Day 9 - The Trip Home

Today we travel back home to see our much missed pooches. BUT WAIT ! Mark has another idea on how to use the few hours before our airport transfer so away we go to the Perlan museum which feature a huge man made ice cave inside. The museum seeks to explain how icebergs are formed and how they are currently threatened. It was an altogether enlightening but depressing exhibit. And damn it was cold in there.

At the top there was a 360 degree observatory of the whole city.

We got our shuttle on time and the flight was easy but long. We’re back home now and happy to get back to normal. Both exhausted but we had a great time and saw so much.

Thanks for following along with us on our UK adventure!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes I did go back and buy the book of magic spells ;)

Wondering: how do you say washroom in Icelandic

Oh.

Laughing so hard I almost snyrt my pants.

Day 8 - The Golden Circle (2/2)

Last stop of the day was to a huge crater that was formed from a volcanic explosion thousands of years ago. Now there is a shallow lake at the bottom of the crater, which was frozen solid. This is a tourist spot that encourages people to walk down to the crater bottom via stairs they’ve added or walk along the rim at the top.  I chose to do neither and just admire from a safe distance. Mark took a walk around the rim and witnessed a selfie-taking dude almost slip and fall to his death. Regained his footing just in time. That’s about a 10 storey drop to the icy crater floor. Guy woulda died for sure.

With our long day’s trip completed we rode back to the hotel then went to find a restaurant for dinner.  Mark got to have some more fish and chips. Amazingly, none of the times he ate in Britain did the fish come in newspaper. Finally, here in Iceland, proper newspaper wrapped fish!

Day 8 - The Golden Circle (1/2)

Last full day in Iceland and we did not waste a minute. We saw so much beautiful landscape today that it all sort of melds together.

A lovely energetic woman named Halla was our tour guide and she was full of so much interesting information about all we were seeing. Our first stop was to Pingvellir, a national park that showcases only 1 of 2 places in the world where you can see a tectonic plate rift between 2 land masses. Most rifts occur under the ocean. In one spot the crack is very narrow so Mark took the opportunity to straddle the divide. One foot in on the North American continent, the other on the Eurasian continent. Whoa.

On our way to the next stop we took a moment to say hello to some local horses. They’re a different breed than you find anywhere else and have been on the island since Viking times. A local farmer is making a good buck letting tour groups stop to visit with his horses and buy some ‘horse candy’ to feed them.

I loved the horses! Next stop was an old Icelandic dairy farm that made delicious fresh Skyr (Icelandic yoghurt) and the best tasting feta cheese I’ve ever had.

Then off to the Gulfoss waterfall for more sightseeing. The landscape here is so beautiful.

It was getting to be noon so our next stop was the famous Geysir - the geyser after which all other geysers are named. Also at the geyser was a tourist building where we got some lunch. We each had a  simple veg & lamb soup from a cantina recommended by Halla. That was a mighty fine soup, the reviews on Icelandic soups are not wrong.

Day 7 - Chasing the Northern Lights

So before we set out to Iceland I checked the weather forecasts. Current forecasts and historical trends show the temperature tends to keep around 0. That to me does not seem terribly cold so I prepared for the worst but expected the best. Apparently I did not account for the brutal windchill. It is always windy here. So while the temp was 0, it felt more like -15 to -20. Good thing I came prepared.

After our morning at the Blue Lagoon we went back to the hotel, had a much needed nap (the hot water drains alllll the energy from you) then got cleaned up for a nice dinner at the Sky bar on top of our hotel with beautiful vistas of the city.

After 9pm we went to meet our Northern Lights excursion team. They picked us up in a Mercedes 4x4 all-terrain SUV type vehicle and we headed out of the city about 45 min away.

The conditions for seeing the lights are pretty precise. Everything needs to line up, with a healthy dose of luck. These guys knew some typically good spots, and we were very lucky to be treated to a showing soon after we arrived. The lights in the sky are faint to the naked eye, and don’t look nearly as brilliant as they do on film. Still, it was amazing and glad we got to experience it despite the mindnumbing cold.

Day 7 - Blue Lagoon

Oops I need to catch up on these blog posts! We have been so busy doing stuff the past few days that I haven’t had time. I’ll try to get it all done in bite size chunks.

First full day in Iceland we caught the 9am transfer to the famous Blue Lagoon. It was a chilly 1 degree Celsius with a windchill of -5 or so. And we’re to go swimming outdoors...it’s a concept that is hard to compute.

40 min drive and we are in a vast lava field with steam rising from the Lagoon. We get a bracelet to pay for any services inside and head for the locker rooms. Once in your swimsuit and showered, head outside and get in that water as fast as you damn well can! Standing wet and barefoot outdoors in -5 degree weather turns uncomfortable in a big hurry.

But omg the warmth of the water! It’s soooo warm. Between 95 and 105 Fahrenheit all year, heated by geothermal activity. The depth of the Lagoon only gets about to chest deep at the deepest point we found. The bottom is compacted to feel like concrete for most of it but gets pebbly if you wander to the far edges. There is a waterfall that pounds your back with the force of a shiatsu massage, but if you prefer you can get an actual in-water massage treatment. Several steam rooms and dry saunas to mix it up. There is a swim up bar for drinks and a swim up mud mask station. The natural silica in the water is supposed to be great for the skin. I didn’t really feel any difference with my skin afterwards but my nails did seem more brittle.

Also So surreal seeing all the lifeguards in parkas.

Very relaxing but after over an hour we were feeling a bit overheated (despite my ears feeling like they were getting frostbitten) so we packed up.

Mark was glad to finally be able to show off his Icelandic tattoo that he’s had for several years to people who might recognize it, and a few did. It’s an Icelandic rune called Vegvisir and is a protection symbol for safe navigation.

Day 6 - From England to Iceland

Packed our bags and back on the train to Gatwick for a noon flight to Reykjavik. Beautiful sunny clear day for the flight. We arrive 3pm in Iceland and boarded a 45 minute bus transfer to the city. We’re staying at the CenterHotel Arnarhvoll by the sea. Beautiful mountains are just across the sea.

We got settled and the it was off to find the location of the restaurant I had booked for dinner weeks ago. A nice seafood grill restaurant with a set tasting menu called Sjvargrillid. The food included seafood and lamb, both cooked and uncooked. It was phenomenal, both Mark and I agreed possibly the best meal we’ve ever had (including fish n chips)!

After dinner we took a walk around the city center. This is such a beautiful friendly city. The fellow at a little book store seemed pretty insistent on selling me a book of magic Icelandic spells. I didn’t buy it, but I still might.

In the center of town is the Hallgrimskirkja church (Lutheran). It’s quite imposing at night. Tallest structure in Iceland.