| |
We took a 21:30 flight, so by the time we arrived in Iceland and were shuttled to the place where we were picking up our rental car, it was well past midnight and I was tired and somewhat questioning the wisdom of leaving after work on a Friday. Then our shuttle driver announced that the Northern Lights were outside, and did anyone want to see them. Of COURSE the entire building full of new arrivals in Iceland wanted to see them. We all trooped outside and improbably, miraculously, there they were.
I hadn't expected to see them at all, since we were only barely hitting the edge of the season where they're visible.
Even though I was standing in the middle of a car rental lot, I was enchanted. Somehow, neither photos, videos, nor the imaginative descriptions of Philip Pullman had prepared me for the fantastical dance of luminescence that is the Northern Lights. I was transfixed and delighted. I'll never forget it.
After that rare and unexpected midnight pleasure, we still had a two and a half hour drive up to our cabin in Húsafell. Tony, bless his heart, drove the whole way, and I slept for most of it.
The cabin is in the middle of a small forest. A few days later our photographer Gunnar told us a typical Icelandic joke:
“What do you do if you get lost in an Icelandic forest?”
"Stand up!"
The trees aren't tall, but they're beautiful, and they surround our little cabin on every side.
Inside it is utterly quaint and delightful, with wood beams and pretty French curtains and comfy couches.
Even though it's adorably tiny, there are two bedrooms and then a loft upstairs, so plenty of room for us even after the kids arrive at the end of the week.
There's a lovely wraparound porch with plenty of places sit outside and enjoy the scent of pine and the birdsongs and the sound of running water nearby.
There's even a wonderful hot tub filled directly from one of the many hot springs in the area. And that porch is perfect for sitting outside, blogging on my phone (because is there any better way to blog these days?) while Tony naps, during one of several sunny afternoons we've enjoyed here.
And the whole thing is entirely surrounded by trees, making it feel like you're in the middle of a fairytale with a cottage in the woods–one of the nice ones, of course, not the creepy ones.
It's the perfect place for a week of romance to top off our month of no kids. And it's just the beginning of all the magic in Iceland!
|
|
|
