Goðafoss, waterfall of the gods.
The next day was mostly a travel day, with a stop at the waterfall Goðafoss, the waterfall of the gods.
The road took us pretty much due west, until we approached the ridge bordering on the fjord, where the direction looped north to take advantage of a pass through the hills. Beyond the pass the route followed the edge of the water southward to cross the river to the western shore and town of Akureyri. We had an early lunch before heading to the airport and the short flight to Reykjavik. At the Reykjavik airport, the walkers started their separate ways, with most taking a shuttle to the Keflavik airport for the flights home. Paul and Gisele joined Jonathan and me for the short taxi ride back to the Hotel Reykjavík Centrum. After checking into our rooms and letting Jonathan take a nap, we went two doors down the street to the Fish Market (Fiskmarkaðurinn) restaurant and had an absolutely fabulous meal ordering the tasting menu - mussels in lobster sauce, beef salad, sushi, salmon BBQ with onion cake and corn apple salsa, cod on fennel carrot salad, and lamb (including smoked tongue) with tarragon sauce.
Goðafoss, waterfall of the gods.
A look downstream from the waterfall.
Looking westward, we travelled through this valley on our way to Akureyri.
The church in Akrureyri sits at the top of the hill.
There is nothing more written in my journal for this trip. The next morning after breakfast we rearranged and repacked our bags, after reclaiming the big raspberry colored monstrosity we had left at the hotel nine days earlier. I had arranged with the concierge at the hotel, a shuttle to the bus terminal where the busses to Keflavík depart. So with everything lined up we wandered around Reykjavík for a few hours eventually stopping for lunch at a restaurant were we saw Kristín and Erling having coffee and reviewing the feedback forms we had turned in to Paul the day before. After getting their endorsement of the establishment, we took a leisurely lunch before returning to the hotel, where we collected our bags and sat in the lobby with Paul to wait for our shuttle.
The Keflavík Airport is clean and contemporary. We made a point to have a substantial snack before going to our gate, as the flight was due to leave at 1700 for the 5 hour flight to Boston, and it wasn't clear that we were being fed (we weren't unless you paid for it). The boarding of the various flights was surprisingly chaotic - Jonathan commented that it reminded him of the boarding procedures in Panama. On the flight, I was sitting beside an older, wiry woman, a grandmother apparently traveling with her family - her granddaughter and grandson were constantly visiting her, sitting in her lap watching movies. Despite all their comings and goings, the kids were very well behaved and polite.
Arrival in Boston was uneventful, as we navigated our way through customs and immigration with no fuss. Getting to the curb, we kept a look out for M'lyn and Maddy, who we had called from the plane as we taxied to our gate to alert them of our arrival. After making an unplanned loop through the airport, they spotted us, and pulled over to load us and our luggage into the van. Both Jonathan and I were a little worse for the wear, as he had picked up a cold and I was suffering one of my allergy attacks with a runny nose that just doesn't stop (it started on the airplane). We stopped at Legal Seafood in Warwick RI (across from TF Green Airport) for dinner, and thence to Greene RI.
The next day (the 24th), Jonathan and I nursed our maladies and watched after the girls as M'lyn had one last day of teaching before getting off for the summer. The girls are generally well behaved so it's not a huge task, although Diane had asked if I could install a new air conditioner in the guestroom window. Despite my runny nose, I was able to get the thing installed and functioning, and rather enjoyed having a cool room to lie down in for a nap. The girls divvied up the pins and hair ties we had picked up for them with no quarrels (you go girls!). The next morning, our plane left early from TG Green Airport (Providence).
