http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Iceland en-us Sat, 05 Dec 09 04:48:49 +0000 Sat, 05 Dec 09 04:48:49 +0000 Iceland is like Bizzaro Hawaii a rocky volcanic island with settlement all around the shore but very cold.As my travel buddy Randell and I wandered into the capitol at about 10a.m. we wondered if the sun would ever rise. It did by 11 and stayed up until at least 330p.m.The day started with a long dark bus ride. We watched as Reykjavikrsquos city lights began to come into focus and won http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-455767.html Day 10 9th October 2009130 PMAfter a week of fairly good if cold weather with only the odd exception Iceland has today given us a taste of the unpredictable extremes that we had read about. The winds that seemed pretty strong when they cracked Lyndseyrsquos head against the car door last night were it seems just the beginning. After arriving back at the hostel last night we decided to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/South/blog-454661.html 1015 AMHeimaey was almost abandoned in 1973 after an unexpected eruption formed a brand new volcano destroyed half the town and almost sealed up the harbour. It was one of the reasons that I wanted to come here in the first place not only to see the result of a recent eruption but to see how the town had avoided near disaster. I also wanted to climb a volcano at some point and it helped tha http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/South/Vestmannaeyjar/blog-450980.html 720 PMThe Golden Circle tour left me cold and damp by the time Herman dropped us off but I had already formed a solution to this a solution that lay in City Hostelrsquos basement in the form of a nice hot shower. There were showers upstairs on the same floor as our room but a tipoff from Joe had led me down to the dungeons to a bathroom nobody else seemed to know about where I could get http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-449990.html Gullfoss is where the Golden Circle gets its name from literally meaning lsquoGolden Fallsrsquo. It is also the furthest inland we can get along this road Route 35 becomes Route F35 from here and while I have no idea what the lsquoFrsquo stands for it basically means if yoursquore in a minibus with a bunch of other tourists the only way is back come back another day in a souped up http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-449639.html The City Hostel in Reykjavik is a really nice place. It is a pretty hefty walk into the city although there is a bus stop right outside for those less inclined to walk than we are but the place is clean the staff are friendly and it just has a generally nice atmosphere. Once back at the hostel we popped on the internet for a while to try and find a cheaper price for whale watching but bei http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-448184.html 525 PMI found out while shaving yesterday morning that the Canadian bloke is called Joe. He was also a man without anything particular to do so he joined us for the day while we perused the sights of Reykjavik. We decided to take a walk along the bay towards the city centre the same route that we had started but given up on the night before except that this time I had a fleece John had a wo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-448092.html Keflavik airport is often known as Reykjavik airport to avoid confusing stupid travellers but it is actually a good 23 miles away from Reykjavik not close although this is less than Gatwick is from London and the capital has its own airport right on the edge of the city so Irsquom not sure how well it succeeds in not confusing stupid travellers. However being the only international airpo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjanesbaer/blog-447326.html All 10 of us went on a private tour of the Golden Circle. This tour was awesome and one of the best we have experienced. Our guide was in the Air Force in Iceland went back to the states for a few years before Iceland allowed foreigners into the country. He got a call to be a radioTV announcer in Iceland and has lived here ever since. He absolutely loves the country and loves being a tour gui http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-445321.html We wake on another frigid morning and fall all over each other in our tiny cabin I'm sure if you owned it you'd call it 'quaint' or 'charming'. I somehow succeed in showering even though the shower virtually stoops over the bed. We take off and stop at a nearby gas station for breakfast. In buying another supply of Skyrr we probably smash all tourist records for Skyrr purchases on a short vac http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/blog-444496.html Today we have to start making the long trip south to Reykjavik actually the trip is a little longer as we have to get to Keflavik airport anyone on a time crunch should be aware that the airport is 50 kmrsquos from the city so if yoursquore driving the Ring Road yoursquoll want to budget this extra driving time. Wersquove decided wersquoll head south via the Snaefellsness peninsula b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/blog-443107.html We're in the driest part of the country so it comes as no surprise to me that i go running early in the rain. It's a sort of whimpering nagging drizzle nothing like the extreme conditions of the South east but still a little disappointing. We go to the excellent Blaa Kannan for coffee looking through the daily Icelandic newspaper Morgunbladid I see Chelsea have beaten Manchester United on p http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/blog-442667.html We leave Myvatn early on Sunday morning heading for Dettifoss. I decide to be really clever and take the 'short' route road 862 instead of going the long way around through Husavik. So I'm going to save us a bunch of time on this trip even though the Tourist information tells us to go the long way. Soon I can see why. The road is terrible. No I mean terrible easily the worst we've been on. Ot http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/blog-440876.html We head out early from Smyrlabjorg on our way to Myvatn. It's pouring like usual and my shoes are drenched from my run.But as we head Northeast if you look very carefully there may be an odd patch of blue sky. We're heading towards the Northeast but Route 1 first takes us along the eastern coast. It's gorgeous as we head between the sea and the mountains. and of course there are waterfalls e http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/blog-439674.html After a great sleeping tablet plus jetlag induced sleep we had the hotel breakfast excellent we learned quickly that breakfasts included with accommodation are good deals as they can fill you up for much of the day of fruit eggs fish breads cereals and pastries We didn't have all that. That was on offer and good coffee the coffee standard is high in Iceland. We went off to collect o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/blog-439393.html I had arranged our itinerary so that we would go to the Laki crater on this day. We had to go by bus tour because we had no 4x4 we had chosen Laki instead of Landmannalaugur because the bus tour to Laki gives you much more time to walk around and explore. So when I went for my early morning run and on a family trip that's not so easy you have the challenge of going out early without waking any http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/blog-438897.html By travellingdadWe arrived at Keflavik airport tired the direct flight from Seattle leaves in mid afternoon and with the time change gets in early in the morning so you miss out on the night cold somehow with all our traveling experience we assumed summer would be at least warm not fully appreciating how seriously one should take the name lsquoIcelandrsquo but excited. The airport is http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/blog-438645.html I was so excited conming here...more excited than I have been in a very long time. A new air company... Air Iceland... all so new. I got so many lovely insights...the scale of time volcanos hundreds of years of continuous written history almost no carbon footprint everyone we met has been so nice and helpfull lovely food not so expensive fantastic landscapes... and the list goes on and on. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-437963.html Just some random pictures of the city... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-437182.html Okay so I'm slacking on the blog entries. It seems like each day 75 is spent seeing things and 25 is spent planning things to do next. I don't mind it really especially now that my sleeping schedule is beginning to get on track. Each night I write down what I did during the day so that I remember. Seems like a bit of a blur since I landed and catching a cold over four rainy days in Reykjavik http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-437071.html