Day 7: a one day road trip around the Snaefellsnes peninsula. The highlight for me was a coastal walk between the small towns of Arnarstapi and Hellnar.
There are some beautiful sea arches, especially around Arnarstapi, as well as volcanic rock, basalt columns, and on the Hellnar side a lovely little cafe.
It was a windy, chilly day, so it seemed just right to get some hot chocolate and then the kids wanted to play in the sand and rocks of the sheltered cove.
Our next stop was the Gestastofa, the visitors center for the national park that protects Snaefellsjokull, the beautiful glacier.
We made several shorter stops, Saxholl crater, a few smaller waterfalls, and finally a stop at the oh so photogenic Kirkufell and kirkufellsfoss (fell=mountain foss=waterfall, so Kirk-mountain and the Kirk-mountain waterfall).
A perfect spot to end our day with.
Day 8: Time to say goodbye to Snaefellsnes and make our way to Iceland's south coast.
We took another rest in Borgarnes, this time stopping at Geirabakari, a tasty bakery that was used as a filming location in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (they turned it into a Papa John's).
Our main activity of the day was a hike through Reykjadalur. There were geothermal vents, hot pots, and, at the end of the trail, an entire river heated to a perfect hot tub temperature.
Did the kids like the hike? Not really. Did they like playing is a warm-as-a-bath river? They loved it!
Pro tip: if the sign says the hot pot is 100 C, that's hot enough to boil. So hot enough to cook eggs! Yeah, Lee found a small boiling hot pot and made some 12 minute eggs. They were delicious.
Ran into some trouble, in that Laszlo was fooling around after getting dressed post-swim and fell in the river...so his shoes and most of his clothes were soaked.
After a few moments of panic, I got him into the driest clothes he had and he did the hike back to the car wrapped in my coat and gloves, riding on Lee's shoulders. Good thing the way back was downhill, because Lee was carrying Laszlo and I was carrying Arthur and all our wet clothes and towels.
We made it to our new digs on the on the south coast in time to cook dinner and watch a movie. Unforeseen bonus of international travel: All the Miyazaki movies are on European Netflix.
Day 9: Was this my favorite day of our trip? Hmm, pretty nearly I'd say! The weather was kind to us and the south is undeniably beautiful.
First stop was the lighthouse and view over Dyrholaey (literally door hole) a massive sea arch.
Laszlo had decided he didn't want to leave the car. So we let him sit with napping Arthur while we stepped out and took in the views.
For our next stop at Reynisfjara Beach, I made sure he got out. He loved the climbable rock formation and cave.
This beach is known for sudden sneaker waves, so I'm glad that the kids listened to the safety rules I made for them and were really only interested in the rocky formations far back from the water.
What a remarkable and beautiful stretch of coastline!
From there we stopped in the small coastal town of Vik for lunch and picked up some groceries.
From there we did what I was sure would be a big hit with the kids: Seljalandsfoss. This waterfall you can walk behind. So we brought the requisite water proof gear.
They liked it well enough, but I think they liked what we did next better: Gljufrabui. This waterfall is hidden. It falls into a small, cave-like gorge that one can easily walk through if one knows it's there. We really needed that waterproof gear in there. And what an incredible place to visit!
