Day 3 Features a trip to the South Shore. This is the best experience we had, after the first two excellent days.

We took a small bus guided tour of the sights of the Southwestern coast of Iceland. Its beauty and unique scenery are definitely worth the trip. Get ready to hear more about the thermal power plants on the way. (Yawn).

We happened to travel on the national holiday called Commerce Day. Ironically, every business is closed on the day set aside to honor business.

First stop was the Skogafos waterfall, which as you can see, you can stand inside of. Or behind it actually. Its breathtaking, and lots of fun if you are a waterfall enthusiast (which I am).

To get up close and personal, you will need to be able to walk up a steep rocky path and count on getting wet. Wear waterproof clothes. If you are wheelchair bound, you will not be able to walk the path, but the view from the parking lot is amazing enough.

We also stopped at a glacier. To get a good view, you need to walk 250 yards on a rocky path. Glaciers are not all that exciting, you ask me. You see some snow, which is dirty. Thats it. Of course you can see dirty snow in any northern US city in the winter, or a nearby mountain. So I did not get any chills of excitement (bad pun). The glacier has receeded a few hundred yards, due we are told, to global warming. So better hurry if you want to catch a view before the whole thing disappears.

Sólheimajökull Glacier

The big highlight of the day is the beach at Reynisfjara. The sand and rocky shoreline are black, after centuries of erosion of the volcanic basaltic rock. There are thousands of puffins hanging around, which is the local flying chicken. On the beach is a huge cave, which the wind and waves have carved into what looks like pipes from a church organ. Really amazing works of nature. Lots of Icelanders headed for the beach. No one swam though. The water is reported to be a frosty 54 degrees in summer. I think I’ll head back to the thermal pool at the Blue Lagoon, not commit suicide by hypothermia thankyou. It is a fairly long walk down the shores edge, and the beach is rocky. Would be tough for the handicapped, but the view from the parking lot is worth the trip.

We stopped for lunch, the lowlight of our culinary experience in Iceland. Given the holiday, they ran out of sandwiches. You had a choice between going hungry, fish and chips, or cheeseburgers. Our lunch, including two soft drinks, cost us $80 for mediocre fast food. For this tour, I recommend buying sandwiches to bring with. You will save big Kroners and eat better.

Atlantic Puffin. Cute and Tasty (we are told)

A word about lunch in Iceland. There are no delis. I saw two Subway franchises in Reykjavic. If you are not near one at lunch time, lord help you. There are a few pizza places, which do NOT sell sandwiches. You can buy the worst sandwiches this side of a freeway rest stop at convenience stores. This option is a good one only if you have not eaten in a few days. Dreadful, is the word. You can sit and order…fish and chips or cheese burgers. Or soup. But this will be slow and expensive. Not many fast food places in Iceland.

On the plus side, there is NO tipping in Iceland. Restaurant employees are well paid, which partiallly explains the exorbitant cost of dining out there. interestingly, they have horse and puffin on some menus. Can’t get those in New Jersey.

Fun fact, there are 400,000 citizens living in Iceland. There are 80,000 horses. Our tour guide told us the horses are for people to ride. But I am suspicious of this claim. Riding horses is not as popular as say, pickleball or attending anti ICE rallies are in the US. It can be dangerous, and horses are really expensive to maintain (approximately 80% of the cost of a trophy wife). I really suspect the ponies are whats for dinner for many an Icelander. The tour guide we had glossed over a subject such as this, as Americans are quesy about digesting Secretariat or his relatives.

Thats all for Day 3. Great viewing of nature, lousy for a gustatory perspective.