Iceland

My Fall adventures included a trip to Iceland with friends and family. Seven of us in total signed up months ago for the fun, and before we knew it we were on a plane heading for the geologically active and beautiful country of Iceland.

Saturday October 7, 2023

In addition to the amazing landscapes and cultural experiences, one item on everyone’s list was to see the Northern Lights. We could tell from weeks earlier that weather was going to be quite variable for the trip, as it clearly proved to be, and so aside from a questionable citing of Northern Lights later in the week, Leslie, Matthew and I had the only unquestioned citing while on the plane a couple hours or so before landing in Iceland.

Sunday

Our flight was about 7 hours spanning from 5pm-ish in Denver, Saturday to 6am-ish in Reykjavik on Sunday. After catching our ride to the Storm Hotel to drop off our bags, we walked the streets of Reykjavik in search of a meal and whatever else comes our way.

Following our meal we toured the town and visited a museum (which you can ask me about privately :-).

Monday (Very Rainy)

After getting our cars from the rental car lot, there was lots of driving in very rainy and wet conditions. We drove on the order of 150 miles east along the southern coast and stopped to visit some waterfalls on the way to our hotel. The Seljalandsfoss waterfall is very fun as you can walk on a trail that goes behind the waterfall. It didn’t matter much to us as we got just as wet in the rain as we did behind the waterfall. That didn’t make picture taking very easy.

Then we visited the Skógafoss waterfall where we could walk up to the base or to the top.

After battling the rain on the road we arrived at our home for the next couple days, the Magma Hotel. The rooms were great, the views were stunning, and the food was delicious.

Tuesday (Extreme Wind)

On Tuesday our plan was to visit a glacier bay, diamond beach, and a hike through a canyon. We were told to expect heavy winds and probable road closures by 2pm, so we took off on our drive early to squeeze in what we could before the wind gods showed their fury. On the road we saw many examples of glacier eruptions (heated waters emerging from the base of the glaciers) causing massive flooding and destruction of highways and bridges.

We arrived at glacier bay around 11:30am, most of us were in awe of the site, but Anna had the wisdom to beeline it to diamond beach. After gawking at the glaciers several of us started walking to diamond beach. Our walk was interrupted by Icelandic officials yelling panic at us, “leave now! You may not have time to make it back to your hotel!” And so we scurried back to our hotel, and the rest of us never made it to diamond beach.

Driving was a challenge with the strong winds blowing cars out of their lanes. You would think we would heed the warnings and go straight to our hotel… and pass up these cool photo opps?!

… and then we made it safely to our hotel.

Wednesday

On Wednesday we headed west, visiting various sites including Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, the black sand beaches of Reynisfjara, the basalt columns and rock formations of Reynisdrangar. (Yes, it all sounds very Hobbit-like). We also squeezed in a visit to a school bus that serves coffee and pastries and offers a variety of trinkets.

… and on our drive we even saw evidence of Hobbit life.

Many of the churches we saw had some common architectural themes.

Thursday

We really packed things in on this day. We started our journey early, driving through what looked like would become a major blizzard – fortunately it never got that bad; but there was wind and snow. That did not deter us as we visited the major waterfall of Gullfoss, the Strokkur Geyser of, uh, Geysir, the greenhouse restaurant and stables of Friðheimar, the Þingvellir National Park, the Kerið Crater, and most of all, the home of my favorite meal (deep fried hot dog) at Pylsuvagninn!

Thanks to Anna and her Googling to find this gem – the crater above.

Thanks again to Anna and Google for finding this awesome dining spot!

Friday

This day was for exploring the peninsula and Reykjavik as desired, follow by sunset at Sky Lagoon. We all started together to visit Seltún Geothermal Area, then some of the group went to Reykjavik while Leslie, Cynthia and I decided to continue our drive around the peninsula.

And one more shout out to Anna and Google for finding the geothermal area below! Lesson: take Google with you to explore new lands.

While Car#1 went back to Reykjavik, Car#2 took a drive around the peninsula where we saw some fishing villages, stumbled into the Brimketill pool, visited the Reykjanes lighthouse, crossed the Bridge Between Continents, and drove past the Reykjanes geothermal power plant that could easily be mistaken for a Mars colony.

Car#1 and Car#2 regrouped for the evening where we went to watch the sunset from Sky Lagoon.

After over 2 hours at Sky Lagoon we decided it was time to leave and grab a bite to eat. Google found us Vikinga Pylsur.

Saturday (Heading Home)

But first! A visit to Blue Lagoon – to warm the bodies for a long flight home.

And a bite to eat on the way to the airport.

The End

What a wonderful week it was.

I look forward to returning some day.