In one of my more less-thought-out ideas, riding Icelandic horses in the countryside of Iceland seemed to have great appeal. I love horses. I love riding them. I love how they smell. I love the way they move. It just seemed a natural fit: one day left in Iceland = one day of horseback riding.
So we booked ourselves a day trip with Eldhestar.
This day-long tour started off at the horse stables where we were fitted for riding and weather gear. It was a lot of fun riding, although our tour guide, Maia, seemed to take two of her duties very seriously: keeping the riders in single file and making sure they were riding with both hands on the reins.
My horse, Frissi-Frisk, was a strong, steady lad, and quite intelligent. During a couple of dicey 
moments on the lava, I wasn’t sure who was taking whom for a ride, but he seemed to know better than I how to negotiate the trails. Since my survival depended on this beautiful creature, I deferred to his better judgment.
The views were spectacular on the ride up to Reykjadalur Valley.The long ride up the mountain was over volcano terrain and harsh rocky trails (lava rock from the volcano Hengill) but the horses managed just fine.
Some of the trails we rode on followed the hot springs river and the steam was pouring off the river. But it was a long ride, and by the time we got up to the valley we were ready to take a break.
We dismounted in this lovely valley and unsaddled our horses and left them to enjoy their grass salad while we popped open the saddle bags and had some lunch of our own. This left us just enough time to relax in the hot springs. We skittered up the hillside and down the next with swimsuits and towels in hand heading toward the rising steam. Along the way, we found a nice depression in the hillside and changed into our suits.
Then made our way over the hill and down to the steamy river pools and relaxed in a warm stream.
Ahhh!!! This is bliss!
Only twenty minutes to relax in the hot tub, then it’s time to saddle up!
In a few places on our way back down the mountain there were some fairly rocky/steep/treacherous parts, so we had to dismount and walk our horses down the rough patches of unforgiving lava. It seemed a reasonable safety precaution and it was a welcomed break from hours in the saddle.
On one particular stretch, the ground was wet and slick and the lava was really jagged and unstable. I had a firm hold of Frissi’s reins in both hands and we were doing fairly well negotiating his four hooves and my two wobbly legs. But then “it” happened. I lost my footing and went into a certifiable whooptie loop. Before I even took flight, I felt bad for my poor Frissi having to endure whatever was to befall us(pun intended!). Surely this should have ended in a disaster greater or equal to the volcanic eruption that had ground all European flights to a grinding halt. But it didn’t.
My beauty, my Frissi, saved my ass. Even with me shrieking and flailing and jerking Frissi’s reins with all of my weight on a downhill dive, this once-upon-a-time stallion carefully and majestically kept his composure. As soon as he saw me falling he dug in his hooves and angled his neck to catch me and stop my fall short of a six week hospital stay. He didn’t move. He just held his position until I was able to gain my footing again. It was only after I was stable that my champion relaxed his neck and footing.
I’ve never seen a horse more calm, cool and collected in my life.
Over the course of my life I’ve tried some interesting cuisine: alligator, snake, javelina, etc.
But this is the first time I’ve tried whale. The Swiss couple at the adjoining table curiously watched me eat it. The lady leaned over and asked me what I thought of it.
It was an interesting taste. It had the texture of tender beef, but with a distinct flavor. Not really beef, but close.
I would describe its taste as “sea beef” because it’s a bit of a hybrid taste.
After an uneventful and fairly sleepless 5 hour flight, we landed at Keflavik International Airport then took a 40 minute ride by bus into Reykjavik, Iceland where we’re staying for two days and one night.
The first thing I noticed when I got off of the plane was the air had the distinct smell of freezer burn. Weird coincidence? Perhaps. The landscape we’ve encountered thus far on the bus ride has been fairly barrend volcanic, rock, scrub brush, heather and this end of the island is as flat as a pancake. The horizon is sort of an Arizona-meets-Arctic Circle look.
We found our hotel and they let us check in at 9am. Our room is basic and has nice wood floors. Once we stowed our bags in our room, we headed down to a complimentary breakfast. The heart shaped waffles were tasty but I couldn’t keep my eyes open after breakfast, so I laid down with the intention of taking an hour nap, but slept for four. Philipp was just as tired, so he snoozed too.
It’s 3pm now and we’re heading out to snoop Iceland.
Time to go wandering.
Tags: freezer burn, Iceland
It seems procrastination comes, for me, from being overwhelmed. It helps if I use the if/when-then technique to snap myself back into getting things done. And since I’ve been putting off packing, it’s time for me to get it into gear and employ short bursts of if/when-then to get it all accomplished.
The first thing I’m going to do as I go to sleep tonight is set up these if/when-thens:
If… I sit to watch television, I will bounce until I get up…then take action, like organizing or packing
If…I am talking on the phone then I will tell the person I cannot talk any longer than 5 minutes and they are to end the conversation and tell me to get back to packing.
When…I feel overwhelmed… then I will put on some inspirational music and jot down ideas/things to do as I’m listening.
When the song stops….then I will complete my list.
No worries. I’ve got this! : )
Today I realized that I’ve been practicing my French like a real American. As I’m wandering around the house packing and readying for this trip, I’ve been muttering out loud with a Pepé Le Pew accent.
At some point, I’m probably in for a real wake up call while traveling the coast of France.
But like Pepé, no matter how much I stink, I’ll still take my chances.
Pepé Le Pew
Tags: France, goofy stuff, language
And once again I’m up too late.
And no, so far I’ve done nothing regarding adjusting to the coming jet lag. Oh well.
Every time I think of what needs to get packed, I’m stunned at how much gadgetry I want to take along. To the point where I want to take things along I don’t even own (really would love a GPS device right now).
My big laptop is a given, to me. Even though people are baffled as to why. But in the end, I do intend to put in at least a few productive days of work from the road, so I really can’t not have it along.
Thank goodness I don’t have a netbook, or I’d want to bring that too. Actually, I do have one, but I don’t use it enough (it’s really too small for my chunky fingers) to really consider it worth bringing.
Tags: athome, cables, gadgets, packing, preparations, verizon
Well, not really the unknown, but for an only-minimally-planned trip.
Since we’re starting our expedition with a two-day sojourn in Iceland (during the warmest part of the year… you can still tell the tourists because they’re the ones wearing sweaters), we’ll definitely need to bundle up a little to start with. Then again, it only switched from winter to summer here a few weeks ago, or at least that’s how it feels.
We will also be in Sweden for some portion of the trip, so I guess we’ll have at least some further use for warmer duds.
Beyond that, it’s all going to be fairly warm climate. I’ll be gone for just a month, so I can wing it more easily. Luscious will be away for a total of nearly 3 months (longer in Europe, then bouncing around the other side of the US — Seattle, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, etc. — until school starts again and she gets back to her most amazing Teaching Assistant gig).
No idea what our laundry facilities will consist of. We’ll be at hotels, guest houses, couch surfing, visiting my Dad… None of which have predictably-good laundry options. Thank goodness it’s summer, at least we don’t have to be wearing huge amounts of stuff. If only I can convince Luscious we don’t need to bring along too much formalwear 🙂
Swimwear. Yeah. Definitely hoping for some splashing around. Blue Lagoon hot springs in Iceland. The French Riviera. Also the Atlantic coast of France (Ile d’Oleron!). Who knows where else.
Bicycling gear? We’re certainly going to be renting bikes wherever we can, but do I really feel like bringing my own helmet? Meh. Kind of want to just take my chances with that. Livin’ on the edge!
Tags: athome, packing, planning, preparations
People are saying