2019-05-19 Iceland

Introduction

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For this blog:

This blog is about our 2019 trip to Iceland.
Iceland has 10,000 waterfalls. We did not try to see them all, just the ones on our itinerary or on our route. We did not walk up to all the ones we saw, just the ones that had a place to park and a trail (except for that one...). We did not even stop for photos at all we saw, just the ones that had a pull-off. And we did not even take photos from the car of all the ones we passed, just the ones on the passenger side. Only half-kidding :-).

And Iceland has much, much more to see than just waterfalls, all of which you can read about and view photos in this blog.

Please do read through this blog for our narrative and the related photos.

More photos of ...: A link in a post at the end of the discussion about a place. These are slide shows containing more photos about that place. They open in a new window. Because we liked the photo, but we try to limit the number in the actual blog to something reasonable.

More (category) Albums: Photos, not in the blog, that fit a certain category. They open in a new window. Because we liked the photo, but we try to limit the number in the actual blog to something reasonable.

Abstracts
Birds
Coastline
Countryside
Drives
Flowers
Glaciers
Thermal Features
Villages
Waterfalls
Whales

Slide shows of photos in this blog:

Blog Photos - Cruise
Blog Photos - Golden circle
Blog Photos - Land Tour

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May 19 – Fly to Iceland, Tour Reykjavik

We were picked up a bit early and made it to and through the airport with no delays. The flight to Iceland was uneventful and not very long. When we got out of customs and baggage claim we headed out to check in for our shuttle to our hotel. We saw Jessica in the lobby. Her arrival had been delayed because the plane had to detour to Edmonton Canada to have the toilet tanks drained. Seems someone forgot to do that in Portland. So we were able to take the shuttle to the hotel together.

We were settled into the hotel by mid-afternoon and met up with Tara. It was time for a bit of sightseeing. Our hotel is very close to the waterfront so we walked down there and along the waterfront.

There was an interesting stainless steel “boat”, the “Sun Voyager”.

Then it was on to the concert hall that is right on the water. It was an amazing visual feast. The windows were irregular in shape and orientation and some of them reflected various colors depending on the angle of the sun.

We went inside and the visual feast and photographers dream continued with an amazing ceiling

and various wall textures.

And the walls were made up totally, floor to soaring ceiling of the interesting windows.

We then wandered through some of the town. The dandelions are particularly prolific and were huge.

We found the amazing Hallgrímskirkja Church, the modern church that dominates the skyline. Unfortunately it was closed so we weren’t able to see the inside.

The statue in front is of Lief Erickson, the Nordic explorer who made it to North America long before Columbus

We found a noodle shop for a relatively cheap dinner.

Right across the street was Phallological Museum and, yes, it was dedicated to exactly what it sounds like.

There seemed to be a fair amount of street art all around the city.

And many of the buildings were colorfully painted.

They may have long, cold, dark winters but they certainly make an effort to keep things colorful and cheery. It was enjoyable walking the town.

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More photos of Reykjavik
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After dinner we spent the evening repacking everything to allow Jessica to take one large suitcase home with her and to let us leave one large suitcase at the hotel while we are on the cruise. We just have too much luggage.

May 20 – Blue Lagoon and Boarding our Cruise

After breakfast we organized all of the luggage and stored it in the hotel’s luggage room. Then Tara, Jessica and Mary caught a bus out to the Blue Lagoon for a half day of fun at this big tourist draw.

The facility is in the middle of a lava field and is extremely well laid out.

There were lots of changing rooms and showers and we were given robes, flip-flops and towels. We enjoyed soaking in the lovely 100 degree water, slathered on face mask treatments from the silica materials from the lagoon, washed off in a waterfall, had drinks at a swim up bar, had an expensive lunch (all meals in Iceland are expensive) and in general had a great time..

After an hour or so in the lagoon we headed off for some lunch and then took a very quick dip back in the pool before going back to shower and change. Then it was on the bus for the trip back to town.

Meanwhile Paul stayed in town and went shopping for gortex pants and to relax.

Our taxi showed up about 4:15 for the short ride to the Old Port to catch our excursion ship, the Ocean Diamond.

They had snacks for us when we boarded. Then they checked us in and we all unpacked. We are on the lowest level of the ship (Deck 3) and have two portholes in the cabin. We have two twin beds and a bunk (not over either of our beds) for Jessica. The room is actually rather spacious. There is a chair and small table under her bunk.

We got our required safety briefing and shortly after it was time for dinner. The food is good if not exceptional. There is a smallish but good selection. We were all pretty tired by the time we got to bed. As we are so far north it stayed very light out until very late.

Sailing out of Reykjavik.

May 21 – Stykkishólmur and the Snæfellsjӧkull Glacier

Iceland seems to be the Land of the Midnight Sun. Sunrise today was at 3:46 am and sunset at 11:12 pm (4 ½ hours of nighttime).

This morning we took a bus trip that went along the coast of Snæfellsnes Peninsula in the Western Fjords area. The scenery is beautiful...rugged, a bit desolate, haunting and gorgeous. And a bit cold.

Since we are driving through farmland there were plenty of domestic animals to see.

Besides the coastline there were great mountains, including the often photographed Kirkjufell Mountain...

and a fair amount of waterfalls.

At the town of Grundagata we stopped for a bathroom break on our way to the glacier. The little café seemed to also be a community center, library, movie theater and souvenir shop, all rolled into one.

After the short break we changed to another bus that was able to handle gravel roads and headed out again. The drive was pretty awesome. We could see for miles most of the way up the mountain.

We then switched to a snow cat for the long crawl up the glacier. We were all seated in an open box, three to a bench. We did have a railing, like on many ski lifts, to hold us into place. Those facing downhill really needed it in order to avoid falling into the laps of those that we were facing.

The views were great...

until we got to the stopping point.

Unfortunately, by the time we reached our stop we were in the clouds so the views were minimal. And with clouds and snow it was rather difficult to even see up close at times.

However, the group had a good time, even if it was pretty darned cold.

Then it back down the mountain and back into the bus for the long ride back down the mountain. On the way back we stopped at the Kirkjufellsfossa waterfall, across the road from Kirkjufell Mountain. The falls were rather small by Iceland standards but very pretty.

We then stopped back in the same café for bathroom break, hot chocolate and what they called Love Balls (apparently they have another more risqué name for it but they cleaned it up to Love Balls). These were basically fried fritters. Very tasty.

We were back to the ship in time for lunch. After lunch we decided to wander around the town, Stykkishólmur (pronounced sticky homer, sort of).