h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just wanted to tell you that DannyB and I are off to Reykjavik at the end of September!! It's a short city break, and we're going to do a city tour; whale watching; a tour of the Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir, Thingvellir, Nesjavellir and Hveragerdi; and horse riding! Icelandic s - at last!!

I'm actually a bit nervous about that as I haven't ridden since my accident three years ago, but hey. DannyB is going for it and he's never even sat on a horse.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it as I've wanted to go to Iceland for ages (as I think I've mentioned before!).

Any tips on things to see in Reykjavik during the ten minutes we'll have between excursions?

Lbclaire

Hi Claire

Sorry, I didn't see your post there! Well, things to do etc. Have a very large ice cream in one of the video shops, hardly any tourists do that.. ask for a 'bragdarefur' and pick your poison to put in it. Mmmmm lovely!

If you do get the chance, try out the pools, like Árbæjarlaug, that's very nice. Churches in Iceland tend to be quaint and nice, don't ask if people speak english, ask if they mind speaking english, don't buy film / memory cards in Iceland, they are extortionate, try some blueberry 'skyr' with a bit of milk or cream, added sugar is optional. With a bit of luck, you might even catch some Aurora!

I wouldn't worry much about Icelandic horses, they're quite placid as well as short. Shaggy, pony like creatures with generally good manners. Oh, now I want to go riding. Meh.

I hope you have a great time - let me know how you get on, or ask if you want / need to know anything else.. This wasn't exactly a huge fount of information..

cheers ismarah

Thanks, that's .

I'm really looking forward to it, especially as we've just got back from a week away and I'm already sick of work again!

Ice cream...

nudge...

How was it? Hopefully good, enjoyable, entertaining etc.
Did Danny enjoy it?

cheersismarah

Sorry!

Ooh yes, it was great, thanks. We managed to pack a lot into a few days!

The weather was great the day we got there and the day we left, but colder and overcast for our two full days. But it didn't rain at all, and it was very still, which was ideal for our whale watching trip! We saw minke whales, harbour porpoises and white-beaked dolphins.

We did a city tour of Reykjavik, which was really interesting, and an all-day tour of various waterfalls, geysers, and Thingvellir (sp?) (I'm not even going to attempt to spell the names of the other places, even if I could remember them !). That was good, if a bit tiring, and there was a big group of schoolkids on the coach who, although well-behaved when it counted, were still a bit distracting.

On our last morning we went riding - the thing I'd been looking forward to most. Also the thing I was dreading in a way, as I hadn't been on a horse since my accident over three years ago. But having DannyB there, who'd only ever sat on a donkey, helped me to forget about my own concerns in making sure he was OK. We both had great, forward-going little chestnuts, and DannyB's legs dangled almost to the floor! As soon as I mounted I felt fine, and was soon loving it. We rode through lava fields for a couple of hours, at the end of which we were both feeling it ! Amazing the muscles you rediscover when you get on a horse!

DannyB did really well, and enjoyed it, and I'm dying to get back into riding now. Have ordered a new hat as mine got bashed in the accident. Was a bit annoyed to find one of my pairs of jodhpurs didn't fit any more though - I didn't think my legs had got thicker but they must have .

Anyway, to conclude , we had a great time. I really liked Reykjavik and all the things we did. Only problem was the prices. I knew it was meant to be expensive, but I imagined that was more for alcohol and clubbing etc. And as we partake in neither of those things, I thought we'd be OK. Oooohh nnooooo! We nearly fell over backwards when we saw the prices for a simple pizza or Chinese. Good job we were only there for a few days!

Had an idle thought, scrolling through, that due to currency things, trips to Iceland are now as much of a bargain as they ever get..