MK❤️24

By popular demand,* our summer vacation will be documented here. Iceland for 8 days and nights, followed by 8 nights west of London, in Richmond upon Thames, with strong likelihood of a day trip or two in the west of England. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

A beautiful day in SF (yesterday) bids us farewell…

GGP, above the Dahlia Garden

…and the marine layer at home has evaporated by the time we arrive at SFO.

Until Marie receives a congratulatory text from a longtime colleague and friend, neither of us realizes that today, Day 1 of Fire Saga Adventure 2025, is also our 24th wedding anniversary. We agree to gift each other kindness and a United Club coffee in Terminal 3.

SFO in brilliant sunlight

Cabin crew’s service is strong (SFO-EWR). Cheese plate for Marie and nut-free pretzel mix for Keith, \240as if we are saving ourselves for “pasta” or “chicken” on the connecting flight.

Fun to have friends Sherilyn and Tyler three Economy Plus rows forward of us. Seemingly they know what they’re doing, sitting across the aisle from each other 😜

UA2650 20C from 20D

After *not* stuffing our faces with lemon chicken with rice and steamed mixed squash, washed down with Modello draft beer, and *not* sampling the thin and crispy chocolate cookies at the very nice United lounge at EWR in the company of our Dubai-bound friends, we hope that the empty middle seat between us EWR-KEF is retained.

EWR ain’t the airport it was during Keith and Tony Soprano’s New Jersey years. All is much improved, all save the view of the Manhattan skyline.

NYC from EWR Terminal C

‘KEF’ you ask? Keflavik International Airport is located 50km (30mi) west southwest of Reykjavik. The proposed high-speed rail link between them was never realized. Originally built by the U.S. Navy during WWII, its parallel runways are 3,050m (10,010ft) in length.

KEF featured prominently in Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising that was required reading for Keith in Dr. Patrick Hatcher’s Power and Politics course. #historyminutewithkeith

A valiant and competent effort by this cabin crew to accommodate all carryon luggage in the overheads prompts Keith to voluntarily optimize his overhead in order to create space for one more rollerboard. Keith then reflects if and how these two weeks off might create space for new life insights.

[Update: Middle seat 20B now occupied. The young man is okay.]

____

* All it takes is one loyal fan. You know who you are 😉

Awaken before sunrise to a warm orange glow on the horizon. Just over an hour before landing at KEF.

Marie claims a “facsimile” of sleep (Oura says 2h) and Keith doesn’t have a sleep score, and remains grumpy for most of the day.

Touch down in light drizzle that is forecast to be a constant companion for the next week. But spirits are high: We have the kit, we have the grit.

After collecting luggage from what Marie describes as a sleek Scandinavian design feel of an airport terminal (Keith: meh (he’s grumpy)…) we successfully navigate customs, the Flybus to town and left luggage at the bus terminal. A stroll around the east side of Reykjavik is painful for Keith, in particular the Hallgrimskirkja, a ultra modern Lutheran(?) cathedral built in 1986 in a style merging Stalinist gothic with ugly concrete with zero adornment. Find a busy bakery and breakfast on a bench, stalling until 11:00 until we can justify our taxi to our much anticipated spa experience.

Hallsgrimkirkja

Nicer architecture

Keith at penis museum

The 7-step Skjol ritual at Sky Lagoon

Skal!

The Sky Lagoon is the bourgeois alternative to the Blue Lagoon, an upgrade befitting us, don’t you think, dear reader? Rene would call it “a little showy” and we surrender.

The 7-step spa ritual is completed at speed. Our clear favorite step is the scrub. And swim up bar from the lagoon itself.

Our accommodations are renovated rooms in a garden apartment of a 1907 home in the Old West Side of Reykjavik and will be completely adequate to our needs for these 4 nights. Host Bjarni and family are just upstairs if we need anything.

Explore our route to Bus Stop 1 for tomorrow’s tour and the shopping and restaurants near Grandi for tonight’s provisions. In the end it’s Flatey Pizza, and margherita with sausage. They don’t know how to do sausage on a pizza says we, but we (Keith and his momentary worldview) still a little grumpy. Keith’s mood not improved by an episode of the Addams Family. Sleep is the answer for our world today; hopefully much improved by the lovebirds sharing an Ambien.

Gullfoss

Today features an all-day Golden Circle tour, a 150-mile scenic loop starting and ending in Reykjavik. Completely unrelated to the penis museum, the Golden Circle was invented by Rick Steves in 2006 to bilk unsuspecting young American tourists taking the cheap flights to Europe via Icelandair out of good money during their mandatory 1-2 day layover in Reykjavik. Steves: “Especially on a speedy “layover” visit (wink, wink), getting out into the epic Icelandic countryside should be your top priority. The key is being selective, and [this loop] clearly rise[s] to the top.” [The italics are Keith’s.] Neither Mr. Steve’s’ office nor Icelandair representatives returned Keith’s calls for comment.

Since Keith is driving for the remainder of the Iceland leg of Fire Saga 2025 Marie thinks a guided tour by coach is best. And Marie is correct, not for the first or last time. And (to tell a little secret) Keith needs more info/ammo for his History Minute spiels.

We are fetched promptly at 8:30 at Bus Stop #1 by Leroy, who is nearly the best tour guide in Icelandic history. To give you a taste: Within 8 minutes of driving, Leroy has proceeded to explain patronymic custom in Iceland, whereby last names are not family names but rather the father’s first name plus the suffix of son/daughter/child and logically wives do not take their husbands’ last names. Therefore, especially on a small island of 400,000, the chances of being related to someone is a) high and b) very difficult to discern without family names. This can be, uh, problematic for people dating, especially quickly or when relationships develop quickly, if you get the gist, so… Necessity being the mother of invention, someone created an app in Iceland, translated “Book of Iceland,” referencing the family register it pings, so that when a couple gets “to that point” in their relationship, assuming both have downloaded the app, they may “bump” phones (the author kids you not) and each will receive on their phones, in the app, either a green or red light addressing their level of genetic relatedness. We really love Leroy, who by the way, as of earlier this year, is the only Leroy registered in Iceland.

Thingvellir gorge / Bloody Gate of the Vale (GOT)

Our first stop in Thingvellir National Park, home of the world’s oldest democracy. “Thingvellir,” literally “field-assembly” is the site where Viking chieftains from all Iceland met annually to make agreements, resolve disputes, mete out justice, etc. - and that uninterrupted for 900 years. Yep: AD 900 until 1800, when the assembly moved to a building in Reykjavik and everyone wore pants.

Gnome home

Thingvellir - creek where convicted witches were drown each annual gathering (AD 900-1800)

Artic fox - only native terrestrial mammal of Iceland (not vegan)

Efstidallur ice cream (banana Mars, Oreo)

Our next stop was Efstidallur farm for ice cream and cow viewing. Iceland allows no livestock to be imported into the island. This keeps disease away from the purebred Iceland cattle, sheep, horses and reindeer. None native, none wild, all farmed. The only native land mammal to Iceland (not brought by the Vikings) is the arctic fox. A vicious little creature (see photo), they hunt birds/bird eggs. And fish.

Efstidallur dairy cow. Marie claims special bond due to eye contact.

Strict PDA laws in otherwise progressive 21st C. Iceland

The Great Geysir is from whence the g-word name for a spouting spring in many tongues derives. To the Viking who named it, it was just a random name, Geysir, like Ragnar or Eric the Red or Steve - but it took when other geysers around the world were “discovered.” Although no longer actively spouting, it remains the OG of geysers. Little brother Strokkur, or if you prefer “Strokkur Geysirson,” is now the big draw, spouting flamboyantly every 4-8 minutes on average.

Strokkur (Great Geysir park)

Every 4-8 minutes…

Gullfoss

Consensus highlight of the day, scenicly speaking, is Gullfoss. Pronounced “Gultz-foss,” this mighty waterfall (total height 32m/105ft) in the Hvita River spirits no small amount of water from the Langjokull glacier toward the Atlantic.

Icelandic horse trying to kiss Marie

Fridheimar greenhouse tomatoes extraordinaire

Lunch at Fridheimar farm featuring locally grown tomatoes. These guys grow 5 sorts and represent 40% of the entire Icelandic market - 100% greenhouse, 100% geothermal powered lighting and heating, 100% pesticide free. To battle the bad flies, they import good flies, that feed on the eggs on the bad flies, from the Netherlands, as well as the bumblebees that pollinate the tomato flowers.

Lunch is “not included” but impossible to refuse or resist after the private guided tour and reserved tables among the vines and a meter-high pile of homemade bread on the all-you-can-eat buffet. \240Marie and Keith hold back, ordering just…

Fridheimar - white pipes of geothermal water heat the 90,000 sq.ft. greenhouse complex

Two tomato soups, with bread; heirloom tomatoes and burrata; ravioli stuffed with ricotta with tomato and pesto sauces; 2 tomato beers; and only one tomato-apple pie with whipped cream. Just that so we are easily on time back to the Mercedes sprinter of Leroy. From out table of six redneck asshole Billy from Panama City mistakenly forgets to pay for 2 soups and a shrimp skewer, and he begrudgingly sends his very kind wife Joyce back to settle after called out by the Teutonic half of Marie Claire. Table 603 is rounded out by Emma of Devon and her 14y old son Bertie (given Christian name Edward) who has no peace after answering Keith’s question about his favorite football club with “Liverpool.” You’ll never walk alone, Bertie, and never of your own free will sit next to an American at lunch ever again. Bertie’s fav LFC player is Mo Salah. Bright boy, this one.

Kerid crater

Final stop for us today is the Kerid volcanic crater, similar although smaller than Oregon’s Crater Lake. Formed when what is believed to have been a cone volcano collapsed, its water (yawn) varies between 7 and 14m deep. Good final photo op, though.

Beer rivals are Gull and Einbok. Einbok is owned by The Coca-Cola Company

Questions Marie didn’t know she had until now

Marie starting to add her humor…

Stroll around downtown this evening. City centre is 5-10x busier at 8pm on a Wednesday in mid-August than during the work day. Finished at Seabaron for a small bite. Since we had such a big lunch we limit ourselves to cups of lobster soup and two sk- [redacted for purposes of national security and self-respect].

PS It is a purely insider joke among the tour guide and hospitality crowd in Reykjavik to refer to our favorite Seattle-based travel guide author as “Heilagi Stefan” (St. Stephen).

Evening in Reykjavik

Old Harbor Reykjavik

(Courtesy of Apple #images)

Reykjavík - Faxafloi Bay - Engey - Reykjavik

Stay up late last night but with help of generic Ambien Oura rates our respective sleep at \2409h 12m and 8h 2m. Marie wins the sleepathon yet again.

Like SF, we are getting marine layer days and brilliant sunny days in alternating rhythm, very distantly related to the weather forecast. That makes today, this morning lay least, a grey day. Reykjavík by grey (upon arrival) was not a particularly handsome city, we agreed. Yesterday, however, under the Viking sun, the town and its people were a good bit better looking.

First coffee at 11:30 is a novelty, as is laying in late. Our residential neighborhood is very quiet so no external distractions to sleep this morning. We will spend the early afternoon preparing our safari kit.

Whalewatching and puffin viewing tour via boat provided by Icelandic Special Forces. Puffin season ended yesterday, and Keith’s recon reveals that most of this extraordinary seabirds buggered off a few weeks early. Those remaining apparently are badly hungover from the end-of-breading season rave party.

Marie ecstatic to learn that our Whale Safari office guy was the Papa John’s pizza kid in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, as if that makes up for the puffin fail. Keith getting grumpy again 😜

Serious business: Marie familiarizing herself with the wildlife

Very serious business: Marie with her Icelandic movie star/extra Pauthur

Orca?

007 in Iceland. But he’s not Icelandic.

Ready for action

As we leave the harbor for our excursion into Faxafloi Bay, Marie can’t get out of her head the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song while Keith remembers the last time he was in such a boat, seconded to the Special Boat Service regiment in th— [redacted for purposes of national security].

Our guide Knut is a marine biologist and doctoral candidate and very personable and informative.

Keith’s extra questions faze him not, all taken in stride. Knut perhaps found Marie and Keith’s most welcome as it was just the Aussies and Hitches asking (any).

Whalewatching is a year-round opportunity in Reykjavik, as the waters of Faxafloi Bay are due to the various currents warm and cold converging here creating a high-nutrient environment conducive to algae growth, algae feeding the plankton and small fish and crustaceans, feeding the baleeb whales and others.

Our catch today consisted of many Minke whales (surfacing for only a second or two at a time), a pair of white-beaked dolphin, harbor porpoise, and ones very accommodating humpback. Humpbacks are not tagged as each fluke (tail) has a unique shape and coloring, its fingerprint, as it were, enabling positive identification. Humpbacks feed and breed in Icelandic summer waters, migrating to southern spheres (Azores, West Africa, the Caribbean) for the winter.

Minke whale (rhymes with mouse)

Humpback fluke

Minke

Humpback

Humpback (same one in a pics)

“That is not a por-poose!”

Minke

Breach of awesomeness

Keith has to repeatedly remind the staff of Whale Safari that we have booked the 2-hour “whales AND PUFFINS” tour, and is assured we will “try to see them,” as the breeding season has just ended and most of the 800,000 breeding pairs of puffin calling Iceland their summer home have departed.

Thankfully our visit to the burrows on Engey island just off Reykjavik yields us what might be a two- or three-count of puffin, easily identified in flight: They skim over the water with short wings beating 400x per minute.

Puffins have a lifespan of 20-30 years and mate for life, although only come together as a couple in summer, at their landslide nesting burrow. Otherwise they are solitary creatures floating around the deep North Atlantic Ocean - by themselves. Not like as in alone as a couple but solo. Knut, a science man, suggests that studies show this behavior is highly supportive of “a long and happy marriage.” 😜

But the author digresses. Before our very eyes, dear readers, this Last Puffin in Iceland, on his last day before departing westward for the year, building up the strength to vector off the surface up and toward us eye-level on the boat, veers off at the last moment as if a salute to us and himself, live catch still wriggling in his mouth.

And then flew back and got close enough to gloat.

All true.

Puffin after buzzing our boat

Touch down

Sidasti lundi: The Last Puffin

Three cheers for Whale Safari! We strongly suspect our magnificent experience was no fluke!

To bookend a lovely and exhilerating afternoon in the water we dine with close friends from SF finishing their 11d Iceland tour at Froeken. Little gem salad arctic char for Marie, steak frites for Keith (knowing some one at the table would offer their unfinished fish to sample). A highly rated fresh fish, arctic char resembles salmon in texture but…let’s see. More samples required.

Dinner with dear friends

Harpa concert hall, Reykjavik

Viking Jaffa cake: known as a Javik-Koku (head shake)

Not to nitpick, but lots of these young Rejkjavikings are a bit too aggressive with they bicycles and scooters *on the sidewalk.* Keith getting grumpy again. Good night!

For those looking to fact check the author

Old lava flow covered in moss and flora / Reykjanes peninsuka

A few words about our weather thus far: the “little drizzle” of Tuesday arrival was more like SF summer mist. It did not require a head covering and had stopped entirely upon arrival in town. Wednesday, as previously stated, was amazing - perfect, even - for the Golden Circle route, and yesterday’s marine layer, with a flat grey ocean and no wind was claimed to be optimal for sighting whales, and by all accounts it was. Today Keith traipses a half an hour in light drizzle (hood up) to the domestic airport (RVK, not KEF) but it’s nice and partly sunny by the time he returns to Marie with the rental car. So three cheers for Mother Iceland rejecting the week-long forecast of rain provided by Apple and United Airlines!

Until the mid 1960s Reykjavik’s city field was also it’s international airport, indicating how sleepy it all was not that long ago.

Comprehensive video tour of Reykjavik Domestic Airport (RVK):

Keith: “And with planes this small (see below) I recommend relieving yourself before takeoff as well.”

The first flight at RVK was in 1919. In 1930 and 1931 the airship Graf Zeppelin visited, without fire or other catastrophe. During WWII, while the Americans expanded KEF, RVK airfield was expanded by the Brits and named RAF Reykjavík. #historyminutewithkeith

And to the Icelandic language: While all modern Scandinavian languages find their common root in Vikingspeak, the Old Norse), Icelandic remains virtually the same as it ever was. Therefore, today’s Icelanders have little issue communicating with their ancestors or reading their graffiti. Icelandic also occupies the linguistic centerpoint of the renowned P-F Shift, whereby Germanic languages, over time, evolved the p and t sounds and spellings toward pf or f, and k into x etc. (examples: German “Pfeife” > English “pipe” and Pund to Pfund, also English retains the older spelling of pound).

In Icelandic, F is pronounced “p,” so Keflavík is pronounced today “KePlavik” and Hoefn “HuPP.” #linguisticminutewithkeith

And while we are the subject of Old Icelandic Norse, a quick reference guide for English speakers:

Bjor takk = beer, please; farou i rassgat = fuck off (literally: go into asshole); fell = mountain; foss = waterfall; jokull = glacier; ness = cape/headland; snae = snow; vatn = water/lake; vik = bay

Keith has spoken to soon as we set out by 5-door Hyundai i30 with automatic transmission for the Reykjanes peninsula and specifically its three G’s: Graenavatn, Grindavik and Gardur. It’s pissing rain under a low-ceiling monotone grey sky.

Our intentions are pure, but achieving goal #1 is thwarted. Graenavatn (“green lake”) is a geological marvel, a 45m deep volcanic crater lake (8 times deeper than Kerid, for comparison) of an unique green hue based on sulpher content. We are thwarted by a gravel road and Keith’s lack of confidence in the Hyundai. We have seen the Great Wall of China, climbed Mt. Kilamajaro, - but risk breaking down in a rental car on a dead-end gravel road in the middle of an active lava field in the pouring rain.

Lest our quest fail completely we proceed with confidence in Keith’s driving prowess and Marie navigation skills (and confidence in Keith) to the town of Grindavik.

If you heard in the news recently that the Blue Lagoon had been “threatened” or “temporarily closed” by a volcano eruption, and especially if you didn’t, that news blurb does not even begin to explain. The threat is not from some Mt. Shasta-like volcano a hundred miles away spewing poisonous gas carried by the wind toward Reykjavík and/or the famous Blue Lagoon. Rather…

There is an active lava field that has erupted - earthquakes followed by magma breaking through to the surface, lava flowing - eight times in the last two years, one time lasting 54 days, right next to the Blue Lagoon and the town of Grindavik. Scenes below depict what happened when the lava flow overwhelmed the “anti-lava barrier” built to protect the fishing town of 3,000 people.

There are miles after square miles of black lava, 30ft (?) high in some places that destroyed everything in its paths. Please research the full story as it is fascinating, including the government’s proactive response which is still unfolding.

Lava flow into Grindavik subdivision

Photos from Grindavik local memorial

Somehow only three homes destroyed

Blue Lagoon, with lava that ate half the parking lot (the resort is out of frame to right)

Our final stops today were in the village of Gardur, which stood in for Greenlandish capital Nuuk in the Walter Mitty film.

The museum slash restaurant at the old lighthouse served us fish soup, triangles of black bread, unremarkable tempura shrimp (Keith’s bad on that order) and delicious chocolate cake. The young woman working front of house, with excellent English and the flattest of affects, wore a tee shirt with MENTALLY GONE on the front.

Shop for dinner at the Krostan supermarket. And reboot season one of Stranger Things in anticipation of the upcoming finale.

Utskalar Church, Gardur

\240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240Gardur Old Lighthouse

Museum AND restaurant. Amazing chocolate cake!

Interesting custom in the countryside

Sneak preview of Marie & Keith’s Christmas card 2025 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 (Takk, Kelly Johndottur)

Now that we all have the basic Icelandic vocab committed to memory (see yesterday’s post if needed), many key nameplaces reveal their meaning:

Reykjavík = “smokey/steamy” + “bay”

Reykjanes = “smokey/steamy” + “peninsula”

Snaefellsnes = “snow” + “mountains” + “peninsula”…No, love. It’s not pronounced snuffleupagus.

Husavik = “my hometown” (extra credit to readers who submit the correct literal meaning)

Equally poor non-Ambien sleep for both Marie and Keith last night. We commit to be kind to one another today.

And the roadtrip phase of Fire Saga 2025 begins. Pray us traveling mercies.

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After all-day and then overnight and all-day-the-next-day technical difficulties Journo is back online. It will take some time to rehabilitate lost data from this day’s post. Keith’s mom says “he must have overused it.”

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First stop: LavaCentre. Highly recommended and does not disappoint.

Graphic below shows the extent of lava flow from the recent Reykajanes earthquakes and eruptions. Town at the bottom is Grindavik.

The 15-minute film featuring the massive eruptions over the last decade was worth the price of admission, and maybe the cost of 2 beers as well.

LavaCentre - Great interactive exhibits, including earthquake. \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240(Takk, Kelly Owendottur)

The real Upside Down beneath Iceland

Seljalandsfoss. It’s not Yosemite.

Behind Seljalandsfoss. This was the most photographed thing in Iceland - until Will Ferrell made that movie. Marie says that he was “way too old” for Rachel McAdams’ character

Best view of Seljalandsfoss is from the side. And most tourists miss it.

My heart

Fosstunsfoss

Gljufrabui (“canyon-dweller”). Makes sense.

Note the planted battalion of pine trees as barrier from avalanche above the farm

Skogafoss

Top of Skogafoss

Short reflection on the tourists at LavaCentre and Seljalandsfoss pathway and toilets:

Grandma EverReady Bunny announces she is saving seven seats in the front frow at lava cinema - once to her grandson, once to a poor woman who simply glanced toward the front of the theatre, and three times to the entire audience;

Nasal-voiced NY Nancy and her dumb husband repeatedly talk over the guide of the private tour they arranged, and not with smart comments, e.g. “We don’t have volcanoes in the Poconos.” And the coup de grace, later at the cafe:

Cashier: “I’m afraid we don’t accept American Express.”

Nancy: “WHAT? YOU DON’T TAKE AMERICAN EXPRESS!?! LUIGI, I NEED YOUR CREDIT CARD - THEY DON’T TAKE AMERICAN EXPRESS!”

- French kid throws his jacket into the bushes behind the railing and tells his mother to “shut her mouth;”

- Guy urinates on Keith foot. Not a direct hit, mind you, but a ricochet spray off the rim of his neighboring porcelain. No words exchanged.

In contrast, only paragons of virtue at Skógafoss. Lunch steps away from the falls at Hotel Skogafoss. Very nice smoked salmon on top of this fresh crunchy green stuff which they call salad here. And too much white bread.

According to one RV podcast we listened to, Vik is the best little town in Iceland, and their insights were sound. Keith is listening to their recommendation of the #1 at Black Crust Pizza (langoustine, red onion, arugula, and garlic on black crust). Marie opts for takeaway from Wok In Vik (the #3, chicken and mushrooms over white rice, but wok-tossed with soy not satay sauce). Iceland langoustine must be what in the 70s and 80s Red Lobster (or was it Sizzler) referred to as “deep sea finger lobster,” all you could eat for $8.99, for a limited time. Not limited here on the South Coast and definitely not $8.99, or $11.99, for that matter.

Before bed a stroll around the grounds of Farmhouse Lodge, and a game. Marie almost takes him to the cleaners but didn’t have any ISK bills or coins on her.

Svinafellsfoss

Epic day today, even before Journo came back on line just prior to hotel arrival.

Less words today (?) so photos tell the story. (Photos by Keith and Marie, but mostly Marie.)

Room with this view, Farmhouse Lodge west of Vik

Vaffla - not just a food but “a symbol of Icelandic hospitality and warmth” and best part of €18 breakfast

Reynisfjara black sand beach with basalt

Will Journo solve their 502 bad gateway? Or is it Keith?

Fjadrargljifur Canyon in poor visibility with Marie making the photo

Vatnajökull National Park visitor centre - \240graphic of deadly lava flows in this region: Eldgja, 939 (mustard), Laki, 1873-1874 (red)

Farmhouse Lodge is good not great.

Keith was annoyed last night at check in when they made Marie stand on the porch of reception until the stroke of 16:00. Turns out the stupid French woman arriving just ahead of Marie DIDN’T EVEN TRY THE DOOR and hence they were behind the assertive, I mean, normal, German woman arriving third who just turned the knob and got out her credit card.

But even if that wasn’t exactly a Farmhouse fault, there is no doubt that their tired thin towels and absent hand towels and bath mat could use improvement. Bed: good. Breakfast waffles: good. Room rate: same as Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay.

A foggy and rainy day of driving, with a few remarkable exceptions. Visibility generally only 1/4 to 1/2 mile or so. Which makes Marie’s job to capture the day visually a bit more difficult. Keith’s driving is again superb, with zero call outs (today) for wipers, tailgating or excessive speed.

Impromptu stop at the visitor centre for Vatnajokull National Park, and well worth it, beyond the clean washrooms.

Vatnajokull is the largest glacier in Iceland and Europe - see white blob below - covering “only” 8% of Iceland but that’s 3,000 sq.mi., three times the size of Rhode Island.

Under the glacier are multiple volcano systems. In 1873 Laki erupted for eight months, its lava flow devouring 13 villages and killing another 29 with ash. 50% of Iceland’s livestock and 20% of its people, up to 10,000 souls, perished in the aftermath, including those victim of the mysterious “poison fog” that was poorly understood at the time.

The map above shows the areas of lava flow from Laki as as well as the previous big one a thousand years before. The difference is the lava fields created by the two is super clear to today’s aware tourists, the older “smoothed over” with lots of moss.

Svinafellsfoss is but a small glacial outlet, a little finger, of the monster mother Vatna. The dark veins visible are, you guessed it, volcano ash embedded in the ice, and identifiable via carbon dating.

Same with icebergs in Jokulsarlon lagoon, the highlight of the day. Marie’s advance research had us booking the zodiac tour of this glacier lagoon, into which icebergs large and small calve every day. Due to the warmer seawater mixed with freshwater from the under-glacier river emptying into the lagoon, Vatnajokull is receding here faster than anywhere else, about 300m per year. That’s nearly 3ft per day. Given the size of the glacier, at this rate our boat driver-guide Will has good job security for the rest of his life, as will his children and their children.

Marie’s photogenic friend 🐴

Is Jokulsarlon lagoon ready for Keith? is the question

Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. Prepare to be amazed!

Where white walkers come from

Tastes of nothing but water. And that’s a good thing

Nine km from zodiac boat dock to the glacier

Marie videography at its best! …Lucy!

Other worldly. The veins of grey are volcanic ash, the darker the color, the denser the ice.

End of the road for Marie and Keith? (So many questions today)

Not the end of the road. We arrive at Hotel Hofn in steady rain. But with a nice room and happy hour still in force at a window table. Marie and Keith share green salad with shaved Feykir cheese, hazelnuts and rhubarb vinaigrette; deep sea finger lobster pasta, the burger with fries, and the white chocolate mousse with cranberry sauce.

And perhaps the end of Marie’s journey to discover her favorite beer: Einstok White Ale (5.2% ABV).

Keith trying to catch up with the travel diary. Cat a Hotel Hofn institution although actually lives two doors down.

Berufjordur

Today’s plan…Let’s see how this once-again low-ceiling grey day unfolds.

Reds kick off at St James’ Park at 19:00 local time (Liverpool FC at Newcastle), so there’s that ⚽️❤️

Leisurely morning with 10am departure from hotel. First proper hotel for us this trip. And perhaps the same tonight in Egilsstadir. Tomorrow is a mega driving day (8 hours maybe) so Keith intent on making this a calm and relaxed day of sightseeing, hiking and Marie and Keith enjoying each other’s company.

Could have been a special ocean view but prepared us for the road ahead

Authentic replica Viking ship. Passed all sea trials but then sunk in Reykjavik harbor in “big storm.” Hard to fathom the courage to embark on expeditions to Iceland, Greenland, Vinland…

Viking Village at Vestahorn

Could I sail across the North Atlantic in that? Nope.

Dead Marshes. That Tolkien guy really knew his stuff.

Swans, ubiquitous in Iceland

Berufjordur

Flogufoss

The shortcut to Egilsstadir over the mountain. Gravel road, 17% gradient, Hyundai…what could go wrong?

Lake view from our room the top of line Egilsstadir hotel: Gistihuid Lake Hotel, founded in 1903

Three hours driving in the fog and rain, something like driving California Hwy 1 south of Pescadero but without guardrails. All highlights shown in photos above, save the very engaging Trevor Noah podcast with John Stewart. We can’t say enough about it so will say nothing more. Link here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7B3fUsaWmCBoyheK1XwOP8?si=HMWVTs7bQWm-uWf-ch6i4Q

Coming down the mountain we found ourselves suddenly in Scotland, or the Lake District - no lava, broad meadows, tree farms, agriculture. Is this Dartmoor? A very pleasant surprise as we roll into Egilsstadir and stop at the hotel, just in case our room is ready early. It is. Met a young couple on the road who recommended the nearby Vok Baths (“Better than Blue Lagoon!”) but we opt to enjoy the view of Lagarfljot. As you would expect in Scottish Iceland, the loch has its own serpentine monster. It looks like this:

Room at the Lake Hotel tempts us to abandon the plan, but Keith calls the question and we head out to the car for the 25km out to Seydisfjordur. This port town is to Egilsstadir what Seward is to Anchorage, if you’ve had the pleasure. A cruise ship is in, the MV Azamara Quest. Seems (some) passengers are still about town but not completely clear.

High on Marie’s bucket list for Iceland was not Seydisfjordur per se but rather the road to Seydisfjordur, for this is the road Walter Mitty skateboarded to escape the erupting volcano in the movie. Fun fact is that Ben Stiller needed no stunt man stand-in for that ride.

Lookin down on Seydisfjordur

Gufufoss

Seydisfjordur

Keith don’t skateboard, Ben Stiller skateboard.

Early dinner of pizza, Marie’s with a double portion of arugula (+ISK 320), at Askur. The shared bjor is a local one. Loch Monster Ale might be name.

The drive from Egilsstadir up and over the ridge gifted us with the first blue sky of the day. And our west-facing lake view may grant us a sunset.

⚽️ Kick off in Newcastle in 35 minutes. Szoboszlai starting at right back for LFC. #ynwa

Tomorrow is the long drive, maybe 10 hours including breaks and 2 foss visits, and they’re doozies.

Epilogue:

This ia match for the ages. Newcastle earns a point or even points tonight (a draw if not a win) but for \240a 16-year old who strikes the winner for Liverpool deep in injury time. Youngest EPL goalscorer for LFC.

YNWA You Never Walk Alone

Highlights!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=EbRtHkEPz8c&si=qrbu4z0mvg2omJ5l

YNWA

Rjukandafoss

The wisdom of Marie Claire is again evident as she yesterday forked over an extra €35 for a lake view room, which afforded open windows and thereby fresh air all as it howled and stormed overnight. A good 7 hours sleep for both Marie and Keith, with Keith waking before the alarm to quietly shower, dress, load most bags into the Hyundai, top off the tank and be back in the room by 06:40. With playful prompting Marie completes mascara application by 07:00 and we are promptly at breakfast.

Note Keith’s innovative sound dampening use of face cloths and tissue paper. The wind was rattling the latches and Her Majesty was disturbed.

Day 7: Marie not quite ready to murder him yet

For all the whining about fog and rain, upon reflection yesterday’s travels saw actual rain only when driving. The outdoor time at VIking Village, Berufjordur, Flogufoss and Gufufoss on the Seydisfjordur road were all drizzle-free.

Today’s drive starts most fine, with only 5 cars an hour whizzing past, the whole of ths Jokuldakur (Glacier Valley - yep, that’s the name. Uberliteral these Vikings) all to ourselves. The weather forecasts suggests steady improvement as we proceed west toward Akureyri and indeed bright sun breaks out about a half an hour on the road. A quick photo stop at Rjukandafoss proves a lovely crisp early autumn day (Keith refused to call it summer as the puffins are gone)!!!

25 minutes east of our first scheduled stop to take in Dettifoss we hit a road closure. The kind security man walks to each vehicle in line to explain the 30ish minute wait is for regular bridge maintenance. The sun pouring into the car makes this break no inconvenience.

Sun! Sun! Sun, here it comes!

Don’t go chasing waterfalls…

Rjukandafoss

Bru a Jokla

A delightful morning - driving, chatting, walking, sightseeing, listening to an audible novels. Dettifoss, as see below, is powerful. Largest fall in ever the Icelandic world, and Europe, 44m high x 100m wide. Not surprisingly its source is the Vatnajokull mother of all glaciers. Very surprisingly, this eastern and northeastern part of Iceland is neither rocky nor lavalike. Rather it evokes England’s Lake District, whose finger lakes and landscapes were shaped by, uh, glaciers.

Dettifoss

Need to make up for lost time due to bridge closure (jk)

Godafoss

Akureryi

Akureyri Botanical Garden

Marie orders best lunch in Iceland: fish soup, warm Camembert with beetroot, chilled smoked char with onions and roast potatoes tossed in vinaigrette (Restaurant Lyst, Akureyri)

Blonduos

Somewhere down the road

Last sunset of the Icelandic summer

Sunrise in Varmaland

Breakfast view southwest toward Reykjanes

Fish drying apparatus. Normally cod but also the fermenting Greenland shark (yum!)

Akranes Lighthouse. Great acoustics.

Helgufoss

KEF Gate D21

Keith surely doesn’t want to tell Icelandair what it’s doing wrong before we are even boarded, however…

The gate line up is segregated priority vs economy and clearly marked. So far so good.

The scan at the counter is self-serve, with an officious attendant manually checking passports (for this non-Schengen Flight KEF-LHR). So far so good.

We then proceed to holding pen where we are encouraged over loudspeaker by Icelandair staff to no longer hold the queue with rationale stated: “You’re all going on the same plane.” \240Or evidently bus, as we are standing in front off a door to tarmac. Okay…

They then drop the cordon and have us walk upstairs, as a herd, to the jetway (escalator not rolling) where we then re-queue, in the blazing sun through jetway sunlight magnification windows and organized in no order whatsoever to seat ourselves. Wait a minute!

Fortunately Marie and Keith are seated just two rows back from the door so actually getting our stuff up top and seated isn’t difficult. Once we actual step on the plane, that is.

The boarding order, therefore, has no rhyme or reason to it. The 757-200 seats 200 passengers, and without order and instruction, just left to our own devices…

… the flight boards in about half the time as usual at home. The Europeans don’t like to queue, and apparently that works just fine.

Sharp helio-contrast to Iceland arrival

Good seats on Icelandair, 10C and 10D. We are among the first off the plane at LHR Terminal 2, intent to make it to customs ahead of most. Our London Home Exchsnge host Valerie has warned us of especially long lines recently, and we know school restarts next week, so…

All for naught - we have forgotten that US passport holders (still) enjoy the same queue as UK and EU citizens together with the Five Eyes nations, Singapore and ROK maybe? Anyway, for the blue queue there is no line, and because we filled out of ETA forms, paying our £19 each online, Marie and Keith are through the automated customs barrier in no time flat. By contrast, Keith estimates the peach queue (the Rest of the Commonwealth and all other passports) waiting time at 2 and a half days. Seriously. One family had their picnic blanket pitched at about 13 hours to go.

We simply keep walking, up escalators, down hallways, across moving sidewalks, down escalators, and suddenly find ourselves at baggage claim 3 and our bags arrived in, say, 3 minutes? Our longest wait was 8 minutes for Uber’s Dahir Amiin and his blue Prius to wisk us around the entirety of LHR, past Terminals 4 and 5, and then a straight shot to St Margarets \240of Richmond of Twickenham and our home for the next 8 days. And it’s lovely.

To recap the Iceland stage of Fire Saga 2025:

Iceland Visitor Tips w/ Marie & Keith

ITINERARY

We did 4 nights Reykjavík, 4 nights to circle the island (ring road), with Golden Circle tour via bus on full day 1.

- 3 nights in Reykjavik is enough.

- On Ring Road circuit, add 1 night in Akureyri

- If time in overall stay, stay in Vik and/or Egilsstadir 2 nights instead of one. slow it down a bit.

- Add snowmobile or horse riding tour on the Vatnajokull glacier. We didn’t have that kind of time.

- Snaefellsnes peninsula - we missed it. If trip allows, add 2-3 days for the northwest.

- Reykjavik arrival day - not sure how to handle best. Flights arrive from North America early morning, and rooms typically not available until mid afternoon. Book Hotel Aurora for late arrival previous night and go directly to bed, and then Sky Lagoon in afternoon (15min taxi from downtown Rekjavik? Golden Circle tour not a bad idea, although we saved for next day in case of flight delay/late arrival at KEF. Worthy of advance consideration.

IMPORTANT CAR RENTAL INFO

- Spend on a 4x4, confidence on gravel roads and freedom to go into the mountains.

- You MUST have a credit/debit card WITH A PIN to pay for petrol at the pumps. No one tells you this and we read no mention.

- With foreign credit card: Be prepared for the petrol company to hit you with a +-/$250 “deposit” charge (that processes but never posts) with every fill up. Weird but true. (This might be only if you use the rental car company’s discount token for petrol, but don’t so.)

- If taking ring road, be sure to PREPAY the toll tunnel east of Akureyri. 24h in advance for single trip at veggjald.is. At the tunnel it is not signed. “Big fine” otherwise, or so told at Avis counter.

DON’T-MISS & RECOMMENDATIONS

- Reykjavik: Whale watching tour via jet boat in Faxafloi Bay. If in summer, be sure your includes “Puffins.” We rec Whale Safari.

- Reykjavik: Sky Lagoon! Blue Lagoon optional.

- Grindavik: Do not miss the real-life impact of living near volcanic areas.

- Hvolsvollur: LavaCentre - en route to South Coast.

- South Coast: Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon zodiac boat tour.

- Skogafoss: Lunch at Hotel Skogafoss, adjacent to falls.

Egilsstadir: Gustihusid Lake Hotel. \240Pay extra for lake view room.

- Egilsstadir: If you like the local spa/bath cultured the add Vox Baths (in addition to Sky Lagoon.

- Seydisfjordur: don’t miss this round trip from Egilsstadir. Have a drink and hang a while.

Varmaland: Hotel Varmaland, incl. dinner at Calor restaurant.

PRAYER OF EXAMEN (Low-/Highlights)

Marie:

- Low / “Realizing how tough it would be to spend a winter in Iceland  - I do not have the resilience of an Icelander!” 

- High / “The waterfalls, all of them, from the tiny trickle to the roaring mega-falls. Their source, the glaciers, were stunning as well.

But then there were the whales - humpback and minke - and I can't forget the horses - so many horses. A surprising amount of horses. 

Did I mention the sky? The mountains? The moss covered mountains and moss covered lava fields?  

I guess I just celebrate the entire collection of natural beauty.”

Keith:

- Low / $15 per bag at BSI bus terminal left luggage; “Nordic Open Face Sandwich” preordered on Icelandair.

- High / #1 pizza at Black Crust Pizza in Vik; Puffins!

Beautifully and newly renovated garage is perfect for our needs. Note the interior appointments: shades over shudders.

Location is just across the roundabout from St Margarets Road and the shops. Includes at least three coffee places, an Italian and Indian restaurants, a Tesco Express, a wine shop and half dozen salons of various specialties. Not pretentious enough to be bourgie but very nice indeed.