This post contains writing from Smithsonian students

Today was a viking filled day! We started off with about half the group polar plunging in some icy Icelandic ocean water.

After a freezing walk back to our houses, we headed to a horse ranch for an amazing riding adventure! We all were given Icelandic horses to ride, much shorter and hairier than your standard horse. The horse ride took us down near the beach where we convinced the horses to pose for a photo rather than eat yummy grass. 

Once we rode back to the ranch, we had a delicious home-cooked meal prepared by the ranch owners and their lovely tuxedo cat. After the horse ride, we decided to relax in the local community pool, which is  a chlorine-free pool full of algae. Some of us tested our growing viking abilities by going from the hot tubs into the cold bath, some of us lasting several minutes, others lasting seconds. We celebrated our viking strengths with ice cream on the way back to the bus. 

We adventured to Dritvik Beach, a popular place for lifting stones and put our Viking skills to test. We walked across smooth rocks covering the beach, perfect for skipping and stacking. Our exploratory spirit took hold as we ascended the rocks trying to reach the highest point.

On our way back to the guesthouse we drove to the Malariff lighthouse, where we had the option to hike toward an interesting rock formation or the lighthouse. After contemplating, we all decided on seeing the lighthouse. This was a good decision because we saw a seal by the rocks! This was also our first time walking on pahoehoe lava flows (the smooth kind!). 

Continuing on our fabulous bus ride, we stopped at Buđir, a church built in 1848 and made of black wood resembling the basaltic lava rock surrounding it. The black paint job meant it blended in nicely with the surrounding volcanic rocks. We finished our day with a tasty meal prepared by our guest house host. 😀

Written by Annekke H. & Zofia S.