Iceland Day 9: Reykjavik to NYC to DC

From Home …

At 7a we check out of Hotel Cabin and board the bus to Reykjavik International Airport. The Boston group is on an Icelandair direct departing at 10a. I’m with Sue and Don on Delta Flight 247 from Reykjavik to JFK leaving 90 minutes later. In New York we pass through customs. Then we’re on Delta Flight 5699 from JFK to Washington National. Collect bags. Get Uber. And home.

There’s a huge amount of planning that goes into these trips to figure out what to wear, how to pack, and what photographic gear to bring. But the best laid plans can sometimes go awry. This one got off to a rough start due to problems with our departing flights. We rescheduled for the next day and arrived on Monday morning instead of Sunday morning. We did miss the first day in Reykjavík, but we were able to catch up with the rest of the group.

And it was great to catch up with Mickey and Donna. It’s been a few years since our last trip to Israel together.

A few thoughts about this trip …

Seeing the northern side of the island is worth it. By bus, with stops every so often, it takes most of the day to get there. But along the way the scenery is incredible and spending a few days in Akureyri was a really great travel experience!.

Tour guides are storytellers whether the story is about the history of the place you are visiting or an interesting anecdote. Kolfinna is a gifted storyteller weaving the telling of the Icelandic Sagas with descriptions of day-to-day life in modern Iceland. She has a background in journalism and as a documentarian, so this makes sense! And the logistics of this tour go smoothly with very little wasted time. Ya, ya!!

Of course our coach driver, Jacob, got the bus safely down the road, but he also added commentary on the information about Iceland from Kolfinna, and suggested beautiful stops along the way!

When you are with group of people 24/7 for a week or longer it’s important that everyone is in sync and gets along. That certainly was the case with this group. A combination of new and previous travelers, the conversation was always engaging … and everyone wanted to hear about bread baking!

These trips are always a blur! And I’ll be honest, in the last few days before I depart for a trip I don’t look forward to the work necessary to post these daily updates. But once I get to a destination, see some incredible places, and start taking pictures I really enjoy the process of sharing these posts. I hope you enjoyed reading. Thank you for following along. Some of my favorite photos from this trip …

Iceland Day 8: Golden Circle

From Reykjavik …

Today we visit the Golden Circle, a popular tourist loop circling about 140 miles near Reykjavik. We’re going to Þingvellir National Park, Strokkur Geysir and the Great Geysir, Gullfoss waterfall, and a couple of other interesting stops.

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park is geologically significant as it lies at the rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates and politically significant as the site of the world’s first parliament in 930 AD … you can add your own joke about political rifts between the US and Europe. The Öxarárfoss waterfall is also here with a beautiful rainbow today.

Efstidalur is a family run dairy farm dating back to the 1750s! Now run by seventh-generation siblings Guðrún, Sölvi, Linda and Halla, the farm features a farm-to-table restaurant, horse rentals, and a hotel. We are visiting for lunch and to sample the homemade ice cream. Both are excellent!

Next we visit the Strokkur geothermal area. This is the location of the original Great Geysir, the namsake of all geysers. While the Great Geysir is less active now, every 5-10 minutes Strokkur erupts sending hot water 100 feet (30 meters) up in the air. I get a good sequence of Strokkur a few minutes after we get to the geyser. Then I spend an hour trying to get the full eruption sequence on video. It’s a fail. And the camera battery is dead. I go back to the bus for a fresh battery and we’re on to the next stop.

And our last waterfall of the trip! A visit to Gullfoss Waterfall, one of the most iconic in Iceland. This dramatic waterfall plunges down two-tiers into the canyon below. This rainbow is pretty spectacular!

Our next stop is Friðheimar (Fridheimar) a tomato farm run by Knútur and Helena, and their five children: Dóróthea, Karítas, Matthías Jens, Tómas Ingi, and Arnaldur. Despite a farming in an environment that seems too harsh, they farm tomatoes in greenhouses under artificial lighting, all year round. We learn about the greenhouse farming process the enjoy a cocktail in the greenhouse bar!

It’s an hour drive back to Reykjavik for our last sightseeing destination this trip … the Hallgrimskirkja Church observation tower. Earlier this week we missed seeing the city and surrounding mountains from Hallgrímsjirkja’s 73-meter height so it’s good that we made it back to Reykjavik to get in before the 5p closing time!

Dinner is catch of the day back at Brasserie Askur and tomorrow we head home!

Iceland Day 7: Akureyri to Reykjavik

On the road Reykjavik …

Last night’s cod dinner at the Lamb Inn was delicious! After dinner Jóhannes, Jacob (our driver), Kolfinna (our guide), and Larry serenaded the group with a selection of songs. The perfect way to wrap up our stay at the Lamb Inn!

Overnight, with a slight chance of seeing the northern lights, Mickey, Donna, and Carol are up at 1:30a for a two mile hike to look up at the sky. Too many clouds to see the Aurora Borealis, but the city lights make the clouds glow above Akureyri!

At 9:30a we’re back on the bus departing Akureyri and heading south towards Reykjavik on a grey overcast day. It’s an all day drive from Akureyri but we’ve got some stops along the way. About an hour outside of Akureyri the road goes up to 600 meters through a mountain pass during a snow shower.

Around 10:30a we stop in Varmahlíð for a mid-morning coffee. A little farther down the road we make a quick stop at a farm to see some Icelandic Horses.

A little after noon we pull off the main road and head several kilometers down a gravel road to see the falls at Kolugljúfur Canyon. I dig out the 20mm lens for a little wider view of these falls.

We stop for lunch at a roadside Nesti near Norðurlandsvegur. Another hour down the road we reach the Grábrók Crater volcano and lava field. After last erupting three thousand years ago the volcano now looms 550 feet over the surrounding lava field. It takes about 45 minutes to walk to the top to look into the crater then walk around the crater rim and back down. It’s very windy! And it is a great vantage point to the see the nearby landscape.

We leave Grábrók Crater and have about a two hour drive to Reykjavik. We’ll do a quick check-in at the hotel then head out for a lamb dinner. Tomorrow we explore the Golden Circle.

Iceland Day 6: Akureyri

From the Lamb Inn …

After a late night at the Lamb Inn, breakfast is a little later this morning at the Lamb Inn.

At 9:30a half the group departs for a spa experience at Forest Lagoon in Akureyri. The rest of us head out from the Lamb Inn for a nature hike up Uppsalahnjúkur peak. After a few days on the bus it’s nice to do some walking. Jóhannes, the Lamb Inn proprietor, leads us up the trail. He makes this walk almost daily. The peak is 680 meters so there is a little bit of work to do. But the view is worth the climb!

After the hike we met up with the spa group for lunch in Akureyri. Lunch is a restaurant called Akureyri Backpackers. The specialty is fish and chips. It’s greasy and delicious! Don and I sample the local brew called Húsavík.

Next a whale watching aboard the Elding. The boat takes us an hour north in Eyjafjördur fjord. It’s cold and windy out on the water. I’ve got all my layers on and the boat provides a coverall. I’m comfortable on the deck of the Elding.

It’s start of the feeding season here at the beginning of May for humpback whales and we are lucky enough to see a couple! We also see several harbour porpoises and minke whales.

Humpback whale flukes are unique and are used to identify each whale.

Although it’s cold and windy out on the water, the views are gorgeous!!

Tonight’s dinner is cod back at the Lamb Inn. Then tomorrow we make our way back to Reykjavik.

Iceland Day 5: Akureyri to Myvatn

From Myvatn …

Breakfast is at the Lamb Inn at 7:30a and we’re back on the road at 9:00a. Our first stop is an overlook above the fjord for a scenic view of the town of Akureyri.

After a 45-minute drive we’re at the Goðafoss waterfall. Here the Skjálfandafljót River plunges from 39 feet high and nearly 100 feet wide into a pool of turquoise water. Legend has it that lawspeaker Thorgeir Ljosvetningagodi tossed Norse idols into the waterfall after deciding Iceland’s religion should be Christianity.

After Goðafoss we’re back on the bus for the quick drive to the seaside town of Húsavík. We pickup some lunch supplies to eat on the bus while we’re driving. On the way to the Dettifoss waterfall we stop at an overlook at Kópasker above the fjord with birds nesting in the cliffside. We’re here to see Atlantic Puffins. And we’re in luck! They’ve just arrived up north for the breeding season before heading south again in September.

About an hour drive inland and we reach the Dettifoss waterfall. The water flows from the Vatna Glacier via the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river. This one is big! The waterfall is 330 feet wide and drops down 144 feet. And it’s powerful! The water flows over the falls at an average of over 250 cubic yards per second.

About 30 minutes down the road we reach the Lake Myvatn region. The lake was created by a volcanic eruption 2300 years ago, however, it’s a shallow lake averaging less than 10 feet of depth. During the winter months the lake freezes solid, but we visit the nearby high-temperature geothermal area called Námafjall. Sulfur fills the air.

We end the sightseeing portion of the day with a visit the Myvatn Nature Baths for a healing dip in geothermal waters heated 8,000 feet below the surface … and there is a swim up bar!

Tomorrow is whale watching!