Skipping Town

We are home, back with our precious pets.  After dropping off Mom and Dad in Connellsville, we got home around 12:30 and had just enough time to change our clothes before Greta, Andrew, and I headed down to Point Park, where the award ceremony for the Scholastic Writing Awards was being held. Greta was so excited the scheduling worked out so she could go and receive recognition for her Gold and Silver key-winning short stories. Later, the four of us went out for sushi, and then the girls and I watched two episodes of This Is Us (one final episode to go). It's nice to be home. The kitchen floors are complete and beautiful. The end of the renovation is in sight.

We bid our rented house goodbye this morning, loaded up the car, and headed into Reykjavik for a few final Iceland hours. Our primary destination was the Braud & Co bakery for cinnamon rolls, which Andrew had read about in Travel & Leisure. They did not disappoint. It was truly the best pastry I have ever had, anywhere.  We bought a few souvenirs (Lucia bought herself a ring; Greta got a necklace with a little puffin charm; I bought a book of poetry set in the Bonus supermarket, the highest-selling poetry collection ever in Iceland). A few of us had a final pylsur. We walked to the harbor and popped in to see the Harpa concert hall. Our final stop was, again, Braud & Co, where we got more cinnamon rolls and other items for the flight home. It was very windy and cold and we all agreed, pastries in hand, that it was time to head to the airport to return our rental car and catch our flight.  A pause here to praise Andrew, who drove us all around Iceland this week in a...

As predicted, Thursday brought a country-wide level-two weather warning, with many road closures and the requirement to stay home. So we did, and we were all happy to be forced to spend the day in our beautiful Air BnB as wind and snow raged outside. We put a fire on and read, played No Thanks, and watched both Frozen movies in honor of the literal frozen landscape. Lucia, Greta, Mom, and Dad, had a gin tournament. Andrew did some work. It was delightful. This is the best vacation rental we've ever had. The warning lifted in the late afternoon, so we ventured into Selfoss to go into a couple of shops, and then we had dinner at the Old Dairy Food Hall: pizza from Flatey's (Andrew, Dad, the girls); fish and chips for Mom and lamb soup for me from Samuelsson's. All delicious.  Then we went back home and enjoyed the hot tub and sauna one last time. Walking through snow in our bare feet is now old hat for us. Tomorrow is departure day. None of us want to leave, especially since ...

Every day here has been amazing but Wednesday was a particularly great one. With a blizzard and potential road closures predicted for Thursday--and having learned our lesson about ignoring country-wide weather warnings--we adjusted our itinerary for today to make sure we fit in everything we wanted to see  along the Golden Circle.  We started our day at Gullfoss, the giant waterfall. It was absolutely frigid outside, but we persevered along the icy walkway to see the falls from a few different angles. Every famous sight in Iceland inspires awe, and Gullfoss is humbling in its violence and power, especially on a stark winter day like this one was, the water rushing through ice. Frozen, we went into the cafe for a hot drink before moving on. Our next stop was the Geysir geothermal field. We watched Strokkur a couple of times and walked along the pathway, winding around boiling pools and lots of steam. It definitely feels like humans are not supposed to be here--this is nature's ...

After the dramatic weather of Monday, Tuesday began with sunny, cloudless skies and no wind. In the morning, Andrew, the girls, and I set out for the Solhestar stable in the Reykjadalu Valley for a horseback riding tour in the countryside. I have never ridden a horse before. But one of Greta's top things to do this trip was ride an Icelandic horse, and we found this stable near our Air BnB.  It was very cold in the morning, but we were given riding jumpsuits, and we'd brought fleece headwraps to wear under our helmets. The horses were adorable: Biggie (Lucia's), Ginger (Greta's), Vikrame (like macrame; Andrew's), and Thrau (mine). We were given instructions on how to steer the horse, and how to get onto the horse. I had a little bit of trouble, with no core strength at all, and though I did successfully get onto my horse, I was not graceful. Andrew did okay. The girls hopped onto the stirrup and slung their legs over their horses like they'd been doing it their ...

Monday was our Reykjavik exploration day, and after breakfast at home we set out for the city. We got an email from the rental car company warning of bad weather, with a reminder to hold onto the car doors with both hand when opening them, since high winds can push the doors wide open and break the hinges. We set out nonetheless, persevering even though there was snow blowing all over the roads.  In Reykjavik, we followed a Rick Steves self-guided walking tour for a while, learning some history of the city. We got hot dogs at Baejarins Beztu Pylsur. We then began walking up the rainbow street, Skolavordustigur, toward the church Hallgrimskirkja, stopping to browse in shops along the way. We went into a couple of secondhand shops and some souvenir shops on Laugavegur. Greta quickly selected the two souvenirs she'd planned on getting: a small plush puffin and a children's book in Icelandic. I found the jewelry store--Anna Maria--where I bought a silver ring back in 2005; we went ...