In Which I Do Some Sightseeing

So after spending a few days in Reykjavik I decided it was time to venture farther afield. There are quite a few things worth seeing within an hour of Reykjavik. We decided to check out some geysers and a waterfall. There's a Danish guy staying at Egilsborg who has really taken a shine to the kids. Every time we come parading through the dining area he says, "Here comes Pippi and the Wikings!" Which cracks me up since the Danish word for Viking starts with a V and is pronounced with a V, but he says Wikings every time. Anyhow, he offered to come along to help keep the kids out of the waterfall. I was a little unsure at first but decided it might be worth having the extra hands.

But first we had to visit my buddy Magnus, who said that he was not happy to see me and that he didn't have anything for me to drive, and that I had to come back at 6 to pick something up. And that three hours was plenty of time to sightsee with 5 kids, anyhow. He's the best.

So we took off to Geysir, which apparently used to be one of the biggest geysers in the world until some kooky tourists (probably more of those dumb Americans) put a bunch of soap in the blowhole to see if it would make lots of bubbles. So now it only erupts if there's an earthquake. I was sincerely hoping not to see it. There have been small earthquakes while we've been here, but nothing I have been able to feel.

Thar she blows!

There's a smaller geyser in the same area, Strokkur, that goes off every ten minutes, though, which was fun to see, and plenty of little bubbling hot springs and mud pots and of course a gift shop. The boys all got baseball caps that say Iceland. I got mittens. It's blasted cold here! You'd think we were in Iceland or something!

Then it was on the the waterfall, Gullfoss. And I was glad to have another adult along. In true un-American style, there are no guardrails. Nope, friends, you have to use your brain while travelling in Iceland. The rocks just jut out directly over the immense waterfall, kind of sloping downwards, you know, so you can work up some speed if you happen to stumble. Not really my idea of a good time with five kids, but it was very impressive.

We stopped to take pictures in an area where there was at least a rope between us and obliteration.

On the way home we saw lots of the famous Icelandic horses, brought over by the Vikings and still pretty wild. Shaggy little things, but still pretty and fun to see. We met a whole herd galloping beside the road and even saw two stallions fighting. Unfortunately I was driving so we didn't get any photos.

Beautiful scenery along the way, too. And last but not, as far as the kids were concerned, least: our Danish friend bought them all ice cream on the way back!