Amazing! We landed in Santiago this morning and shuttled to our hotel then rode the subway to the city plaza. Walked all over; people watching, listening to music everywhere and trying to speak Spanish. There was a cultural event going on with dancing and music from early 1800’s in Santiago. We had lunch in a small fish market cafe and went to an artisan market for special lapis jewelry. Exhausted…back to our hotel for an early night. Tomorrow it’s on to Calama and San Pedro de Atacama.

The quiet and peaceful setting at the farmhouse prompted sleeping late and staying until 12. Rain today as well. Our only stop today on the drive to Reykjavik was to the geothermal plant. Iceland is entirely powered by steam from the volcanos. The system brings Iceland to being carbon negative. The island is totally green with very little waste. No plastic or styrofoam, They lead the world in this regard.

The “hip” condo is in an  neighborhood near the harbor with lots of art and murals on walls. We ate dinner in and packed for tomorrow.

Blue Lagoon and the plane home.

Pics left to rt.:  our cabin at the farm, a clouded view of the volcano,Hekla, that exploded in 2000, part of geothermalplamt, a mural I liked.

 

 

The glaciers were plentiful, close and really amazing. We drove and hiked to the one near our hotel and hiked in to another. Most of the day was spent on the road with stops to look at waterfalls, one of which, Skogafoss, was incredible, complete with rainbows, passing farms, lots of Icelandic horses and sheep with beautiful fleece. Icelandic hand knitted wool sweaters are popular with natives and tourists alike. Stopped for lunch in Vik at a little soup place we discovered last time through. Next stop, the farm (Airbnb) for the next night. The little cottage is on a 400 acre milk cow, sheep and horse farm way out in the country. The couple were so nice. They invited us for a homemade Icelandic dinner. We even had to try to speak a little Icelandic. It was such a treat having this experience with real people who have lived and worked here for generations on this farm.

I could write more about all the tourists, gift shops full of stuffed puffins, the high prices, the fire alarm going off at 3am last night and everybody running out into the hall in their underwear and how a rock hit our windshield today and made a little starburst, but I won’t  – because I won’t let anything put a damper on this fabulous trip.

Tomorrow we drive back to Reykjavik to our “hip condo”  in the harbor area. And we leave the next day.

 

 

We left Vik around 9 am. The B & B was not the best of the bunch. After staying in a different place every night we will have a lot to compare. We picked up lunch at the market in Vik. It’s always an adventure shopping when you can’t read the labels written in Icelandic. We visited a special geological anomaly, sort of like Devil’s Postpile in the Eastern Sierra. Quite a hike up and back down but worth it. On to the floating iceberg lagoon and diamond beach where bits of ice look like diamonds on the black sand. We had a few other stops along the way and ended up at our Guesthouse, Glacier World, in Hoffell. Our view out the window is a glacier. It’s a fabulous place. A long soak in the thermal hot tubs was just what I needed to end the day.

Tomorrow a walk to the glacier and on to a farm stay in a small town.

Photos left to right: I made it! The falls and basalt columns. Iceberg lagoon. Andre riding a glacier. The view from our window. Me in thermal hot tub.

The “Golden Circle” is drive through a National Park and the surrounding countryside that contains geysers, amazing big waterfalls and a place where tectonic plates are separating. This is also where the Icelanders held their assembly of chieftains that acted as a court for their people.  Drove to the small town of Vik

on the coast and our new place and checked out the black sand beach after being caught in a rainstorm. We saw fabulous skies and clouds, waterfalls and rainbows everywhere. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere. I am so happy to be out of the city and into nature.

Photos left to right: The Geyser, Black Sand Beach and the Sea Stacks, Gullfoss Falls