Yesterday, we had stopped being mad at Iceland . Today we are furious again. We were supposed to go to the Westman Islands today but we didn't because of the strong winds and rain. The ferry we had booked changed the time and location of origin. The original trip was a half hour but it looked like the change of port would take longer; we later found out it takes over 3 hours from that location. Plus, we might have gotten stuck there. Cancelling the ferry was easy but the hotel refused to waive the penalty for not showing up which happened to be equal to the one night's lodging price which is all we had booked anyway. They didn't call us a bunch of wusses but they were thinking it. I called them and Expedia and Expedia called them but they said they wouldn't waive the cost because there WAS a ferry traveling to the island. If we had decided to drive to that port, we would have had to leave as soon as we found out about the change. But they weren't buying our stories about how we couldn't get to the ferry.
We found a nice guesthouse close to where we were and just holed up there. It never stopped raining and the wind was blowing at 28 mph. When we rented the car, the agent said we should always hold onto the car doors because they have been known to blow off. Today was the first time we feared that could happen. We drove through Vik again and took this picture of what they call the Stacks. The story is trolls came by boat from somewhere and when the sun shined on them, they turned to stone. Lots of troll stories in this country.
Despite the weather, we did drive to the black sand beach. The car agent had warned us about the waves that come from nowhere and drown people. There was a sign at the beach that said "sneaker waves." I tried but didn't make it all the way to the beach. The wind nearly knocked me over and my shoes started skidding, with me in them. I just held onto a sign until Lola and Mickey returned.
The other activity we did today was go to a grocery store to find packs of tissues. Mickey has a cold and needed them. We had looked in every gas station and convenience store we'd been in but no one had the small packs or even boxes. What they sell loads of is wipes--wipes for eyes and face, wipes for makeup, wipes for bodies and of course , separate wipes for baby butts. We started thinking there must be blowing-nose wipes . A clerk helped us find a pack of 10 packages, hidden at the back of a bottom shelf. Grocery stores are always great for insight into the culture. Icelanders, not surprisingly, eat a lot of fish. Loads of dried fish and fish jerky. The grocery store was in a complex which also had a camping supply and clothing store. Their wool clothes, blankets, and other winter gear are beautiful. There was one item on sale--imperfect reindeer pelts. We passed since we couldn't fit one in a suitcase.
At the breakfasts we've had at hotels, herring is a staple. Different types. I like herring but not for breakfast. None of us eat the Eastern European cold cuts either. Or the British baked beans. What buffets in many countries provide for Americans are dry cereals. Today we did have tasty porridge.
The very cute guy from the Netherlands taking care of us at this guesthouse said the weather is never like this in May. It might rain but just for a few minutes. He said usually the best months to travel here are May and September. So we have every right to be mad at Iceland.
We found a nice guesthouse close to where we were and just holed up there. It never stopped raining and the wind was blowing at 28 mph. When we rented the car, the agent said we should always hold onto the car doors because they have been known to blow off. Today was the first time we feared that could happen. We drove through Vik again and took this picture of what they call the Stacks. The story is trolls came by boat from somewhere and when the sun shined on them, they turned to stone. Lots of troll stories in this country.
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| The Stacks |
Despite the weather, we did drive to the black sand beach. The car agent had warned us about the waves that come from nowhere and drown people. There was a sign at the beach that said "sneaker waves." I tried but didn't make it all the way to the beach. The wind nearly knocked me over and my shoes started skidding, with me in them. I just held onto a sign until Lola and Mickey returned.
 |
| Black sand beach |
The other activity we did today was go to a grocery store to find packs of tissues. Mickey has a cold and needed them. We had looked in every gas station and convenience store we'd been in but no one had the small packs or even boxes. What they sell loads of is wipes--wipes for eyes and face, wipes for makeup, wipes for bodies and of course , separate wipes for baby butts. We started thinking there must be blowing-nose wipes . A clerk helped us find a pack of 10 packages, hidden at the back of a bottom shelf. Grocery stores are always great for insight into the culture. Icelanders, not surprisingly, eat a lot of fish. Loads of dried fish and fish jerky. The grocery store was in a complex which also had a camping supply and clothing store. Their wool clothes, blankets, and other winter gear are beautiful. There was one item on sale--imperfect reindeer pelts. We passed since we couldn't fit one in a suitcase.
At the breakfasts we've had at hotels, herring is a staple. Different types. I like herring but not for breakfast. None of us eat the Eastern European cold cuts either. Or the British baked beans. What buffets in many countries provide for Americans are dry cereals. Today we did have tasty porridge.
The very cute guy from the Netherlands taking care of us at this guesthouse said the weather is never like this in May. It might rain but just for a few minutes. He said usually the best months to travel here are May and September. So we have every right to be mad at Iceland.
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