You have really lucked out with the weather!
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Monday 5 July [Reykholt outside Selfoss]
A day which started out overcast has turned into another sunny and mild day in our vicinity (16C/61F). I’ll back up a bit, to where I left off at my last report on Saturday. We did go to Siglufjörður to visit the Herring Museum (which SO enjoyed again, maybe even more so than his first time a few years ago). Lunch was gas station hot dogs for the guys, a veggie croissant sandwich for me from the bakery in town (as is the Iceland style, too mayonnaise-y for me). We then visited the awesome Segull 67 brewery for a couple of delicious IPAs in their chill and cool tasting room before heading home. Dinner was the marinated fish that we had purchased earlier. I oven-roasted both the mango chile salmon and the wasabi white fish. I didn’t taste the salmon but my choice was quite good - the white fish was very flaky and moist although I couldn’t taste much wasabi. I think much of the fish here is farmed, so quite fatty and difficult to overcook. So maybe THAT’s why every restaurant cooks their fish so well - you basically can’t screw it up! lol.
We checked out and headed to our current place, in Reykholt, at a cottage with one of the best kitchens I’ve ever had in Iceland. The amount of counter space is positively luxurious and there are decent knives but, sadly, I haven’t had much chance to use it. We had a long drive to here yesterday, about 5 hours, which we broke up with a stop at a big and bustling N1 station. The guys got hot dogs (B’s were bacon-wrapped, which he scarfed down) and I got a vegan burger and fries. A little mushy, but I was so hungry, I didn’t care. I cobbled together dinner at our cottage from our dwindling supplies…@LindaWhit, I made an Asian-y peanut sauce on noodles using PB, liberal lashings of soy sauce, 5 giant smashed garlic cloves, water, and lots of crushed red pepper. A can of kidney beans and shredded vegan “chicken” was added for protein and the whole thing was served over whole wheat spaghetti. It won’t win any authenticity/styling awards but it scratched an itch. Today, we lazed around our cottage in the morning and then made a beeline for lunch to one of our favorite places in Iceland, Ölverk Pizza & Brewery in Hveragerði. It’s just (good) pizza and (good) beer which may be a dime a dozen back home but in Iceland, in our experience, it’s rare. Plus, it’s a cool space with good music, a nice staff, and reasonably-priced to boot. B and I each get the lunch special of a 12" pizza with 2 toppings (mushroom and artichoke for me, mushroom and bacon for B) plus a large beer (we each get an IPA and then split a farmhouse saison). SO is quite happy with his kids’ meal of a 9" pizza, juice box, and crazy-looking, bubble-gum flavored (?) popsicle.
Lunch is followed by our 3rd trip to the volcano today, this time, an easy ~2 mile hike each way for a glorious view of the volcano cone, which, of course, is dynamic and changes on a regular basis. The lava was really splashing up today and was much easier to see than on our first visit when the smoke obstructed the view of the lava. It’s so incredible to see and hard to pull yourself away from it. Dinner at home is leftover pizza and peanut-sauce noodles. Tomorrow, we take the car ferry to Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands). We hope to see puffins!
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Ermagawd! Any massive icestorms and multiple murders to report? 
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Last dispatch…from home in Greater Boston. We just got home about 6 hours ago. We had a great time on the Westman Island of Heimaey (the only inhabited of the 15 islands). The islands basically look like giant grass-covered rocks that were plopped down into the ocean. Beautiful and moody in the overcast weather we had. And as advertised, it is puffin central. There’s something like 3-4 million of them living on the Westmans. It’s hilarious watching them dive-bombing right by you with fish in their beaks for their pufflings (yes, that’s the scientific term).
And remember how I said that Ölverk is our favorite pizza/beer in Iceland? Well, they got displaced by 2 different establishments in Westman. Brothers Brewery gets a lot of press and we finally got to visit on our 2nd day on the island (they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays). The taproom is a fun place to visit…a big airy space with large windows, friendly staff, nice amenities in the bathrooms, blankets for outdoor seating, and really good beer. We tried an IPA, saison, and double IPA and our unanimous favorite was the IPA. Floral on the nose, not too in-your-face extreme hops like we’ve grown accustomed to at home. A local food establishment called Eta provides the food and sadly, it was not good. The salted cod croquettes were gummy as hell and the cod “wings” (basically the fins) were fried in a horribly thick batter and then bathed in Buffalo sauce. Yuck but B managed to finish it off since, in true Icelandic fashion, our “snack” cost ~$30. We were bummed because the earnest cook personally took the order, delivered the food, and checked on us and we didn’t have the heart to be honest. Which we know was not the right thing to do but I just couldn’t.
We visited the taproom again on Thursday and enjoyed just beer along with Icelandic Monopoly (one of SO’s favorite games and the first time he played was at Mighty Squirrel taproom near our home in Greater Boston so it’s become a bit of a tradition for us). It was fun trying to translate the Chance and Community Chest cards (we broke down and used an online tool). Dinner was at Pítsugerðin. Not the best we’ve had but the best we’ve had in Iceland. They have a fancy-looking Morello Forni wood-burning oven (I don’t know anything about pizza ovens). We got a 9” margherita for SO and a prosciutto arugula one for us. The young guy working that night had charming swagger, from his Wu-Tang tee to his impressive pizza dough throwing skills. Plus, the tiny dining room is quite cozy and stylish. We had 2 lunches at a popular place in the harbor, Tanginn, because they have a great buffet deal of 3 soups (2 are always vegetarian) and a sizable salad bar. I didn’t take photos but the Indian-spiced chickpeas, steamed broccoli and cauliflower in some delicious spice mix, the burrito bar, the mushroom soup, and broccoli soups and freshly-baked bread were some favorites. One thing I love about eating in Iceland (similar to Ireland) is that you can always depend on a vegetarian soup with fresh bread. These island nations know what they’re doing in terms of comfort food.
We headed back to the mainland (can you call it that when you go from one island to another?) yesterday. Got our rapid PCR COVID tests (again, very efficient, we got our negative results within 30 minutes). SO got some ice cream at Omnom (too sweet) and then we ended up at Bastard Beer and Food after a couple of dead ends for happy hour (one place was at a hotel that was a quarantine hotel and the other was closed permanently, trying to rebrand as the nice person in the cool space told us). We did stop for 1 beverage at Barion Bryggjan Brugghaus which was a shadow of their former selves. Bastard (if you can get past the cheesy name) was just what we wanted. Bustling on a Friday night, but lots of locals, younger and older alike. Great deal on decent beer and wine and we both got the fish of day (Arctic char). We were both a bit nervous that the food would not be good in such a busy place and we were pleasantly surprised. The fish was cooked really well as usual with awesome crispy skin, grilled asparagus, and mashed potato underneath. Nice sauce. SO had his usual Icelandic hot dog. Great last meal in Iceland. We feel hopeful that we can almost put this stoopid-a$$ pandemic behind us. We never saw any of the brutish behavior that makes the nightly news, not in Iceland or in the airports/planes. It gave us hope where I am usually cynical. And, y’all know that we’ll most likely return to Iceland. Thanks for reading along. I tend to ramble. 
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I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed reading this. Thanks for taking us all along!
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Fabulous thread, digga. Thanks!
I envy you. I was in Reykjavik once in 1986, but chose to go in December and didn’t have nearly as much fun as you. (The sun would “rise” around 11, hover a little above the horizon and dimly light the skies for a few hours, then pack it in at 3.)
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Goodness - thanks for the armchair vacation for all of us, @digga!
I hadn’t realized how much I’ve missed being in a different place just for fun - I thought I missed travel to meet long-separated family and friends. But you made my heart happy with your stories and pictures of a place I’ve never visited. So thank you.
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Absolutely LOVE your trip report.
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What a fabulous trip you had! And thanks for your tremendous generosity in taking us along! I feel like starting gofundmes for you and @Mr_Happy to travel and do write-ups more often. It’s so great for the rest of us when you do!!
Could you be persuaded to grant us a gratuitous puffin picture?
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@Mr_Happy eats far better than we do - our eating is driven by simplicity and ease these days. I do lament not eating more Icelandic dishes, such as plokkfiskur (fish stew) but that’s the way the Súkkulaðibitakaka crumbles.
B did not lug his big DSLR with him on this trip, so he apologizes for the puffin photos from afar with his iPhone X. If you zoom into the 1st one, you may see that the whole hillside is covered with puffin homes. And the kitschy giant wooden puffin statues are both ubiquitous and hilarious (I’m sure the locals detest them).
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Erratum - it’s more like 1.1–1.5 million on the Westmans, 8–10 million total in all of Iceland. That’s TPSTOP @LindaWhit! 
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Thank you!
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This is the PERFECT USE for “TPSTO…” I love puffins! (But yeah, the statues can go, thankyouverymuch.)
Your trip (I’m reading rather belatedly) looks wonderful! I liked the “grunt and point” method of choosing whatever food item you were looking to purchase further upthread. LOL
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I was mortified during a trip to Madid when an English colleague and I went to a couple of sandwich shops, and so on. I’d try and throw in a couple of words of Spanish, if not the names for things, at least a “politeness word” or two, and maybe a demonstrative pronoun or so. Likely mangled beyond all recognition, but an effort of a sort was made, no?
He’d just jut his arm out to its full length, finger outstretched, and yell “THAT!” I tried to persuade him otherwise, but he just said “I DON’T SPEAK SPANISH”. Yes, we’d all gathered!
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I, too, having enjoyed reading tales of your travels and seeing your photos. We have also been places where we’ve had “Iffy” food, but we survived.
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