Category Archives: Iceland

Today was the day we planned to stay in Reykjavic and make sure we had seen all the local sights. Frank slept late and I got some yoga in – travel mat goes everywhere with me. (I won’t even mention what the weather was like. I’m pretty sure you can guess.) We cooked up omelettes with the rest of the cheese and ham and pepper we had left in the fridge. Then it was off on the first job of the day: a little shopping.

Now I am not much of a shopper so the thought of going to a mall while on vacation absolutely horrifies me but I had a very specific purchase to make: an Iceland national jersey for my soccer-daft nephew. Apparently, Iceland has qualified for it’s first Word Cup so it seemed an appropriate Christmas gift. (Shh, don’t tell him. It’s a surprise.) We had seen some knockoffs commemorating the achievement in the tourist shops but we wanted the real thing and it had to be in kids sizes. So off to the mall we went to the inevitable sporting goods store where said jersey was procured (and on sale- bonus!)

Next stop: Alafoss, home of Lopi wool. Yup, the yarn tourism continues and I picked up enough yarn to knit myself a coat now that I’ll be living somewhere I can actually wear it. (For the curious, it’s the Einstein coat from the old Sally Melville book. I’ve been dying to make it for years). A lovely moss green heather and about half the price of what I’d pay in the US. Score!

Items procured, it was time to head back for our tour of the town. We filled up the car and parked it and walked down to the harbor to secure tickets for a puffin watching trip. We had just enough time before the boat sailed to walk to the famous Hallgrimskirkja, the starkly beautiful Lutheran church that sits on top of a hill in the middle of town. We took pictures of it during our flying visit in 2014 so no reason for new ones now. Then a wander back down the hill in search of something to eat where we ran across GLUTEN FREE CREPES! Now Iceland hasn’t been the easiest place to navigate for a Celiac traveler. It’s not the worst but I really haven’t had many choices and there were many highly recommended restaurants that just didn’t seem to work. So to find a crepe and gelato shop (Joylato) where everything in the shop is gluten free (and can be vegan) was heavenly.

The little dots are puffins. Really.

And it was time to sail! We jumped aboard a small boat (which apparently used to be a houseboat off the coast of the Carolinas!) to head to Akurey, an island just outside the harbor where there is a puffin colony. We did see about a dozen but photographing them without a massive lens was less than successful. We also saw harbor porpoises and a few other birds and got a lesson in local ecology from our guide Rodrigo Martinez – not your typical Icelander!

Last attraction for the day was the National Museum of Iceland. They have a large collection of items from the early settlement days (around 900 AD) through the end of the 20th century. But the organization and layout of the museum confused the daylights out of me and I felt like I missed something along the way. For example, I wanted to know what happened to all the trees and when. There was a display showing the coverage of birch trees in the middle ages compared to today but no further explanation. Grrr. But the building did have gorgeous stained glass windows – something the harsh Lutheran church did not so that at least makes me happy.

Back to the flat to pack and change before dinner. We had booked a table at Tapas Barinn because of course Icelandic tapas is a thing. Actually, we chose it because I had read good things about their ability to do gluten free options so that seemed like reason enough. I had mentioned it when we booked the table the night before so when we seated, the server knew all about it. In fact, even when I ordered my sangria, the manager came out to double check and assure me that all the liquor they used was gluten free. I know that but I appreciated the thought. And what a drink it was! It had star fruit, dragon fruit, and a kumquat in addition to the usual citrus slices. For $25, it deserves it’s own picture. Then the 7 course Icelandic feast commenced. We had puffin, whale, arctic char, ling, lobster, lamb, and (of course) Skyr pudding for desert. At each course, they explained what was different about my dish than Frank’s – usually the sauce. They were incredibly attentive and the food was spectacular. Even the weird stuff like puffin and whale. I cannot say enough about how attentive they were and I can’t recommend the place highly enough. Fellow Celiacs, put this one at the top of your list.

But then it was off to an early bed. We have a 7:35 flight to catch so it’s up at 4am for us. Frank is a little put off that he’s going to potentially miss the Capitals winning the Stanley Cup but the game starts at midnight and we haven’t figured out how to get it here. (We even tried subscribing to Hulu but the live TV part doesn’t work here.) So we’ve asked friends and family back home to cheer for us and we’ll have to see what the morning brings.

Data for today:
Steps: 18,983 (8.6 mi)
Amount I can claim back in VAT for the yarn I bought: 850kr (~$8)
Amount of time the form says it takes to claim tax back at the airport: 60 minutes.
Probability I will get up extra early to wait in line for $8: 2%

I’ve decided not to start this post by describing the grey, damp morning (even though it was one). Instead I’ll focus on our plans to head north and see what the west country had in store for us.  An overly ambitious plan involved driving to the Snæfellsjökull National Park but that was more than 3 hours each way so we thought we’d head in that direction and see what the day brought.

The sun came out earlier than usual today and we drove north around Hvalfjörður (“whale fjord”) to avoid paying a 1000Kr toll to use the tunnel.  Actually, it was suggested that using the tunnel meant you missed some beautiful scenery and that just wouldn’t do.  So around we went which meant that when we got to the head of fjord, there was a turnoff for Glymur waterfall – the second highest waterfall in Iceland at 198m.  We thought we could drive up, take a few photos, and then be on our way as we had done for most of the other waterfalls we have seen.  We pulled into the parking lot where there were about 8 other cars and realized that this was going to involve a hike.  Great!  Boots on, back pack organized – let’s hike!

The signs said that it was 3.4km to the falls which we thought would be no problem:  just over 2 miles at about 20-25 minutes per mile (we hike pretty fast) so we could knock this out in about an hour and a half and  be on our way up the coast. And that estimate would have held too if we were hiking along flat ground.  Alas, that was not to be the case.  The hike wound through fields and over rocky hill to get to the river bed at the base of the falls.  But the falls were in a deep crevice of the hill and the only way to actually see them was to climb up to where they were.  Yes, up nearly 600 feet!  Across the river (walking on stones and a log) and up rock face, we climbed over boulders, clambered through caves,  and scrabbled up scree.  In several places, the climb was so steep they had planted rebar with rope tied to it to help pull yourself along.  Not quite what we had planned but the gauntlet had been thrown and we were going to see that waterfall.

And what a site it was. Around 500 feet up, we found the viewing site which showed not only the magnificence of the falls but the breathtaking views all around us.  It was a challenging hike but nothing short of a spectacular experience.  And we had timed it perfectly:  while we had seen no more than 4-6 people on the ascent, we must have passed two dozen on the way down.  In fact, there was a traffic jam at the log to cross the river.  When we got back to the parking lot, there had to be 25 cars and more pulled in while we were having an impromptu trunk picnic (we were too hungry to find something more “picturesque”).

Our “quick jaunt” to the waterfall had taken 3 hours so driving another 2 hours to go hiking in the national park was out of the question.  So we continued around the fjord to the town of Borgarnes to visit the Settlement Museum to learn about how Iceland was founded.  It was a quaint little place with homemade audio guides (using iPod minis!) and entertaining exhibits.  A second part of the exhibit showed the highlights of Egil’s Saga which had connections to the region.  The dioramas were either entertaining (carved people in longships) or creepy (horses heads on sticks – “scorn poles”). Unfortunately, photography was not allowed so you’ll have to use your imagination.

After this cultural experience (and a cup of tea with GF cake in the cafe!), it was back to town.  We ate at the Icelandic Fish and Chip Company, a small cafe-like setting where you can choose one of the three fresh fish of the day from the blackboard. Frank chose the wolf fish (fried of course) and I had the special of the day: mussels! It was delicious and the most reasonably priced meal by far. A quick wander through town and we are off to bed reasonably early as our legs seem to think they have done enough work today.

Data for today:

Drive: 208
Steps: 20,784 (10.3 miles)
Flights: 97 (!)
Languages overheard so far: 6 (English, Icelandic, French, German, Italian, Russian)

Another early rise on a grey morning – I was up earlier than Frank so I got to break the news to him that while he was asleep, the Capitals had won their playoff game and were now one win from the Stanley Cup.  That woke him up!

We breakfasted on fried eggs and the stuff that looks like Canadian Bacon and then I packed the picnic lunch before we headed out on the most touristy of routes: the Golden Circle.  We didn’t really do the  actual circle since we had done part of it yesterday so we really did the northern upper arc. We had another otherwordly morning drive with clouds so low and thick that we often couldn’t see the cars in front of us.  We had planned to reverse our strategy from yesterday and stop at the various sites on the way out then do the long drive back but the dark greyness of the morning convinced us to keep driving and hope that the skies cleared. So off to the farthest point of the day: Gullfoss or “golden waterfall.” It is a beautiful tiered waterfall with easy access and lots of good vantage points. By the time we got there, our cunning plan had come to pass and the sun was out.  Therefore we got to see not only the amazing waterfall but also panoramic views of the mountains around us.  It was truly breathtaking.

But that was not to be the most spectacular site of the day by far.  Next stop, a mere 10k down the road is the Geysir hot spring area.  Yes, this is the place that gave us the word geyser and where regular eruptions occur.  The granddaddy of them all, Geysir, hasn’t erupted regularly since a 2008 earthquake but when it did, it was bigger than Old Faithful.  The nearby Stokker geyser is still very active – erupting every 8 minutes or so – but is slightly smaller than Old Faithful.  The most amazing thing about this area wasn’t the natural wonders but the commercial bonanza that had sprung up around it.  There weren’t many people at the hot springs themselves when we were there but there were busloads of tourists in the Visitors Center which was an amazing shopping mall.  Whoever came up with this was an absolute genius! They even have a clothing line names for the place.  Very impressive.

By now it was lunch time and we needed to find a place to picnic.  We drove along the road looking for a place to have lunch when we came upon a small layby stuffed full of cars.  Brúarfoss is a little know waterfall compared to some in Iceland but it is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  If you needed any evidence that God exists, this is it.  The water is an impossible blue.  I can’t even describe it and the pictures don’t do it justice. We found a place on the rocks by the water to enjoy our sandwiches and snacks and just soak in the sunshine and quiet roar of the water.  Absolute bliss!

We left the unplanned but amazing stop to head for an Icelandic treasure: Þingvellir National Park where the Mid-Atlantic Divide is slowly ripping the island apart.  According to Wikipedia (which matches the placards in the park BTW): “The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.”
Apparently the plates are moving apar at a rate of 2cm per year which doesn’t bode well for Iceland. This beautiful and historic place is where the local government of Iceland met for nearly a thousand years up until the 18th century.  It’s where executions took place and apparently a fair amount of Njal’s Saga is set there. (I have to read that book when I finally get unpacked!) One of the amazing geographic characteristics is Almannagjá, a fissure or crack in the rocks that is so large cars used to be allowed to drive through it.  Oh sure, there’s a waterfall too but those seem to be a dime a dozen around here. 🙂

The sun had held out for the entire excursion and as we drove back to the city we found ourselves tired – and sunburned!  We spent a few minutes working on some “business” stuff: apparently buying a house occasionally requires some paperwork even when you are on vacation.  Once that was completed, it was off to dinner at a lovely little place called Messin at the edge of the tourist district.  It does fish and does it well.  There are no 7 course tasting menus here, or puffin/horse/whale dishes.  Just fish served in frying pans with buttered potatoes and salad.  Frank had the ling with fennel, chili, ginger and brandy (and breadcrumbs so none for me) but I had the arctic char with honey, almonds, and lemon and no breadcrumbs.  Absolutely delish! A short walk back along the harbor and it’s time for tea and off to bed.  We have more hiking to do tomorrow.

Today’s data:

Drive: 253 km
Steps: 24,336 (11.8 miles)
Waterfalls: 3
Average price of an Icelandic knit sweater: $250

After 9.5 hours of sleep, we managed to get the day started.  We are nearly adjusted to local time but it still took some time getting organized to head out.  We breakfasted on Skyr – if you think it’s the same as Greek yogurt, it’s not – and coffee and made some sandwiches to take on the road.  Then it was on the road south toward the town of Vik where we hoped to find Reynisfjara – the Black Sand beach. It was close to a 2 hour drive along the two lane road that is Highway 1.  Well I call it a highway because it was paved – many of the roads that turned off route 1 were not.

As it was another cloudy and grey day, we needed some tunes for the journey.  Thank goodness for Pandora’s offline stations. So Foo Fighters Radio got us through the first 100 kilometers or so as we wound through the countryside, heading up and down hills, where sometimes it looked like the clouds were touching the ground. The goal was to start at the point farthest away and visit other sights along the way back.  The scenery was interesting:  if you looked out the passenger window, it looked like Kansas (flat and uninteresting) but if you looked out the drivers window, it looked like Scotland (green and hilly).

And when we got there, it was amazing! The basalt columns along the shore had spectacular patterns and the rock formations were stunning (and somewhat phallic!).  The beach is black and the grain of the sand ranges from smooth black and grey stones about the size of a quarter or half dollar down to fine grains that look like pepper.  The water is a clear, COLD, blue with crashing waves that can sneak up the beach and be dangerous.  The warning signs actually call them “sneaker waves” because even on a calm day they can heave all the way up the beach and wreak havoc.

Next stop Skógafoss, one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland where the water drops 60 meters in sheets that are 25 meters wide.  You can walk right up to the falls if you don’t mind getting soaked. You can also climb the steps to the top of the falls and look down on the magnificent scene.  So you know we did – gotta go up!  We also grabbed a quick bit at the bistro for the Skógafoss Hotel.  I had to settle for a burger with no bun but it worked and was pretty tasty too. (For those keeping track of the Iceland Restaurant price index:  burger and fries: $24.  We did get the “upscale” burger that had bacon and bernaise sauce though.)

Moving back west along route 1, the next stop was Seljalandsfoss, another waterfall and a regular contender on the top 3 list. It also has a drop of about 60 meters but it’s a much narrower fall but with a very cool feature: you can walk behind it!  Of course we did, battling with selfie stick toting tourists who were not prepared for clambering over wet stone and were so busy filming things that they didn’t really stop to appreciate the scenery.  {sigh}

By this time the sun had broken through and the temperature reached a balmy 14 degrees! We continued the trek back west, stopping occasionally to check out a local wool market in Hella (meh) and visit the state liquor store in Selfloss.  Wine prices were high (about $20 for a bottle that would cost about $15 at home) but nothing outrageous. Apparently flavored apple cider is a big thing here so we decided to try the pineapple and passion fruit flavors.

Back in town to look for someplace for dinner. We decided to try Forrettabarrinn based on review of their gluten-free friendliness.  We went for the 4 course tasting dinners (about $55 each).  Mine had duck salad, a caprese salad that I swapped for the quesadilla, cod with fennel, and Skyr mousse with berries.  All very yummy.  Frank had salmon, beef carpaccio, lamb, and creme brulee.  Add his Brennavin cocktail and he definitely won the dinner war.

Then we wandered around town in the still-bright-enough-for-sunglasses daylight at 9:30 before heading home to wait for sunset. Although it was slated for 11:30 or so, a trip to the bathroom at 1:30 am revealed that it never actually got completely dark.  Yes, the sleep masks are coming in handy.

Drove: ~390 km
Steps: 18,745 (8.9 miles)
Steps to top of Skógafoss: 427
Tour buses passed on the road: at least 10

After several hellacious and painful final days preparing to depart KC (which will undoubtable be told with great fanfare on the Cannon Chronicles at the conclusion of this trip), we find ourselves between houses and between jobs so the obvious thing is to go on vacation!  We took Buddy to the kennel, parked our cars at an airport hotel, and headed to KCI to take one of the new transatlantic flights to Iceland.  We had planned this several months ago and it seemed like a very logical and sensible thing to do.  A few weeks ago, Iceland Air offered me the opportunity to “bid” on an upgrade to business class. (The economist in me thinks this is brilliant BTW) and our bid of an extra $250/person was accepted and we were off to the ranks of the high flying elite.

And boy did we need it!  From the wide seats and sparkling wine before take off to the unlimited booze and 3 course meal and new movies, it was just what the doctor ordered. One thing to mar the perfection:  the promised gluten free meal did not materialize so I needed to make due.  The salmon was lovely and the contamination from the Israeli cous cous it sat on was minimal.  A second small quibble is that the flight was actually not long enough or timed properly for us to sleep.  Iceland Air started this service out of KC a week ago to much fanfare- for the first time, flights from the heartland could be across the pond in about 7 hours direct.  Departing at 5:15 pm with a 5 hour time difference, the flight was due to land about 5:30am local time.  That means we left KC at dinner time and landed at about bedtime CDT.  Even with all the chardonnay and Bailey’s, there was no sleeping on the plane.  (I therefore feel less bad about spending a chunk of the flight watching “The Shape of Water” – retelling of “Splash” anyone?)

The sky outside the plane never got dark and we landed at 5:30, picked up the rental car and headed into Reykjavik under bright but grey skies.  The 45 minute drive goes through terrain very reminiscent of southern Idaho (which is to say barren) and we arrived at our AirBnB flat with very little trouble.  It’s a comfortable granny flat below the owner’s house in a convenient but quiet part of town right by the harbor.  Because we hadn’t slept a wink on the plane, we broke our “no napping” rule and spent about 2 hours trying to get some rest.  Then it was time to get up and shower and start our day.

Because it is Sunday, we had very low expectations about what entertainment would be available.  As it was also our “24 hours of stupidity”, our ability to enjoy much in the way of entertainment was limited.  We wandered along the harbor to find a lovely cafe that reportedly could do gluten free breakfasts and touts itself as the oldest restaurant in Reykjavik.  My ham and cheese omelette was just what the doctor ordered and we squeezed into the cozy cafe with about 20 bicyclists.  Now it is about 45 degrees and slightly drizzly out and there are nearly two dozen people tricked out in cold weather cycling gear (in JUNE!) having breakfast before riding out again into the chilly grey day.  My hats off to them.  We barely managed to make it back to the apartment to put on warmer shoes – Keene’s were just not cutting it – and make our first foray to an Icelandic grocery store to stock up on supplies.

Food here – like most things – is insanely expensive.  My omelette plus Frank’s smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with two lattes was about $45.  I am WAY to cheap to spend that on breakfast every day.  So we picked up eggs and what we think is Canadian bacon (streaky bacon was around $23/pound!) as well as the famous Icelandic Skyr yogurt and fixings for sandwiches.  That mission accomplished, it was time to orient ourselves to the city and get some fresh air, all part of the plan to just stay awake.  We wandered down to the tourist area  and puttered about for a bit until we found ourselves ready for lunch.  So back to the flat for cups of tea and ham sandwiches (the GF bread is quite good) and then off to the main attraction of the day: the Blue Lagoon!

Arguably the most famous spot on this island, we decided to book a visit on the day we though there would be nothing else to do and we couldn’t be trusted to do anything cerebral anyway.  I had splurged on the “premium” package which included robes, towels, an algae mask (!?!) and a glass of sparkling wine at dinner among other things.  For the uninitiated, the Blue Lagoon is 9 million liters of warm geothermal spring water heavy in minerals like silica and sulphur.  (BTW, sulphur is everywhere.  The smell of the water in the shower is an eye opener in itself.) The water ranges from 98-104 degrees and is just heavenly to soak in.  While I had been here for a quick visit many (14?) years ago, the operations we encountered we so far from what I had seen before.  Two swim up bars, on serving alcohol and one serving up various face masks, waterfalls,  steam room, sauna and massages.  It was just what we needed to soothe sore muscles and invigorate the soul.  We spend about 90 minutes soaking and masking before showering and heading to the onsite restaurant for an excellent dinner – I had lamb and Frank had wolf fish.  For dessert, Frank chose the Icelandic cheese plate.  Holy awesome dairy products!  What amazing cheeses we had!  It was so good that we stopped at the local 24 hour grocery store to pick up our own gull oster and blue cheese and enjoy it with a lovely Oregon pinot noir that happened to find it’s way into our case.  Oops.

So we have now made it to a reasonable hour to hit the hay.  Of course it is still broad daylight – the sun won’t set until 11:30pm and then it rises again at 3am – so we’ll need the sleep masks we invested in before we left.

And of course we need data for the day:
Steps taken: 16,909 or 6.7 miles (not including laps around the lagoon)
Hours slept: Approx 2
Shoe changes: 3
Minutes soaking in the Blue Lagoon: 107