Iceland to Oakland, Tuesday, 4 August 2026

 We awoke refreshed and headed out to Stanholt for lovely breakfast, a place Madeleine had recommended. Barney had waffles and bacon and skyr with berries, I had avocado smoked salmon toast on sourdough bread and good coffees. We walked back along a main commercial and strolling street with many shops, looking for a nice puffin t-shirt for Barney, and finally found one. We also saw a shop with two polar board models out from and a real taxidermied polar bear inside, which was at least 9 feet tall.back to the hotel, check out and load up the car, and headed to the airport. After the car return, we learned that we were too early to check out bags, so we cooled our jets for an hour at a cafe (third coffee of the day) and finally found the right place to check in. We spent about 3 hours in the very nice Icelandair Saga lounge with some traditional food for lunch and a place to relax, the. off to board for the long flights home.

Something I noticed, almost everywhere, was the constant anonymous pop rock with machine thumping drums. 

Iceland, Monday, 3 August 2026

We woke up early today to go horseback riding nearby. I was so excited about this as I haven’t been riding in many years. We went to Hester og Fjoll, a family-owned and ru; riding place, that offered rides from 1-4 hours. Given our time constraints, and Barney’s very limited experience with riding, we opted for the one hour ride along the river. We arrived at the stable - I thought we’d be late but we were the first on the groups to arrive - to two small dogs and a cat who greeting us, and the owner, Veronica. She introduced us to our guide, and showed us a selection of helmets to find one that fit. We changed into our hiking books and waterproof pants, though it was bright and sunny, and opted for sweaters only, no jacket. Veronica gave us a briefing on Icelandic horses: smaller than Western horses but muscular, you can approach from either side, they don’t really kick if you walk behind them, the reins are two-handed but used more like Western reins, though the saddle is a modified English one. My horse was named Adis, which means goddess, a pretty russet (I was told she was a diva)  and Barney’s was Boden, a big chestnut. We mounted (harder than I remember) and went off for a lovely ride along a small creek and through beautiful green fields with a view of the glacier. Our guide, Anna, was a young Swedish woman who had already spent time in the US and Australia. We chatted about travel and Greenland as she led the two of us on the trail. We went up and down a few gullies which was exciting for Barney. The biggest moment was when we saw two mares nd their foals running along the fence nearby, and Adis really wanted to run over there. Anna mentioned that she is crazy about the foals, perhaps had one earlier, and she always tries to run after them, and come between the foals and their mothers. It took me a few minutes to get her back under control. A few times w stopped so Anna could open a fence and she said it was fine for the horses to graze on the lush grass. It felt really good to be back on a horse again, though Barney was not comfortable until about halfway through the ride. We returned to the stable and said farewell and took some photos of the horses in the field. 

We backtrack3 about 30 minutes to the Skogar Museum, an outdoor and folk building museum. We toured the turf houses, tiny church rebuilt with interior, altar, lights, and mor from various 16th-19th century churches, a small schoolhouse, and a three-part outage with bedrooms above where the animals were kept, to use the warmth. We also saw an early 20th century Pelton wheel-driven electric generator. Inside the folks museum was an amazing array of clothing, tools, embroidery, furniture, and other artifacts from earlier Iceland. We didn’t have time to see everything, but did note a foot-driven lathe, the glass bottles used to send messages from remote islands, a full-size fishing boat that had a crew of 12, lovely rosmaled furniture and embroidery, all sorts of metal artifacts from buckets and stirrups to hooks and weapons. There was a small cafeteria that looks like a tea room, all lace and flowers and decorated like the English countryside, where we split an order of fish and chips and a piece of blueberry pie, the cod of the fish was excellent and so fresh.

Our next stop for the day was our booking at the Secret Lagoon, a geothermal pool about 90 minutes away. All along the drive we had been noting some self-correcting features of the car.  This feature saved us when someone came across the middle line on highway 1, it automatically applied the brakes and Barney steered away. Sometimes it tried to take over the steering wheel when Barney was changing lanes without using the turn indicator, imagine if there was this feature in American cars! There was also a drowsy driver monitoring infrared camera did not work well, and we covered it with a post it note, as it kept coming on and saying Barney needed to take a break when he was not tired and even had both hands on the wheel. I looked online and the central round port that looked like a came4a was supposedly there for an analog clock that could be chosen. Nevertheless, once I covered the “eye”  he no longer got the alerts, and on another website I read that the yellow eye symbol kept coming on had to do with an infrared viewer that watched for drowsiness. So I was right, and it was a spy camera.

We drove north into the countryside and srrive$ at the Secret Lagoon, site of the oldest pool in Ic3land, built in the 19040s. The main pool was about 40° and a side pool was 35° while the cold plunge was 6°. Edged with rock and with a gravel floor, the pool was fed by the. Darby little geyser which made a small 12-18”) eruption every so often, and out out a somewhat sulfurous smell. It was filled with local families as well as tourists. We small around for a while, tried the cold plunge and then the warm pool. It was a lovely break, especially as Barney had been doing so much driving.

We decided to make our final stop the Gullfoss falls, which turned out to be a good decision. The falls are about 90 minutes from Reykjavik so there were a lot of folks there, was as it was after 4pm, there were likely fewer than midday. The falls were incredibly dramatic, a two ride cascade with an enormous amount of. water. Gullfoss had a huge waterflow over the two-tier falls, usually 250 cubic meters per second most of the time, but as much as 1,000 cubic meters per second during the spring melt, enough to fill four Olympic swimming pools in one second. There was a rainbow off to one side, which seemed like the perfect ending to this wonderful trip.

We turned back toward Reykjavík, a somewhat busier drive than the. Kind of driving we’s been doing the past four days, and a total of at least 4.5 hours of driving today for Barney, which was a lot. We found our way to the Hotel Eyja, in a residential area of Reykjavik, simple and very Scandinavian. It was interesting being back in a city filled with dense apartment buildings after being in the wide-open and sparsely-populated countryside for four days. We had dinner at the ROK, a small plates place that Reuben recommended, within sight of the main cathedral, which was delicious (cured deer and duck confit with bacon were a highlight). We had a nice 20 minute walk both ways, then went to our final repacking to prepare to leave tomorrow. The comfy four-posted bed was nice, and we both slept well.

Iceland, Sunday, 2 August 2026

 We woke up to a gorgeous day, with views from our room that spanned the three glaciers nearby. Absolutest stunning. After a lovely breakfast, we packed up, reluctantly, to depart. We headed out, stopped by a place with a great view of a Jokuldarlon glacier, and took a short walk along the ridge the to see the glacier. It was amazing to see even more of the icebergs which had cleaved off that glacier swimming gently toward the sea.

After a long drive, about an hour, to the Skftafell entry to the whole Jokusarlon national park, from which started the  Svartifoss trail. Little did we know that while it was only 2 km in distance, it had a lot of up and down, with a 130m elevation gain. To be honest, this was not what I had expected, and we had to stop more than a few times to rest and catch our breath. We kept on, and were rewarded with views of the Svartisfoss black basalt falls. The sight of the Svartifoss falls with the amazing vertical black basalt columns that framed the falls was impressive and worth the hike. It was 50 minutes up and about 25 minutes down. We grabbed a Parma ham sandwich at the cafe to split, and headed out. Next stop, the Black BeachSuite where we will stay.

The Black Bech Suites are lovely, ours has a  beautiful view of the black sand beaches below. We went off to dinner at Smiðyan Brugghus in Vik for burgers and beers, which were good, and to another black sand beach briefly.

Our last stop was the lighthouse area and overlook. We finally saw some puffins flying into their nests, very exciting! There was one small area in the path which overlooked the grassy part of the black cliffs which stuck out a ways, and this was puffin central. Once we found that spot, we stayed for almost an hour, and saw them coming and going, buzzing back and forth on their fast wings, diving into their nests hidden by the tall grass. There were two that landed about 8 feet below us, so we saw them go in and out, there was an overhang so we could not see them in the nest close up. This was much closer than the ones we saw on Vigur Island, so I was very glad we got to see them here. They look so comical in a way, their coloring so bright and distinct. I can understand why every shop we have seen has puffin something’s for sale. There must be millions of stuffed puffin toys in Iceland.

We ended the evening on the deck, watching the sort-of sunset, and realized how lucky we are to have this experience. I’m glad we had our independent days after the expedition rather than before, as we are long past jet lag and can really enjoy it.

Off to bed as we have a 9:00 am horseback riding appointment!

Iceland, Saturday, 1 August 2026

 A lovely sunny day in Iceland, and after a simple breakfast, we were out for the day. First on our list was Stjornarfoss waterfall, an unusual waterfall in a dome shape. Hardy anyone there expect one group of older German tourists, and once they left, we enjoyed this tranquil location, complete with a small group of sheep. The off to Fjalasarlon for the Glacier lagoon tour at 12:30, which we made by 10 minutes. Outfitted in heavy waterproof jackets they provided and our own waterproof pants, we hiked down to the zodiac landing. The trip was wonderful, moving among the smaller icebergs, marveling at the foot of the glacier, and seeing where a huge part of the glacier had recently calved and created a new ice field. We learned that this glacier is receding by 3 feet (1 meter) every week, and the lake we are now in has only existed since the 1950 - before that, the glacier went all the way to the sea. This is climate change writ very large and irrefutable. Our pilot, Igor (from Poland) was quite passionate about the concerns about climate change and how we as individuals could do something about it. When you are in front of a receding glacier, it is hard to imagine not being concerned about this. At one point, Igor pulled up a small iceberg and said someone would get to make a wish on it before returning tot he sea. I volunteered, and we’ll see if my wish comes true.

After the zodiac ride, we had a fairly mediocre lunch in the adjoining cafeteria, a salad for me, some curry and veggies for Barney. Then off to drive through beautiful” countryside to Höfn, where we will stay for the night. It was a lovely drive, and we kept seeing new fingers of the giant Jokulsarlon glacier at every turn. We saw many sheep and quite a few horses as well as cows. we even saw a group of horses being herded by a person on an ATV. It was quite pastoral. We came upon our place for the evening, the Fosshotel Jukusarlon, and wow, it was lovely! We got to our room and found that they had upgraded up to a suite on the corner with a view of three glaciers which was breathtaking. I can hardly remember being in a place so beautiful. We enjoyed the huge bathtub and some time to relax. Views of the three glaciers from our room were spectacular, and I even took photos in the middle of the night when I kept waking up from coughing, still gorgeous outside.

Iceland, Friday, 31 July 2026

We had a good night’s sleep (finally)  and enjoyed the breakfast n the hotel. We saw a number of folks from the ship and said our goodbyes. They had some cod liver oil there to take tiny shots, so I got some for Barney so he could try it - I remember having this as a kid but he had never had it. Then back upstairs to finalize packing and check out. We walked to the marina area, about 20 minutes, to get our rental car. All that sent smoothly, and when e drove back to the hotel to pick up ou bags, we. Magically foods a parking space right on the square by the hotel. Checked out and loaded up, we headed out for our solo adventure in Iceland. 

Our very first stop was the Geothermal Exhibition, which Barney, being an amazing mechanical engineer, loved. It explained how geothermal power works, why this was done in that location, and how this now powers 99% of the power and hot water in Reykjavik as well as much of the rest of the country. Truly amazing, and the huge turbines and condensers were a marvel. It was quite windy out, so we ate our duck confit in the car with some fruit, and then headed off for our waterfall adventures. 

First was Urridafoss, a relatively small (18 meters) waterfall that drops into a crevasses and then flows into a narrow area of channel. It was a surprise to even find it there, as the area looked so flat. Then on to Hella, which was honesty a disappointment After driving around the tony town looking for a cafe where we could et some coffee, we finally had to go to the gas station + grocery + coffee place by the side of the road, got some coffee (and Kleenex for the car), used the bathroom, and off we went. Sadly we found no “I Hella Heart Hella” t-shirt for Madeleine, not a t-shirt or souvenir store in sight. 

We arrived at Seljalandsfoss, one of the huge waterfalls, raked and joined the large group of folks walking toward this enormous aterfall. This was the one where you can walk behind it. We got on our waterproof pants and jackets an headed for the waterfall. Very glad we had suited up, because some people were n short or jeans and t-shirts and got completely soaked by the spray. It was exhilarating to feel the force of the wind and water, knowing that we would not get wet, and we somehow managed to even take a few photos. It was crowded there, though, and we were glad to move on.

Our net stop was Skogafoss, near the living history Musem we will visit o the way back. An immense waterfall, we walked along the rocky paths and actually stood on the black basalt rocks in the middle of where the waterfall dumped again getting quite wet but e were prepared. Now I have a better understanding of what these huge waterfalls mean and why they are so popular.

We had along drive ahead of us to the hotel, so off we went, and took an interesting detour around a circular road that allowed us to get some good photos of a glacier and see some interesting guesthouses in the middle of a working farm. On the way we saw many white plastic wrapped bales of hay and silage for the animals - they are wrapped in plastic to protect them form spoiling in the rain and to slightly warm them so certain nutrients would grow. We also saw bales wrapped in black, green and blue plastic, but apparently white is preferred.  We saw sheep, horses, cows, and so much green that it looked like Ireland. It was very different than the rocky coastlines of Greenland with minimal greenery.

We arrived at the Hotel Kayla, checked into our room which had a nice view of the bay, enjoyed a dinner of lamb shanks and Arctic char, and headed to the room to do some planing for the next day. The trip to Hofn tomorrow should be fun,

Greenland to Iceland, Thursday, 30 July 2026

 The day to depart the ship has arrived. Up at 5:00am, finish packing the split bags, one we will take on your road trip, one we will leave at the hotel, breakfast, and then 8:00am head to Nuuk. we have the chance for a short drive through town on the bus, and then a walk to the National Museum, where I could have spent the day but we had only about 45 minutes.  The artifacts were amazing, and we saw only a small bit of the collection. After that back to the plus to head to the airport. Meanwhile, Reuben was wearing his “Greenland Is Not For Sale” t-shirt, and his bus guide happened to be the youngest member of Parliament in Greenland and she loved his short, took a photo and asked where he was from. We hope to see this on Instagram soon.

We made it to the airport, only to wait an extra half hour for some reason, and then finally piled on the plane. Once we arrived in Reykjavik, we headed to yet another bus, and waited, and then the 45-minute drive to Reykjavik brought us back to the familiar Parliament HOtel. Instead for dinner in the restaurant, there was a box dinner (in a bag) which we took so we could have it for lunch the next day while on the road. I had made a reservation at Apotek for the five of us, which was fun, though a bit noisy. The portions were large (and expensive) and the shared duck platter for two could have fed three or four people, included duck burgers on waffles, a leg of duck confit, some duck pate, and some delicious duck breast sliced on marinated mushrooms. We took the leg of duck confit back to the hotel to save for lunch the next day. We said Farrell to John an Reuben and Jenny, who had to leave on the 7:00am bus for the airport.

We finally got to bed at a reasonable hour after some repacking, at 10:00pm, knowing we could sleep in a bit the next day.

Greenland, Nordre Isortoq Fjord, Wednesday, 29 July 2026

Feeling virtuous after attending the stretch class again this morning, I enjoyed a Croque Madame for breakfast, then off to get ready. Putting on our long underwear, waterproof pants, and muck boots for the last time, we went kayaking in the fjord, which was relaxing and so nice. A few times Barney and I stopped paddling and just talked, something it can be hard to do in our busy lives. We are both so grateful and keenly aware of how fortunate we are to have good health, a wonderful family, good friends, interesting work and volunteer communities, and especially the resources to be able to enjoy trips like this.  After the kayaking, we took a final Zodiac ride with Dan, seeing many guillemots and caribou antlers on the rocky coast, but no caribou. Caribou and Reindeer are the same species, reindeer being the domesticated version, caribou the wild version. The male caribou drop their antlers in the summer, but the females keep theirs into the winter, so Dan asked us if Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer was male or female, and it seemed clear that Rudolf was really Rudolfina!

Back for a nice lunch, and we sat with Eva and Boris and had some interesting discussions about new things we had learned on this trip, even though they have been here many times, they still learn new things. Then a briefing about the complex day tomorrow, when most of us leave but some folks stay on the ship to go to Nome via the Northwest Passage, and others continue on all the way to Japan, a journey that takes 69 days and costs a minimum of $108,000, truly an epic trip. After that, the dreaded task of packing. We are dividing our clothes into two suitcases, one for the four day road trip in Iceland, and one we will leave at the hotel while we are on the road. Barney attended a really good briefing by the captain about the planning and construction of this wonderful ship, which is unique among icebreaker extradition ships of this type. He downloaded some wonderful wildlife photos from the shared computers, did his packing, and then we went upstairs to our last cocktail hour and briefing, and dinner. It feels hard to say farewell to this trip, to the amazing places and people and wildlife we have seen, to being taken care of by a wonderful staff, to learning so much every day from the talented naturalist staff. I am so gad that we did this trip.