They hiked up the side of the Þríhnúkagígur volcano, and then descended on some sort of elevator platform, into the empty magma chamber.
Sabrina and I opted to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, and then head north towards Akranes. Around the time they were walking around inside a dormant volcano...
... we were driving through the Hvalfjörður Tunnel under the fjord.
We drove out to the end of the Akranes peninsula, heading for the Akranes lighthouse(s).
The new lighthouse is open to the public, while the old/smaller lighthouse was only reachable by walking over a haphazard stretch of lava seawall.
There were approximately 37 flights of stairs to reach the top, and then a small trap door granted access to the walkway at the top.
We were rewarded with a panoramic view of the town and surrounding harbor.
Having apparently seen the only thing worth seeing in town, we drove back to the center square, parked by the tourist info office, and took a leisurely stroll around town.
Naturally, we had to stop for second breakfast (lunch?), and then once again for coffee and tea.
The guidebook mentioned something about Akranes having a lot of Irish heritage, including a reddest-hair contest during the annual festival, and we found empirical evidence to support this claim.
After we worked off the pastries, we drove the scenic, coastal road back towards the general direction of the tunnel.
Just before reaching the highway again, we found ourselves on the wrong side of a locked gate across the (unpaved) road, and had to use a detour through the middle of some farms. But eventually, we found our way back to the tunnel (and toll booth) around 1:30 PM.
The tunnel is steep enough that you have to downshift to avoid speeding up too much, just as you reach the speed cameras.
Back in Reykjavik, we aimed uphill towards the Perlan, which was just far enough from the hotel that we never made it on the first day in Iceland.
It's sort of a giant glass terrarium, nestled amongst a group of water storage tanks.
But you can walk outside, around the dome, and the view is spectacular.
The Perlan was crowded, what with it clearly being a mandatory stop for all tour buses, so we didn't stay long. But just south of the Perlan, on the other side of Reykjavík University, is the Nauthólsvík Ylströnd (man-made geothermal beach).
As it was the middle of a heat wave at the height of summer, the beach was packed with sunbathers.
The ocean here is tempered by a hot spring, so it gets all the way up to 60F (about the water temp off the coast of Maine at the end of summer).
By then, the amateur vulcanologists had made it back to the hotel, so we headed back to make a plan for dinner.
It was about 4 PM, but Ken and Rosaria had had a late lunch, so we left the car for them and walked downtown to do some shopping before dinner. As our dinner date wasn't until 8 PM, we stopped for a snack at the local 10-11.
Sabrina and I split a hot dog and a chicken tikka masala wrap. They were both excellent. The available additions for the hot dog were potato salad, shrimp salad, raw onions, and fried onions. Being a purist, I declined the adulterations.
We shopped around for a few hours, enjoying the beautiful weather.
"It's been so hot lately," one store employee complained.
Around 6:30 PM, we found ourselves in a bar (Koffin) for happy hour. They were absolutely insistant that I try the two-for-one special on Viking lager.
Just before 8 PM, we wandered a few blocks over to the restaurant.
Sjávargrillið was a recommendation from the woman at the front desk of the hotel. Ken tried the "Taste Of Iceland" appetizer: puffin, guillemot, and minke whale. I think he also had the lamb special, while Sabrina had fish, and Rosaria and I each had the beef platter (some sort of shredded roast and tender cheek meat).
The food was excellent, and then Sabrina insisted that we needed to walk back to the hotel to balance our chakra or something. The warm weather was quickly fading, so we had to leverage all of our layers.
I led us on a
It was after 11 PM by the time we were up there, so the sun was just starting to toy with the horizon.
(Sabrina insists I had previously agreed to return to the hotel for an "early" night.)
But there was a squat, flat-topped hill just past the church, with an odd... sculpture? in front of it, and I wanted to take a picture from the top of it (the hill).
If you look very carefully, you can see that there's a person already up there.
As we approached, he briefly hid from view, then popped up, wished us a good evening, and inquired if we were Americans. We assured him that we were, and asked how to get to the top.
Once atop the hill, we had a fascinating conversation with a very talkative, knowledgeable, and polite Icelandic teenager. He had some questions about the US for us, and was eager to answer any questions we had about Iceland.
During the entire conversation (we were up there for 15 or 20 minutes), we watched the sun set and took some photos.
The hill was, in fact, a "water storage facility, with artificial grass on it. Well, the grass isn't artificial, but it was placed here artificially."
He was well-educated, well-read, and fascinated with American culture and society. At one point, he started reciting the US Pledge of Allegiance. I jokingly pointed out that it was treasonous to do so; he was gravely concerned about my accusation.
He wanted to know what is wrong with Mississippi, why so few Americans have passports (only 36%), if we were aware that a higher percentage of Icelanders (96%) than Americans (only 94%) speak English, and why French people think they can come to Iceland and speak French.
I told him that the US is a large country, so it's a long way for people from Kansas, for example, to travel anywhere. He informed us that he had recently met a couple from Kansas, and that they seemed "shall we say... intellectually challenged".
I think he was insulted that they had suggested he should come to the University of Kansas for a great education, as he quoted their average rating on Google (apparently not great) and their acceptance rate (apparently too high).
Other topics of discussion included American accents, college, Islamophobia, U.S. geography, Icelandic culture, the sea captains' school, video games, and anything else that came to mind. All in 15 to 20 minutes.
Eventually, Sabrina noticed the clock tower and rhetorically asked if it was the correct time. Our new friend assured us that it was the correct time, as it always indicates the correct time, and then launched into an explanation about the length of the sunset in Iceland.
We thanked him for the delightful conversation, each shook his hand, and told him that we had to go. He scurried down the side of the hill-water-storage-building, chasing a cat.
He was possibly the friendliest person we met all week, despite requiring some mental gymnastics on our part to keep pace with him.
It was around 11:40 PM when we got back to the hotel.
Tomorrow, we return the rental car, have a few more hours to spend in Reykjavík, and then head to the airport. Our flight is at 5 PM.
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