Iceland

We took off from Minneapolis on Saturday evening at 6 PM and landed in Reykjavik about 6:30 AM. We collected our luggage and hit the duty free store before getting our rental car. We made our way to the costal town of Grindavik and ate a Fisherman's breakfast at Cafe Bryggjan - there was herring, smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes, cheeses, ham, and breads. Then, we headed to Blue Lagoon for some spa like time in the hot waters and mineral masks.

Breakfast

After our time at the Blue Lagoon, we made our way to Reykjavik and checked into our hotel. We freshened up and headed out to explore the city. We went down to the water and saw the Sun Voyager sculpture and then made our way to Hallgrimskirkja (the tall Lutheran church). We took the elevator up to the observatory deck to see all of Reykjavik.  

Sun Voyager sculpture.

Fred at Hallgrimskirkja with Leif Eriksson behind him.

Group photo with Hallgrimskirkja.

View from up top.

We grabbed a bite to eat at Cafe Loki across the street from Hallgrimskirkja before heading to Bryggjan Brugghaus for beer and more food. At Cafe Loki we tried fermented shark, mashed fish, dried fish, and lamb pate. At Bryggjan Brugghaus our beers were paired with shrimp, salmon, mussels, lamb, goose, and ice cream!

Cafe Loki

Bryggjan Brugghaus

The next morning we headed out to explore the Golden Circle. We found our first waterfall (Porufoss) off the beaten path. Nobody was at this waterfall with us.

Porufoss

We then headed to Thingvellir National Park for exploration and snorkeling for the boys.

Oxarafoss

Fred getting geared up to snorkel.

Tim's a little unsure.

The clear (icy) blue water Tim and Fred get to snorkel in.

In they go.

A view below the water.

One side of the tectonic plates in Thingvellir.

After snorkeling and a little more wandering around the park, we made our way to Efsti-Dalur a cafe at a farm where we had ice cream with the cows.

Adrea w the cows.

After ice cream we continued on the circle and saw more waterfalls and a couple geysirs. We dropped Tim and Adrea off at the Secret Lagoon for some hot springs time while Fred and I went and grabbed a drink.

We may have done some trespassing to avoid taking the time to legally hike to this waterfall - Bruarfoss.

Gullfoss

Faxifoss

Kerio - a volcano crater was the last site of the day.

A late night dinner at Icelandic Restaurant - we had Filet of cod, lamb chops, and red fish.

The next day we headed out of Reykjavik towards Vik. We found an unexpected waterfall not far off the road.

Urridafoss.

We stopped in Hvolsvollur at the LAVA Center to see what we could learn about the volcanic activity of Iceland. We paid too much to see visuals of volcanoes set to music - no info really.

Our first scheduled waterfall of the day was Seljalandsfoss. We could walk behind the falling waters and got just a bit wet. Another waterfall was just down the path and we had to walk across some rocks to get around the big cliff in front of the waterfall to fully see Gljufrabui.

Walking toward Seljalandsfoss.

Behind Seljalandsfoss.

The "path" to get to Gljufrabui.

Gljufrabui.

We made another stop at Eyjafjallajökull Erupts museum. We lucked out and got there at the same time as a tour bus, so it was open and the tour guide convinced us to see another movie about volcanoes - this time about a family's experience when the 2010 volcano that they lived by erupted. We used the line "I always wanted to live under a glacier and when I met Ole - he lived under a glacier!" many times during the week. It was a way better video to see than at the LAVA center.

Our next waterfall was Skogafoss. We took the 527 steps to the top to see the view from up there and continue on a little ways to see the smaller waterfalls too.

Skogafoss.

Skogafoss from up top.

We walked towards Sólheimajökull glacier. You can't tell from the picture how big it is, but we could see people on top of it and they looked like ants! 

Sólheimajökull glacier.

We continued our drive towards Vik. We stopped to look at Dyrholaey (cliffs with tunnels through them). It was rainy and crappy, so we didn't explore it too much and we checked out the view of Reynisfjara (black sand beach) from that same spot. We checked into our Hotel Katla before heading back into Vik to get supper. After supper we spent some time in the hot tub at our hotel.

Dinner at Halldorskaffi. 2 entrees + 4 desserts = perfect!

After breakfast at our hotel (which we had at every hotel/guesthouse), we made our way towards Hofn. Our first stop was to see the "church floor" in Kirkjubæjarklaustur. we got distracted by the cool waterfall and the "no dumping sign" before finding the basalt columns which made up what looks like a "church floor", but never was.

waterfall in Kirkjubæjarklaustur or Klaustur for short.

We continued on to Skaftafell National Park. It was chilly and windy, so we geared up for our hike to Svartifoss and the view from Sjonarsker. The hike started with an uphill climb and we were soon warmed up with hats and gloves off. 

Svartifoss view platform.

Svartifoss from the base.

We continued past Svartifoss and climbed higher, getting warming and shedding jackets. By the time we reached the peak we were carrying more gear than we were wearing.

Atop Sjonarsker with a glacier tongue in the background.

Group photo.

We made our way back down and left the park to find a late lunch in Freysnes.

We stopped at Jökulsárlón Glacier lagoon. We saw some glaciers move/roll and then headed to the Diamond beach to see the pieces of iceberg washed up on the shore.

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

Diamond beach.

We found our hotel and then headed into Hofn to find supper at Ishusid Pizzeria. We had lobster pizza and meatlovers and a couple boozy shakes - yum!

Ishusid Pizzeria supper.

We ventured out to Stokksnes to get a good view of Vesturhorn. 

Panoramic of Vesturhorn.

Cards and drinks back at the hotel.

Our last full day in Iceland, we made our way back towards Vik. We stopped again at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon to watch the icebergs flow out to sea and were treated to seeing a couple seals swimming around in the lagoon. We continued to Fjallsarlon Glacier Lagoon for a boat tour and close up look at that glacial tongue.

Geared up for our boat tour.

Fred on the boat tour.

A view up close of the glacier - you can't go closer for fear of a piece falling off and tipping the boat.

We got to Vik in time to spend a few minutes at the boat museum and catch a movie about early life in Vik. We then found a newly opened brewery and tried their beers and burgers before heading back to Halldorskaffi for another round of desserts.

Smidjan Brugghus

We got up early the next day to get back to Reykjavik in time for a walking tour. We learned a lot about Reykjavik and got to witness "senior skip day" of Reykjavik, where seniors run around town drinking and dressed up in all sorts of costumes. 

Ready for our walking tour.

Last stop out at the Grotta lighthouse for one last view of the Reykjavik area (and I'd hoped to find a small hot spring foot bath, but no luck.)