My Iceland Adventure

Oh these business trips... Normally I am so tired of being away from home at the end of them that I just want to head straight back to Seattle. But I finally got smarter! A layover somewhere on the way over. Last trip it was London and a side trip to Bath but this time I decided Iceland was the way to go! So what if everyone thought I was nuts for coming here in March; I wanted to finally get a chance to ride the Iceland horses! I told Sinan as I left that if I liked it we would be coming back! Guess what Sinan?! I love it. There is so much to do and see I have not even scratched the surface yet. I am definitely coming back.

I arrived after a painless six and a half hour flight from Seattle. Unfortunately I was too wide awake to get any sleep on board so I arrived at about 6:30AM in Keflavik Airport with a day of touring ahead of me and no sleep. Keflavik is about 30-50 minutes drive from Reykjavik I decided (wisely) not to rent a car and had booked a bus trip to and from my hotel on the reykjavik expeditions bus service (flybus+)

I also booked a shorter quicker version of the classic Golden Circle Tour. with the same company The main reason for choosing the shorter version is that it started a little later so I did not have to worry about getting anywhere super fast. It was scheduled to pick me up at the hotel at 10:00 and would get back around 4:30-5:00. We would see:

1. Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

2. The geysers including the Great Geysir (and Little Geysir geyser) and Strokkur Geyser.
     (My joke before arriving was that on Esra's trip to Iceland she had gone to see the Geysir geyser with the geezers.)

3. Gullfoss waterfall

The bus trip was well worth it. I was not only able to see the highlights but the guide explained a lot of what we saw on the way. Although the day started out rainy it gradually cleared and the sun shone through the clouds. As it turns out the winter this year has been harsher than normal with more snow. The large lake in Thingvellir was frozen for the first time in many years.

I stopped in Iceland as a 2 day layover on a business trip. The one thing that I wanted to do most was the thing that I enjoyed the most! I spent several hours at VIking Horses riding! When inquired about options before the trip they suggested I come for a personal tour with a riding lesson before. I have ridden a lot in the past and wanted to try the special Iceland horse gate: the tilt.

They picked me up from my hotel in Reykjavik and when I arrived made sure I had enough warm and waterproof clothes for the day. They had plenty of gear to borrow. If you don't want to have horse smell on your gloves (I don't care)?I would recommend borrowing some from them. You won't be able to resist giving your pony a good scratch! I wore wool under liners with some wool stretch pants and top plus a down vest. I borrowed some rain pants and rain jacket plus a neck warmer. Another warmer under the helmet and I was quite comfy.

The Icelandic saddle is quite comfortable. Even with my less than a year old new knee! I did have to have a boost up ( how embarrassing, I'm blaming the new knee for that! ) but Kristine got me into the saddle with no problem.

I would be happy to bring all riding levels to these guys. The horses are well trained plus the guides make sure to match horse and rider.

Plus after a nice long tour through the countryside you come back and enjoy a hot drink and lunch. I had lamb soup (more than one helping!)

I already want to go back!