Lytingsstathir

By the late-afternoon on Wednesday July 27, we had arrived in Lytingsstathir.  I had booked us a "stay-and-ride" package at this working sheep-farm/horse-ranch located in the north of Iceland.  This included a private cabin and a horse ride.

Sveiner is the paterfamilias, and a native-born Icelandic farmer.  He runs the sheep and horses, which is a massive undertaking.

Evelyn is originally from Germany, now married to Sveiner.  She runs the people part.  This includes the guests in a tiny guesthouse with five or six rooms, and those who book one of the two adorable little cabins with full-facilities.  They also bring in approximately eight young women from across the world (ok mostly Germany and Canada) to help with the horse tours and such.  These women get a great vacation working with horses, and Evelyn gets cheap labor.

As someone who is foreign born, I get the impression that Evelyn understands tourists better then most Icelanders we met.  Tourism in Iceland has only become a major industry in the last couple decades, and Icelanders have definitely learned how to fleece as much money from us as possible, but they also seem to be a bit mystified by the whole thing.  When we dork-out over glaciers, fjords, and waterfalls, I get the impression that Icelanders feel the way that I would if someone came to California and got really excited about all the streetlights or green lawns.  Tourists are always standing in one spot and gaping as they take in 360 degrees of sublime beauty...Icelanders are always observing us like house cats perched on the back of a sofa. 

But Evelyn and the stable-girls are all from elsewhere and still understand the magic of Iceland.  When we thanked Evelyn for the room, smiling like idiots, she smiled back as if to say "Yes, I understand.  Even the smallest details of this place are beautiful enough to bring you to tears.  I live every day as if in a miraculous dream."

This is a view of the part of the farm where we stayed.  Our cabin is adjacent to the white house in the middle of the picture.

 

 This is our cabin.

The inside was cozy and efficient.  It had everything you might need for a a night on the farm.  It even had the greatest of Icelandic luxuries: a private bathroom.  This is one of only two private bathrooms we enjoyed during the vacation.

I cooked us some lovely garlic and rosemary potatoes, which we ate with bread. 

 

The farm has approximately one hundred horses.

 

And at least as many sheep. 

The next morning we took a two-hour ride along the valley , guided by a wonderfully friendly German guide named Jasmine.  The only helmet that fit my ginormous noggin was of Marvin-the-Martian proportions.

Here we are on our adorable Icelandic horses.  Both horses came from a breeder named "Oli"  so they are named "Olibrunn," and "Oligrar" (i.e. Oli-brown and Oli-gray).

The weather was perfect.

We got to ford a fairly deep stream, and Jasmine let us tolt a bit.  The tolt is a gate specific to Icelandic horses.  It is like a trot but smoother and faster.

 

Just look how cute Oligrar is.  He was one of the largest horses that I saw in all of Iceland.  He would be well below average in the US.