So Hötel Varmahlíd, or “flamingo” as we have dubbed it for pronounceability reasons, turns out to be at a T-junction on Route 1 and some other road. When there is a break in the traffic the sound drops back to a flat, deep background acoustic that speaks of large distances between things that make much noise. You often forget how powerful quiet is when you don’t fully experience it.
Our hotel sits just above the junction looking out across kilometres of dead flat plains to a line of curiously flat topped mountains. We’ve noticed this in a few places – it looks like someone has taken hedge trimmers to the mountains, or that the wind blows the top off them if they stick up too high. Anyway, the view from the ‘beer garden’ (carpark) is pretty impressive!
And it only gets more impressive as the sun slowly sets.
Dinner tonight was a buffet at the hotel showcasing local produce. Our quick inspection suggested that it also showcased almost no things the kids would like – so we took them to the truck stop next door and they were thrilled. Aidan celebrated with a quick set on the hill back up to the Hotel to work off the worst of the evil.
The buffet was excellent, though Justine drew the line at trying the horse tartar. I’d never tried horse before, but it was surprisingly delicate and tasty, served with a berry jam, flax seeds and feta. Add that to the reindeer tartar and smoked wild goose on the trip so far as new taste experiences.
We are left now with just a run to Reykjavik tomorrow to finish our all-too-swift circumnavigation of Ísland. It’s been visually spectacular, and I don’t think it’s over yet. The 300km or so we have to go cut from about 11 o’clock where we are now straight down to 8 o’clock where the capital lies. However, once we meet Espen, Ragnhild and Marie when they fly in from Öslo tomorrow afternoon, we still have three nights and two days to explore the main parts of the place – the city and the Golden Triangle. We need to finish this bingo game with flair. The Geysir awaits.
Everything in one place 