Wednesday - A Day In The Life Of An Islandic Horse Farm

On the way to the Islandic Horse Farm, we stopped at the Eiriksstadir Museum, aka, the Viking, Erik the Red. This is replica of a typical house from his time here.

Our hostess told us about their way of life and showed us replicas of the helmet, battle axe and the iron mesh vest as pictured above.

Kim modeled showing us what a modern day Viking would look like.

At the horse farm, we were treated to a demonstration of the five gaits of the beautiful Islandic Horses.

We had a visit with several of these friendly creatures1

DeeDee took her turn on the saddle...

...Kim took his turn. Notice he's riding all by himself!

Later, the group hiked a ways from the house to plant trees. The Vikings decimated the Island of all its trees. The Icelanders have been slowly replanting forests.

Tuesday in Stykkisholmur

Strolling along the rocky coastline to the fishing village of Arnarstapi.

Taking a little break for a picture together.

Beautiful rock formation on the walk.

Pausing for a picture in front of a mountain that was used in the Game of Thrones show.

Just a beautiful scenery shot!

Also on the walk this is Burdur, the Good Spirit of Snaefellnesjokull Glacier. Say that word three times! (Correct spelling not guaranteed.)

After leaving the fishing village, this shot was taken from the bus on the ride. It's a glacier.

We stopped at a shark fam where the shark meat is fermented. These are the few and the brave in our party eating the fermented shark!

These are the hanging pieces of shark that are drying. They will hang for three months.

Monday - heading to Stykkisholmur with stops on the way

First stop today was at a wool studio where the artist uses all plant material to dye the wool.

She also showed us how to spin the wool.

Kim and DeeDee with a little mountain background before getting back on the bus.

This is Mt. Helgafell (Holy Mountain) which everyone climbed but Debra. Didn't want to aggravate her knees!

After arriving in the town, we wen on a boat tour of the fjord where we saw this white-tailed eagle.

We also saw a couple of seals as well as numerous birds.

Sunday in Reykjavik

This morning, we went to the Ocean Cluster House where we learned about sustainable fishing.

The building houses many companies that invent products made from fish in an effort to utilize 100% of the fish.  You can see a variety of  products on the table. Kim is tasting cod liver oil!

Our guide and her husband own a production company. They make documentaries of Iceland which they show at this Cinema. We had lunch while watching two movies.

After lunch with the tour group, we strolled around the city and stumbled upon this bar,

and this bar! You get the idea.

Saturday - Heading to the mainland, to Reykjavik

Most of today was spent flying to Reykjavik and taking the bus to the hotel.

After a short tour of the downtown area by our guide we found a nice spot to chill.

This is Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center.

This is the restaurant where we had dinner, Lekjarbrekka Icelandic Bistro.

Wayne, DeeDee and Debra had normal food. Kim, as usual, had the odd dish. From left, wind dried cod and seaweed, smoked salmon, lamb chips, and, last but not least, the sealed jar of fermented shark! When ha opened the jar, the rest of the customers left!  (The ammonia SMELL!)

Friday in the Westman Islands

We apologize for taking so long to continue posting. The connection at the hotel in the Westman Islands was spotty, AND, we have been kept really busy. 

We are beginning our walk on the cliffs, using the sheep trails, in search of the allusive puffin bird. It's a big thing to spot the puffins!

None of the smaller islands are inhabited, but most of them do have a house that is used as a hunting camp. Us girls have decided to book this one next summer for our girl friends as a she-shed! Who's in?

This is the legendary puffin!  They dig in the ground for their homes; one hole for living and one hole for the bathroom.

This is a close up of the puffin, just a puffing his self!

Here are a couple of sheep whose trails we were walking. They didn't mind but wouldn't come close!

We took a boat ride completely around the island. This is one of two caves the captain motored us into.

If you use your imagination, you might can see the elephant in the rocks!

Our late afternoon 'snack' was at the local brewery!

Thursday in the Westman Islands

Our guide took us on a walk through town to a section of the newly formed area (volcano lava flow). This sign is marking the area where this named street is buried.

Generally, the weather has been wonderful; light jacket weather. But, when we went to the harbor first thing in the morning, some people were a tad cold!

This is a reproduction of a Viking house with the animal's dwelling connected to the left side with a pass through. There were usually many people living in each house.

This is the inside of the dwelling; the side for the people. The center on the floor is where the fire would be built.

This is a picture from the 1973 volcano eruption. We took this at the Eldheimar Museum.

The museum was built to house a home that was covered by the volcano, and was recently excavated. The home was left in its original location; the museum was built around it.

This is another view of the same house. Posts were added to brace the ceiling and walls. As we walked around the home, we could see personal belongings that were uncovered and still there.

This is a home next to the fully excavated home. You can see by the car on the road above how deep some of the homes were buried.

Wednesday's arrival in the Westman Islands to Heiaey Island

On the bus ride, heading south to catch a plane to the Westman Islands, we stopped at a waterfall.

From the bus, we passed a volcano that looked like it was 'smoking'; like a prelude to an eruption! Our guide kept watching it, but after checking the news, determined that it was probably clouds.

We were sure excited to be riding in this airplane! We were supposed to take the ferry, but it was having routine service that day.

This picture was taken from the plane. We later walked to it as it was close to our hotel.

This is another view of the harbor. During the volcano of 1973, a plan was successful that kept the lava from flowing into the harbor which would have cut off the pass for the boats. Pumps were used to spray seawater on the lava thus diverting it to another direction. 100 pumps were flown over from the US by our military. The locals tell us 'thank you' when we meet.

This is a picture of a picture of the island we are on for three days, Heimaey Island.