Iceland, Day Three

Day Three in Iceland

1: I woke up early so I went for a walk in the valley. Two of a herd of horses noticed me, then walked purposefully away from me. Their intentionality seemed odd, until I realized they were waiting for me at the far end of there pasture where there was a little driveway over the ditch. So I got Icelandic horse social time!

2: First stop: a waterfall in a canyon. Stunning, and wet, and full of tourists. The air smelled sweet from the many blooming bjornloka, a fly-pollinated flower with sap that will blind you if you and your friends smack each other in the face with the stalks. Or so the mothers of Sweden say to their rowdy youngsters.

3: Seljavellir: very warm swimming pool built into the side of a mountain! It’s oldest swimming pool in Iceland and was built in 1923. I could not get enough of it! We walked up past it a bit, and got a look into the canyons beyond. Cascading waterfalls, tall basalt cliffs, birds circling and diving between the walls. Seriously ridiculous. I ran out of words to express how impressive it was, so I resorted to a bunch of cussing and blasphemy.

4: Another canyon. More basalt cliffs. Iceland is out of control.

5: Pewter-colored rapids

6: We drove 4 miles east today, and saw a shitton of glaciers. The photo doesn’t do justice, but at one point there was a literal rainbow bending its way above a glacier. I can’t even.

7: The glacier has to go somewhere, and here, it goes into a lagoon, and drops blue icebergs that float out to the sea, with smaller chips breaking off like gleaming crystals on the black sand beaches.

8: Now we are in Hofn, with the Atlantic to the front, and the Vatnajökull glacier behind us.

General conclusion: Believe the hype! This shit is amaze-balls. I can’t even.

Also, they have Vio-Life cheese and Oumph!, so I’m pretty much in heaven. Athiest heaven, but still.

Oh, and an incident of sheep in the highway.