Day 7: Let's Tölt

We kicked off our last full day in Iceland by trying to find a steam valley.  This is where the Varmá river, up in the hills, is hot like a jacuzzi and is a popular spot for relaxation.  Unfortunately we took a few wrong turns trying to get out of town and ended up turning around before finding the steam valley.  Oh, and it began to snow (better solid precipitation than liquid!). 

The warm Varmá river

A picturesque farm at the edge of town

I don't know what is stranger: snow in late May or snow while the sun is fully out? 

(Sun again).  Here is the town's famous geothermically heated swimming pool--it was once the largest pool in Iceland.  Too bad it was closed, it would have been fun to have a soak!

Back at camp, more sun and snow...  The funny thing was that we saw little kids from the elementary school across the street running laps around the block, even while it was hailing! Several of the kids wore short-sleeve t-shirts!  Icelanders are a hardy stock.

This is our little camper.  Not quite as well-equipped as the camper we rented in Australia, but it did have wifi! 

It would have been nice to sit outside for more meals, but the camper was handy when the weather was brutal.

If it weren't hailing we would be out hiking to the steam valley.

Back at the town's visitor center, you could look right into a fissure separating North America from Europe.

We left Hveragerði feeling slightly defeated by the weather.  We kept our arrangements, however, to go horseback riding.  We went with Íslenski Hesturinn, a stable about 35 km west of Hveragerði, just within Reykjavik city limits.  These guys and their little Icelandic horses were awesome and unlike any trail ride I had before.  First, the owner gave us a long talk about Icelandic horses and how they are special.  When we finally got on the saddle (from the left or right side of the horse) we spent time making a connection with our horses, riding them around in the corals and learning how to handle the reigns.    

Getting to know our horses

Even though technically we were inside the city limits, the volcanic scenery made us feel like we were in the rugged interior.

Ósk (Wish) and I had a nice connection :o)   I am glad they provided us with rain gear because it was actually hailing just seconds ago !

The tour was often by tölt, a silky-smooth gait special to the Icelandic horse.

The Icelandic horses may be small but they have big personalities with friendly dispositions.

After our exciting half-day horse experience we drove just 10 minutes to the center of Reykjavik.  We found a suitable place to camp on the edge of town.  The guidebook described it as having all the chaos of a refugee camp, but since it was still early in the season it was relatively quite, plus since the camp facilities were still closed we were able to use the fancy adjoining HI facilities instead!

After checking in and making a mug of tea, we went to town.

Sun Voyager, a modern icon of Reykjavik

The only thing in Iceland I really wanted to try (in addition to the thick dairy product, skyr) was a hot dog, sometimes called "The Icelandic National Food".  Usually people get them at petrol stations, but Reykjavik has a hot dog stand, Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, famous for serving "the world's best hotdog."

Unfortunately we only had a couple hours to explore Reykjavik.  For being such a small city there were lots of interesting sites.  It would have been nice to have just a little more time there! 

The tallest building in Iceland is the Lutheran church, Hallgrímskirkja, shaped like those crazy basalt columns that are scattered over the island.

While wandering town we noticed Eurovision was on!  It would have been fun to watch it, especially since we were in Europe.

Our final evening in Iceland.  Finally, there was some sun to make the most of the long day (it was about 10:30 pm here).