Errrrrrrttttttttttt - The airplane wheels skid across the ground, WE HAVE ARRIVED IN ICELAND! Cherry POP! We deboard the plane, catch the bus, clear immigration/customs, get our bags and wait for about 15 mins at the meeting point for our rental car shuttle to scoop us up. I take advantage of the time and walk barefoot on the grass (hoping to eliminate jetlag) while Azlan jumps from rock to rock around a pond outside the airport doors. Within an hour we are in our Go Rental's 4WD DACIA Duster and moving to our first stop, the famous Blue Lagoon...or so we thought. The cops were blocking the road, "You cannot go to the Blue Lagoon", they say "it is closed due to volcanic eruption. It is not safe." Well shit! We are too excited and too tired to be disappointed. We move on to the next item on our list, Viking World, in the town of Keflavik - just outside the airport. The museum is small but full of great information about the Vikings and Icelandic settlements, has a virtual reality battle of Iceland in 1238, and houses a life-size Viking ship replica. Ted, Azlan, and I walk around outside for a little bit before heading to our hotel in Reykjavik. Hotel Skuggi did not disappoint and as much as we wanted to take a nap, we pushed through and headed out to lunch knowing that staying awake was the best way to combat that 4-hour time difference from home. We walked around, did some shopping, and visited the Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Church. We spent a little time out front walking barefoot in the grass and playing on a swing set. An elevator took us to the top for nice city views and a surprise (and loud) bell ringing. Azlan played on the swings and watched some little girls do some magic tricks after we came back down. One of the little girls offered us her toy chicken, we politely declined due to luggage space and then proceeded to tip her for her magic tricks. She looked confused and somewhat upset...later on it dawned on us that tipping is not customary nor expected in Iceland (or in any European country for that matter). When we finally got back to the hotel after dinner, I realized that my water bottle was missing - our first casualty of the summer trip! The store I think I had left it in was closed for the night and would not open until we were long gone tomorrow morning. As I walked back to the hotel at 8:30pm, with the sun still shining bright, I made a mental note to check the store when we came back through Reykjavik at the end of our Icelandic journey.
Day 2 in Iceland started by Azlan discovering the European Continental Buffet. Breakfasts from here on out would be a constant teaching opportunity (in lieu of 'repetitive point of contention'). "We only put food on our plate that we will eat! You can go back as many times as you want but do NOT overload your plate and waste food!".
As we hit the road, Ted and I commented to each other that the terrain we were seeing in Iceland was not what we expected. Low rolling mossy hills and small random solitary mountains in the distance delineated the landscape. Our first stop was Thingvellier National Park where the North American and Eurasian Tectonic Plates meet. We had enough time for a short hike around the mostly baren park, saw a little church, got carried away with pictures and videos, and high-tailed it back to the car. Our activity of the day was Snowmobiling on Langjokull Glacier and we had a meeting time to make! Snomobile.is picked us up promptly outside Skjol Camping Cafe, just as we finished some fantastic French fries and mushroom soup. We boarded a 'Super Jeep' - effectively a passenger van on colossal tires - and headed to the highlands to get suited up for our adventure. It was a bumpy ride on a rocky dirt road and Ted slept happily while I grumbled under my breath that I should have worn my tightest sports bra. How Azlan read his book during the 45 min ride, I have no idea! When we arrived at the outpost, we all got ski suits, balaclavas, gloves, goggles, helmets, and a much-needed pee break. Upon arriving at the snowmobiles 10 mins later, one of our 3 guides gave our group a block of instruction on how to operate them, Azlan jumped on Ted's snowmobile, and we were off! We dashed through the snow heading towards a white abyss, the second largest ice cap in Iceland. We zoomed in a straight line following our guide for about 20 mins at about half speed when someone from our group overtook me going what I thought was full speed. They zoomed in front of me, ice shards from fresh snow sliced at my googles. Mo$%$#&^*(er! All good though, it’s an adventure after all! We stopped for a 10 min picture break where we watched a helicopter hovering on the glacier about a kilometer away. Turns out an older gentleman broke his leg snowmobiling with another company and was getting air lifted, yikes! We jumped on the snowmobiles; testing turns and speeds on our way back. Azlan's gloves and boots were completely soaked through, and we understood then why he had been complaining so much about being cold! Note to self: never ride on the back of a snowmobile unless you wrap your boots and gloves in 100% heavy-duty waterproof plastic! We were treated to some cookies and cold water (they forgot to turn on the water boiler for the tea) and then rode the cracked-out Jeep back to the Skjol Cafe, stopping for 10 mins to inflate the massive tires on the way. When we got off the Jeep, Ted confirmed he got everything so we hopped in the car and moved onto our next destination - the Geysir Geothermal Area. Here we watched steam drifting into the cold air, pools of boiling water seeping into the landscape, and a predictable geyser shooting up water about every 5-10 mins. After that we moved up the road to one of the Golden Circle's most famous vistas - the Gullfoss Waterfall. Fortunately, blessed with a sunny day, we witnessed a spectacular rainbow over the 105-foot double decker waterfall. Our final stop for the day was the Kerid Crater, a 3000 year old crater measuring 866 feet by 558 feet with a pool of blue-green water filling the bottom of the red rocked caldera. Ted showed-off his rock skipping skills as we skirted the water's edge after a short hike down into the basin.
Dinner was had on the way to Hotel Vos which was just under an hour away, and we were pooped as we walked into the little lobby. There was an envelope with a key there for me but when we went into our room, the beds had clearly been slept in and the room had not been cleaned yet. We called them and they quickly came to the hotel to give us another room - this was a more remote type of guest house instead of a full-on hotel. Neither this place or the previous hotel had refrigerators or microwaves in the room, but they did have an electric kettle for boiling water and tea bags, instant coffee, and sugar - all of which were delicious. This little 'hotel' also had a hot tub for guests - and despite the hour, we took advantage of this. Seemingly we were the only guests at the hotel so we saved our swim suits for the next time (well Ted and I did anyway, Azlan seems to have developed severe modesty in ‘public’ and we are not sure where that came from). It was now 10pm and the sky was overcast but as bright as an early afternoon. As we prepped our bags for the next day, we could not find Azlan's snookie or his gloves and my Ireland hat. Apparently, they were left on the snowmobile tour Super Jeep - now we have a total of 4 casualties on the trip so far...and now I will also be the one double checking that we have everything before we move onto the next activity!
Despite the cool weather, we kept all the windows open and the heaters off as Ted is a hot box when he sleeps and is capable of sweating like the Niagara Falls sometimes. A fan blowing on him usually remedies the problem, but this hotel didn't have one. We all ended up getting some sleep (thank goodness for eye masks!) and the next morning we had another breakfast situation with Azlan. Ted is truly getting an opportunity to practice his patience, as am I. Don't worry though, by the end of this trip, Azlan masters the European Breakfast concept!
June 12th, our 3rd day in Iceland, started off with a visit to Seljalandsfoss - another iconic waterfall with a 200 foot drop that you can walk behind. It was pulchritudinous, however the real gem for us was Gljufrabui, another waterfall less than a kilometer's walk away with access through a canyon. It was also at this location that Azlan found a whirlpool in one of the streams going under the walkway. He stood there for over an hour in the cold drizzly rain tossing grass and flowers into the whirlpool, waiting for them to be engulfed by the spinning water. Ted showed us where the water came out on the other side of the walkway and then we made it a game, cheering "whirlpool, whirlpool, whirlpool..." until the twister sucked the cast flowers down, under, and out into the gushing stream. There was a plane crash site Ted wanted to see but there was no way we would be able to see all the other items on our itinerary and make it to our 1pm activity of the day.
Our trip was a 10-Day Self-Drive Tour of the Complete Ring Road of Iceland with Top Attractions & Snaefellsnes that we purchased through Guide to Iceland. Ted and I had started planning this trip in January, after we decided not to go to Ecuador and Peru due to some civil unrest in the area. At first we tried to research places in Iceland on our own, we looked at renting a little motorhome, and looked at taking group tours. In the end we decided it was best for us to do a self driven tour around the country, 'at our own pace'. About a week before we took off, like when we were in Washington D.C., we looked over the itinerary that Guide to Iceland (GTI) had sent us. We input everything into google maps looking at distances, driving times, activities etc... Thank goodness we did, as there were discrepancies in the itinerary and there was no way we would be able to see everything they suggested - we were going to have to be very selective. We even considered canceling the trip if they couldn't fix the itinerary and move 2 hotels around and rebook an activity. Well, GTI came through and Ted and I decided that, regardless of the excessive driving, we would still go to Iceland and make the best of it. In retrospect, D.C. is where we had our first disagreements since starting our summer holiday and we were also weary of all the driving we had done and still had left to do. This highly influenced our perspective of traveling to a foreign country and being bound to an itinerary we invested a significant amount of money into.
So, under the time constraint, we moved onto the next possible sightseeing stop on Day 3, Skogafoss, the second largest waterfall in Iceland. I cannot recall exactly why, but Ted was grumpy here and stormed up the 527 steps to the top of the waterfall. I also went up with Azlan but at a little slower pace. We took some selfies in the rain (reality check - even though tensions were high, our pictures show us all smiling...not everything you see in pictures is a true representation of truth) and then got in the car to quickly stop at Dyrholaey, the southernmost point in Iceland. Even through the heavy fog, we saw the lighthouse, the neat rock formation peninsula, and the black sand beach. Ted was itching to go explore the edge of the rocks over the ocean but the walkways were roped off and we had a 1pm date with Troll Expeditions at The Soup Company restaurant. We arrived early enough to have a quick lunch of French fries, lamb soup, and lasagna before meeting Natalia and boarding a zebra striped Super Jeep. Ted snoozed soundly, Azlan read, and I wished - again - that I had worn a tight sports bra on our bumpy ride out to the Mýrdalsjökull glacier. The terrain was like volcanic sand, small rocks piled in mounds, crunching under our feet as we walked to get crampons (spike soles for our shoes). We continued our walk, traversing from volcanic sand to ice - we were walking on the glacier! It was really more like marching as we stomped hard to help our spikes grip the slippery ice. Zig-zagging up the side of the glacier, we walked a plank through a random door (which is intended to keep overzealous tourists from visiting, getting lost, spending the night, and developing hypothermia as a result), and then back down the glacier into the Katla ice caves. Katla is an active volcano partially buried under this glacier. Our guide specifically told us that if we see her running, to try and keep up - ha ha! The ice caves are formed by running water as the glacier melts in the summer months. Unfortunately we learned that the glaciers are melting at an exceptional rate and in the next 20 years, the glaciers could be completely melted due to the effects of global warming. A cave that Natalia had visited just the previous year had caved in and was now completely exposed. It was a magnificent experience to walk through the caves and see the layers of volcanic ash compressed in the ice, illustrating the history of the previous eruptions.
It was about 4pm by the time we got back to the car and we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us to the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon. This was one of the new hotels GTI found for us, but it was 2 rooms instead of 1 triple room. Ted and Azlan bunked together, and I had a room to myself. It was a very nice hotel, the first (and last) that had a gym, sauna, and a spiffy restaurant.
The 6am alarm went off and I got up to do my Symmetry exercises. I am going through a postural alignment program in hopes of avoiding surgery and this entails me doing a series of exercises twice a day (click the Symmetry link to find out more, I am also going to be a provider of this program in the future). I made good use of the sauna and soaked in the hot tub before showering and meeting the boys for breakfast. I checked us out and we started our drive to the Fjallsarlon Glacier Lagoon for our Zodiac boat tour. Halfway down the road, I realize that I had left my Tervis Tumbler on the checkout counter of the hotel. This was my American sized to-go cup that kept my morning teas warm in the car. Ted offered to go back but in my paranoia of being late, I told him to forget it and keep going. This is now the 5th casualty of the trip and we totally could have gone back for it as we were the only people on the 9am outing.
It was cold and rainy as we put on our 'waterproof' suits and made our way down the rocky trail to the boats. Our captain was pretty cool and happy to have a private tour. We meandered our way through the lagoon, admiring the white and blue sculpture like icebergs. As we approached the glacier wall, we heard the ice calving (falling) into the water. We learned about the age of the ice, seeing the larger bubbles against the smaller more sparse air pockets in a chunk of ice our guide scooped out of the water for us. He emphasized the melting rate of the glaciers, and I can only imagine that us riding around in a boat, forcing water to lap at the glacier wall was not helping the situation. Ted was grumpy again, not sure why again either. Azlan and I walked behind him and Jovan (our captain) trying not to irritate him more. When we took off our 'waterproof' gear, poor Azlan's pants were wet. Maybe Ted was mad because Azlan kept trying to get really close to him on the boat and that he was stuck on a boat with no control over the situation. Azlan didn't complain though, that is a huge win for everyone involved! We grabbed some hot chocolates and coffees and drove to Seyðisfjörður. It was a long 4 and a half hour drive on the narrow, mostly paved, ring road. We had to slow down for the recurring one-way bridges and be alert of other drivers as they were few and far between. Vigilance of suicidal sheep ready to dart in front of the vehicle without notice was also paramount! It was on this drive that we saw the Islandic landscape we had imagined. Tall mountains carved by years of harsh weather, waterfalls drawn into almost every crevice, snow dotting the higher ridges. Our journey was partitioned with many stops, including a black sand beach after lunch to stretch our legs. I had to pee but other people pulled onto the beach and there are no trees, boulders, or hills to hide behind, so we move on. We see what looks like a trail head parking spot and stop to investigate. 2 men share that the hike is an hour around the waterfall and well worth it. I run past them and up the trail a bit to make a waterfall of my own. Azlan is ahead of us, so Ted and I decide to make the hike. Nykurhylsfoss did not disappoint. This was the best hike of the trip! It was remote, off the beaten path, had stunning views, and ended with us hopping over a gate and sneaking past a disgruntled sheep and her babies. A snowball fight highlighted our next stop as we wound through the fjords, through the towering hills, and over the snowcapped mountains. The weather reversed and we saw some much-needed blue skies. We arrived at the Seydisfjordur Guesthouse around 5pm, this was the other new hotel GTI got for us but one room was a double and the other a single. This time I bunked with Azlan as the double room had a bathroom and the single did not. This was more of a B&B type arrangement with a shared kitchen, but no breakfast included. We dropped our bags off and went exploring to find the rainbow painted pathway in town. There were a group of kids playing by the water, one little girl ran and jumped into the water of the fjord - her skin flashing bright red from the cold as she came out. After 3 tries we found a place for dinner and then followed Ted on a path past our 'hotel' to find the Tvísöngur Sound Sculpture. I was seemingly grumpy on the hike up...maybe because it was 7pm, I was tired, and I was in sneakers on a hike that clearly called for boots. We made it to the sound sculpture where we sang in the different domes (thank goodness no one was around to hear our orchestra) and took some pictures. The trail kept going and crossed the 3 beautiful waterfalls behind the guesthouse. I opted to turn back with Azlan for showers, symmetry exercises, and hopefully an earlier bedtime. Ted ventured off into the unknown, finding a check in register (some paper and a pen in a waterproof pouch stuffed into a waterproof tube), a random electrical cable, and spectacular views. He really enjoyed himself and I'm so glad he got to do it!
Day 5, June 14th, was blessed by sunshine! Our one-hour drive took us to the trail head of Hengifoss. The hike to the ‘base’ of the 3rd largest waterfall in Iceland was about an hour with a 921-foot elevation gain. The skies were crystal clear and there were only a handful of people on the trail at 9am. As we approached the end of the hike the rock dirt path turned into a wooden planked walkway and stopped at a small platform with benches. Here we found another hiker check-in waterproof bin, but this time they had a stamp but no paper. I whipped out some pages from my watercolor sketch pad, and we started a new check-in list! We chilled for about 30 minutes while I sketched, an activity that brings me great peace and satisfaction. I also get very focused when I am sketching, which is like an escape, so much so that I was surprised to see various groups of people around me when I finally looked up from my paper. After a family selfie, we strolled back down the hill, with me pausing in a ditch behind a boulder for a quick pee, Ted and Azlan on the lookout. The little food truck at the bottom granted us coffee and hot chocolate and then we were back on the road. I had met some people from South Korea in the kitchen of the Guesthouse and they recommended the natural hot springs by Lake Mývatn. Since we had missed the geothermal baths at the Blue Lagoon and weren’t sure they would be open when we got back, we opted to stop there and see what all the hype was about.
We entered the baths at around 3:30pm and much like Europe and Korea, they had group showers in the locker rooms. You were required to have a full shower without your suit before entering the pools. There were 3 pools, hot, hotter, and hottest. The water was a milky blue and felt slimy, as did the benches that lined the outer walls and large rocks that sat in the center of the pool. I enjoyed the experience very much but Ted and Azlan were over it within 5 minutes. They hung out for an hour and then while they went to shower again, I sat in the steam room, took a cold rinse off, and sat in the hottest pool (which was more like a trough) before heading to the showers myself. We headed to the Stóru-Laugar Guesthouse, around 5pm, stopping for dinner along the way. This guesthouse was on an old farm plot and was quaint, reminding me of German accommodations when we lived in Europe.
Our 6th Day in Iceland started slower than most, breaking fast closer to 9am. The three of us then packed up all our things yet again - by now we had a good system of packing what we needed for the next 2-3 days in just one suitcase and consolidating dirty clothes in another suitcase. Godafoss, or waterfalls of the Gods, was our first visit of the day. Legend has it that a famous law speaker tossed his Pagan God statues over this waterfall as a testament to his newfound Christianity, hence giving the name to the waterfall. It was a warmer day than most we had experienced so far, I even took my sweater off. I did a 15 minute sketch, we had some hot chocolate and coffee, and then rolled off to Húsavík Town for our Puffin & Whale Watching Tour. After we checked in, we grabbed some quick supermarket sandwiches, used the loo and I put on my pressure-point nausea bracelets. As we boarded the Dagfari, our good-looking sea-worthy vessel, we were handed insulated waterproof suits, it was exceedingly cold on the water. The bay was calm as we moved away from the harbor, however the further away from the harbor we got, the less calm the water became. Ted, Azlan, I, and a lady from Australia were on the little upper deck enjoying the best view above the crowd. Our first destination was Lundey or Puffin Island, a small island about 5.2 miles off the coast..."I'm going to see a Puffin, a Puffin, a Puffin! I'm going to see a Puffin. A puffin tooooddddaaaayyyyy!" is a little song I first sang back in 2012 when Ted and I were traveling in Ireland. I saw a picture of a Puffin for the first time when we were at the Cliffs of Moher. We totally went on a Puffin hunt which led us to the Isle of Skye, I was singing the song from the moment I woke up in the morning. Here we are, 12 years later, and I am seeing loads of Puffins in Iceland! I was so excited for the first 30 minutes or so of our trip...until the seas were rolling 5-6 foot waves and my stomach was rolling 5-6 completed meals. The little nausea bracelets, while fantastic for car rides, did not prevent the nausea on the 'giant' seas, but I didn't throw up so maybe it would have been way worse if I didn't have them on. We departed Lundey in search of some humpback whales in a bit deeper waters. There was a lot of excitement on the boat and people rushed over to one side but I stayed put in my back-of-the-boat bench, eyes glued on the horizon. Eventually Mr. Whale paid a visit to my side of the boat (or the boat maneuvered to the other side) and I saw the majestic animal gently breaking through the water's surface and it waved it's tail at me. Ted was in his element, on a boat in the ocean, albeit in cold-ass weather. The ship even dished out hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls on the way back to shore. It was a great voyage, with the exception of my cookies hanging out just waiting to be tossed!
Our day finished off in Akureyri, Iceland's Capitol of the North, boasting a population of just over 18,000. The traffic lights showcased a red heart for the stop! It was one of the coolest surprises we saw in this country. It actually made Ted smile when the light turned red (awwwwwww)! We dropped our bags off at the Centrum Hotel and set off in search of food, poking our head into shops and taking pictures along the way. We encountered a DJ and outdoor club environment in an open plaza, too close to our hotel. These guys were jamming like EDC and they kept it up until exactly midnight according to Ted (earplugs for the win)!
Day 7, June 16th, after our typical breakfast buffet, we took a walk along the water to get our blood pumping before driving to Siglufjordur Village. I like to go into churches and pray when mass is not going on, it's peaceful and I can usually steal a few quiet moments to just be. I don't do it as often as I would like, but when we walked into Siglufjarðarkirkja, the town's Lutheran church, we had a lovely surprise. The choir was about to practice for the town's 3pm show. When their voices rang through the nave, goosebumps creeped up my arms and tears welled up in my eyes. They were captivating! We sat there for 2 songs before moving on to get hot chocolate and coffee, our usual cold day staple.
Holar, the diocese of the North during the 11th century, was our next stop. This "town" had a 1763 church, a bell tower, a university, and an Icelandic Horse Museum. We also explored a replica turf house - a home-style structure that is intended for a group of families with grass on the roof, which of course, Azlan was apt to climb. The lady at the horse museum gave us some information about how the Iceland horses were bred for riding back in the early 1900's by a gentleman named Theodore. Mail was delivered 4 times a year was the fact that stuck in my head the most though. I can't even imagine trying to traverse the harsh terrain, confronting the erratic weather, all while trying to carry and keep mail dry. Around 5pm we headed out to the Salthus Guesthouse in Skagastrond. By far, this place had the best view from our room, overlooking the ocean. With the bags secured in our room, we walked around the building, getting a glimpse of a seal wading in the water below. Dinner was just a few hundred feet away at the Harbour Restaurant. The place was pretty cool and the food was delicious considering it was out in the middle of nowhere (in our opinion). We tucked in for the night shortly after dinner, a long day of driving was in our imminent future.
June 17th, the day Ted became a Viking, kicked off with a box of food in the Guesthouse fridge. An apple, a yogurt, a raisin bagel, and a not-so-tasty apple juice for each of us was breakfast enough. Today we had about 9 suggested stops on our route which would have taken over 12 hours to just pit stop at all of them. We picked 3 so we could get into our hotel by 6pm ish. Our first stop was Mount Helgafell - the Sacred Hill - on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. A sacred place to most Icelanders, and where the mighty Thor is believed to have resided. It is believed that if you hike to the top of the mountain without looking back or uttering a word you will get 3 wishes fulfilled as long as you do not share what those wishes are. It was the most peaceful and quiet hike we ever had, and it was also only 15 minutes up with a 240' elevation. I can attest that Azlan and Ted never looked back either! There are ancient temple ruins at the top as well as a modern compass showing directionality of locations, but we couldn’t see any of them as it was a cold, cloudy, rainy morning. We held hands and stared East, wishing in silence, enjoying our time together as a family. Back at the bottom we bought some coffee and hot chocolate from the older gentleman that hung out in his little house as the Mt. Helgafell gatekeeper. Turns out he was 80 years old and grew up on the farm next to the Sacred Hill. His daughter, who spoke English, was on the phone with him and he handed us the phone so she could share a little history with us.
At lunch time, we stopped in the town of Grundarfjörður and walked into the Harbour Cafe. The guy at the counter called our attention and said "Very Important! Before you order any food, before you do anything else, when you come in here, you must have candy first!". This made Azlan's day, not to mention what a great way to start a customer's experience (if they like candy that is). Ted selected the Icelandic Viking Experience as an appetizer. This consisted of Hákarl, Rúgbrauð, and Brennivín. Hákarl is fermented shark, specifically Greenland shark which is poisonous when fresh because of its high urea and trimethylamine oxide content. However, when properly processed (which traditionally started by putting the raw shark meat in sand for weeks on end), it may be consumed safely. Rúgbrauð is an Icelandic straight rye bread. It is traditionally baked in a pot or steamed in special wooden casks by burying it in the ground near a geyser, in which case it is known as hverabrauð or "hot-spring-bread". Brennivín, also known as "The Black Death", is Iceland's trademark alcohol. It was first introduced in 1935, when prohibition in Iceland was partially lifted. A black label was chosen in order for the product to look unappealing and limit demand. The label had the opposite effect. Danny, the guy that gave us candy, enthusiastically and colorfully explained that the shark is to feel the power, the bread and butter is to help you swallow, and the shot of liquor is to help you forget. He said that if you eat and drink it ALL, you will officially become a Viking. Ted went all in and now, he is officially a Viking! He even got a pin to prove it! The shark and bread were ok, I tasted those. Ted said the alcohol was the worst part (I didn't try that).
So, after our lovely involved meal, my newly Viking husband, my half Viking son, and I took a very short drive over to Kirkjufell. Also known as the Church Mountain, this was where Game of Thrones was filmed in seasons 6 and 7 - "arrowhead mountain". Across the road from the mountain is an overpriced parking lot to see the falls and where many people take pictures of this very famous mountain. However, now that I am in the company of a Viking, we decided to climb said mountain! We got about half-way up. It was really steep, really rocky, the path became extremely narrow with sheer drop offs and the birds were not too happy we were in their air space. If we would have had a full day of if, I might actually have pressed on to the top (even though we couldn't see the top due to the clouds). This was a distinct moment on our trip where I wished we had a few more days. I would have liked to continue the hike or even just sit on the side of the mountain for an hour or two to sketch and enjoy the view. We half slid, half hiked back down the precipitous trail, avoiding the electrical fence which loomed nearby. The three of us loaded back in the car and got back on the ring road.
I am pretty sure that it was here where my new Viking husband decided he wanted to take a short cut over the Snæfellsjökull volcano on an "F-Road" (roads meant for 4 wheel drive vehicles only). Talk about off-roading! I wouldn't even call it a road, it was just lots of rocks in all shapes and sizes. I was holding onto the car for dear life and onto my tongue for the sake of our marriage. Eventually we encountered a giant truck, obviously a local, who told us to turn back as there was snow up ahead and it was not passable. I was extremely relieved, visibly so, and Ted was very disgruntled, also visibly so. We turned back, me grateful that our DACIA and all our shit in it were all intact and not upside down on the side of a volcano and Ted pissed off that he didn't get to finish the "cool-ass" road and end up on the other side. Our subsequent stop was Saxhóll Crater, which had a metal stair to the top and on a clear day would have had great views. This was a short stop for us, but I did ask Ted why he was so upset and he told me it was because he felt my sense of adventure was gone when we were on the F-Road. Oh my Lord, in that moment I used up the serenity prayer like a boss and held my tongue yet again. In my mind I was yelling "What the FU$#?!?!? ‘Lost my sense of adventure?!?!?!’ I'm in FREAKING ICELAND, WE HAVE BEEN DOING NOTHING BUT ADVENTURE!!!!" - You think I lost my sense of adventure because I don't want our car, our stuff, our SON, rolling down the side of a remote rocky volcano in almost freezing cold temperatures, where we probably wouldn’t be found for 24-48 hours?!?!?!?! I think I'm just normal and YOU ARE INSANE! That Viking shit got to your head!!!
Of course, I did NOT say any of this out loud and just calmed myself down, breathing, exercising gratitude, practicing acceptance, and breathing some more. Into the DACIA we went and off to Lóndrangar we drove (and simply writing this has gotten me into a tizzy again).
We made a pit stop at the Lóndrangar Basalt Cliffs, once a volcanic crater, which sits near a lighthouse. These 2 great pillars (one 246 feet and the other 200 feet) that sit upon a cliff in the sea are the only remains after eons of ocean battering. From there we drove into the Snæfellsjökull National Park, aggressively protected by the territorial arctic tern. Our hotel in Arnarstapi was pretty cool. It had a series of individual cabins as well as a long row of rooms overlooking the mountains. Ted was still on edge from not being able to fulfill the volcano crossover and the birds did not help the situation. One pesty arctic tern had his eyes set on Ted and kept coming for him while he was unloading the car. Ted was so pissed he started throwing things at the bird. It was quite comical. Regardless of the noisy birds dive bombing us, I cooly helped unload the car. I figured if these birds were really going to peck our eyes out, they would have done it by now. They were just defending their space after all. Ted moved the car further away from their invisible nest and they left us alone from there on out. The night was a wrap after dinner, a conversation to sort out our moods, and showers.
Tuesday morning, June 18th, we were on a tight morning schedule, so we ate breakfast in a hurry and bunkered down in the car for a 2.5 hour drive. Fortunately, we left ourselves 30 minutes of wiggle room for arrival to the Vidgelmir Lava Caves. Between the sheep traffic, the road rock plow, and the lesser savvy touristic drivers, we needed every bit of the spare time. Upon arrival, we donned our helmets, took a short walk and descended into one of the largest lava caves in the world. Below the earth’s surface, we saw ice stalagmites, layers of lava from different eruptions over time, and true complete 100% darkness! It was a cool (literally cold) experience. The next stop was the Reykholt Historical Site, the home of the famous Icelandic author Snorri Sturluson (1206-1241). We poked around the sites, seeing Sturluson’s medieval spring fed hot tub, and then checked out the Hraunfossar and Barnafoss waterfalls. Hraunfossar seems to seep from inside a lava wall instead of over a rock formation like so many others. What it lacked in height, it made up for in beauty. After a buffet lunch in the restaurant at the falls parking lot, we drove onto the town of Borgarnes where we sought out The Settlement Center. In order to save some money and time, Ted and Azlan left me at the museum while they went to get some ‘special’ snacks (special usually refers to extremely sugary). I did the audio tour of the Nordic Viking Settlement and the Egil Saga exhibitions in about an hour, then Ted picked me up and drove toward Reykjavik, back to Hotel Skuggi. Dinner that night was at a new TGIF, where Ted pretended to be an angel – ha ha!
June 19th, our last full day in Iceland, we had a nice slow morning. Ted took Azlan for a haircut and retrieved my water bottle that had sat at the store for the entirety of our trip while I did my Symmetry exercises in the hotel. Ted was supposed to get his head shaved but the barber ran out of time so I gave him a shave in the hotel and Azlan massaged his arms…happy belated Father’s Day! We then loaded up the car and spent a few hours in the Perlan museum. It was a neat museum with an Aurora Borealis show in the planetarium, a volcano show, an indoor ice cave, and many interactive exhibits – an excellent place to take kids. From there we went to our last Guesthouse, the Nordurey Guesthouse. When we walked into our room, Ted said something was missing…and it was…a bathroom. I must have missed the fact that there was a shared bathroom for the floor when I booked this one. To top it off, the sofa in the room was dirty and the wall in the bathroom was covered in dust. We did not stay there, I ended up booking a last minute room at the 201 Hotel instead. This place was cleaner and had a bathroom in the room. Definitely double check about bathrooms when you book hotels in other countries!
Our flight the next morning was a bit delayed, which only made our 7-hour layover in Montreal shorter. We arrived safely back in the US, Azlan happy to be back State side, Ted looking forward to the rest of our trip, and me….well, I was just happy to have been in Iceland, happy to have had safe travels, and happy that our trip wasn’t over yet! Stay tuned for our recap on NY, NH, ME, and Nova Scotia!
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