LH Franz We visited only one tourist spot on Friday – Perlan Wonders of Iceland. It’s a museum devoted to Iceland’s unique natural features, with many interesting displays and hands-on activities. After a quick latte and cookie snack,
and a walk through the museum gift shop (mostly Scandinavian sweaters), 
we went on to tour the museum.
The most interesting exhibit there was an ice cave. It was really quite amazing, walking through tunnels of solid ice. There were blue lights embedded in the ice to light the pathways. Fascinating, unusual, and really, really, REALLY cold. We didn’t stay long. The temperature in there is low enough to support thick ice. Betsy and I were dressed for 50°F (10°C) weather and got very uncomfortable very quickly.
Another exhibit presented a beautiful enhanced-reality depiction of a puffin colony on a rocky cliff. (While I was studying it, a boy who looked to be about 12 years old approached me and asked, “Ert þú íslensk?” (Are you Icelandic?). It is one of the few phrases of Icelandic I had learned, and I had an answer, “Nei. Bandarisk.” – No, American.) He said nothing, nodded and turned back to his friends. No idea why he might be asking. Maybe he intended to warn me about trolls who were out to get me in the night, like that kid Betsy met at Þingvellir?
There was an impressive planetarium show about the aurora borealis, an educational program explaining how the aurora borealis phenomenon forms, and how it exists on other planets and moons in the solar system. At times, the show flew through space or whizzed around the earth. I closed my eyes, as suggested, to avoid getting dizzy.
We timed our departure from Perlan to arrive at the central bus station for our scheduled Covid tests and joined the line of other U.S. travelers already there. When we got to the front of the line, we found that I had made my own appointment for the wrong day. The appointment had to be within a day before departure, June 3, but I had made it for the day of departure, June 4. It’s impossible to describe how stupid, foolish, and embarrassed I felt. The receptionist, seeing a mother with her daughter, maybe sensing the tears welling up in my eyes, managed to squeeze me into the schedule so that we got our tests at the same time. I went back to the hotel to stew about what an idiot I am, while Betsy went off to do some more touring. About half an hour later, she emailed to tell me she received the test results. We were both negative.
After downloading the PDF of the testing results, and uploading it to my United Airlines app, United sent a notification telling me it had been approved. There was now a little green “Travel Ready” seal added to my boarding pass.
We had dinner at the same Italian place where I had eaten the day before. It was later in the evening and it was indeed crowded. And it was still good Italian food.
Back at the hotel, I packed to leave the next morning. Betsy’s plane was scheduled to leave later than mine. She intended to spend the morning at a communal hot bath, an activity we read is common in Iceland and something she wanted to try before leaving. She later reported it was extraordinarily relaxing. I have to admit I had thought of trying it, but modesty prevented me. Protocol is that you shower in a communal area, sans swimsuit, before you go into the hot bath, then shower again after you come out. Betsy told me that they had a little shower stall I could have used. Maybe something to try if I make a second trip to Iceland.
