Lava flow

As we headed out of our hotel in the middle of nowhere, we made our first stop at a place we saw on a postcard.  Yep, you got that right, we saw a pretty picture and figured out where to go.  Fjaðrargljufur.  Say that three times fast.  This felt like something straight out of Lord of the Rings.  And I'm so happy we found it.  Even if walking up a mountain again nearly killed me.  

So all of that above... that's the low end. We kept on going up the sides.

And at the very top... you guessed it... a hidden waterfall.

 

After that it was time to drive to a town we'd passed on our way through.  A little town called Vik.  It´s a charming little town next to a beautiful stretch of black beach. 

We've now decided that there must be some kind of regulation or a sale on pre-fab churches, because they all look like this.  Only the steeple might differ.  BUt they all have the same number of windows on the side and a red roof.  They're adorable even if they are pre-fab.

Just when I thought I'd had the best moments with rock formations, we drove around to the other side of that cliff you see two pictures up.  That's when the fun started.  This is Dyrhólaey.

Believe it or not, all of that is completely natural.  These basalt columns are similar to what you'd find in Ireland on the Giants Causeway.  They're made as basaltic lava cools over an extended time.

So the awesome thing about the photo above, most of the versions of this photo I saw during research were dark and moody.  The wether here obviously isn't always great.  Somehow we've been amazingly lucky and had just fantastic weather.  Here's hoping it holds out!

And of course we weren't done... we knew that we could drive around to another part of the beach further West.  So off we went.

Now I know I don't normally do black and white photos, but a few from this landscape called for it.

And you know we weren't done yet... seeing cars driving up to the very top of this mini mountain, we decided that's what our SUV was for.  So all the way to the top we went to see the lighthouse.  Plus more amazing views.

Then it was time to rest!  We headed to our guest house where our lovely hostess welcomed us into her home.  We got a delightful tour of her family photos and antiques.  Then we headed off for some lobster soup.  I have to say, I've had some of the most amazing soups here, so I'm a happy camper.  But that's it for today!  Things are winding down a little.  We're doing some horseback riding tomorrow and then Friday is a trip to the Blue Lagoon and a short flight to London for the weekend.  Safe travels!