Iceland day 5: Small world!

Our evening was amazing! Right before we left, my work supervisor Kyle mentioned she has some distant relatives (in law) on Iceland. She connected us via facebook, and I’ve been trying to work out with her (Olga) how and when to visit. The plan was to visit tomorrow, as her home is on our path about 20 minutes further than tonight’s hotel. Here’s the address...

Well, with all those Icelandic characters I was having a bit of an issue putting it into our GPS. Then she sent this

Well, that helped a bit, but still...

So, since I knew we were close, and had a few hours tonight, I figured I could find a way to call her and see if she was available tonight. We pulled up to the visitor center to see if they could help...closed☹️

Next, we tried the grocery store. 3 people seemed to work there. I measured the pros and cons of asking each of them, and opted for a young lady, maybe 17 years old. I asked if she spoke English, which most people here do. Yes. I told her I was looking for someone, and showed her Olga’s name on my phone. Her face lit up...her mom and Olga were best friends when she was growing up, so she was besties with Olga’s daughter! Ha...BINGO! Ringer! Yatzee! Bullseye! She called Olga, who was indeed home, handed me her phone, and in the blink of an eye, we were headed over for dinner! 😋

Olga and her family (Husband, 2 beautiful girls, a cat, 130 sheep, and 3 horses) live here. The farm has been in her family for many generations! She has such a sense of place...it’s incredible! Her husband’s family farm is nearby, too. There’s a church complete with graveyard that she is also the keeper for. When we went in the church, it was warm! I was surprised, as she said there are only services once a summer, and once a winter...the pastor has 7 such churches that he is responsible for. It’s much more used for confirmations, weddings, and funerals. So, warm??? Well, the heat comes from the geothermal district, so it’s always on. We sure enjoyed that, as it’s still about 3 C. 

This is Payback, his father’s name is Million. He’s still shedding his winter coat. We asked about the story we heard about why the Islandic horses are all nice, and she confirmed it! Be nice, or else! 🤪

Olga LOVES her sheep! Most sheep farmers shear twice a year to sell the wool...the famous Icelandic wool. She, however, skips the spring shearing, cause the sheep need the warmth! Her wool then brings less $ when she shears later in the year, cause they get pretty dredlocked. Still, she says she sleeps better. I think being a sheel of Olga’s is a pretty good life!



This one is named Margaretta. Each one has a name! 

Here’s a three day old...so cute! 

Here’s their last one born for this year...yesterday! 


Whoever invents a way to keep these little guys little and cute will be a millionaire! 


Youngest daughter. She’s not only beautiful, she’s amazing with the sheep! As we were playing with them, Olga noticed one that needed medication. This young lady proceeded to catch the lamb and skillfully hold it while Olga pilled it! Quite impressive!

Here’s Olga and both daughters. The older daughter on the right is a horse wrangler at Myrvatn. Olga says she’s also quite a sheep whisperer. It’s she who gives them all their names, and know each one’s temperments. She’s also beautiful!



Speaking of beautiful women, they confirmed another story we heard. There’s about 300,000 people on Iceland. Many are related somehow, particularly because farming families tended to be quite large back in the day. So, when a dating couple get serious, they check their genealogy via an app before they contemplate marriage! 

We had a wonderful time with our new friends. We figured out the relation...Kyle’s husband’s grandfather and her grandfather were brothers. Of course we invited them to stay with us if/when they get to Oregon!

And now, the second part to our wonderful evening! Myvatn is known for it’s beautiful lake,

It also has a wonderful spa, with a beautiful hot spring fed pool at the center. Tonight no local pool for us...we opt for the spa!

This one’s a little stretched, but it gives you an idea of the size of the pool! Lots of different temperatures to enjoy. We were there for probably 2 hours, now our skin feels lusciously soft! This, by the way, was taken about 10:30. Right now it’s 12:43 am, and it’s still perfectly light out. I’m using my eye shades even to get to sleep these nights!