However the Icelanders, or those people who live here, (like a Polish doctor we met, who answered a call he found in health care job listings to work here for a short time and has not left years later) are a wealth of smiles and friendly information, they can not do enough to help you.

Then why are the tourists so mean???? Not all of course, but A LOT.

It really is beautiful here, even when the sun is hiding, but it is amazing what a difference that makes in regards to the pictures themselves!

Moody waterfall in Iceland:

Cave hot springs:

and camping spots in Iceland:

Bit when I do get home Im spending an entire weekend in bed!

But I was hoping to do some Christmas shopping here, but seeing the prices I am thinking people need to accept German chocolate instead. And since my father loves cigars, maybe a more Cuban themed Christmas gift is in order!

However as we would not be ourselves if we were not taking every waking moment to either plan a trip or participate in one, we used our hot tub and swimming time to talk about our next trip, and we got to talking about planning the next family motorcycle trip, in particular renting holiday cottages in devon and those who were not participating in the biking part of the tour could instead go horseback riding.

What brought the idea of renting cottages in devon on? Well first of all, as of this morning it was 3 degrees in Iceland, and although our holiday has been lovely so far, there is something about 3 degrees and a tent that makes you wonder if something a little more sheltered is called for. The thing is, we are not a hotel type of group. (Unless the hotel is on a beach in the Caribbean, then I am all over it), but if the hotel is somewhere in Europe I tend to feel that the whole experience is just a little stuffy. I would rather our own space, and two of our favorite vacation spots so far have been the house rental in Tuscany, and the wooden hut rental in Amsterdam.

So since we know that we want our own place, and preferably one that can hold the entire extended clan ( 12 people at the moment), we need a holiday cottage or home. Plus the German’s sister’s kids are of the age that they need entertainment as well. And since I have time to play on the internet now whiel the German cooks (he cooks on tour, I cook at home) I used it to check out the area and found a place online that not only accommodates all of us, but also offers horse riding lessons to children. Nothing short of perfect!

And this is what you do when you are dreaming of warmer weather and waiting for your replacement tire, you plan the next escape!

At the moment however we are glad we have the extra time because it means that we have time to replace the tires that blew! (Yup, both bikes picked up nails in their back tires, total bad luck, but that is where lots of time comes into play!)

This means we can also upload new pics, the sad part is that our camera was not in top form when we went to Kverkfjöll. Maybe because it was rainy, but then the camera refused to work at all, and then only in fits and starts, so even with the cloudy weather, we really missed out on some awesome shots!

Then is the time you really wish you had buy.com coupons that you can use to purchase brand name camera equipment at a discounted rate! Iceland is not a cheap country!!!! Trust us, it costs 10 Euros for a burger, and that is the “cheap” food! Electronics, SOB! Now that everything is dried out its working again, but really, back up your back ups before coming, its cheaper in the long run!

and I laugh at that fact that on the first day here I thought it was worth photographing!