Iceland

… must come to an end. For my last day, I had an early reservation at the Sky Lagoon, which is an Oceanside geothermal lagoon closer into town. I just could not get myself interested in the Blue Lagoon on this visit. Although I brought my swimsuit, I ended up renting one so I wouldn’t have to deal with a wet garment in my suitcase. Sky Lagoon’s “The Ritual” is eloquently explained on their website, but I would summarize as alternating between hotter and colder forms of water. Towards the end, you rub oily salt on your body, then walk into a steam furnace until you absolutely cannot take it anymore, grope for the exit, and take a normal shower. The transitions, especially hot to cold, are surprisingly invigorating. ...

Today, my last night in Reykjavik, I spent the morning geocaching around Petrin, checking out the ruins of Oskjuhlid Hill, a WW2 relic. The walk from downtown was a lot longer than I had planned for, but it was basically Seattle weather, and nice to be outdoors: Stairs to ??? WW2 structure Bunker On the way back, I was enjoying checking out the local street murals. The cat-stronaut is one of my favorites, but there are several solid works. My favorite ...

There’s some definitely extremely NSFW content here involving an uncharacteristically large number of dick pics. At least twenty. Oops, sorry for the Dick pic, source: Wikipedia. To avoid the naughty bits appearing at the top of someone’s internet feed, I’m going to complain first. After last night’s Food and Drink Walk, I ran back to the hotel to dispose of some beer I no longer needed and change into extra warm clothes for another tour that would take us out to see the Northern Lights. It was serendipitous that I’d scheduled this specific day because we were between storms and it was going to be cold and clear, with no interference from the moon, and a Kp index of 4. Although we were successful at seeing aurora, I would not recommend doing this in a tour group. ...

For today, I had booked a (small) tour through the hostel. The Midgard Surprise is what it sounds like, the guide picks a route based on weather, road conditions, expertise, and whim. Today’s was to Gígjökull, Þórsmörk then a couple of waterfalls. According to Discover Iceland, Gígjökull is a 7.5 km long crater glacier and one of the outlets from the glacier volcano Eyjafjallajökull, famous its eruption in 2010 that wrought havoc with air traffic as well as being difficult for non-Icelanders to pronounce. (I’m told that it sounds like “Hey I forgot the yogurt” if spoken very quickly.) Eyjafjallajökull ...

What a difference two days makes. After visiting Gullfoss and Gljúfurárfoss on Monday, in the heavy rain and wind, I rolled into parking for Skógafoss, stopped maybe 10 minutes, then noped out of there for different, equally blustery options. Because of the orange weather alert and closed roads, yesterday’s highlight was … clean laundry. Thus, this morning’s cold, clear and calm was extra alluring. I mean, what about this doesn’t just say “go outdoors, now. Okay, you can have breakfast first, but then get outdoors!”? ...

In my trip planning document weeks ago, I had a note indicating today’s itinerary was likely going to be the wettest time here. Today, with the added benefit of the weather, that lived up to its promise and then some. The first stop of the morning was Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall located approximately 20km east of Hvolsvöllur. It is not the largest, most powerful, or voted most likely to become class president, but it is a spectacular site with a near-constant roar. As you might be able to tell from the photo, it kicks up a lot of mist. ...

The jet lag last night was rough. I think I had a total of nine hours sleep (which is good) but spread over 13 hours attempted (not good), including some surreal dreams. But I was feeling more human again. I started off the day with a latte and an Icelandic vegetarian breakfast of chia pudding and toast with hummus and chutney. Tastes better than it looks! Having abstained from coffee for two weeks prior to my trip, the latte had the effect of perking me up quickly. First stop of the Golden Circle was Þingvellir National Park, which became a UNESCO site for the historical significance — the AlIÞing‘s (Icelandic parliament) formation over a millennium ago. It’s as equally interesting geologically, as it’s the intersection of two continental plates. Just say no to crack? ...