Posts Tagged ‘trip report’
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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Iceland Trip
We are home from our great adventure of 10 days exploring portions of Iceland with our great friends, Mike and Barb Wilkus. Iceland is a very special place on this planet, and we are grateful that we were able to experience it in surprisingly nice weather and successfully achieve everything we planned without a glitch.
I found more trees than I expected!
But there was plenty of landscape without.
We hiked to a lot of waterfalls.
We saw a fascinating amount of varying geology that provided dramatically more vivid evidence of the earth’s history than where we live in Wisconsin.
We soaked in a number of geothermally heated pools and hot tubs, of which there are few photos out of respect for other bathers’ privacy and desires to avoid getting our cameras wet. We were able to experience the awesome spectacle of a glacier in real life, even as it was melting away beneath our feet. And finally, the good weather provided multiple nights of viewing the Aurora Borealis displays, which was a primary objective for Cyndie.
That was a special bonus.
There are many more photos (taken by all 4 of us) and stories that I hope to present soon. The planning for this trip began almost two years ago and included consultations with a travel agent and advice from one of my Brainstorms internet community members with first-hand knowledge. (Many thanks, JH!)
I cannot take any credit for preparations as ALL of the work was done by the other three. They collaborated to arrange our flights, rent a vehicle, plot a route, book rooms in different hotels and an Airbnb on a farm, and even make reservations for meals at some restaurants. They even packed necessary bags to facilitate grocery shopping so we could make our own meals at times and picnic in the car for lunch on a few different days.
Despite my distaste for traveling, particularly by airplane, the fact that Barb and Mike are such wonderful friends and Iceland is a place of such spectacular things to see and experience made it easy for me to truly enjoy this adventure.
There were only a few instances where I was reminded of the famous photo of many teams of mountain climbers waiting in a queue on the approach to the summit of Mount Everest. It was a rare instance when we were able to experience uncluttered views of waterfalls, volcano craters, geysers, or beaches. Early morning proved to be the secret to being the first car in the parking areas.
We didn’t have to deal with much in the way of precipitation in our locations, but high winds were a common occurrence. It made cool days into bitterly cold ones, threatened to hyper-extend door hinges in a moment of inattention, and even challenged our abilities to remain standing a few times. Made it feel like we were on an adventure, it did.
That was a fabulous trip, and I am lucky to have been included. I plan to write more about our experiences in the days ahead.
Thanks for returning to read after so many repeated days of tree trunks. I hugged our mother tree on our walk with Asher yesterday morning.
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Relative Something 