Blogs from Southwest, Iceland, Europe - page 2

MON, 26 SEP 2022 – Day 1 Introduction - Travel to Iceland and delve into the ancient tales of Vikings and volcanoes on this eight-day adventure to its heartlands. Marvel at geothermal hot springs, witness the steamy eruptions of a giant geyser, touch the tongue of Europe's biggest glacier at Vatnajokull and cruise the Jokulsarlong Glacial Lagoon, see lava that's still warm after decades and witness the giant Skogafoss and Detifoss waterfalls in all their splendour. Travel through Iceland's isolated corners and the land of the famous Blue Lagoon – so mysterious and ethereal that they have inspired artists, poets and musicians for centuries. Plus, with a local leader on hand to answer any questions and get you from place to place, you’ll be cruising around this icy isle in no time. MON, 26 SEP 2022 ... read more

We started bright and early and drove to the National Park. This park is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is the place of the first parliament in Iceland more than 800 years ago. For several hundred years the delegates, their families, and support community would meet for about two weeks in the summer. They camped and fished in the lake. The lake happens to be in the rift valley where the American plate and the European plate are constantly pulling apart from each other. The lake formed when the part in between sank, and is the largest lake in Iceland. The earliest settler in Iceland was said to have arrived in 870. Man it was windy today, serious wind, the kind that is hard to stand up in. Our bus traveled from the American plate ... read more

Dear All Greetings once more, on this my final entry for my amazing trip this summer. I write this one on my fantastic final few days on this summer adventure exploring Viking lands, and they turned out to be a wonderful wrap up to this journey. I was tired and ready to go home, but still had just that little bit of travel energy within me to explore and enjoy my final few sights. On a cool, crisp and seriously windy Monday morning, I left lovely Grundarfjörður behind and set off on my last car journey on this epic Icelandic road trip, heading southwards to Reykjavík, but with a stop off in lovely little Borgarnes along the way. This was a nice little town, in a dramatic location on a peninsula jutting out into the ocean ... read more

A 5am wake up has not been unusual here, but of course, today I was fast asleep when multiple alarms went off…just in case! This is the price we pay for having breakfast before we leave. It’s an excellent help yourself buffet here so we have decided it’s worth the get up. Our taxi arrives promptly at 6.15am and whisks us to Kefvalik airport in ten minutes. Here we join the ‘speedy boarding’ queue, which may not be quite as speedy since the desk is unmanned. Maybe it doesn’t need to open as early because they are going to be speedy? Anyway the other queue is horrendous so it can’t be any worse. Our check in has open ended and it’s all quite quick. Though anyone with a soft sided bag has to walk back round ... read more

There’s something rather nice about lying in bed all wrapped up warm listening to the rain hammering on tent canvas, or in our case van roof, all night. That’s what we had last night. The only main problem is no loo in this van but I made Ian park right outside the loo block so a mad dash over isn’t too bad. It’s not so nice to hear the rain hammering when you are about to get up. Loo dash is essential so it has to be done. We had hoped to do a nice walk this morning then go to the swimming pool. But the weather is not nice. Black clouds overhead. We have a slow start and debate an alternative. We have a slight break in the cloud and decide we will go whale ... read more