From the Observation Deck

Our first stop was the magnificent waterfall called Seljalandsfoss. The guide told me I would not be able to go on the path behind the waterfall to which I replied, “Huh, we’ll see.” I got up to the path and wondered how anyone—bum leg or not—got up and down the treacherous path. So I went the other way and got a great view on top of a tall platform. I stopped when the mud started but got a good laugh at the two Japanese dudes in suits who navigated the path down—arms flailing to their sides. Hilarious. The entire area was a vision of green carpeted cliffs, wildflowers, and water. While Amy and Jen scoped out behind the falls, Butter and I took photos in front. I scooped out some crystal clear water from the creek that flowed from the waterfall that flowed from the glaciers above. It was drinkable so I had some and then brought it home for a time when we will not have any drinkable water. The last of it will be in my bottle on my shelf.

That was some of the last sun we saw that day. On the way to the next stop Bob pointed out the volcano Eyjafjallajökull and we asked to stop there. We could see the glacier above the volcano in the background of a sprawling farm. It was very cool standing in front of this famous glacier/volcano and Bob gave everyone a lesson in how to pronounce it. I already knew how—you know from those geeky science shows I was watching prior to the trip. No one was impressed. Oh well.

Next up, we were going to the coast to hopefully see some puffins. By now the wind was howling and the rain was pounding. I managed to click a few shots in the vicinity of where the puffins were nesting. The sea was beautiful despite the rain but the van was a welcome refuge. There was a unique rock, Dyrhólaey, standing up and out of the sand. We took some quick photos and made our way to the comfort of a warm lunch.

After lunch I walked to a beach with black sand. The waves were rough and there was a river of water cutting through the black sand that looked stunning with the green background of the hills behind. There were some cool sea stacks in the distance. We moved on to the town of Vik and some of our group ventured out over some tough terrain to sea some caves, trolls, and basalt rocks that form from the volcanic eruptions. If you are interested, they make some beautiful formations—some of which we saw the next day and in other areas of Iceland. (More geeky stuff that looks beautiful.)

Moving on, we stopped at the glacier snout of Sólheimajökull. In our minds we were thinking of bright white snow like expanses. This was more like what D.C. looked like about a week after snowpocalypse in 2010. Mounds of dirt covered ice and snow. Okay, it wasn’t that bad and there were some really cool formations in the ice. But next time I’m going to one of the big glaciers they have there.

The rain lightened up a bit and we finished our day at another gorgeous waterfall called Skógafoss. This one had a path that went way up to the top. I chose to stay below and see how close I could get to the falls. As everywhere, I kept seeing some funny faces in the landscape—this one was a big troll like head. I’ll post photos of all the funny faces in another post so you don’t think I’m completely crazy.

Once again, a big two thumbs up for the natural beauty of Iceland. And this time, our tour—Go Travel Iceland (gti) was very good. I do recommend them!

Back at Inga’s we decide to go out to have a nice meal. On our way to dinner, a nice couple passed by us and gave a hearty hello to Amy. I asked her who they were and she said, “Oh, that’s [Cindy and Dave].” When I asked where she met them she said they got to know each other at the bottom of that volcanic crater the other day [Kerid].” Yes, Amy can make friends in three seconds with anyone, anywhere.

Back to dinner…we ate at a swanky type place called Domo’s. I had a very expensive and delicious meal of lamb and some lobster meat. The lamb was very yummy but I could pass on the lobster stuff they had. The other girl’s liked their meals as well. Then on to home base. Many people have asked me if I could sleep while I was there. My usual reply is I don’t sleep much anyway, but yes, I did have trouble going to bed. I think I just didn’t want to miss anything and it felt like I might since it never quite got dark. But I loved it all the same.

Next time we go exploring with our pals at Goecco!

Seljalandsfoss. Amy and Jen behind the falls.

Eyjafjallajökull in the background of this farm.

 

 

Skógafoss

Seljalandsfoss. A beautiful waterfall on the south coast tour of Iceland.

Our awesome guide, Bob.

 

Dyrhólaey.

The saga continues…day two of our fantastic trip to Iceland and Norway.

The Golden Circle Tour is very popular in Iceland. It covers some of the big highlights and every tourist company covers these hot spots and calls their tour, the Golden Circle Tour. It may be full of tourists but if you go to Iceland I do recommend it. Having said that, make sure to pick a tour company that is good—not the one we took.

So, day two we begin the day by waiting for the bus to pick us up at Inga’s. And then we wait and wait. They got the wrong address but after my call they finally came back around and we get on our way to the first stop at Thingvelir National Park. We were expecting to hear the driver talk about things we were passing or give us some history behind where we were going—maybe even an overview of the day’s schedule. That was not to happen. All day. Nothing.

Okay then. First stop was Thingvelir, the site of the world’s first parliament. Beginning in 930 AD, each year, the Icelanders would gather (at what was known as the Althing) to hammer out disagreements and vote on issues—one being if they would adopt Christianity or not and how that adoption would play out in their laws. It was very cool—lots of rock formations, a river, and mountains in the background. During the Althing, each family would dig in and stay in “booths.”

Coincidentally also at this site is a split in the earth—a place that the earth is actually forming and expanding the land mass of Iceland. The North American and Eurasian tectonic plates come together here and because of the unique nature of Iceland—being located over a hot spot where there is a massive lava plume coming up from inside the earth, the lava comes up and new land is formed and the earth seems to split apart. I watched an episode on the history or science channel about it and thought it was cool. Evidently I was the only one who thought it was cool. Anyway, we got back on the bus—amazingly we all found it because the driver did  not tell everyone where he would be—and went on to another site close by where we got some great shots of a huge and deep lake formed from glacial ice melting.

As the rain began, the tour continued to the erupting geyser. Guess what it was called. Don’t know? Geysir. Seems that our word for erupting water spouts comes from the old Viking term that means the same thing. This one was the “great geysir.” What I saw looked like an ice version of that sand monster in Star Wars—the one that Jabba the Hut tried to throw Luke into but he and Han and Leah and Lando all escaped. Anyway, it sort of bubbled up like it was blowing a water bubble or burping then BOOM! Didn’t see much at that point—just a lot of water on my camera lens. But it was pretty neat four minutes later when it erupted again.

So we passed up a cool gift shop and warm yummy food at the geysir because the tour driver said the next place was better. Turned out the line was huge, the food was not better and the gift shop was no good. Thanks dude—very helpful. After lunch we walked through the pounding wind and rain to see a gorgeous waterfall. It’s called Gulfoss (I think foss is the word for water fall). I hobbled down the stone path and was rewarded with a brilliant view of a tremendous and huge waterfall that cascaded down a wide river into a narrow gulf surrounded by luscious green hills. Magnificent. Truly breathtaking.

Back in the bus, we got to chatting with the other travelers. One young woman was on her own—originally from down under but working in London. So she had popped on over to Iceland for the long weekend. Must be nice. Another couple was from Seattle. Very nice people—we ended up seeing them again later on. I know we have photos of everyone somewhere and Amy surely has all their e-mail addresses. We got to know each other very well at the next stop—since we were there for about two hours more than is usually recommended for the tour. The Kerið volcano.

Kerið was a stunning crater volcano—with reds and greens and blues dotting the inside of the crater. The bottom of the crater was filled with brilliant blue water. Some young soul went swimming but we passed on that. Amy and Jen hiked to the bottom and got some great shots there. I spent a lot of time at the crater petting one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen. This poor thing looked abandoned and was greeting every single car as if it held its owner. Really friendly and cute! The reason we were there so long was that our tire blew out. Earlier I noticed the windshield wipers weren’t really working which troubled me considering how hard it was raining.

Once the tire was fixed we were on our way to some gift shop. The tour promoted it as a greenhouse. Okay, sure. Then on the way home we passed by a plant where they produce a lot of the energy that is used to heat the homes in Iceland. They all use geothermic energy so their bills are only a few dollars a month. Nice!

So, in conclusion—I give two thumbs up to the beautiful wonders of Iceland as well as their historic landmarks. But an absolute minus zero to the Time / Timi tour group. The driver did not speak more than about five words the entire time and they had a major equipment failure among other things.

After the tour we decided to reward ourselves with a trip to one of the geothermic pools. We soaked in the hot tubs and swam a few laps. These hot tubs are known to be a place where Icelanders gather to gossip and talk politics. We talked to a few people but mostly just soaked our bones. On the way back we had a nice conversation with our cab driver. He told us he was in love with a girl from the Miami area who had gotten in his cab one day. When I saw he was learning to speak Spanish I asked if she was Cuban and he was shocked that I would guess that. Dude—I’m pretty sure the only people who speak Spanish in Miami are Cuban decent. Anyway, I couldn’t pronounce the street we lived on but luckily Amy had taken a photo of it. Phew. But first—we wanted dinner and we wanted to try out the famous hot dog stand.

The driver knew where it was so we offered to buy him a dog if he would take us there first. Yes, the hot dogs were very yummy!! I think it had more to do with the toppings but we all would highly recommend the hot dogs at Bæjarins beztu pylsur. The name translates to “the best hot dog in town.” Brilliant. Another wonderful day in Iceland!