Iceland: Spending Time With Friends

Frances and Snow Dagon, Siglufjordur

With Icelandic friends in Siglufjordur and Bill and Sarah coming from California to visit Frances. It was the right time for Krystina to sneak a quick trip back to England to ride her horse Dillon. Frances had told Krystina she would spend the four days before Bill and Sarah arrived working on boat tasks. When Krystina arrived in England and saw the photos that Johanna was posting on facebook, she was doubtful that anyone was getting anything constructive done in her absence. It looked as if Frances, Johanna and Hildur were spending their time soaking in the hot tub, drinking hot chocolate with rum and going to concerts. This turned out not to be far from the truth but to Frances’ credit she did manage to get a few tasks accomplished in between her various social engagements, including reupholstering the helm chair in the pilothouse.

Reupholstered Helm Chair

While Krystina was boarding the plane in Akureyri, Frances was playing musical chairs with Snow Dragon. She had gone back to sleep after waiting with Krystina for the 6.30am bus only to be woken up by the harbour master who needed Snow Dragon to leave the dock immediately to make room for a large fishing trawler that was due any minute. Frances anchored on her own, then Johanna and Hildur helped her bring Snow Dragon back to the dock after the trawler left the following day. 

Johanna And Snow Dragon Coming  Up To The Dock

Frances had a jammed packed schedule even before Bill and Sarah arrived. One day she worked on reupholstering the chair in the morning. Then went on a guided hike sponsored by the Folk Music Festival in the afternoon. Usually the route up the mountain behind Siglufjordur would involve walking along the old road but the road was closed due to construction and the group had to make their way up a steep slope through wet lupines, causing the enthusiasm of some of the hikers to wane and the group gradually reduced from 15 to 6. The hike took longer than expected but Frances managed to make it back in time to get ready for her chauffeured haircut. She had enquired at tourist information where she could get her hair cut and the young man behind the desk whipped out his cell phone and made her an appointment with his hairdresser. He then explained that it would be difficult to find and insisted on driving her. After her hair cut, she went over to Johanna’s for dinner and a quick dip in the hot tub before the Fiddler On The Roof concert in the Herring Era Museum boat house. No wonder Krystina couldn’t get her on the phone when she tried to call! 

Hiking Icelandic Style Though The Lupines 

When Frances didn’t hear from Bill and Sarah, she began to worry. We knew they were scheduled to fly into Rekjavik and were going to spend the day catching up on their sleep and exploring the city before driving up to Silglufjordur the following day. Frances called Krystina and asked her to phone the airlines and when they couldn't disclose any information Krystina called Frances' son Colin in California, waking him up on his birthday. Colin was able to confirm that his Aunt and Uncle had arrived in Rekjavik and figured they were just taking their time driving to Siglufjordur. Bill and Sarah finally showed up just as Johanna was taking the leg of lamb out of the oven in honor of their visit. It turned out they had sent an email when they arrived in Rekjavik but for some unknown reason it did not reach Frances until 24hrs after it was sent. Then they got delayed when they stopped to fuel their rental car and Bill accidentally put petrol instead of diesel. An easy mistake as green in the US means diesel but in Europe means unleaded petrol. He rapidly realized his mistake and found a mechanic who assured him he hadn’t put enough in to harm the engine and to continue filling with diesel to dilute the petrol. Though the solution was simple it took awhile to notify the rental car company and make sure they were happy with the mechanics' advice.

Adalheidur Eysteinsdottir Exhibition, Akureyri

Bill and Sarah arrived in time to have dinner at Johanna’s and then go with Frances to the Egils Saga concert. Again the concert was in the Herring Era Museum boathouse with the performers using the old herring boat as their stage, it was a superb venue. The story was told in Icelandic but Bill had just read the Saga so he had some idea what was going on. Then they returned to Johanna's where Bill and Sarah were staying as Bill is very sensitive to motion sickness and could not stay on Snow Dragon. 

 Bill And Sarah Polybagging 

Their first full day in Siglufjordur involved hiking up through the ski area to the old road pass with Frances and polybagging down. Then they returned to the house to find the geothermal heated hot tub filled and ready for use. Johanna was already soaking in the warm water with a beer in hand and invited everyone to grab a drink and join her. It was a welcome sight for three cold and wet hikers who happily joined her and used the time relaxing in the hot tub to plan their trip to the volcanically active area of Myvatn the next day. After diner they all went to another concert in the boat house, this time the singers and band told the story of a Dane who proclaimed himself King of Iceland and ruled for six weeks in the early 19th Century. All the concerts were superb, a real credit to the performers and festival organizers.

 Krystina And Dillon

While it was still cold, rainy and at times lightly snowing in Iceland, Krystina arrived in England at the beginning of a heat wave. Both her and Dillon had to adjust to the 30C temperature on top of Krystina having to get used to sleeping in the dark. Going from 24 hours of daylight to 6 hours of dark turned out to be a strange experience and the dark actually kept her awake. With the exception of her first night back when going to bed at 4.30 in the morning in Iceland finally caught up with her. She surprisingly woke up on her own thinking her 9am alarm was about to go off only to realize it was 2.30 in the afternoon and that she had missed an appointment. At least she didn’t miss her first ride of the week on Dillon, the first of several fantastic rides. Though it has not been easy owning horses while being away for long periods of time. Krystina has fortunately found the perfect livery and training environment at Aston Stud where Bruce and Allison Haskell and their staff take fantastic care of both horse and rider. Now Krystina no longer has to worry about their care and when she is in England she can focus on her development as a rider, she couldn’t be happier.    

 Dillon Eating A Banana, His Favorite Post Ride Snack

For more photos please click on Friends Album or to learn more about Aston Stud