 Iceland is truly a spectacular county like none other. Its beauty had us speechless and captured our hearts, making for an incredible trip and leaving us planning our next adventure back to this magical land. |
We traveled on Icelandair and saw the sun set and rise all within a 6 1/2 hr. period...beautiful
views for both.
Day 1...hiking to the hot springs river at Reykjadalur.
Stunning waterfalls and babbling streams throughout the entire hike.
Hot steam which had the most pungent smell of sulfur...not the best smell in the world.
The hot spring stream was too hot for me in most areas. We found a spot close to the side and chatted with a couple from Washington State....one of the best parts of traveling is meeting fellow travelers.
Not a bad way to relax after a long period of travel and hiking.
Jumping for joy we are in Iceland!! (First jumping picture... and not the last).
Day 2: Driving the Golden Circle (3 main stops Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss Waterfall).
We rented the smallest possible SUV (Suzuki Jimny) so we could save on gas (about $7.00/gallon USD) and have access to the Highland F-Roads. It is quite possibly the cutest tiny vehicle I've ever been in.
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Icelandic horses let you walk right up to them.
Interesting viewer found on the roadside.
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| Gullfoss Waterfall, the largest of the falls in Iceland. |
Susie and Ray (Mike's parents) standing by Gullfoss in 1976 when they lived in Iceland.We tried to recreate a similar photo standing in the same spot they stood on 40 years ago.
She's a beauty!
Just couldn't get over the fact we are in ICELAND!
Found this hidden spot driving by.
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
So awesome to walk behind the falls
Yay for raingear to get close to the falls!
We sure do!
Day 3: Ready to head out to inner Iceland to hike at Landmannalaguar-our favorite day!
Took about 3 hrs to get there, so we did some quick stops along the way.
Land Rovers out adventuring.
A glimpse of the caramel colored mountains we've been waiting to see in the distance.
Felt like we were getting ready to hike Everest arriving at basecamp.
Walking over a hot spring river.
Petrified lava rocks
This view, breath in....breath out....it's beauty will literally take your breath away.
The bottom of what we thought was going to be an easy climb up the side of this volcano/mountain....our eyes deceived us on the steepness of the climb, but hey-we survived! Scariest part, besides the sheer steepness) was toward the top crawling on all 4s and feeling hot rock beneath. Next time we will obey the do not hike sign.
Up, up we go
The views from the top were worth it....these mountains are like nothing we've ever seen, or will see in our lives.
I mean....this photo can't even do justice, it was ridiculous!
Whoooo hoooo for hiking in Landmannalaguar!
Checking out the side views
Holding onto a chunk of hot rock
Hello! Greetings! Salutations!
Hikers from all over the world.
Walking on top of the world.
Our big climb looks like an ant hill from this perspective
Couldn't be more in love with this handsome guy!
Rainbow at the end of the hike
Followed by a gorgeous sunset...Iceland views do not disappoint.
Day 4: Drive to Dhrholey, glacier lagoons, and making friends with the friendliest hitchhiking travelers from France and Germany.
Love the red roofs on churches and buildings
PacMan hay barrel!
We stopped at 2 glacier lagoons (Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon) on a rainy afternoon....the ice milky water and crystal blue glaciers were just stunning.
Reflection
That water!
Just how cold is the water you wonder? Cold.
People heading out on a glacier boat tour. In the winter you can visit ice caves too-maybe next time!
Stopped to check out this view on the way back.
Day 5: Reynisfjara (Black Beach) in Vik, (The most southern city in Iceland) and Blue Lagoon
Waves created these crazy columns from their force
No land from here until you reach..........................................................Antarctica!!
We tried to stop at the Blue Lagoon (world famous geothermal hot spring) upon arriving, but did not have pre-booked tickets and they were fully booked. We managed to squeeze in the final time slot on our last night. It's definitely a touristy destination...but we went later in the evening when the sun was setting and had a great time. It's a pricey event, but we saved money by bringing our own towels and opting for the standard package.
The minerals can dry out your hair like crazy, so ppl with long hair were advised to keep it out of the water.
 Day 6: Explored more around Reykjavik.... |
Loved all the colors throughout the city.
Still can't speak any Icelandic. Wish I had photos of the locals to share, they are some of the most beautiful and kind people.
The Laundromat Cafe
An extremely talented jeweler we saw working from the street window and visited his shop. He and his wife create the most beautiful unique pieces and we brought a piece back. They've had a variety of articles published about their work including this one in Grapevine.
Cheers to beers in Iceland!
The food is amazingly delicious, but insanely expensive (think $18.00 USD for a bowl of soup and $12.00 for a piece of cake). We researched this ahead of time and luckily brought a lot of snacks to eat while traveling in the car and shared some of our meals.
Had to stop at one of Mike's favorite movie bars...The Lebowski Bar.
Dutch Bar, 2 for 1 Happy Hour
World Famous Icelandic hot dogs....yeah they were pretty delicious
Next up are photos of places we stayed. All but 1 night were booked through Air BNB-which I highly recommend. We stayed in various places such as a modern downtown apartment in Reykjavik (pictured above), in a tiny modern room out in the country (shown below). We also stayed in a high-rise condo overlooking the sea and Thorunn, the host, made us a delicious authentic Icelandic breakfast in the morning.
A hotel with a slogan like this is fine by me! :)
We stayed 1 night at a traditional hotel, The Straca. It had a modern nordic design, which was super cool, but we most enjoyed relaxing in the outdoor hot tubs and time-machine looking saunas.
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