Keflavik and Heading Home to Alaska

We arrived in Keflavik a little early so drove around a bit before returning our SAD car.  :)

 Rock sculptures along the road

 Keflavik seems like a friendly place!

We dropped off our car with no problem and a friendly young guy drove us to the airport, talking about the economic struggles in Iceland and the corrupt politicians.  :)  At the airport, oh no,  Rich realized he'd left his phone in the car!  We tried to call the car company with our phones and had no luck. Eventually I asked a security guard if there was somewhere we could use a phone and he clued us in that we didn't have to dial the country code, just dial the number direct.  Rich reached the SAD Car office and a guy volunteered to bring the phone back to the airport.  So nice!  Rich went back out through Security while I went on to find our gate, stopping at Passport Control to wait for him in case there were any more issues.  Before too long, he arrived with phone in hand and we made it the rest of the way with no trouble.  Whew!

Wisdom from the Keflavik Airport

Somewhere over Greenland

We left Iceland at 5 PM and arrived in Anchorage at 4 PM--a little bit of time travel!  :)  Our friends Anne and Jeanette hosted us for the night and our friend Donna came over for dinner with us (though we failed to get a photo)!  Although we were exhausted by then, we had a great time chatting over Indian food and staying up way too late.  We were up early the next morning and caught a cab to the airport since Anne was riding a bicycle and Jeanette had to be somewhere at 6 AM for work.  Poor Jeanette!  As always, I was nervous about flying into Unalaska but we had a good trip and no issues, thankfully!

Farewell, Iceland! So glad we got to visit!

Some last wandering around Reykjavik.

 Politeness!

 Hallgrimskirkja, the largest church in Iceland.

 Mittens on gateposts

Icelandic parents leave their babies sleeping in prams outside shops and restaurants. They say the fresh air and sunshine are good for the baby, and this way the baby is not disturbed by the noise of the coffee shop.  I love the idea but I know it would not happen in the US!  Iceland has a very low crime rate and is considered "the most peaceful country" by various indexes.  There is almost no violence.  Sounds lovely, huh?!

There's another pram!

Hallgrimskirkja from a further distance

Hmmm, well, I guess not everything is perfect in Iceland!

No, we did not try the horse or the puffin.  :)

 One last stop at a coffee shop before heading back to Keflavik and our flight home.  We loved Iceland!

This was one of Rich's favorite things:  not only does the traffic light turn yellow before red, but it also turns yellow before green so you can get revved up and ready to go!  :)

Driving the Golden Circle

After leaving Videy Island, we set out to drive the Golden Circle, a route that loops around the national park Thingvellir, the waterfall Gullfoss, and the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, containing the geyser Strokkur.

 Thingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.  It was huge and gorgeous!

 The Icelandic Parliament was established at Thingvellir in 930 and remained there till 1798.

Little Geysir

Strokkur erupts about every 8 minutes so we saw it several times.  You can stand right up next to it, close enough to get wet!

Driving back

After a very long day, we stopped at another grocery store called Bonus and got a few more things. We'd seen several of these with their pink pig logo when we were driving elsewhere but none right in the touristy area of Reykjavik.  It was so much cheaper than the little convenience store type of place we'd been forced to use earlier in the week.  :)  Had to get some more Skyr!