Day 4: The reverse of Day 3, except this time with sun

Day 4: Short of Hofn to Reykjavik 

QOTD:  Denmark imposed a strict trade monopoly in the 17th and 18th centuries, much to the detriment of the Icelandic economy. Iceland's subsequent poverty was aggravated by natural disasters. During this time the population declined. (See Jared Diamond’s Collapse)

Weather: Cool and clear, sunny, cool and clear, raining (hard at times), scattered clouds in Reykjavik

Breakfast buffet at hotel (included): toast, one pancake, some jams, toasty granola (excellent), included.

Today is now the reverse of Day 3: we are driving back to Reykjavik from some number of kilometers short of Hofn. Same-same but different: today there is sun when we get to Vatnajökull National Park, a few kilometers from the hotel. So, we decide on a short hike to Svartifoss, a waterfall around 1.2 miles (rounding up, almost 3 miles round-trip) from parking lot.

What a great idea! Shedding layers as we climb in the clear air, amidst wildflowers, in the sun (yes, actual sun…THB would say the stars have aligned except that THB had yet to see any stars in Iceland, including our own sun, for 3 days).

The hike takes a little over an hour, with much delight had by all.

Back on the road, lunch at Systrakaffi in Klausturvegur: fried fish (not breaded like in fish and chips), French fries and a local draft brewski (better than yesterday’s) for THB; smoked trout and meat soup (“goulash”) for DB, $60, and one of the better meals we’ve had on the trip.

Stop to get bread, roti chicken and salad for dinner at our local bakari and market, and a rest up before attempting to watch the World Cup finals.

Book Review: Priscilla, The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France, Nicolas Shakespeare. A young beauty, one great female friend, an impotent first husband, an absent father (another crazy story in itself), a narcissistic mother (ditto), an overly jealous second husband, and an inability to see how to help herself except through the men in her life. Much of the action takes place mostly before and during WWII, where halfway through the book the author (Priscilla’s nephew) reveals how while she was living in Paris she was sleeping with, among others, fairly senior non-military Axis sympathizers/robbers. Neutral: something of value for the sense of history of the time and  the impact on families, not particularly well-written.

 

Note: Some of the pictures have blue sky; they were not retouched or phtoshopped

Pics taken on Canon 

 

 

Note: rainbow!

THB thought this was an odd colored sheep until he got the photo on the computer

  Pics taken on I-phone