Iceland review

On a bus for the next hour with free wi-fi, so here goes the Iceland review:

--travel from Faroes was a bit bumpy, but not too bad;
--driving was easier than the Faroes, encountered just a few dirt roads, small amount of snow, one-lane bridges, but really no problems at all;
--some interesting stuff to eat and drink: lots of fish, Brennevin, lamb, not enough veggies, plenty of gas station pizzas along the way;
--Akureyri is a nice small college town and a good base for drive/hikes;
--Myvatn Hot Springs is a nice place to spend an afternoon, same for Fontana Hot Springs which is different but better than Blue Lagoon;
--don't miss Pingvellir National Park, we lucked out by visiting at the height of fall color;
--in general, tourists have found Iceland, so the undiscovered areas are fewer;
--Reykjavik is like the day before your 21st birthday: you'll pass out by 10 PM only to be awaken at midnight by your friends to start the party all over again--it's crazy, loud, and non-stop: the wild wild west of Europe;
--the glacier and iceberg bays are worth spending a day or 2 for nice hikes...we avoided the package tours but managed to hike for hours finding deserted iceberg coves and hidden waterfalls;
--Hali Guesthouse is great: quiet family farm with home cooked meals and easy drive from great hiking spots and sits right against the sea, place was near capacity which is unusual for late September;
--weather was in the upper 40s with plenty of sun;
--east Iceland is much less crowded;
--still one of our favorite countries for sure.

Note that Retkjavik marks our furthest western stop in Europe. From that point, it's all east to San Francisco, with some ventures north and south and a short backtrack from Oslo to Bergen in a few days.