Iceland, the short version

I haven't had much time to write anything so it is already our last night here in Iceland. It has been an amazing week. So here's the quick and dirty version. One piece of advice for anyone thinking of going to Iceland (even in July!): pack a hat, gloves and warm layers! It is cold and damp!

Day 1:

Arrival in Reykjavik. Our first stop was the Blue Lagoon, where we lazed around in the hot springs for a bit. Then we headed into town, wandered around and settled in at our guesthouse. Reykjavik is a small city and not super interesting, but easy to walk around. There are lot's of felted handicrafts available for sale everywhere.

Day 2:

We caught the early morning bus to Landmannalaugar. Despite the rain, wind and low temperatures (so glad I packed my hat), we did a little hike to see the rhyolite mountains and lava formations in the area. It was pretty cool, although not as colourful as in the postcards because of the weather.

From Landmannalaugar, we headed to Skaftafell via Eldgja, a volcanic canyon. It was quite the bus ride... really, it was more like a rickety, old carnival rollercoaster. We crossed dozens of rivers, hung off the edges of cliffs and wished we hadn't chosen the only seats without seatbelts. (We passed a Jeep or SUV of some type stuck in a river, which we crossed.)

Day 3:

View from the breakfast table in Skaftafell.

In Skaftafell, part of Vatnajökull National Park, we did a short walk from our guesthouse to Svartifoss, a waterfall frequently featured on postcards. From there, we headed across a plateau to Sjónarnípa, a veiwpoint that looks out over Skaftafellsjökull, which is part of Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe. From our guesthouse, we had a view of the sand flats in front of another part of the glacier which flooded in the 90's after a volcanic eruption under the glacier.


In the afternoon, we caught a bus to Vik, a town on the south coast known for black sand beaches and birds. We took it easy and got some groceries (it was 3 times as expensive in Reykjavik!!).



Day 4:
After a night in a guesthouse that smelled like horses, we headed along the coast to Seljalandsfoss, another waterfall, where we had to switch buses. After a much calmer AWD ride than our last one (but with just as many river crossings), we reached Þórsmörk. The area is known for hiking, so that's what we did. After buying the worst (i.e., least accurate) hiking map I've ever seen, we went for a walk that took us to the top of a small mountain. We had great views of the surrounding valleys and glaciers, specifically Eyjafjallajökull (yes, the location of the 2010 eruption) and Mýrdalsjökull. Apparently, Husadalur, where we stayed, is home to a small herd(?) of Icelandic horses. (There was a riding tour of some sort going on while we were there.)

At the top of the mountain we accidentally climbed.

New friends.

Day 5:
We did a little more exploring of the Þórsmörk area before heading back to Reykjavik for the evening. Good thing  we bought some food at a small grocery store at a pit stop because the grocery store was closed by the time we got back to the city. It really wasn't that late!


Day 6:
Another early morning bus trip and we found ourselves on our way to the Golden Circle (Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss). Þingvellir, the original home of Icelandic parliament (established in 930), is on the edge of the Eurasian and American plates. Geysir is a geothermic area, home to Geysir, the geyser that all other geysers are named after. Geysir no longer erupts regularly, but Strokkur, only a few steps away, erupts about every 7 minutes. This area reminded me a lot of the geothermal areas in New Zealand. Gullfoss, a waterfall, was cool, but not mind blowing. There were no fences along many of the edges, so you could have touched the water in some places, if you really felt the need...

Surprise! It's a geyser!

At Gullfoss.

Day 7:
We started off our last day in Iceland by visiting the National Museum in Reykjavik. A tour bus arrived shortly after we did, which we both found intrusive since the museum is quite small. A lot of the information in the museum focused on the influence of Christianity in Iceland, which was interesting, but we both agreed we would have liked to have known more about the vikings! We also kept hearing about how Icelanders generally have many superstitious beliefs and many believe in "hidden people" (sort of like elves), trolls and the like. I would have liked to have seen more in the museum about how those beliefs fit in with Christianity, which was widely adopted in the year 1000.


We spent the afternoon wandering around the city and finished off the day with Icelandic salmon for a second night in a row. It was that good. And one of the only things we could buy in small quantities.

In the morning, we're off to Sweden to check out Stockholm, Uppsala and Norrköping, to see the sights and visit some of our friends. All in all, Iceland was amazing and I can't wait to visit again. There is so much to see and the landscapes are just magnificent. My recommendation is that you go, too!

** Note: I didn't actually post this in a timely manner, but it was all written on our last night in Iceland. I just never got around to adding photos and posting it until now...**

Getting in a little culture before leaving

Tuesday morning we packed up, checked out, and headed to Museum Mile.

"Our" subway stop

Over the course of the day, between the two museums we visited, I saw works by almost every well-known artist from the couple of centuries. Miro, Rodin, Chagall, Klimt, Kadinsky, Picasso, Degas, Georgia O’Keefe, Cezanne, Matisse, Tanguy, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Seurat… I could go on… Seeing all these famous pieces up close, seeing the cracking paint and brush strokes, was absolutely amazing. Next time I have to make it to MoMA and all those other museums we missed.

Hendrik in front of the Guggenheim.

We got to the Guggenheim for opening. It is such a cool building! Love Frank Lloyd Wright! Unfortunately, it was one of the loudest museums I have ever visited. It was so bad I put on my iPod to drown out the crowd. Ignoring the noise, it was a great experience overall. There was a really interesting photo exhibition and the permanent collection is also spectacular. It’s a relatively small museum and it took us about 2 hours to get through, although if we had more time I could definitely have been there longer.

We grabbed lunch from some food carts. I decided to try a New York pretzel. Bad idea. Probably one of the worst things I have ever eaten. It was dry and salty. So, so salty. Unfortunately, it was also the only vegetarian option.

My pretzel after I had already shaken off some of the salt. You can still see it.

Jazz band in Central Park behind the Met.

After eating, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wow. It’s huge. Absolutely massive. A gallery I wanted to see was closed, but there was still so much to see, even skipping almost all of the ancient and medieval galleries. The gallery that was closed had some Dadaist works and other pieces I wanted to see. Next time…

Interesting map of modern Europe in the Met. Only missing a few countries...

One exhibit that stood out for me at the Met was Leon Levinstein’s Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players. It was a collection of photographs of New Yorkers from 1950 to 1980. But not clean, upper-crust New Yorkers. The pictures captured normal (somewhat quirky) people doing everyday things.

In the Van Gogh gallery. There were so many people every where! At least the Met was quiet(ish).

There was a bamboo installation on the roof of the Met. They're working on building a huge wave. You could go up into the structure, but you had to book ahead of time.

Bamboo on the roof.

The roof had a great view of Central Park and the city, too.

One disappointing thing at the Met was getting herded out 15 minutes before closing time. I was worried about finding Hendrik because I wasn't sure if we could get to our meeting place. Luckily we did and I didn't lose my cousin right before leaving!

The steps of the Met at closing time.

The ride back was uneventful. I wasn't sure if the border guard would believe I was only bringing back $2 worth of goods, but it went smoothly. (I only bought 2 postcards in New York.) I guess I'll just have to go back!