After several hours of rest, I decided to rise from my sick bed and do some more writing. I might as well, since no one is here to entertain me. 😉 Poor Bill also has COVID, but he’s on a business trip and is supposed to be working overnights. It sucks to be him. He’s going to need another vacation to recover from Iceland and his business trip!

Anyway… back to Iceland.

Ivar arrived promptly at nine o’clock to take us on our Sunday adventure. I was sorry to say goodbye to the horses, although I would see many more of them during our travels. Icelandic horses are all over the place, based on what I saw during our trip. I saw many more horses than dogs!

One thing I was very happy to see was that Ivar had borrowed a step stool from his father-in-law. That stool made a huge difference in easing the task of getting in and out of the Land Cruiser. Even Ivar, who is a bit taller and much fitter, said that as much as he loves driving the Land Cruiser, it’s not easy for him to get in and out of the vehicle. I was pretty glad that in spite of my leisurely lifestyle, my body is still fairly healthy. I have friends my age who would have had a lot of trouble getting in and out of the Land Cruiser, even with the stool. I even felt a flash of gratitude for my body, even though I usually hate it.

Our plans on Sunday involved visiting a couple of sites near the hotel, as well as the South Coast, the Jokusarlon Glacier Lagoon, and icebergs, courtesy of the Fjallsarlon Boat Tour. I’ll be honest. I really had very few expectations whatsoever, as I didn’t even know what most of the plans were. Bill handled booking the trip through Iceland Luxury Tours, and they sent him all of the information. I think I glanced at it once or twice before we left Germany, so I was blissfully unaware of what we would be seeing.

Bill did warn me about “sneaker waves”, which is a phenomenon involving giant waves that suddenly sweep unsuspecting people out to sea, often drowning them. We went to Reynisfjara, a “black beach”– black because the sand was mixed with volcanic ash– and there was a big sign warning of the sneaker waves. I made sure to stay well away from the water.

Unfortunately, the weather on Sunday was as inclement as it was on Saturday, and I was destined to get pretty wet over the course of the day. But I did get some interesting photos, including some in a cave that had the look of Yoda, which we found at a place called Viking Park, near the town of Vik… I’ve never actually seen Star Wars, which astonished Ivar, but Bill saw it right away. He’s a big Star Wars fan.

Our visit to Viking Park was short, although it was probably one of the nicer stops of the day, because the weather was relatively temperate in the sense that there was not much rain or wind. Like I said… I was blissfully unaware of the “cool” attractions awaiting us later.

We took advantage of convenience store in Vik to use the facilities, and then were on our way east, with a planned stop at the Instagram famous “Diamond Beach”. I do have an Instagram account, but I rarely use it, and I sure don’t hang out much on it. I had not heard of this beach or its icy black environs. Apparently, many people come to Iceland with cameras just to record a glimpse of its icy, glittery shore.

On our way to the famous beach, Bill and I chatted easily with Ivar, probably oversharing way too much. I later told him that I spend a lot of time alone, which means I have a tendency to run my mouth. Fortunately, he seemed to be a very patient and easy going man and took my constant yammering in stride. 😉

At one point, we were passing an unusually shaped mountain. I might have wanted to take a picture of it, but was distracted by some unlucky people who had pulled their rental car off the side of the road and parked too close to a river. Their car went into the river, and was about half submerged as we passed. I saw them looking forlorn in the rain, standing next to their suitcases, which they’d managed to rescue from the back of the car before it slid further into the water. Nobody was hurt. I did manage to capture a photo.

Then we stopped at another convenience store/restaurant for a potty break. The restaurant was positively overrun with a large bus group of Asian tourists who were all there for lunch. Ivar had suggested the place for lunch, but it looked like they really had their hands full, so we decided to wait and have lunch at the Frost Restaurant, a little place next to where we were having a “boat tour”. I had been picturing a somewhat civilized tour, maybe like one I’d seen on La Lido Loca, a YouTube channel I watch sometimes. Tony, the guy who runs that channel, recently went on an Iceland/Greenland cruise and he and his companion viewed icebergs. But their tour was NOT at all like the one Bill and I went on…

After a quick lunch at the no frills Frost Restaurant, we were booked on a private zodiac tour at Fjallsarlon Lake, where there are many small icebergs. However, unlike Tony and his buddy, for our tour, we had to put on heavy rain gear provided by the tour guide. I have to admit, I kind of dislike any attractions where I have to put on special clothes. It’s kind of mortifying for me. I was also already a bit wet, which I’ll admit is my fault. Ivar could see the doubt on my face, but he assured me I would enjoy the tour. He was right. It all turned out okay, and in the end, I was glad I did it, even though I did get cold, and walking to the zodiac was challenging in the heavy outerwear. I was sure glad I had the rain gear/outerwear, though… because Brrrrr.

Our guide was a very friendly and charming young Frenchman named Tomas, who insisted on taking photos of us. He took about twenty pictures on my iPhone! I got many more photos of the icebergs as I buried myself under the hood of the jacket. I wished I had worn a beanie, like Bill did.

This company does group tours, but it also has some more extensive offerings that probably would excite athletic, adventure seeking types. If I were younger, thinner, fitter, and less lazy, maybe I would have enjoyed one of the more involved tours. But, alas, I am just a fatass housewife whose sweet bird of youth has flown away. 🙂

After we did the boat tour, we visited another area where there were more icebergs, as well as a couple of seals. By the time we got there, the rain was coming down harder and there was more wind. I was pretty wet and my mood was starting to take a turn south. I did get some pictures, though, carefully avoiding the extremely excited people who were posing in front of the icebergs.

After we stopped to see the icebergs, we moved on to “Diamond Beach”, which was just beyond the bridge at the Jokusarlon Lagoon. Ivar told us that the beach actually has an official name, but thanks to Instagram, everyone calls it “Diamond Beach”. The rain was pretty much sideways by the time we got there, and I was getting a little grumpy. But, given that we were on vacation, I plucked up enough gumption to get out of the Land Cruiser again and head to the famous beach. I’m glad I did, because even in shitty weather, it was well worth seeing. One woman came there wearing boots and nothing else on her legs. That’s hardcore!

We then got back on the road heading west to our hotel, stopping once again at the convenience store/restaurant that had been crowded with bus tours on the way out. Bill took awhile in the bathroom and Ivar asked me if I thought maybe he’d fallen in, or something. I said, matter-of-factly, “I think he’s having some prostate issues.” Bill later confirmed it, and said there was other business he needed to attend to. I didn’t mind. It gave me time to take a couple of photos of Icelandic horses grazing near the parking lot. I took more photos on the way to the hotel, which included some very picturesque scenes.

Finally, we arrived at our destination for Sunday night, Hotel Klaustur. I will continue the story with checking in there in my next post.