Arriving in Reykjavik/Keflavik and traveling to Borgarnes - August 27, 2019

We have a three-hour layover in JFK and find a table with electricity where we hang out.  Marilyn’s already eaten her chicken salad packet and crackers, so I have mine to catch up!  Okay, really it’s because I’m starving!  The Kind bar and juice didn’t hold me all that long.

The flight boards smoothly and after waiting our turn (we’re fifteen in line!) we finally take off and level off so that dinner can be served.  Part way through the service, the turbulence is so bad they have to suspend service.  I win that lottery, but Marilyn, who is several riows in front of me, doesn’t,  :(   Dinner consists of Thai chicken salad, mixed-fruit cocktail, Tillamook cheddar, flatbread and a chocolate-chip blondie.  There are lots of beverages available, including wines, but I opt for water. 

The movie choices are the same as on the first leg;  but I’ve already seen the one that caught my fancy.  I dip into several;  but none are worth writing about!  I finally shut down the screen and try to sleep.  I actually am successful for a little while, until the little darling several rows behind me starts to pretend she’s a siren!

Oh well, morning snack is being served anyway.  There’s a choice of a cookie or Cheez-its.  I haven’t had Cheez-its in forever!  And another glass of water seems like the smart choice.

Landing elicits a round of applause!  Deplaning is easy and we follow the signs to baggage reclaim, stopping at passport control where we aren’t even asked any questions!  Our bags show up promptly and we head to an ATM for Icelandic Krona and then look for Budget Car Rental.

That’s kind of a horror show.  The really nice young man tries to convince us that we need extra insurance in case we get caught in a sandstorm that eats the paint off the car!  He says it would cost of $60,000 to replace the car!!  It’s a Hyundai 30i.  Really?!  The insurance would come to nearly another thousand dollars!!  Marilyn calls Gunnar’s office.  He’s the man who set up our tour.  It’s just eight o’clock and he’s not in;  but his partner in crime assures Marilyn that we wouldn’t be allowed on the roads during a sand storm anyway!  She talks directly to Mr. Budget and he comes around.  There’s also a lot of scare tactics with the possible dings, dents, and scratches that we might need to pay for.  Good grief!!  At the end we ask his name and he says it Linnus (sp??) and that it’s Lithuanian!  We share a Baltic bond!

Finally all the paperwork is finished and we go looking for the car.  The keys say it’s in Row B;  Mr. Budget said Row E, even wrote it down!  Of course we check “B” first and it’s actually in “E”.  Then we walk around taking pictures of the already existing dings, which are nearly invisible.

By now we’re hungry and thirsty and go back into the airport to get sandwiches and fill our water bottles, and check email one last time.  Oddly, I can connect to my email;  but I can’t send a text?!  Oh, well.  We’re finally ready to hit the road.

The signage is really good and we have a decent map, so we get from Keyflavik, where the airport is located, to Reykjavik with no problem.  Outside Reykjavik we stop at a Bonus grocery store.  I got in for a little shopping and direction confirmation while Marilyn catches a cat nap.  We’ve been us a loooong time and the day is overcast and dreary.  Not the best driving conditions.  Inside I meet a charming lady who offers to come outside with me and give us both the directions we need.  She also teaches us that if we say “Go dying” really fast, it will sound enough like the Icelandic for “Good morning” or “Good day” that we should get a positive response!!

As we’re driving along the edge of Hvalfjordur we find a couple of beautiful, unmarked waterfalls, as well as many sheep, some of whom are actually along the road side!  They seem to know how to get out of their fences!  There are also lots of horses and the occasional cow or two!  We’ve agreed to skip the waterfall at Glimmer.  It’s a two-hour hike in and, of course, another two hours back!!

Little bugger startled when he heard a car coming and jumped back over the fence!

We’re traveling along the coast and it’s beautiful, even without the sun, and there isn’t a lot of traffic.  But we’re still exhausted.  We decide to modify our plan and head straight for Borgarnes, where we will be spending the night.  Once in town we stop at a bank to break the large bills the ATM gave us (just like home!) and, again, the people are funny and charming and helpful!!  And they have free coffee and chocolates!  The teller reminds us the they really don’t tip in Iceland and her friend suggests the we ask our tour guides what they think is appropriate!  We all have a giggle over that one!  The manager (?), who’s middle name is Emily (we can’t pronounce her first name!) suggests that we stop by the information center for maps and directions to our guest house, Ensku Husin.  We walk over and meet yet another wonderful Icelander!  It must be a national law!!  She tells us we’re not the first people to need help getting to Ensku Husin and gives us wonderful directions and more maps and pamphlets!

We have no trouble getting there, even though there is some sort of traffic tie-up.  But we need to turn off the main road before the problem, we we sneak by!  The guest house is manned by Dagur Atlason, who is probably twenty-five and could charm the smile off the Mona Lisa!  He shows us our room and tours the facility.  There is a dining room in which dinner will be served (we’re pretty far from town, so I’m sure this appeals to lots of people who stay here!) And breakfast will also be here in the morning between eight and ten.  We can smell dinner!  Yum!!  We also meet Hjorleifur Helgi and both boys have quite a giggle as we try to repeat their names!  You have to be able to roll your Rs but there more to it than that and Hjorleifur finally says he’s been called worse!

Behind the guest house

In front of the guest house

The guys say that our plan to spend the afternoon visiting two nearby waterfalls is a good one and we set off.  Between our map, Rick Steves’s book and some pretty good signage, we make it with nairy a wrong turn!  The first falls, Hraunfossar, it like a series of bridal veils flowing out of the porous lava rock.  The second, Barnafoss, is called The Children’s Waterfall.  There is a legend that two children were supposed to stay at home while their parents went to church.  Of course they didn’t, and they fell off a natural bridge into the falls and died.  When the mother discovered what had happened, she destroyed the bridge so no other children would suffer the same fate.

Fully satisfied with our afternoon’s adventure we return to our home for the night and decide that we deserve a real dinner instead of eating some of the supplies we brought from home.  (Everyone told us that food is ghastly expensive and to bring some provisions with us!). Dagur says the portions are large enough to share and we decide that if we’re still hungry we can split a dessert, too!  Our choice for the evening is a lamb stew made with wild mushrooms and cream and served with barley/quinoa and roasted vegetables.  It’s out of this world!  And the lamb comes from their own farm just across the river.  We also share a pale ale brewed in Reykjavik.

After dinner we retire to our room to try to get organized.  The first day is always the hardest with things needing to be repacked and reordered.  But we’ve had such a grand dinner, that it doesn’t seem so bad!  Tomorrow will be a little simpler and we can sleep in a little before having breakfast and setting off again.  We’re grateful that we didn’t get rained on - but would like a little sun for our photos tomorrow!!,