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Published: October 2nd 2015
Thursday, 17 September 2015
Reykjavik, Iceland
We arrived in Reykjavik (Ray-key-a-vik) about 7 a.m. We rented our car from a local company and found ourselves having to call them to find the lot. We walked across the parking lot and down the road in the brisk foggy weather to rent our car. In trying to figure out where the rental place was located, Curtis had problems getting his cell to work, but Jennifer had no troubles at all. The international airport is actually in Keflavik which is located 45 minutes west of the capital city.
Curtis drove our rented Kia to the city and hit morning rush-hour as we approached city limits. Usually the first thing we do is find our hotel and drop off our luggage, however, for this trip we tried something new. We decided to try AirBNB for four of the seven nights instead of getting hotels. Our first AirBnB rental was a full apartment in the city near city's center. Check-in wasn't until 5 p.m. so we killed time by doing some grocery shopping and driving around the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is the unofficial name given by tourists to a bunch of
Waiting for Strokkur Geyser to errupt
Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of the actual geyser. sites accessible right outside the city. We started at Thingvellir National Park, Iceland's most important historical site, both in natural beauty and historical value. Next, we went to Geysir, known for being the original geyser, which is where we get the word from. The geyser is not as steady as 'Old Faithful' but it spouts often enough. We had a hard time getting photos, but we left some video running for seven-ish minutes and scored a shot. Only a few clicks away is the famous Gulfoss, Iceland's most popular and visited waterfall.
When we finished our Golden Circle tour, we drove back to Reykjavik and wandered the old-city and the Hallgrimskirkja (a tall Lutheran church). At 5:30, we went to our place where we met Andri, our host, on his way out the door. The apartment was small but comfortable and had a wonderful location. After we settled down, we walked to Icelandic Fish & Chips. The food was okay but the local craft beers were wonderful.
After dinner, we walked back to the apartment and Jen passed out immediately since she had been battling jet lag all day. At about 10 p.m., the neighborhood cat jumped through
Gullfoss Waterfall
Off the Golden Circle the window and hung out with us. He meowed a lot and never sat still long enough for a proper photo. After an hour, he leapt out the window to make his neighborhood rounds.
Friday, 18 September 2015
Reykjavik to Stykkishólmur (Stike-iss-holm-ur)
We woke early and prepared for our trip around the island. Iceland is one of the most environmentally friendly country in the world due to the fact they power the entire capital and most of the country using geothermal energy from the vents found on the island. We suspect that this is the reason the water smelled like sulfur as we were taking showers and doing our normal getting ready things.
The plan for the rest of the trip is to take the Ring Road (Highway 1) clockwise around the whole country. The Ring Road is a highway that connects practically every popular site and large town to one, easily accessible, mostly-paved road. We headed north from Reykjavik to Hellnar and the Snaefellsjokull (Sn-eye-fells-yuh-kull) National Park. The park has tons of cool little sites and hikes. The park sits at the end of a glacier, for which it is named after. The glacier
wasn't much to see, as there wasn't much ice or snow on it at this time of year. The glacier itself was first made popular in Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' novel, the point which the expedition begins underground.
Some of the peninsula consists of fields of lava flows. It feels like you're walking through those photos of Mars. Coincidentally, Iceland and many areas around the island, including this, are used in space movies when they need somewhere that looks like Mars. We also saw some amazing sea stacks, which are blocks of erosion-resistant rock isolated from the land by sea. The last thing we did in the park was to drive down our first major gravel road to the western-most tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. We took a short hike from the parking lot to the edge of the cliffs hoping to find puffins and whales. We saw none. Oh well.
After we felt we had seen what we wanted of the national park, we drove to or next AirBnB - a little cottage located just outside Stykkishólmur. It was small but very comfortable and had a fully stocked kitchen. The first thing
Lamps
Decorations at the Icelandic Fish & Chips in Reykjavik Jen did was to visit the loo and found a way to lock herself inside while Curtis unloaded the car. After some fiddling with the lock (and more time than she wants to admit) she finally freed herself. After dusting off the embarrassment, she then proceeded to make the most delicious grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner. As we ate, we watched the Princess Bride and planned the next day's adventures.
Saturday, 19 September 2015
Stykkishólmur to Akureyri, Iceland
We got up around 10 a.m. and made our way towards the tiny town of Stykkishólmur. We did a small hike to the top of a hill where we could see a lighthouse from the parking lot. At the top of the hill, we found an amazing view of the ocean and the town. On our way out of town, we visited the Bonus (an inexpensive grocery store we got quite familiar with during the trip) and the Nesbrauð bakery. The bakery had amazing treats and was the best one we found in the country.
After loading up with treats, we hopped back on the road towards our final destination - Akureyri (Ack-you-ray-ree) in North Iceland. This
city is the second largest on the island, but was a whopping four hours away from Stykkishólmur (not including rest/picture stops). When visiting the Westlands of Iceland, you will be popping off the Ring Road. From where we were, we had to take the longest gravel road back to the highway, some 80 km (50 mi). During this time, we pulled over at a rest-stop with an amazing view. It was just a gravel stop big enough for a couple cars. We ate ham and cheese sandwiches overlooking some beautiful lava fields. About two hours later, and back on the Ring Road, we finally got to a gas station to have our first famous Icelandic hot dog. Besides rotted shark meat, hot dogs are also an Icelandic favorite.
Some six hours later, we arrived in Akureyri. The AirBNB rental we got was an apartment kitty-corner the city's cultural center and right off the river. We used Google and Trip Advisor to find the town's most popular dining spot which happened to be the most American restaurant ever, equivalent to Applebees, Olive Garden, Claim Jumper, Chiles, etc. Jen got the lobster bisque and Curtis got the french-fry pizza. EINSTÖK is
a craft beer that is brewed in Akureyri. Jen got the amazing white ale (flavored with coriander and orange peel) and Curtis got the more disappointing Viking pale. Iceland, like much of Scandinavia, are big sites for the microbrewery revolution.
After dinner we returned to the apartment. However, before going inside, there was an ice cream parlor located across the parking lot from the rental that we had to visit. Jen got a yummy mint chocolate chip (which they apparently color blue in Iceland, instead of the American green) and Curtis got banana split (which he didn't care for). After dessert, we called it a night.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Iceland
We loved our time in Iceland. Thanks for the memories.