Hotel Ranga & Our Last Day in Iceland
For our last day in Iceland, we drove from Ion Hotel across to the famous and quirky Hotel Ranga, where each suite has a different theme, inspired by different parts of the world.
On the way, we stopped at the amazing Skogafoss waterfall, which was truly breathtaking. Again the wind was super strong, it was lucky our jeep had chains on the doors as otherwise I'm pretty sure they would have blown off! We ran to take a few pictures before jumping back into the warmth of the car - my Kindle and I became very good pals on this trip as I stayed snuggled in the warmth while P headed off intrepidly to take very windy pictures!
We also stopped at a beautiful black beach - tricky to get to over sand dunes - the high winds meant visibility was very limited and at times it felt as if we were in an apocalyptic movie!
If you've not visited Iceland before, it really is somewhere to add to your bucket list. There is nowhere else like it, the scenery really is breathtakingly beautiful.
As the day was drawing to a close (it's hard to know the time as it didn't get dark until past 11 pm, but when we felt exhausted and ready for a glass of wine!) we headed to our final hotel stop, Hotel Ranga.
As I mentioned, it's a well-known and quirky place - very homely with whacky room designs and amazing food! We checked in and were shown to our suite which was huge and African-themed. So many well-thought-out details and a huge, dark bathroom with one of the largest baths I had seen in a while.
I jumped straight in for a good soak to thaw out from the cold before heading down to the bar for a drink. On the way, I met a very large polar bear in reception!
Throughout our trip in Iceland, we ate very well. I was a little surprised about quite how delicious and gourmet the food was as the local ingredients are somewhat limited, but the local specialities, mainly lamb and arctic char were always cooked to perfection, creatively combining local herbs and berries.
The food at Ranga was exceptional - they take it very seriously and the hotel owner was keen for us to try as much of the menu as we could possibly manage! It was all fantastic, but there is one thing that was so out of this world that I still find myself daydreaming about it from time to time...
It was a wild mushroom soup made from a secret recipe that the chef had passed down by his grandmother. In the short season that mushrooms can grow in Iceland, she would pick and collect as many as she could and keep them until Christmas, when she would make a soup for all the family to share. I have no idea how the soup was made and what else was in it, but it was amazing - I had to use a lot of willpower to stop myself from licking the bowl!
It was the perfect end to a lovely few days in this special and magnificent country.
Today we are off to somewhere rather warmer, lovely Pollensa in the north of Mallorca. One of my favourite places in the world, I can't wait to spend 10 days relaxing there with friends and family.
I will be in touch soon!
LBM
x
ps - I am thrilled to have been nominated for the Amara Interior Blog Awards 2016! Please take a minute to vote for me here. I would be so grateful! x
{Photography by Patrick Butler-Madden}