Hóll and back again

Our hosts were warm and seemed amused by my attempts at Icelandic. I think it pleased them that I was making the struggle to be understood. Their front yard is charming and has lots of flowers in bloom. I tried taking a picture of the view, but you’ll have to take my word for it that there are mountains in the distance. The farm has been in their family for several generations and I understand that our host’s grandfather used to keep sheep in a cave on the property.

I will freely grant that this photo does not look as enchanting as Hóll actually is. After we arrived Saturday night, we went for a walk down the side of the road. The thing that you should note in this photo is that there is nothing else around for kilometers, and Hóll has trees. In Iceland. This makes it a prime spot for us. Even that weren’t enough to make me happy, check out the phone in the foyer. The only thing that bothered us the first night was the astounding snoring of one of the guests. Even with earplugs we could hear it.

In the morning, our hostess provided a full spread for breakfast. We met a Swiss couple and a German couple. I managed to stagger along in German for a little. While I usually maintain that German was a usless language to learn in school, because it seems that the only Germans who travel are the ones with flawless English, in this case we were fairly evenly matched in the language department. Only a little, and very, very broken. Hey, I took it twenty years ago, I’m pleased I remembered any.

After breakfast, we went for a horseback ride. While I didn’t take any photos on the trip, I can show you what we saw. Lava and sheep and moss. This was Rob’s first time riding as an adult and I don’t think he’s particuarly enamoured of it. My inner eight year old kicked in the first time I saw Icelandic horses. (Why is it that so many girls go through the horse phase?) This was only my second time riding in Iceland, but I need to do it more. The tölt which is the distinctive fifth gait, unique to the Icelandic horses, is as smooth as they say. Well…maybe not quite smooth enough to drink tea, but certainly smooth enough that one isn’t sore the next day.

We came back in and took a nap, which is a vitally important part of any vacation schedule. The snorer was gone, and the house was very, very quiet. Since we hadn’t heard him, so much as felt the snoring, I’m forced to conclude that the house is fairly soundproof and he was prodigious.

Post nap we headed off to Asbyrgi, which is a horseshoe shaped canyon reputed to have been formed with Oðinn’s eight legged stallion stamped the Earth. It’s certainly large enough to have belonged to a god’s horse. Besides the natural formation, Asbyrgi has thousands and thousands of trees. In the 1950s someone decided to plant non-native conifers along with Icelandic birch. As we were driving into the park we were struck by how we’ve become used to being able to see the horizon all the time. The natural amphitheater cups a shallow, but large pool which is home to lots of birds. Including ducklings! Hello, watch my iq drop at their cuteness.

Now I will just post photos of Asbyrgi and let you enjoy it without my commentary. It would largely consist of “Look. Pretty!”

After we got back from hiking around Asbyrgi, we took another nap–I said they were important–and just in time. The wind had picked up on the way back from Asbyrgi and brought rain with it. Our room was warm and cozy, but the wind snuck through the window and caught the mirror, jittering the view of the room to and fro like a raven with a new pretty. In the evening, I read in the downstairs sitting room and then our hostess cooked us a delicious dinner featuring trout from the lake on the farm. It was delicious, but necessitated an evening constitutional. We walked down to the lake through knee-high grass that was still heavy with rain. Our pants were soaked by the time we found a sheep trail that saved us from the damp. The sheep watched our every move. Spies.

The lake is Iceland’s newest lake. Sadly, I didn’t quite understand which eruption caused it, but evidentally a volcano went up, and the earth here sank. The lake is home to trout and to lots of birds. Just in case you have any doubt about the number of birds, take a look at the ground. Those aren’t pebbles. Astounding, eh? On the walk home, I found a horn from one of the sheep which had the name of the farm etched into it. I picked it up as a reminder of our stay and the wind played across its open mouth with the sound of distant trumpets. Remarkable. I had always wondered who first thought it was a good idea to stick a horn in one’s mouth and blow.

Tomorrow, I’ll post the pictures of our drive home and the places were we stopped.

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