Horseback Ride & Back to Reykjavik

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July 17

Having opted out of the morning’s 2-mile hike I slept in on this final morning with Backroads. Emilie got to the Hotel Budir breakfast earlier than I so she could go on a horseback ride.

After my leisurely breakfast I set out on my own to wander around the pristine hotel property and the various paths to the adjacent beaches. The setting is beautiful, with just the hotel and a black wood church all alone on a nature preserve by the beach and surrounded by lava fields, mountains, and a glacier in the background.  This is the western most point on the Snaefellsnes peninsula.  It’s a great place to get in a very peaceful walk.  First, I stopped to look at the black church, which I chose not to go to with the group the night before. Then, I strolled some of the beaten paths with just two other people in site.  While walking on the beach I apparently wandered too close to sea tern nests, as evidenced by the way I was dive-bombed by them. This inspired me to get off the beach and back on the beaten paths.

Emilie and Ann were the only members of the group to opt for the 1-hour Icelandic horseback ride along the coast. This cost extra, and was not included with the Backroads trip. Em chose this because she couldn’t have imagined coming to Iceland and not riding one of their famous Icelandic horses. She was happy she did so. The ride was perfect for a novice like her, and she had awesome coastal and glacial scenery to boot! She didn’t get many pics of the ride, however.  She was more interested in holding the reins than her phone. The German guide did get a couple of nice pics of her and Ann, though.

Em and Ann got back to the hotel around 10:45 AM. We had a final lunch with Backroads at the hotel and were on the road back to Reykjavik by noon. Two members of our group were shuttled to the airport, while the rest of us were shuttled to downtown Reykjavik, about 2.5 hours away.

The vans arrived in Reykjavik around 2:30 PM. The Backroads group unloaded, and we said our goodbyes.  Fortunately, our hotel for this final night in Reykjavik was just one block from where the Backroads shuttle just dropped us off. Our gang of seven (Ann, Luise, Brenda, Charlie, John, us) were all staying at the same hotel.  We set off with bags in tow to check in to the charming boutiquey Center Hotels Skjaldbreid. 

We climbed two flights of stairs to check in on the 3rd floor. Then went up one more floor to our room. We took some time to get our gear and clothes in travel-order as we would be leaving for home the next day.  We basically had no clean clothes left so we were already wearing things for a second or third time. We did wash some of our clothes along the way in the hotel bathroom sinks.

Before the trip, Emilie and I had set our dinner reservations for this evening at Mattur Og Dykkur for 6:00 PM.  We chose this restaurant because Em’s high school teaching colleagues actually got her a gift certificate for this place as a retirement gift for her! We chose this night because it was the only night it was open while were in Reykjavik.  But we had a couple of hours to kill so we walked around town with Ann and Luise for a bit.  Among other things, we checked out the visually striking, contemporary Harpa Concert Hall, and the very weird gift shop of the famous Phallological Museum of Reykjavik (really, no kidding).

On the walk towards our restaurant for dinner, we actually stopped to get a famous Icelandic hot dog, because…we had to. We got it at a hot dog stand in the center of downtown serving a line of about 20 people. It moved efficiently as the two people working the stand were real pros. The dogs met expectations…they were excellent…and with snap! I love a snappy dog!  The line never dwindled while we were there enjoying our dogs.

After dogging it, we headed toward our restaurant but took one more detour at Bryggjan Brugghús, a fancy brew pub/steakhouse on the water for an aperitif.  After a drink, Em and I headed one block over to Mattur Og Dykkur. Emilie’s former workmates did a great job in selecting a restaurant for her to celebrate her retirement.  This place was upscale casual gourmet, if that makes any sense.  They offer a very comfortable atmosphere with impeccable service and outstanding, uniquely prepared, traditional Icelandic food.  It is NOT cheap, but it is worth the price.  It was close, but Mattur Og Dykkur was better than the hot dog stand.

After dinner we met up with Ann and Luise back at the brew pub for a digestif. Then we slowly made our back to the hotel on foot and called it a night.  Our last night in Iceland.

July 18

Our flight home to Boston was at 5:00 PM.  I booked Flybus (the same bus service that we took from the airport on day 1) on their 1:30 PM bus from a bus stop near our hotel.  That would get us to the airport around 2:45 PM.  We slept in and had a nice breakfast at the hotel with our friends.  We said goodbye to John, Brenda, and Charlie, as they were heading off to Sky Lagoon. Emilie and I tooled around Reykjavik for a couple of hours with Ann and Luise. I got a late check-out approval from the hotel so we could just leave our bags in the room until later.

We headed back to grab our bags from the hotel around 1:00 and said goodbye to Ann and Luise.  Em and I went to the bus stop.  Em enjoyed one last local beer in Keflavik airport.

Our flight was uneventful, unless of course, insanely magnificent pictures of Greenland from the plane are considered eventful…which we think are.

Farewell, Iceland!