Borgarnes

     We completed the full circle of Iceland today.  The "Ring" road or Highway 1, also named   Hringvegur, is just over 1300 miles.  We spent some time on adventures off this road when we drove the "Golden Circle" and our tour yesterday of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.  We didn't keep track of the miles, but we covered a lot of territory.

    On our return to Reykjavik we stopped in the town of Borgarnes to visit the "Settlement Center."  This Museum tells the story of the arrival of the Vikings to Iceland.  The man who built a replica of a Viking ship estimated that it took about three days to sail from Norway to Iceland.  The ships held about a hundred settlers and some livestock.  The early settlers wrote "Sagas" which told the story of individual families and their descendants from the earliest days of coming to Iceland.  The sagas recorded the many disagreements between the Icelandic settlers and the Danes and Norwegians. The sagas were compiled and transcribed around 1400 and have become an amazing history of the people of Iceland.  Families can trace their roots back to individual farmsteads.  We really enjoyed learning this history.

    I researched a lot before we came on this trip and read that one good, cheap meal was gas station hot dogs.  I was skeptical and we didn't have one until today when our picnic supplies were gone.  In many areas the gas station is also the local grocery store, drug store and fast food cafe.  Hot dogs are available at many of these stations.  I enjoyed my iconic Icelandic hotdog with some sort of sweet mustard.  Rick had the somewhat tangy ketchup on his.  Now we can say we had one and they were good.

    We drove through another six km tunnel today to get to Reykjavik.  I'm not a fan of these really long tunnels.  I've learned that I won't ever move to an island for a permanent home.  Just like when we are in Hawaii, I don't like the idea that I can only drive in a big circle. 

    I read about all the earthquakes rumbling often in Iceland.  We both agree that we haven't noticed and quaking, but that may be because we are bouncing around in the wind.  So, no quakes, lava flows, or eruptions that we know of.  

     A couple more unrelated observations:  there are a fair number of golf courses in Iceland (surprised me); there's very little littering so the streets and roadsides are really clean (maybe it all just blows away in the horrendous wind); most showers have no doors or curtains;  Icelanders are as obsessed with their smartphones as Americans and aren't supposed to use them while driving,but cheat as much as Americans do.  We are staying in the same hotel as when we arrived in Iceland.  It feels like we are neighborhood regulars.  The streets are full of folks enjoying a nice Sunday evening.  We are going to join them and go back to a favorite cafe for dinner.