Iceland has no bad weather...

...just badly prepared people.

We had a shorter day.  We left about 9AM, so got to sleep in a bit.  Our first stop was Glacier Lagoon.  This is the spot where Vatnajokull, the largest glacier in Iceland, terminates.  It breaks into several “arms”, one of which is at the edge of the lagoon.  (The others are receding and the melt flows into the lagoon.)  The glacier makes up about 8% of the entire island.

Blue for the higher density ice.

Black and white for dirt and volcanic ash.

The glacier and one of its bits!

A "duck boat" (but not ours).

After a little walking around, we got on one of the “duck boats” and cruised around the lagoon and got to see the icebergs a little closer.   It was chilly but also rainy so we got to be wet, too!  After a little “lecture” by the young guide (who sort of made up answers as she needed), she broke off pieces of ice and our guide passed out little cups.  She then gives us each a shot of something.  It tasted like Bailey’s with a little licorice.  We got seconds.

Yes, it is a former US Army vehicle.

Kayakers...working harder that we were!

She held that ice with her bare hands for most of her talk!

Skal!!  (Cheers!)

Our tour guide lost control of the bottle. 
Suspects were still at large!

After the cruise, we stopped at a black sand beach (yeah volcanoes provide a lot of them).  It was just a pull over, run down and look, and take some pictures.  The surf was strong, and we were strongly urged to not get too close or turn our back to it.  I think it looked stronger than it was, but I didn't need to confirm.

That surf is aggressive!! 

The glacier in the distance.

Not often we see glaciers and cows.

We drove around a bit more, and stopped for lunch.  Well, it was also a bit of a ruse.  One of the tour group had a birthday at the beginning of the trip, and they got her a couple of cakes to share with the group.  We were told our lunch venue was changed to this location (not normally open for lunch)...we believe so that we had a place for a birthday party.

Several of the glacial arms.

After lunch, we stopped at a little fishing village with the “oldest house” in Iceland, built in 1864. (T Note - I remember the guide saying we went to the oldest house in this village (Hofn).) Except people have been here for over 1000 years, so they must have had homes?  Anyway, there was also a post office and grocery store and liquor store.  We got two post card stamps, a bottle of beer, and then a two liter of sparkling water.

NOT little icebergs in the field!

Location of the lagoon.  Note the glaciers in white.

Back at the hotel we relaxed a bit and watched an episode of Columbo from so long ago, the detective looked like a kid!