Posts Tagged ‘Iceland’
Quick Reykjavik
On our last full day in Iceland, we started with an almost 2-hour drive toward Reykjavik. This included a trip through the 5,770-meter-long Hvalfjörður Tunnel under the fjord, making the crossing in 7 minutes from what otherwise takes about an hour to drive around.
It was hard to tell if we’d arrived at typical Sunday morning activity in Reykjavik, but parking on the street was a little hard to find in the vicinity of the tall church, Hallgrímskirkja.
Our visit to Reykjavik was a quick one, exploring some streets and perusing a few shops, sometimes feeling swarmed by crowds of tourists and sometimes passing areas where Sunday morning appeared to be too early for commerce.
After more than a week of overwhelming natural phenomena in the countryside, city life just didn’t compare. Of course, I admit to being biased toward rural life.
The highlight of the day was a visit to the Perlan Museum. This place was fantastic and well worth the price of admission. We watched films about the Northern Lights, volcanic lava flows, and glacier melting, and toured an ice cave.
Each exhibition was top-notch, offering valuable information in interesting and entertaining ways.
For lunch, we visited the rotating restaurant on the upper level under a glass dome for some excellent food.
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We decided to pose with our shared dessert.
When we had exhausted ourselves of all the offerings at the museum, it was time to find our hotel near the airport and return the rental car.
We got a tip that there was a sports bar in walking distance that might show NFL games. Indeed, we were able to catch the Vikings vs. San Francisco 49rs game while having dinner. It was as if we were almost home.
All that was left to do was get up at 5 a.m. for a ride to the airport and navigate security and a couple of jet flights home. Retrieving all our luggage without complication was the cherry on top of an absolutely fabulous adventure vacation.
I was definitely ready to be home, but there is no denying the incredible experiences we enjoyed in Iceland were worth the burdens of travel that I loath. Those hassles I can forget. They have already been overshadowed by all the great memories that I’ve chronicled in the posts published here.
Thanks for following along on our 2024 adventures in Iceland!
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Snæfellsnes Peninsula
It’s impossible to pick, but this 9th day of our Iceland adventure rivals the best of the others for me because of the depth and breadth of rock formations we saw in rapid succession. Right out of the hotel car park, we decided to check out an enticing picnic spot by a modest waterfall with basalt columns.
We were the first and only ones there! Our first site without other tourists left and right. But this wasn’t even on our agenda. We were headed to see the Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge.
A long hike to the entrance while coping with a very stiff wind.
Well worth the effort as the gorge was really cool. It required rock hopping across the flowing water to get in. I took a video of the spot just inside the entrance.
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From there, we made our way to the Arnastappi Cliff and Hellnar viewpoints. Incredible sightseeing in every way.
The mythical half-giant, Bárður Snæfellsás!
My favorite, by far was the bending rock formations in this nook. You could see how the lava flowed. The 90° turn is striking.
We also climbed innumerable steps to the top of the Saxoll Crater.
Up here, we encountered probably the strongest steady wind of our time in Iceland. Luckily, it wasn’t that extreme on the side with the stairway. When I stepped up to the highest plateau, I could almost rest my full weight into the push of the wind.
Somewhere in this day, we snuck in a picnic lunch in the car and a visit to the Maritime Museum in Hellissandur.
Moving on, we enjoyed a great view of Kirkjufell Mountain and the waterfalls nearby.
Famed, I’m told, for its appearance in Game of Thrones, but also because it is one of Icelands’ most photographed and iconic mountains.
Finally, of all the nights with Aurora sightings, this night happened to be the most dramatic of all of them.
It was a wonderful punctuation at the end of our fabulous time on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.
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Adventure Continues
As I shuffled toward the farm guesthouse kitchen on the morning of our 8th day, I found Mike finishing up a watercolor painting as Barb was setting out fixings for our breakfast.
We soon set off from our fantastic farm visit toward the Hraunfosser and Barnafosser waterfalls. I thought I had seen pretty much everything there is to see about waterfalls, but the spectacle of the “lava falls” wowed us beyond expectations.
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Once again, photos in no way do justice to the stupendous wonder of nature in the way the water gushed from the side of the wall of the river gorge for a surprising distance up and down the river from where we stood to view it. I think we all found ourselves involuntarily uttering random exclamations of wonder over what we were witnessing.
Just a short distance upstream, the spectacle changed dramatically into a raging turmoil of rushing water around impressive rock formations.
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At the same time, I still found myself equally amazed by the ripples of hardened lava that vividly reflected the volcanic activity shaping all this some thousand years before.
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Like I felt so many other times on this trip, we could have spent much of the day exploring the scenery right here, but this was just an “appetizer-adventure” for this day. We had an appointment at Krauma Hot Spring & Spa.
Ours was one of the first sessions of the day, so the spa wasn’t crowded yet. This plush facility offered pools of several different temperatures, including an ice-cold pool that I dipped into twice (because I could then immediately move to the 102°F infinity pool). As the pictures above show, we were graced with another blue-sky Icelandic day that made a blissful soak at this classy spa all the more sublime.
Just down the hill from the spa, we found a food trailer run by an Icelander offering tomato soup and fish & chips. I regret not learning his name or getting his picture because he was wonderfully gregarious and informative, sharing personal information and waxing eloquently about the reason he believes there are so many horses in this island country (hopeful breeding to win their national competition).
After lunch, we continued our exploration of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula with a visit to the basalt rock columns of the Gerduberg cliffs. Just another Icelandic visual extravaganza.
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I felt a need to stretch my calves, but Cyndie took a picture because it looked like I was trying to push this rock uphill.
Next stop, Yrti Tunga Beach, a hidden gem on the peninsula with golden sands and playful seals. I found two smooth stones here that traveled home with me as souvenirs for my kids.
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In the distance, a great view of the most prominent landmark on the peninsula, the glacier-capped Snæfellsjökull stratovolcano. Just plain remarkable scenery everywhere we look.
Finally, we set out to find our beds for the night. It happened to be our most expensive hotel of the trip, Hotel Budir, a real charm.
It was a great old hotel, although the bathroom in our room had been squeezed into such a small space that we could barely fit into it around the door, resulting in much laughter each time we tried.
Continuing a trend, we were given another showing of awesome Aurora at nightfall to cap off another brilliant day in Iceland.
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Jadar Farm
After the wonderful adventures at Glymur, we made our way further around the fjord, stopping at a scenic pull-off for a picnic lunch in the car. There wasn’t a drive on the entire trip that didn’t offer eye-popping vistas of always interesting landscapes with mountain views, glacier fingers, moss-covered lava flows, or grazing sheep and horses.
We were headed for Jadar Farm Villa, an Airbnb cottage, by way of a Bonus Grocery store in Borgarnes for foodstuffs. We had an inkling the farm would be a real treat, and we weren’t disappointed.
We were ready to get in a little sooner than planned, so Mike called to ask about an early check-in. We were accommodated without hesitation. However, when we showed up, the farmer, Eiríkur, was in the finishing stages of cleaning for our arrival. It appeared he stopped his farm work to meet our request. We barely saw him during our stay because he was in his fields raking hay, but he was a phone call away and very helpful and responsive to every query we had.
This turned out to be our first chance to get close to horses.
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They had a dog that quickly came over to greet us, too.
We were in our glory to be able to interact with their animals. We were also looking forward to another soak in a hot tub, but we couldn’t rush that as the water temperature was intolerably HOT! Eiríkur gave Mike instructions that included adding cold water from a hose, and soon the water was just right.
There is never a shortage of hot water in this country, it seems.
Dinner was burgers on the grill. It almost felt like I was back home for a day in the middle of our travel adventure.
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Despite some clouds as darkness moved in, we enjoyed some flickers of Aurora in the sky before heading for our beds to close out our seventh day.
I can’t imagine any way that day could have been any more of a rewarding experience than it was for us.
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Glymur Hike
On this trip, we selected a wide variety of overnight hotel accommodations, all of which offered pretty similar and thoroughly satisfying continental breakfast choices. The pub of Hotel Laxness offered most of the usual bread varieties, a toaster, jams, cheeses, hardboiled eggs, oatmeal porridge, beans, breakfast meats, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, sometimes pickled herring, yogurt, fruit, muesli cereal, sometimes a waffle, coffee, tea, juices that we had become familiar with from previous days.
We checked out of our rooms and set out for a 50-minute drive around the coastline of the Hvalfjörður fjord toward the Glymur waterfall. We didn’t tend to stop on the road to photograph sheep or horses that pepper the landscape but these three had just stepped off the road after stopping us, so I took a quick pic before we continued.
Glymur was one of the more challenging hikes we tackled.
In addition to areas of easy, wide trail, some rock hopping and a bit of hands and feet grappling at steep elevation changes were required.
Research had made us aware of a river crossing that consisted of a log and a cable hand-hold that can barely be discerned in the distance of the photo above (click to enlarge). We all agreed a decision could be made when we reached that point. I’m glad we chose to press on because the route included a pretty cool cave that was worth the experience.
When we dropped down to the river level, there was a couple just crossing that we were able to observe in action. The water flow was a raging torrent compared to the picture of the log crossing Cyndie had seen earlier. I found this example on the web:
This is what it looked like for us:
Mike was putting tension on the cable to reduce the wobble for the person crossing, the same as the guy had just done for the woman he was hiking with who preceded him. As if the water rushing over the rocks wasn’t enough to make it a “no-go” decision for us, seeing that the guy needed to duck under the cable and switch hands to get on the other side of it when reaching the log made it all the more convincing.
It meant we wouldn’t actually reach a view of the high drop of the Glymur Falls, but we were all just fine with that outcome, safe and dry as we were.
On the way back, we ventured to an outcrop that was way more dramatic than photos convey. Mike made a good effort to show the steepness.
We got all the adventure we wanted out of this hike on this day.
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Flowing Meltwaters
It would be remiss of me to leave out one of the rare shots of us soaking in Iceland. I found this image after yesterday’s post had already been published. Instead of adding it after the fact, this shot of three of us tubbing at our Blue View Cabin gets top billing today.
With our breakfast in the cabin, we listened to a replay of the debate between US presidential candidates that had happened at 1 a.m. our time. It was like dipping a toe back into the real world while we were on an adventure in Wonderland.
A quick 20-minute drive brought us to our first hike of the day to explore the falls at Bruarfoss.
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We chose the longer trek (4.4 miles out-and-back) that provided great views of a couple of smaller attractions on the way to the fascinating crevice in the middle of the brilliantly blue Brúará River, which is glacier melt from the Langjökull glacier.
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Our legs got a little break with a 45-minute drive to Thingvellir National Park, where we set off again to add more miles of hiking under very sunny skies.
One thing that still images cannot convey about the variety of waterfalls in Iceland is the majesty of the roar of massive quantities of flowing water endlessly cascading over and around breathtaking rock formations. They are right up there for stare-ability with flaming logs in an outdoor firepit. I could sit and watch the water for hours.
Happily, the four of us travelers turned out to have very similar satisfaction levels and found ourselves equally content to stay or move on with each new experience we encountered.
We were all pretty tickled to find our next overnight accommodations at Hotel Laxnes offered foldout balconies in our rooms.
This was the place with a pub that appealed to locals, a hot tub out back (which we quickly made use of), auto-scoring dart boards, and several game nooks.
We’ve already seen amazing things on this trip so far, but each new day continues to offer more and more. We are having the time of our lives.
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Self-Guiding Iceland
Our fifth day in Iceland started with a casual breakfast in our Blue View Cabin. The makings for a picnic lunch got packed while the Icelandic gales roared outside. We learned about lenticular clouds from Mike, given the perfect visual aids available in the big sky views above.
Setting our own agenda made it easy to switch up our itinerary and visit the Strokkur Geyser before the Gullfoss Waterfall simply because we came upon it first on the route from our cabin. The early hour and intense wind had us wrapped up tight against the elements.
After an extended wait, a construction worker happened by and informed us the big geyser wasn’t blowing. We adjusted our attention to another spot where Mike caught the eruption.
The assault of the freezing temperature and intense wind had us seeking brief respite in the shelter of the coffee shop before setting out again.
The breeze was no less challenging at Gullfoss, but the temperature was warming, and we generated some of our own warmth with the hiking to see the marvel of yet another unique and astounding waterfall.
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I found myself mesmerized by the visual of the spray rising out of the canyon to the top of the ridge where the gusts immediately and emphatically rushed it away.
Given our freedom to choose our agenda, we made a stop for a closer look at Skálholt Cathedral, which Barb had looked up for us.
Thankfully, they had preserved real history on the site, too.
It was a light day for our intrepid explorers and we made our way back to the little cabin for a soak in the hot tub, a little power lounging, and dinner from our groceries, continuing to enjoy the big sky views sheltered from the wind.
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Geothermal Soak
During one of our extended periods of driving across southern Iceland’s barren yet scenic landscape, we listened to a podcast that described proper etiquette for visiting the variety of geothermal pools to enjoy a group soak. There was nothing surprising about the information, but it proved to be assuring in helping me to know I wasn’t dissing some cultural norm out of ignorance.
It wasn’t surprising to learn that shoes must be removed before entering the locker rooms. Nor was it a shock that one should shower naked and wash with soap before putting on a swimsuit. Easy enough. It is the cultural norm. The podcaster said not to be surprised if an Icelander calls out someone who fails to respect these codes of conduct.
Finding the Secret Lagoon took a little sleuthing as the “Alexa-voice” of our GPS seemed to be encouraging us to turn into what looked like driveways. Eventually, we found a parking area in front of the entrance. The wind was gusting strongly, making the air feel cold enough to discourage going into the water.
That’s pretty much the perfect invitation to experience a hot pool. The first thing my senses picked up was the sulfur smell, but that irritation was quickly cast aside by the sensations of being immersed in a large swimming pool’s worth of hot water.
Those of you on social media may be able to find the four of us in the background of selfie photos a young couple probably posted of themselves on their honeymoon. They really looked like they loved themselves almost as much as one another. I assume their phone camera was waterproof.
The pool wasn’t overly crowded. I don’t recall hearing English being spoken beyond our foursome. Regarding how chilly the air felt, the attendants patrolling the facility were wearing winter jackets. The water wasn’t very clear and there was a slimy growth on rocks along the outer edge where the temperature seemed to get noticeably hotter.
None of that mattered. We were soaking in geothermally heated water in the oldest natural pool in Iceland. It was pretty freaking awesome.
We started to get pruney before overheating and used that as an excuse to get out. Who ever wants to get out of a deep soak in warmth?
As I was getting dressed, I heard a bearded older man with Icelandic-accented English inform someone they needed to shower before going in. He then proceeded to engage the attendants to verify they were upholding the rules. It quickly became obvious that the attendants were as foreign to Iceland as all of us tourists.
Secret Lagoon was a great introduction to the realm of luxuriously soaking in the simmering geothermal pools for which Iceland is deservedly famed. It was our first, but it wouldn’t be our last before our visit was over.
With that adventure behind us, we headed not for a hotel but a little enclave of individual cabins nestled up a slope and protected by an electronic gate arm.
Two bedrooms, a full kitchen, a bathroom with shower, and a hot tub out on the deck. Barb and Cyndie prepared dinner from the groceries purchased earlier in the day.
The wind continued to blow, and the cloud formations grabbed our attention all the way through the sunset.
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Greenhouse Lunch
Late in the evening of our third day, an app on Cyndie’s phone alerted her to our first possibility of aurora visibility. It was really chilly out, so I elected to glance through the window while Cyndie, Barb, and Mike stepped out to watch.
It was a good first opportunity, but I was holding out for something much more vivid.
For the duration of our visit, the temperatures danced between freezing overnight and warmed into the mid-40s to lower-50sF during the day (0-12°C). The amount of sunshine and level of wind made a big impact on how nice the days became. We needed to flinch and grit our teeth against the bite of the cold in the morning a few times but were usually rewarded with much more pleasant conditions in the afternoons.
The morning of our 4th day was as chilly as the night before as we set out to hike the circumference of the Kerid Crater.
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The lake that formed at the bottom of the crater was simply the result of the water table level in the area. The lake’s shoreline goes up and down depending on extended periods of wet or dry weather.
It was an easy hike with great views, but the cold wind had us moving briskly. We were eager to return to the warmth of our vehicle. Did I mention it is often very windy in Iceland?
We had a reservation for lunch at Fridheimar Tomato Farm, which happens to be located inside one of their greenhouses.
Noticing a small grocery store nearby and arriving with time to spare, our intrepid planners picked up foods for our meals in the coming days. After reviewing the expense, we discovered the pricing of things was much higher than we realized. Oh well, we paid a little extra for the convenience factor.
It was a bit of a challenge to locate the entrance to Fridheimar. From the outside, I had no clue as to the treasure we were about to discover inside.
It looks a little vacant in that shot above, but when we arrived, the place was buzzing with energy. Large numbers of people were being offered a chance to visit the bar or being turned away as seating was reservation only. We sailed through to a prime table.
The first noteworthy display I spotted was their table of freshly baked bread varieties. We were invited to visit it as often as we desired. Their tomato soup was also “serve yourself” and without limit. There was fresh basil growing at each table with a small scissor to trim and garnish our selections.
I finally remembered to get a photo of my choice before it was half gone.
Roasted vegetables pizza on a tortilla crust with pesto sauce. It was as good as it looks. A side of sliced tomatoes with mozzarella, basil, a pesto drizzle, and a small dish of salt flakes was a treat shared by us all.
This was one heck of a destination restaurant and should not be missed. Just make sure to have a reservation.
From that scrumptious lunch spot, we head for our first soak in one of Iceland’s famed geothermal pools. We chose the oldest natural pool in the country, Secret Lagoon.
I’ll tell you all about our experience, tomorrow.
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Experiencing Iceland
It is not lost on me that we paid for seats on planes that spewed jet fuel exhaust and then rented a vehicle that burned diesel to witness a glacier melting in person.
May all the little changes toward expanding clean energy options continue to gain momentum toward reversing the runaway trend of carbon in the atmosphere.
On the subject of ethical dilemmas, I feel for the people of Iceland in the conflict of benefits vs. costs of the tourism industry. A comment from my friend, “You may have a hard time finding a local!” proved prophetic. Other than sharing parking and walking space with tourists from across the world, our interactions were with the two guides and a multitude of food and drink servers, some of whom shared that they hailed from France, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, and Greece.
In all, we probably held conversations with maybe five locals throughout our visit. Each one became more precious as a result of the scarcity of opportunity.
The island country of Iceland is smaller in area than the state of Minnesota, USA, and has a resident population close to that of the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Adding a couple of million foreign tourists annually demonstrates why it might seem like everyone around you is from somewhere other than “here.”
From the masses at the airport and car rental companies coming and going without pause to the busy car parks and pay stations, it quickly becomes obvious that the tourists are swamping the number of residents.
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The first local we spoke with was several days in when we were at the bar of a quaint hotel that seemed like a local pub. The other three in my group were trying to educate the bartender/hotel receptionist about their drink requests when Barb noticed this guy politely waiting. She offered him a chance to place his simple order for “2 pints” so he wouldn’t have to wait.
He seemed proud when we reacted like lottery winners upon hearing he was born and raised in the area.
I found it difficult to process the obvious pounding the ground suffers from unrelenting foot traffic at each location of incredible beauty. Add to that the human tendency to violate marked boundaries intended to preserve fragile foliage or maintain safe viewing distances and locations. Those who can afford to travel flock to locations of outstanding scenery and, in so doing, trample the surroundings to dust.
It was humbling to find myself participating, which made it easier for me to simply wait for a turn at a photo vantage point or pause in a hike to avoid widening the path by walking around other people.
Indulge me in posting a few more views of the glacier ice that Cyndie captured.
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When we returned from the glacier and dropped off our ice axes and crampons, the fish & chips being served from the food trailer nearby caught my attention.
As is usual for me, I was halfway through devouring the treat before it occurred to me to take a photo.
I had no idea that it would turn out to be the very best version of fish & chips (my favorite menu item!) I would find during our visit. For those who know of the fish fry at Lost Land Lake Lodge in northern Wisconsin, this fried cod was almost equal, except for the fact it was even better.
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Relative Something 