Advertisement
Published: March 13th 2014
We made it! We arrived this morning right On time at 6:30 am local time. We breezed through customs, grabbed a quick breakfast, got our rental car and hit the road... almost! Our rental only had a quarter tank so we stopped to fill up (They don't have the bring it back full rules here). But when we got to the gas station, we couldn't figure out how to open the gas thing! Long story short, we ended up back at the car rental place so they could show us how to do it (its an unmarked tiny lever on the drivers side floor). Finally we were on the road by about 8am.
Our first stop was the Raufarholshellir ice caves (about a 45 min drive from the airport). Ernie discovered the caves during some research and they are one of Icelands best kept secrets! We ventured into the cave, and the ice formations in the caves were amazing! The water falls from the ceiling and builds up to form ice sculptures. It really was a sight! We didn't venture too far because it was very icy but we did get some good pics!
After the caves we headed
to the Blue Lagoon spa which is a geothermal hot spring you can wade around in (for a ridiculous price). Everyone told us it's the "must do" in Iceland, so we went. And we will never go again, or recommend it! The place was overcrowded (at 11am on a Wednesday in March), it wasn't very clean and people were pretty rude. We couldn't wait to get out of there! We did try to get our money's worth, but I don't really think we did. Oh and someone stole Ernie's sandals and towel while we were in the spring, so that also put a damper on the experience. Too many la touristas!
Once we escaped the Blue Lagoon, we started our journey to Vik, where we are spending our first two nights. We made a couple of stops along the way at some gorgeous waterfalls and to take a few scenery pictures. The weather here is crazy - today we experienced snow, rain, sunshine, sleet, and hail. And the weather changes every 5 minutes! The terrain is pretty barren, not many trees or other vegetation. Lots of black rock and sand. And big waves on the Atlantic (also strong winds!)
Today we stopped to out gas in the car 3 times (getting gas in another country is a challenging process!), had one solid meal, and no sleep. But, our hotel is great (ocean view!) and our dinner, although crazy overpriced, was pretty good! Most of our pictures from today are on the camera still, we are too tired to download them. I'll work on that tomorrow! I did have a couple on my phone to share! Good night! Wlysm
Advertisement
Tot: 0.536s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 9; qc: 50; dbt: 0.1932s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
steve currin
non-member comment
What an adventure! Sounds like a blast! can't wait to see what you do today! ILYSM, -dad