Iceland!

Hello Everyone!

We made it through Iceland! Some fun facts – Iceland is heated by geothermal heat due to all of the natural hot springs which helps to make it the greenest nation on the planet! Tap water is the purest water you can get around here and locals find it funny when people have bottled water. Water pressure and the showers here are awesome – the kind of fancy shower heads that make sure the entire shower stall is covered. Everything here is expensive since the island has almost no natural resources – all the food is shipped in so prices climb.

Icelandic Krona (Their currency. 126 Kr = $1 roughly)



Wait staff here don’t expect tips since it is included in the price of the food at restaurants. A lot of cars here run on diesel. There are certain parts of Iceland that you are not allowed to drive to unless your car is equipped properly and you are driving in a certain season (which takes away a large part of the island). 60% of the population is near the capitol area (Reykjavik and the nearest towns/cities).

Icelandic Lullaby on pillow



Day 1 began with a safe arrival in Reykjavik airport (and yes, I can spell that without double checking it now!)

Sunrise from the plane



We had a lovely standard car for our journey. We rented the apartment from a woman named Edda who had a feast waiting for us when we arrived at the apartment.

Apartment




After a nap to recharge us (a 4 hour time difference and a 5 hour flight), we drove downtown then headed out across Iceland. We journeyed very north east that brought us to a tunnel that crossed under one of the fjords, Hvalfjorour (I think Dad said about 4 miles?) We ended up seeing two of Iceland’s big waterfalls. The smaller one of the two, Hraunfossar, was a series of falls dumping into the river. The unique thing about this one is that the water is all coming out from beneath a lava field. The other waterfall that connected to the same river, Barnafoss, was a bit more impressive with some really neat drops and shapes carved into the stones. This waterfall happened to get its name because two children climbed the natural rock bridge that used to span over the river, but did not return. The mother had the bridge destroyed and the falls have since been referred to as Barnafoss (Children’s Falls). (A new bridge has been built and it is quite high up and gives you goose bumps when you look down even if you love heights!)

Hvalfjorour



Barnafoss (top half only)




Day 2 brought a late start as we tried to make up for more lost sleep and a late night. Dad and the kids explored the city in the morning with a stop at the local bakery, information center, and several shops.

Downtown Reykjavik



The shops around here all feature a large selection of clothing all made from wool that blanket the gazillion sheep grazing around the countryside. (Sometimes you can see the sheep grazing way up on the hills and wonder how they haven’t tipped over and rolled down yet.) Our drive took us more east and much less north today however it decided to steadily rain all day with a lot of wind.

Sheep!



Our first stop was at the crossroads of the continental plates. Iceland is made of two plates; the North American plate and the European plate and the national park, Þingvellir, pronounced Thingvellir, provides information on this. The oldest form of Parliament, aka the Vikings!, actually convened at this location!

Parliament members made speeches here!



Our next stop was at the Geysir. This particular geyser is how all the others got the name. On the information sign, it is said to be higher than Old Faithful. We waited around and at about three minutes in, there was a small eruption and after about five more minutes – WOAH! We saw it explode a total of three times and it was really neat! Ryan ran down to the stream of geyser water and it was still very hot.

Geysir



Up the road was stop number three – a waterfall that is known for the massive amounts of water it dumps and its power. This waterfall was named Gullfoss and was huge! The riverbed it carved out was very deep with straight sides; nothing at all like the Grand Canyon in that respect. One could walk down a trail that brought you almost even with the river at the first drop off point. When you looked to your left, you couldn’t see over the river since it was still two feet higher than your head! You could watch it continue all the way down to the final riverbed. Mom wouldn’t go near it for good reason – there were no ropes or railings holding you back from the edge!!! One slip could send you to an untimely death and in the rain, it was a bit unsettling. Definitely a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience.

Gullfoss



A surprise stop on the way home was at a crater formed by an old volcano. The hole in the Earth is impressive and the water that now resided at the bottom could range from 7-40 feet deep and was a beautiful blue color.

Crater!



Evening allowed for Ryan and I to get some lessons driving a standard and we both did pretty well according to Dad who is still alive and well =]

Day 3 involved an insane hike to Iceland’s tallest waterfall. The parents and I headed out once more to look for Glymur Falls, said to have a 2.5-3 hour hike to get the best view. Well, after getting lost and driving through some kind of power plant thing that looked like it was straight out of “The Hills Have Eyes”, we found it! It started with a relaxing climb in, through a cave, and over a log bridge. (Mom opted to stay on the other side of the log bridge). Dad and I carried on almost straight up the face of a cliff and walked for another 45 minutes up one of the steepest climbs we had ever been on. It was unsettling to look down and then when half of the hike involved crossing various waterfalls, it became a bit scarier. Point is, we made it all the way to the top and man was it worth it! One of the most beautiful sights either of us had ever seen. I took a bunch of pictures and videos but they can’t portray just how gorgeous and terrifying everything was. We made it back down in record time and met up with mom once more!

The top half of Glymur



View looking back at where we came from!



Back in town, we went to a fancy restaurant and then headed to a hot spot – geothermal pools. These pools are heated by all of the geothermal waters and are both outside and inside. This one came with the coolest water slide ever! We also saw the house where Reagan and Gorbachev signed the peace treaty that ended the Cold War! Overall, a wonderful day in the country and we had some great weather!

The House!



Tomorrow morning we are exploring the town one last time, heading out to Blue Lagoon (the hot springs which are a big attraction) then hopping on a 4:10 flight and landing in London around 8ish (3 hour flight, 1 hour time zone change!)

P.S. -- I tried to get some videos to appear of the Geysir and Glymur Falls but they don't seem to be working. Bummer!

Viking Style?