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Jul 11 - Jul 26 2018

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Jul 11 2018

We’re off on another adventure: eighteen days in the Land of Fire and Ice - Iceland! We have a car and will be traveling the Ring Road, enjoying the scenery, the cold, wet climate (?), and spending lots of money( it is an island). Iceland is evidently a very popular tourist destination so we won’t be alone.

Fire means 24 active volcanos and on average, \240there are eruptions twice a decade. \240We’re hoping there’s not one this summer.

Ice means glaciers -10% of Iceland is covered in glaciers. \240The largest one in Europe - Vatnajökull is \2403,000 square miles.

Then there are the waterfalls, geysers, and thermal pools. All this in a country that’s the size of Kentucky and has 340,000 people but so many consonants, we’ll never pronounce anything right.

First stop: Reykjavík, the capital. Population: 122,000

We took a \240free walking tour - even though jet lagged, you have to keep going. The “Free” tour takes you on foot around the heart of Reykjavík with an English speaking Icelander for two hours. \240The main focus is the general history of Iceland and the evolution of Reykjavík as a town. You pay afterwards whatever you think it was worth. No \240shopping, no food stops or toilet breaks. \240Our guide was Sara - history teacher with a master’s degree and an ardent feminist! She was very funny and entertaining and we learned lots of Viking history.

Parliament Building. \240Sara pointed out no guards and in fact \240there’s not much police (and they don’t carry guns.)

Early Reykjavík settlement house

Harbor

Just a street!

Day 2 (don’t worry, you’re not going to have to hear about every single day)

Driving the Golden Circle-cold, \240rainy, windy but beautiful. We quickly figured out when we needed our rain suits- all day! Sara told us: “There’s no bad weather in Iceland, only bad clothing or bad attitude.”

We finished the day off watching the World Cup at our hotel with many European tourists. \240 Bill is happy as he’s been cheering for Croatia all along! And we found out that many of the hotel staff are Croatian!

This is a 36 inch pipe that carries all the hot water to Reykjavík from a geothermal plant miles away. \240All of Iceland’s hot water is supplied that way.

This is the rift zone with North America on the left and Europe on the right. It’s not a political statement just geological truth- not fake.

Laugarvatn - a black sand thermal beach with boiling hot pots. The lake water was warm and we could see hot pots under the water.

Icelandic horses are very short and cute. Won’t be the last picture...

Geysir Geothermal Field - the Icelandic word geysir is the basis for geyser. It means gusher. A slight sulfur smell but not too bad.

Strokker Geyser - it’s going off but not a very good picture. Not nearly as impressive as Old Faithful.

This is the original Geysir geyser which no longer erupts. I have 4 layers of clothes on!

Gullfoss - “foss” means waterfall. It is huge but also unusual in that the gorge runs transverse to the fall line. It’s so fun to travel with a geologist! But that fact actually came from our guide book.

Upper Gullfoss Falls

Kerid Crater - at this point the wind and rain were blowing so hard, we didn’t walk around the top or go down to the bottom. But we got a photo!

@Rmueller51

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Jul 16 2018

The Ring Road

There’s nothing like a good road trip and the Ring Road is one of the best for scenery.

And we feel right at home because there are fields of lupines - more purple than our bluebonnets. But they are huge: 2 - 3 feet tall! \240They were brought here to stop soil erosion and have now become invasive.

Back to the Ring Road. We started out going south and will go all the way around Iceland.

It’s hard to describe the beauty and variety of scenery so best to just share our photos.

Skogarfoss (foss means waterfall) That’s Bill - for perspective.

Seljanlandfoss. We walked behind the waterfall - \240got wet but didn’t matter as we still had on our rain suits!

Iceland: where the midnight sun and the hot springs flow.

Haven’t seen the sun the first few days but it’s been light all night and we went to our first hot pool. First two photos are of the hike up to it.

By the way no retouching of the photos - these are the real colors.

Reynisjfara-Black Sand Beach - cave with basalt columns.

Around the corner from the cave... top photo...what we saw, bottom photo... what the tourist office wants you to think you’ll see! \240

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Gorge...ous Views

Fjadargljufur

Yes, I am standing on the viewpoint that Bill was on in the previous picture!

@Rmueller51

Jul 16 2018

Have (caulk) Gun Will Travel

After three rainy days of hiking, the sole of one \240Bill’s boots came off completely and the other started to go. Fortunately, our host for that night had heavy duty construction adhesive and a caulk gun and this was the result! Tested them today that was apparently successful. Now everyone will want racing stripes on their boots.

Another blog entry on the way - had some brief technical difficulties.

@Rmueller51

Jul 17 2018

And the journey continues...

Myrdalsjokull Glacier

Another rainy cold day but not letting it stop us. \240From this glacier, we head to Vatnajokull Glacier-the largest in Europe, over 3000 square miles. At the base of one of the 30 outlet glaciers is Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon.

We did an amphibious tour of the Lagoon that was amazing. Large icebergs have broken off the glacier and float around a large lake.

Video

The lake and some of the icebergs flow into the Atlantic Ocean where the icebergs are washed onto Diamond Beach.

Diamond Beach

Yes, \240these are ice chunks on the beach.

And icebergs in the ocean. I could have watched \240for hours but I was the coldest I had been on the whole trip.

Watch the video

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Because of the rain and clouds, we weren’t able to see all the glacier outlets that you drive along for miles. But the next morning we woke up to sunshine and this view from our guesthouse.

And a beautiful drive...

And a hike to Hengifoss Waterfall - the most challenging one yet. \240About 1.5 miles and almost 1000 ft gain. Iceland has never heard of switchbacks - it was straight up!

Shockingly, I’m still smiling...

@Rmueller51

Jul 20 2018

Notes from the Road

Things we’re glad we brought:

Thermos that keeps our tea hot for hours;
My hiking poles
Quick drying towels for the hot springs
Downloaded Iceland map on Maps.me app which gives offline directions.
Rain pants
Rick Steves 2018 Iceland Guide

Things we wished we had brought:

Waterproof gloves

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Notice how Bill is always ahead of me on our hikes? \240 He walks much faster than me but I always seem to have equipment problems, especially in the rain. Stopping to tie my rain pants tighter, fixing my wool hat that is too big and falls in my eyes, tieing my boots tighter. \240And of course I’m the one stopping to take photos. \240He is very patient!

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I can’t take a photo when my fingers are cold - my iPhone says nooooo!

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By the time we leave, we might be used to the sulfur smell of the hot water.

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Tourists- there are a lot. In fact, we knew 2 people who were here at the same time we were. The majority are European and Asian. During the summer there are more tourists than residents. It is one of the most expensive countries to travel in but you know that before you go and plan for it.p

Food

Icelanders love hot dogs! And they put all kinds of toppings on them. Bill had his topped with potato salad and I had mine topped with beans and bacon.

Fish-Arctic char(salmon), spotted catfish, cod, fish soups, lobster,

Lamb- shanks, filets, and stew

Puffin- haven’t tried it yet- they’re too cute.

Dried Fish

Lots of sheep and unpronounceable words: Try saying the name of this volcano: Eyjafjallajökull

It really is the Land of the Midnight Sun- \240sunrise at 3:00 a.m. \240and sunset at 11:30 a.m. It never gets dark; only dusk between 1:00 and 2:00. \240The few sunset pictures I’ve taken were at 11:30 p.m.

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

On with the trip...

Another day, another waterfall - Dettifoss - 340’ wide x 150’ high. We’re actually much closer to the edge than it looks like.

Lake Myvatyn Geothermal Area

Skutustadir Pseudocraters - what’s left of giant bubbles in molten lava

Myvatn means “midge lake” after the tiny gnats that thrive there. \240They don’t bite but they swarm all around your face. Always being prepared, we had brought head nets! We had to even use them to unpack the car. The other people all the trail were jealous!

Dummuborgir Lava Formations -this one was called “The Church”

Hverir - almost felt like Mars. \240 Stepping out of the car, you’re hit with sulfur fumes. \240

Steam escaping everywhere

Bubbling mud holes

Lake Myvatn Nature Baths - we spent several hours soaking in the pools of different temperatures and enjoying the scenery.

Godafoss Waterfall

There aren’t any barriers - you can be as brave or as foolish as you want to be.

Views \240driving one of the many fjords

Siglufjordur - at the Siglo Hotel

Harbor

Herring was the main source of income for this town for decades and the Herring Era Museum consists is 3 buildings- last one being the original boat house.

Public pool at Hofsos- every town ( most towns only have a few hundred people) has a public pool, heated of course by all that underground water. This one is newer and has an infinity pool with views over the fjord.

There were a few tourists but it was mostly Icelandic families enjoying the pool.

It also has a hot tub which is where we spent most of our time. \240It was a nice break during our drive.

@Rmueller51

Jul 24 2018

Beyond the Ring Road

The last few days we have veered off the Ring Road and gone to the Westfjords. \240Of course, in the fjords, it was cloudy and rainy so we couldn’t see much.

Isafjordur

Driving into the remote Westfjords, one hour, 50 miles, passed two cars, and one fisherman. \240See the part that is on the left above the Ring Road - that’s the Westfjords. Left the tour buses behind...

Bill found a great tour to the island of Vigur. It has been owned by the same family for 130 years and they have sheep and also harvest eider down from the ducks. And now they are taking advantage of the tourist trade.

We’re holding sticks because the Arctic Terns were \240feeding their babies and dive bombing us. We saw lots of terns, puffins, black guillemots, shags, and gulls.

Puffins make their nests in holes. When there isn’t any wind, they have trouble flying. It was really funny to watch them try.

Vigur is for sale-any takers? Just a couple of million!

Random sheep picture

You just have to glance inland every few seconds to see another huge, dramatic cascade flowing down toward a pasture or a farm.

Kirkjufell - the mountain and the waterfall.

On the Snæfellsnes Pininsula. On thewest side of the \240map we stayed at Grundarfjodur.

Partial view of Snæfellsnes Glacier

Beautiful beaches and lava formations

One of the few non black sand beaches \240in Iceland.

Bill’s favorite beer

You can’t get there from here.

All the churches are Lutheran and have the same simple design. The Black Church on the bottom right was reconstructed in 1987 to look like the original one from 1703. It sits near the beach and can be seen from quite a distance.

@Rmueller51

Jul 26 2018

Home to the Heat

What are the odds that we would travel to Iceland during the rainiest summer in 100 years? Even with the rain and clouds, \240the scenery and natural wonders have been amazing \240and we would highly recommend a trip to Iceland to anyone. We’re on our way home tomorrow but have a few last photos to share with you.