted to pet them to see how their fur felt - really soft! This is a 'blue morph' arctic fox, whose fur stays brown (or gray or blue) all year round.
About 20% of the Icelandic arctic foxes are white morphs but most are blue. This one is curled up the heat-conserving pose. The fur of the arctic fox is the best for heat-conservation of all mammals and they don't begin to shiver until the temperature drops to -70 degrees celsius.
The center also had an orphaned arctic fox in a pen outside. Rory has been raised by people so he didn't seem bothered by us walking around the outside of the pen.
Rory is a blue morph. The white hairs on his face don't mean he is old, they are just part of his markings.
It was sunny and relatively warm when we arrived in Ísafjörður. We visited the Museum of Everyday Life, which we enjoyed a lot.
One of the exhibits was entitled Untraditional Tradition and included this quote:
H: “These are from Amsterdam. This is from Iceland. This was bought in France. This was from Canada, Niagara Falls. This is bought in Sweden. These three are from Hólmavík, a man makes them. These are eider ducks. And we had eider ducks where we used to live.”
F: “But it was not something we planned. It’s a tradition now.”
That evening we learned that the weather would change from the best days of summer to the worst, overnight. Uh oh, we had an all day kayaking trip planned. Feeling adventures, Cynthia, Kristina and Pete decided to go for it. Here we are near the start of the paddle, dressed in wetsuits with booties, paddle jackets, spray skirts, life jackets, hats and gloves. Our guide Steve took this photo and told us we were in front of the "Church of Kayaking."
The two double kayaks were staged in the meadow so we could load the equipment and our lunches. Cynthia and Kristina look cold because they were! The temperature was about 8-9 Celsius (high-40's Fahrenheit), cloudy and windy.
Fortunately, once we started paddling we warmed up. At first the waves and wind in the fjord weren't too bad. But as we headed out of the calming confines of the sheltered water, the wind and waves picked up and paddling got a lot harder.
It took us about two hours to paddle out and across a narrow channel to Vigur Island. We landed, warmed up with some tea and ate the lunch we brought, then took a walk to see the birds. This view shows puffins near their nesting burrows.
Vigur Island is home to countless Atlantic puffins, guillemots, eider ducks and arctic terns. We were able to see the puffins close up. They seemed to still have their colorful mating beaks, which they will shed later this summer.
According to Wikipedia, "the male Atlantic puffin builds the nest and exhibits strong nest-site fidelity. The inside of the burrow is usually lined with material such as grass, leaves and feathers." Puffins are probably the cutest birds we've ever seen.
People have lived and farmed on Vigur Island for hundreds of years. Currently the farmers harvest eiderdown from the nests of the nesting eider ducks, (hopefully) leaving enough down in the nests to keep the eggs warm. The family who runs the tea house has been on Vigur Island for over 100 years. They are of Swedish descent and their grandmother used human hair (perhaps using the hair of recently deceased loved ones) to weave into amazingly intricate art pieces like this one.
When it was time to head back the winds had increased. The paddle back to the start was even harder, so we don't have any photos to share. Fortunately our capable guide Steve led us back safely. It was hard work (and Pete still has sore forearms and elbows a week later), but it made for a grand adventure.
The next day we continued making our way down the West Fjords, stopping at Dynjandi to enjoy all the falls.
Dynjandi was Marge's second favorite waterfall. We thought it looked like a wedding cake.
The nearby mountains show the steep, rocky faces that the water flows down, making the continuous white appearance of Dynjandi.
Our last area to explore on the trip was the Snæfellsness Penisula and Snæfellsjökull National Park. It looks drier here than other parts of Iceland, but it wasn't. The bryophytes were growing over the lava rocks, giving the appearance of dried grass.
We had good weather to explore the national park. There were more unique lava rocks.
We toured a lava tube. Here our guide shows the three chambers we would take the stairs down to see.
The lava tube was formed only 8,000 years ago. This was the second staircase we took to get down to the third and lowest chamber. Luckily we all had a flashlight as it was completely dark inside.
This is Londrangar, volcanic pillars along the cliff that are the remains of a crater eroded by the sea.
We stopped for soup in the town of Arnarstapi.
Then went for a walk along the cliffs. We could see part of Snæfellsjökull, the glacier-peaked volcanic mountain.
With all the sunshine Pete captured the reflection of a smaller peak on a lake.
The sea cliffs were nesting grounds for gulls. Ironically the bird scat helped to define the basalt contours of the cliffs.
There were hundreds of common gulls on this rock.
All over Iceland we saw these iconic crystalline basalt columns.
"Columnar jointed basalt is formed when lava or magma cools and contraction causes the new rock to split into six-sided columns. Columns always form at high-angles to the cooling surface, where heat loss is greatest, so they are horizontal in dykes and vertical in lava flows and sills. Where the cooling surface is irregular, the columns radiate in many directions. Six-sided columns are most common - a fracture pattern with 120 degree corners is most efficient for stress release. Hexagonal patterns are seen widely in nature, like in honeycombs. "This time the columns were at the base of the cliff.
The arctic tern babies had hatched and the fledglings were learning to fly.
We wondered why this whimbrel didn't fly away as we walked past on the path.
Then we spotted her chicks with their leopard-patterned down coats.
The 10,000 krona Icelandic bill features a golden plover with a chick.
All the natural beauty of the Snæfellsness Penisula seen under blue skies made this area a highlight of our trip.
It was almost time to head back to Reykjavik. We hiked up the Eldborg Crater.
Marge wore her new Icelandic wool cap and her rain gear as she hiked, because the weather was back to gray skies and occasional drizzle.
We were all glad for the stairs with chain handrail as we climbed up the last steep section to get to the top of the crater.
The lava had a smooth layered look, likely due to its viscous consistency during the last eruption, which was 1,800 years ago.
From the top we could look down into the crater. The red colored lava rocks at the top reminded us that the Harpa Concert Hall had been named Eldborg and featured a deep red color.
A nearby mini crater beckoned, so we climbed down to see it.
Then we hiked back to the car. We assumed there were sheep in the area, and the fence and gate were to keep them off the craters.
In our final dinner together in Grundarfjörður we went to charming restaurant named Bjargarsteinn. It had previously been a house, then it was moved here a few years ago.
We had a lovely view of Kirkjufell Mountain from our table.
Kirkju means church. Here's a closer look.
Their vegan option was excellent. It included (starting at 6 o'clock) mashed sweet potatoes with pineapple, grilled asparagus, roasted cauliflower and mushrooms, and pickled beets.
What a wonderful adventure! We feel so fortunate to have been able to share it with Cynthia and Marge.
Next we'll be in Berlin.
