Slept at a guest house, the family were so kind, Kristjan & Bjorn, we will never forget them. At 9am we stopped at Eiriksstadir (www.leif.is) the homestead of the man who first claimed Greenland and Western Canada (he named it Vinland). The woman lit a fire in the grass-roofed old home & the children n I sat while she shared the famous saga story of Eiriksstadir - it was mesmerizing with tales of Vikings and ensuing battles and ways of life. Niall loved the sword, spear, chain helmet and bones (children's toys). Next, a stop at Erpsstaðir (www.erpsstadir.is), a dairy farm where the farmer took us for a tour thru the high-tech (a robot milks each cow!) dairy operation, held bunnies and ate their ice cream, cumin cheese, a white-choc covered yogurt-like traditional dairy product that was so yummy I cant describe!! Pistachio, coconut, caramel ice cream :-) The farmer said Niall could have a bunny...but where to put it?!? We headed south & east to see the famous Strokkur Geysir (http://youtu.be/169EvbL1xiY), and Gullfoss (www.gullfoss.org) and it was worth it. We kept saying 'ok, one more' and the Geysir would shoot high in the air, then "ok, lets see one more". We didn't do the entire Golden Circle (http://www.extremeiceland.is/geo-tours/the-golden-circle) but we'd seen so much and were tired, ready to go home to Reykjavik. I stopped to talk to two cyclists heading thru a barren, volcanic wasteland to see how it was. They were from Germany & loved it but said it's very windy and the weather unpredictable. This was a full wknd and sleep was welcome more than ever. The impressions left by the landscape I think we all have been changed from it...only pictures will describe (hopefully soon!)
My most embarassing moment: First time filling up with diesel fuel for our car in Budardalur, I asked for $50 of gas to prepay. The clerk looked at me like I was speaking Alien-language..Then it dawned on me, Oh! How much Icelandic Krona is that?!? It wouldn't compute in my head, she had to help me guess how much Krona the car would take. I could choose 3000, 5000 or 10000 ISK which was put on a card which she handed to me. At the pump it took awhile to understand where to put the darn card and read Icelandic msgs on the pump. The newness, changes and getting lost or checking maps every 15 minutes takes patience....well, a lot of just not being in a rush and asking for help. A lot of help. The locals thankfully are very polite & helpful.