This is the last full-day message about the trek Liz and I took in Iceland. The planning took months, and it was all over in 12 days. I will be posting a few more messages during the next week or so as I remember tidbits I would like to share. I also once again borrowed the book Island on Fire from the library today. The preface is all about the eruption of and formation of the volcano Eldfjell. The rest of the book is good reading if you are interested in volcanoes, particularly in Iceland, but this preface captured my attention the first time I read it. I believe it is the main reason for my happiness when we visited that location. I will try to write a brief summary of that preface during the next few days.
After a troubled night of sleep for both of us, Liz and I headed down to meet others in the lobby at 8:30. We decided to check for local places to eat breakfast.
We had set up an event geocache for 10 am that morning - partly to see if we would meet other cachers in Iceland, and partly to round out the many types of caches we had found in Iceland - traditionals, multis, mysteries, earthcaches, a letterbox hybrid, a challenge, and now an event. Currently there are no other types of caches in Iceland.
We found a little place for breakfast, and only one person was working there. He kept saying he would be right with us, and it took forever. I settled for a chocolate muffin, Skyr, and coffee - things that wouldn't take time for cooking. I quickly ate the Skyr and muffin and drank some of the coffee. I then asked for a take-out cup for the coffee, paid my tab, and headed for the event since I was listed as the person sponsoring it. I left while the others were still eating.
I arrived 10 minutes early, and the first person had just shown up. We started chatting, and next Matt showed up. While on a morning run, he had seen some folks searching for a cache and asked if they were on their way to the event. They hadn't known about it, and shortly they arrived. Great recruitment technique, Matt! Soon another family showed up. Now we had folks from Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, and the US.
But where are most of the folks from the GSA tour? Matt and I were curious, as they were almost finished eating when I had left. We finally saw them in the distance. They had stopped for some geocaches along the way which took a bit more time. As they arrived, the trading began - travel bugs, pathtags and geocoins. Adventures were shared, and those just starting their time in Iceland were even more excited after hearing tales of what was ahead of them.
Let the trading begin
New friends logging discoveries
Joy in this one
Matt, the runner, in this one
After half an hour or so of trading, signing the log book, finding the cache at this site, and visiting, we went our separate ways.
The event was held at a sculpture along the waterfront. "Sólfar, the Sun Voyager is a dreamboat, an ode to the sun, symbolizing light and hope. Intrinsically, it contains within itself the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom." The sculpture commemorates the 200th anniversary of the city. It was unveiled on the birthday of the city of Reykjavík, August 18th, 1990.
A few of us hadn't been to the top of Hallgrímskirkja yet, so headed in that direction. This Lutheran church was designed to resemble the basalt columns of Iceland's landscape. You can take a lift to the top and enjoy panoramic views of the city from up there. We arrived on the observation deck just as the bells were tolling 11 am. I haven't been that close to tolling bells since my family visited Riverside Church in NYC many years ago.
Yesterday Jóhann told us to check out the artwork on the front doors as he thought they were beautiful.
One side...
...and the other
It's pretty high up there
One view of the city from above
Those on the tour group who had gone to the church separated into even smaller groups after that visit. I walked back toward the hotel with Charlie as he was finished for the day. As I wanted to find the caches the group had found on their way to the event, we meandered back the same way, picking up three caches. One of them was at an old train engine. Currently there is no rail system in Iceland. They did have a short, narrow gauge, train system from 1913 to 1928. It was used to construct harbor breakwaters, after which the engines were retired. There were two engines, Pioner and Minør.
Yes, I found a train - it's Minør
Back at the hotel, the group re-grouped, and there was still more than an hour before our airport pick-up time. I mentioned that I thought it would be fun to have another hot dog. Matt said he was going that way and would show me the stand where Bill Clinton had once had a hot dog. We left the others to their own devices and set off. It wasn't far away, and Matt ended up buying two and giving one to me before he headed off on another errand. They have a photo and article posted about Clinton's visit inside.
Always a line according to Matt
I strolled back toward the hotel, and knowing that I would be sitting for hours on the plane, decided to go beyond the hotel. I found a cache completely on my own - the first time in Iceland. I returned to the hotel with time still to spare.
We loaded into a van and headed for the airport. Then the usual stuff of waiting in line, checking in, checking your luggage, and by then I had lost all the folks in the group. I looked all over and didn't spot any of them, not even Liz, although I did spot the folks from the Netherlands who came to the event. I almost went through security before remembering that we were planning on finding a geocache at the airport.
Of, of course, that's where they are. So I headed off to join them, only to arrive there and see no one. Well, find the cache and see if they have already signed it. I found it and just as I was about to sign, I saw them approaching. Thank goodness. I knew I would be fine on my own, but didn't like the idea of others hunting for me.
We headed back to the terminal together and I offered to let them put a leash on me. It was time to buy chocolate to bring home and Skyr to eat right then at the duty free shop.
Time to say good-byes and head our separate ways. That's always tough. Liz and I headed to a place for her to get a rebate on the taxes she paid when she bought the new phone battery charger. She had pulled a number earlier, and with so many ahead of us, we decided to say our good-byes and then head back to wait. She sat on the floor to fill out some forms, and sooner than anticipated, her number was called. The rebate was big enough that we were glad she had done that.
We were on our own, and headed first for something to eat, but decided to get fruit slurpees of some sort instead. Very good and it stopped my growling stomach. It was chaotic when we got to the location from which our plane was leaving. Just one huge crowd of people and no place to sit - except lucky us - we found a table that some folks were just leaving and sat ourselves down. I began texting everyone to use up the time left on the Icelandic sim card. We also corresponded with Liz's husband to let him know our flight would be late.
When our plane boarding was announced, things happened smoothly and quickly. Time to settle in for sitting for most of the next 8+ hours. I did watch the Secret Life of Walter Mitty because it is set in Iceland. Yes, I'm addicted. I want to go back, but I know it would never be the same, so will have to hang on to happy memories.
Back in Seattle it was the usual mess of getting through customs, picking up luggage, and getting approval to leave. One of the men startled me by asking, "What's a Jersey girl like you doing visiting Iceland?" He had grown up in NJ as well and we agreed we weren't going back.
Within minutes of getting outside, Liz's husband Paul was picking us up. As Liz mentioned to some on the tour, Paul is our enabler. He bought travel books and maps for Liz (and I was to borrow them) and dropped us off and picked us up. Liz has herself a wonderful man.
We stopped in Fife just long enough to get a simple cache so that we could say we had done caches in two countries, near two different oceans, etc. on the same day. Just because...
By the time I got home, it was beyond my Icelandic bed time. I managed to unpack and was asleep soon after 8. Of course, Monday morning, I gave up trying to sleep after 4 am.
That's the end of the daily activities. I already know one extra thing I will add in an additional post, so stay tuned.
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