Woke up this morning to dark gray skies, which made the now familiar landscape look new again. Jón made an amazing breakfast for all of the B&Bers, mostly with either ingredients he and his wife grew/raised or from other local farmers. Homemade bread, smoked lamb (delicious…and I don’t even like lamb) and other meats, scrambled eggs, smoked fish, jams, vegetables, fruit, coffee, yogurt, and skyr (Icelandic dairy product). It was so good! We all sat at the table and tried to fuel up on caffeine so that we would feel somewhat conscious and be able to continue sightseeing. It was a contented tired after a late night gazing at aurora borealis and talking.
Jón and I discussed the weather report and it became more and more clear that it was NOT a wise choice to continue traveling east to the glacial lagoon with a big storm coming, especially because my flight is tomorrow in the early morning. It was definitely disappointing but experiencing two of three (aurora borealis, black sand beaches, Jökulsárlón) must-sees is pretty good in a country that the weather changes moment to moment.
I took the long way back to Keflavik, along the coast after leaving the 1 and then following the 425 and the 44. With a little extra time, it was also possible to loop around the 45 too. It’s a different kind of beauty in that particular region and worth the drive, but the wind was UNBELIVABLE. It was worse than the most intense winds I’ve experienced in Livingston because the wind was epic all the time, not just in sporadic gusts. Apparently it’s normal here. Blech. It’s beautiful though.
(Also, side note, Icelandic is a very interesting language. It’s roots are actually much closer to Gaelic and perhaps Old Norse than to modern Norwegian, for example. Some of the words are familiar to English speakers, but for the most part…nope. “Foss” means waterfall and “kirkja” is church. Good luck with the rest!)
Settled in at my next Airbnb and prepping for the flight tomorrow. Farewell from Iceland!
