Iris did the same, then they held hands and walked along a path towards a wooden building that marked the entrance to the camping park.
Siggi held the door open for Iris to go inside.
‘Hey, Siggi!’The man behind the desk came out and hugged Siggi. They exchanged a few words in Icelandic before Siggi introduced Iris.
‘This is Kristján,’ Siggi said. ‘Kris, this is Iris.’
‘Great to meet you,’ Kristján said, pulling Iris in for a hug and kissing her on both cheeks.
‘You too,’ she said, surprised at the greeting.
‘The best tent is available for tonight,’ he said. ‘I have already lit the fire in there, so it will be toasty.’
Iris sighed with relief and smiled at Siggi. ‘So not exactly camping, then?’
Siggi winked at her, which made her weak at the knees. ‘Thanks, Kris,’ he said.
‘Let me show you.’
Kristján led the way outside, heading through a gap in the hedge and into a field. It had eight large white dome tents, each with a chimney pipe coming out of the roof and a wooden hut attached to them. As they walked towards the opposite side of the field, Iris noticed that the front part of the tents were glazed with triangular windows that continued the shape of the domes.
‘Wow, this is amazing,’ she said. ‘You can watch the stars from your bed.’
‘That’s the idea,’ said Kristján.
Siggi glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled.
‘This is yours.’ They stopped at the farthest dome from the entrance. It had a fantastic view of the mountains yet was tucked in the corner of the field and so had more privacy. ‘I have lit the fire under the hot tub too, so it’ll be steaming in an hour or so. And I reserved you a table for dinner since we were getting full, but if you don’t want it that’s okay.’
‘That sounds great. Can I let you know? I might have to take a Northern Lights trip tonight, but otherwise I think we’d loveto have dinner.’ Siggi raised his eyebrows to check with Iris who nodded.
‘You may be lucky, my friend. The forecast is not good for tonight. Anyway, I will leave you to settle in. Enjoy.’
Iris was excited. This place was unimaginably perfect for a romantic getaway, and that type of thing had been non-existent in her life until now. She felt so lucky to be with Siggi. It was his more adventurous nature that was giving her these amazing experiences while she was in Iceland.
‘Come on, let’s go inside,’ he said.
The way in was through a door in the wooden hut at the back of the tent, if you could even call it that. They stepped inside, finding a tiny hallway where they could hang their coats and leave their shoes. To one side, within the hut itself, was a tiny bathroom with a toilet, shower, and sink. It was tiled in dark grey, giving it a luxurious feel. Then the wooden hut led through into the tent itself. There was a kitchenette against the back wall of the hut, and the space opened out under the dome. Sumptuous looking bed linen, fur throws, and cushions adorned the enormous bed that sat in the middle of the room. There were more fur rugs on the wooden floor and, as promised, a fire was burning in an open-fronted stove to one side.
Iris walked over to the window, which had a panoramic view across the hedge at the edge of the field and over the plateau beyond. The mountain was to the left but still gave them uninterrupted views of the northern skies.
‘I’m torn between wanting the forecast to be terrible so you can stay here, but then I might see the Northern Lights from here, anyway, if you have to take the trip.’
Siggi came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. ‘I will always think of you when I see the aurora now.’
She turned to face him. ‘Me too, although it’ll happen much less often. Maybe never again.’
They kissed.
‘We will see the aurora together before you leave. I am certain of it.’
‘How long before you know about tonight?’ Iris whispered.
‘Long enough for us to try out the hot tub.’
‘It won’t be warm enough yet.’
‘We can find something to do until then.’
