10-Night France, Iceland, and Norway Cruise - Day 8 Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik

About a month before we were supposed to set sail someone posted in our FB cruise meet group that there was an issue with the dock at Isafjordur (our second stop in Iceland). They were dredging the harbor to create a new dock that could accommodate larger ships, like the Disney Dream. But apparently it wasn’t ready and a lot of ships were having to cancel that stop. Some of the smaller ships were able to use tenders. 

We kept waiting to hear what would happen and we were hopeful, but then, with less than a week before we were set to leave, we got an email from DCL that the port was cancelled and unfortunately, they were unable to secure an alternative port for us. We were really unhappy about it. The cruise already had more sea days than we really wanted and now we were getting another. 

I was scrambling to figure out how to get the horseback riding that Emmaline really wanted to do tacked onto another port day. Ultimately, we decided we had the most time in Reykjavik and we would add it onto that day. So prior to leaving I was emailing back and forth with a horseback riding company about how to get an evening ride with them. I was literally emailing back and forth with them up until that morning when we arrived in Reykjavik and we finally got it all ironed out that morning. It would be a marathon day in Iceland. 

We woke up, had breakfast and disembarked the ship a little before 9 AM. There were a ton of people in the atrium waiting to get off and it was very chaotic. We got off and then tried to get a taxi. Everyone was trying to get a taxi and there weren’t many of them. We kept waiting and waiting and there was no clear taxi line and was just sort of a free for all. Finally we got a taxi and made our way to the car rental company. Along the way Roger asked the driver if he had any tips for driving in Iceland. He said “not really. Just don’t be like Biden.” I said, “I’m worry, what?” He said, “don’t be stupid. Biden is stupid. Don’t be like him.” There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence and Roger said, “well, we’re pretty smart. I think we’ll be okay.” Very odd. 

We arrived at the car rental company and got our car and were on the road by about 9:30 AM. I hadn’t driven a stick shift in years but it was cheaper (and car rental is crazy expensive in Iceland) so I had to get reacquainted. Our first stop after about an hour of driving was Kerið Crater. This crater was formed when a volcano caved in on itself. We would see several other examples of this in our time in Iceland. Pretty much everything in Iceland was formed by some kind of volcanic activity. 

We left Kerið (after having to Google how to get the car in reverse because this car had 6 gears and I had never had a 6 gear manual before and reverse was in a weird spot) and decided to go ahead and go to lunch. Even though it was early, we decided it would be a good move since dinner would be super early and we could potentially beat any rush. It was a good call. We arrived at the Efstidalur Ice Cream Barn at 11:20 and had to wait for ten minutes for lunch service to begin. We ate a lunch sourced from local ingredients, including some ice cream made from the dairy cows right there at the farm. 

After lunch we went to the Geysir which blows about every few minutes and we were able to see it several times. There was a splash zone that some people were entirely unaware of and it was sort of funny to hear the people squeal as they realized the geyser was going to drench them. We got got back on the road for the short drive from there to the Gullfoss waterfall, which was very impressive. We were able to walk to different places along the pathway to see if from different angles. 

From Gulfoss we had about an hour drive to Þingvellir (anglicized as Thingvellir) National Park. At this park you can walk between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. We walked around the park for awhile and marveled at the otherworldly scenery. Apparently some portions of Game of Thrones were filmed in the area. (We would see another location used in the show on our second day in Iceland as well.)

We left there and returned back to Reykjavik and on the way we had a very early dinner at a pizza place Roger had found near our route into town (that had parking, which is very important). We returned the rental car around 5:30 and had about an hour to kill before we were going to be picked up for our horseback riding tour. We walked a short distance to an ice cream and chocolate shop called OmNom (not kidding) and Emmaline and I had ice creams. Mine was…weird. I chose one with licorice topping and it was a little too much for my liking. 

Then we walked back and were picked up by the horseback riding people. They made two more stops to pick up other guests before we went to their stables about 15 minutes outside of town. We got sorted out onto our horses and went out for about an hour and a half ride. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and it was a very peaceful ride. We mostly just walked along, but at times would trot a little. Though Roger said that it wasn’t quite a true trot and another lady mentioned that Icelandic horses have different gaits/speeds that other horses don’t. 

As we rode, I was at the very back and I got a little sad. One of actually several times I felt that way. My mom was really into horses and actually had some before I was born. I only went riding with her once, though, as we didn’t really have much opportunity to ride. But there was something about being in that quiet peacefulness, swaying on the back of the horse that I just felt her presence with me and it was at once comforting and also sad. We rode through some different landscapes including some beautiful meadows, more forest-type areas (not truly because they don’t really have much in the way of trees in Iceland) and then through some volcanic rock areas. Emmaline loved it and was laughing and saying "this is awesome!" 

We got back a little after 9 PM and they got us back to the ship around 9:30 PM (all aboard was 10 PM). At 10:20 PM, we pulled away from the dock and sailed out to sea while we admired an incredibly beautiful sunset.

Click here for Day 9.