Iceland Day 2 (Part 1)

ICELAND DAY 2 . . .Part 1

After an awesome night sleep we decided to rent a car and explore outside the city.  In all honestly, if I had to plan this trip all over again, we would have rented the car from day 1 instead of making Reykjavik our home base.  On a map Iceland does not look like a very large country, but it is quite the opposite.  So not having any sort of plan, we ate breakfast, walked to the rental car company, loaded up, and within 10 minutes got lost for the first time. No problem, we backtracked, stopped for directions, finally figured out the map, and somehow got on our way.  When I say we had no plan, that's exactly what I mean, we had our map, a couple of tour books, and figured it out along the way.  The only thing that I knew was that we had booked a tour for the evening to see the Northern Lights, so we needed to be back at the hotel by a certain time.

 

As we ventured outside of town the scenery changed dramatically.  The landscape is dotted by steaming lava fields, icecaps, glaciers, hot pools, and geysers.  It is amazing.

Hanging out in the Lava Fields

The road to nowhere

Iceland has over 8,000 miles of roads, and we actually covered 300 miles in 1 day.  The one thing that I noticed was that there are waterfalls and rainbows everywhere.  Our first stop was Skogafoss waterfall.  It was absolutely beautiful and we wasted no time in taking advantage of a photo opportunity.  There is a trail that leads you around the waterfall so that you can actually walk behind it, but because of the weather lately the trail was about 6 inches of deep mud, so we weren't able to venture that far.

 

 

Next stop was a little village called VIK.  Vik is a small town around 300 people along the coastline.  The black sand beach here is actually rated by Islands magazine as one of the top 10 beaches in the world.  As we pulled up I was taken back by the pure beauty and serenity of this place, and immediately decided to test the waters.  Although my travel companions thought I was nuts, how often do you really get the chance to experience Arctic waters.  If I had my bathing suit I probably would have gone for it, but since I didn't think that far in advance my feet will just have to do!

 

 

 

 Next on the agenda was to get gas, and wouldn't you know that while pumping gas a rainbow appeared. 

 

 

 

So On the road again and back on the Golden Circle this time heading to GULLFOSS (golden falls.)  However before reaching the great waterfall we decided to try and drive up to the Solheimajokell Glacier.  Once we got off the main highway the road went from bad to worse, and we made an executive decision not to put our little rental through it, and admired the glacier from the bottom of the hill.

 

 

 Our final stop before getting to the Gullfoss Waterfall was to check out Eyjafjallajokull.  This glacier was responsible for closing down European airspace for over 6 days back in 2010 when it's underlying volcano erupted, throwing a black ash plume up 7 miles.

 

 

ICELAND. . .Country #5

ICELAND. . .Day # 1

When trying to figure out what my next country will be, I never seem to end up where I think I will.  It all basically comes down to several factors. . .

 

1. Number of days I can manage to get off per month (being a reserve flight attendant does not make this easy)

 

2. What the flight loads look like (although not having to purchase full fare flights when traveling, flying stand-by also means having to be open-minded and flexible)

 

3. High or low season at my destination (this attributes to light flight loads as well as hotel/hostel prices being remarkably lower)

 

4. Last but not least is if my husband will be traveling with me.  (If he can't or doesn't wish to go then I try to pick a country that either he has already been to or just has no desire to visit)

 

 

So when I was toying with the idea of Iceland, my husband thought I was crazy.  He didn't understand why I would choose to go the Northern most Capital City in the world in November.  My hubby doesn't like the cold which is why we ultimately moved to the Sunshine State, but no matter what, I am and always will be a Northern girl at heart.  So with that, and the fact that he has already been to Iceland, deciding on Country #5 was pretty easy.

 

At first I started planning the trip as I would be solo, but then decided to mention it to my mother.  She got her passport several years ago, and still did not have a stamp in it.  Although Iceland was probably not first on her list she agreed to go, and next thing I knew she began a shopping spree for a new "Winter Wardrobe."

 

A few days later I received a call from a friend, and during our conversation we figured out that He was actually going to be in Iceland the same time we were.  Although we were staying at different hotels, we decided to take the same flight on Icelandair from Washington Dulles, and that's how my Nordic adventure began.  Once we were at the airport, we checked in, and had plenty of time to get a bite to eat, and have a drink.  Little did my mom realize that this was going to be her last "Miller Light" for the next several days. 

 

Our original plan was to go straight to the Blue Lagoon from the airport, but once we landed and made it through customs, we decided to change our plans.  the weather was beyond horrible.  It wasn't just raining, but it was torrential downpours with winds that could literally knock you over once stepping outside.  We had a small breakfast at a cafe at the airport then bought our bus tickets to Reykjavik and decided to check into our hotels, clean up, and take a little nap. 

 

It was still dark out, as the sun didn't rise until 0930 every morning, and what we thought would be a nice relaxing 40 minute bus ride from the airport, turned into more of a thrill ride at an amusement park.  With the darkness, the rain pounding, the wind howling, and the bus swerving all over the road, I questioned if we would make it to town at all.  All I can say is "What a ride!"

 

 

 

My mom and I checked into our hotel while my friend TK checked into his hostel, which luck would have it was right down the road.  We slept a couple of hours, showered, and met back up to start exploring Reykjavik.  Being that we were hungry the first item on the agenda was food.  After walking through the streets a little we found a wonderful little bistro.  As we sat down and the waitress came over TK and I ordered 2 different Icelandic Beers, and then without hesitation my mother orders a Miller Light.  I couldn't believe it.  The waitress was hysterical though, telling my mom they do not have Miller Light, and with the 25+ Icelandic Beers they had, she needs to order one of them.  TK and I just laughed, we all ordered our food, and had an amazing first meal in Iceland.

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we decided to do a bit of exploring.  The best way to describe Reykjavik is an over-sized village.  It is home to 1/3 of Iceland's population (total Iceland population is approx. 318,000.)  Some interesting facts about Iceland is that it is a high-tech welfare state with one of the highest standards of living in the world.  There is virtually no pollution, where as all their energy is either Geo-thermal or hydroelectric.  The drinking water comes from pure glaciers, the fish are caught from unpolluted waters, and the lamb and cattle graze in fields untouched by fertilizer. 

 

The people are quite eccentric.  They speak Europe's oldest language, but everyone we met spoke perfect English. In the traveling that I had done in my life, I can honestly say that the Icelandic people are by far the friendliest people I have met so far.

 

After exploring the city, TK went back to his hostel to rest up a bit, while my mom and I went for a hot chocolate before we called it a day.