Circuits & Coffee

Our tour today is taking place in a Land Rover Discovery that has monster truck tires and is mega lifted. I sat in front while Katie sat in the back and we headed to pick up our other two tour members. They happened to be from Vermont, mother and son, and their names were Karlan and Louise. 

The first hour of the drive was merely getting to south Reykjavik. Erik told us about Iceland's empty volcano, where if you visit in the summer time you can take a tour and get lifted down into the volcano to see the insides! Apparently it is the only one in the world, and just happened to survive all the earthquakes and drained somehow during it's eruption. Fascinating.

We also learned that 80% of Iceland's produce is grown in their greenhouses. Soil, not hydroponics. They even import European insects to continue to grow their food in a non-pesticide/non-gmo way.

We made it to our first stop, which was...a gas station! We grabbed some food to-go and made our way to the real first destination: black sandy beaches in an area called Vik. Apparently it is a very dangerous beach because people, mainly/mostly/100%of-the-time tourists because they turn their back to the beach, and the tide sweeps them away. Or they go to the top of a cliff, take a photo, steps back, and falls off. Erik said the waves aren't consistent in tide, but they look consistent. We witnessed this while watching the tide.

Basically, a few of the waves came up on the beach maybe 30 feet away from us, the the next wave, which looked exactly the same, actually came up just 5 feet past us. The waves are definitely very powerful here, and there is absolutely no swimming/surfing/whatever on this section of the shore.

We continued to what is referred to as the "arch" which meant we climbed a steep hill in the car and immediately was greeted by forceful winds.

The view was great, we were up high looking down at the black sand beaches, and there was a lighthouse too. The "arch" refers to an arch in one of the cliffs where seagulls and puffins (puffins decided to migrate to the other shore on the island YESTERDAY) chill. After a few photos, we got in the car and headed out to the treasure waterfall.

The treasure waterfall (Skógafoss) has a legend that a viking buried his treasure with the help of several other vikings in a cave behind the waterfall. Legend has it that it is very heavy, and full of riches. The lead viking killed the men that helped bury the treasure (to keep it secret). Many people tried to find the treasure, but they either died by falling into the water (while it was cold out), injured, or simply failed. A strong farmer's son attempted to pull the treasure out and broke the handle. Fast-track to today and there is a folk museum in the same area as this waterfall, run by a very old man who has collected historical artifacts over the years, including this treasure chest handle. While he is still alive, he somehow has an order that no science may be attempted to retrieve the chest, because you must decide if you believe in the legend or not. So, we saw this waterfall, very gorgeous, and dreamed of treasure.

Continuing on we started a drive to Eyjafjallajökull (E15 because the letter E followed by 15 characters is easier to say). Erik let some air out of the tires before we continued on a very hole-filled and gravely road. We came upon a couple that got their car stuck. Luckily we were able to tow them! We continued on and gazed upon the vastness of Eyjafjallajökull. This volcano erupted in 2010. This is when Erik told us that the volcano Katla was due to erupt as of yesterday (it's on a 170 year cycle). He said that one will ruin quite a bit of the south and change it's landscape a bit. He said if we got stuck out in the area we were in, we would need to drive fast to the nearest mountain because the volcano eruption would melt the ice and create a flood that moves at 100km/minute and we would drown. He had dry humor hahaha.

We journeyed through Thor's valley and took a small hike up a hill and got great photos. 


Really gorgeous. We made our way back and stopped at Seljalandsfoss (waterfall) and were able to walk behind it! This was really cool because back in 2007 all of the water spray made it too dangerous to even get close to the waterfall (you would just slide backwards on the ice), let alone walk behind it.

We finished the day by driving on a different black sandy beach and even found some sand dunes to take advantage of. There was also a boat wreck that has some history that I don't remember about and Katie is currently asleep so I can't ask her haha. 

We made it back in town just in time to be dropped off at the restaurant we met Jocelyn & Ryan at (we had Erik drop us off here instead of the hotel which was only 5 min away, but we would have been late!). It was great to see them! Very cool. The food was amazing too. The place was called Fish Market and we all got the "Icelandic Taste Course" which consisted of:

1. amuse bouche of egg yolk, and something else I don't remember. It was served in a cute egg that I will have pictures of later.
2. slowly cooked HADDOCK  with caramelized CAULIFLOWER purée, birch scorched onion & BRAMBLEBERRY granit, cauliflower heads & DILL oil
3. caraway cured SALMON & cumin CHEESE, glazed carrot & SKYR foam, thornberry gel & smoked almonds with fresh herbs
4. panfried LAMB SIRLOIN & pressed lamb, CELERY ROOT purée & fried potatoes, pickled mustard seeds & ANGELICA powder with warm MAYONNAISE
5. scrumptious LIQUORICE & CHOCOLATE cremaux with BLUEBERRY sorbet & blueberry compot with thyme juice

So full! We said goodnight, walked back to our hotel, and are thankful we can sleep in a little bit tomorrow before getting breakfast. We have a tour from 12pm - 12am (hoping for Northern Lights), so my write up of the day won't come until much later. But I will say, today was a great day. We saw so much of Iceland and had a great guide and great travelers. The Super Jeep company is one I would recommend to anyone.

Once we were all sorted, we headed to the terminal and checkout the Iceland Air lounge, which surprisingly was a lot better than the Alaska Airlines lounge. Good amount of beverages to choose from, chips, and cookies. Oh, the cookies. After stuffing our bags, we relaxed for about an hour before we boarded our flight. 

Just before boarding, we noticed our seating arrangements didn't appear to be side-by-side like how I booked online. I was in 6C, Katie in 8G. I thought that was odd, but opted to figure it out once we boarded. When we entered the plane, something looked off. Based on my research, we should have been in a row of three seats, with the middle seat empty or converted. I researched the differences between Saga Class (1st), Economy Comfort (2nd), and Economy (3rd) to see the value. The only difference between 1st and 2nd was a slightly larger screen, free beverage, and slightly more leg room. Economy Comfort still promised only two people per bank of seats. I thought we were golden! It looks like they upgraded planes, because it looked, well, normal. And I wasn't the only one surprised! Many people found they weren't sitting next to their travel companion when they had done the same research and selected the same seating assignments as I. I sat next to Katie anyways, and waited for 8F to tell me I was in their spot. The plane filled up, someone sat in my original seating, and 8F never showed up. We lucked out!

Or so we thought. Now, the plane left at 4:30pm and was set to arrive in Iceland at 7am the next day. Which means Katie and I planned to be awake for 3/4 hours then sleep the rest of the time. We had the chattiest older ladies behind us, it was insane. They slept for the first 2 hours of the flight, but I knew when the one behind me awoke because I saw her neck pillow and book land in the aisle next to me. Then she would constantly fuss with the tray table and taking things in/out of the pocket, but I can forgive that. What I can't forgive is not being able to drown out constant laughter and loud talking for FIVE HOURS! I had solid over-the-ear headphones, and even put in ear plugs, then put on my headphones, then turned up my music 75% of the way, and I could still hear them. My problem is this: how do you tell someone to not talk because you want to sleep? They were clearly enjoying themselves, and certainly found a pleasant way to pass the time, but if I told them to keep it down, I don't think they could because the plane is loud and I deduced that one of them may have been hard-of-hearing. So, Katie and I just exchanged glances that confirmed our constant misery and we watched Better Call Saul. Pretty good!

Fri 03/24

We landed in Reykjavik around 6:15am, breezed through Customs, and successfully retrieved our *gasp* checked bags (haven't checked a bag in 10+ years). We took the FlyBus from the airport (runs every 10-15 minutes to any hotel you want) and arrived in the city about an hour later after nearly having the best nap ever. Seriously, that bus was comfortable and quiet.

We checked-in to our hotel (Hotel Borg) and they informed us they were all booked last night and were working on our early check-in accommodation. We wanted it even more to squeeze in a three hour nap. We changed into warmer clothes and left our bags with reception while we went to get breakfast.

We walked up to the main Reykjavik shopping street to a bakery/cafe called Sandholt. They are really known for their breads, but man, good. stuff. We sat and had salmon, cream cheese, and dill on pretzel buns (literal pretzels), lattes, and shared a croissant with jam and butter. The croissant flaked exactly how you would want it to! We paid for breakfast and got a few macaroons to-go because they also had delicious looking pastries! It was hard to only choose one type of thing.

We started crashing and walked to our hotel and were greeted with wonderful news that our room was just now ready! We fast walked to the elevator after getting our keys, and went to the floor our room was on. We are very happy with it! This is an art deco hotel, and from the photos we were a little worried it was going to be a bit too dark (grey walls, black furniture), however it's much brighter/lighter than the photographs. The bathroom has heated floors! We checked the time, 11am, and raced to take a nap before our alarm at 12:15pm to get ready for the bus pickup for our Icelandic horse ride through the lava fields!

I didn't know how hard I could sleep within an hour. I wanted to keep sleeping. But it would be irresponsible to miss the Icelandic horse ride again (last time I had the flu) as well as negatively impact our jet lag. Begrudgingly we got up, put on layers, and headed downstairs for pickup. 

Riding the Icelandic horses was awesome. They are cute and stout and have great haircuts. Easiest ride, ever. Except for the wind and rain. We were prepared for the rain and slight wind, but not the full force that came through on the last half of our ride. Our very nice jackets eventually couldn't keep us warm, our feet were cold (despite wearing wool socks w/silk sock liners), and both of our gloves (rain/wind proof) were soaked through. I wanted to zip my jacket up some more about half way through the ride, but my fingers seemed to be frozen around the reigns and definitely could not work a zipper. The scenery was gorgeous though. Snowcapped mountains, a lake, lava fields, some green contrasting against the wheat colored grass and grey sky. Loved it. Unfortunately, we didn't get our photos taken on our horses because we were too cold. But we will always have the memory!

Some hot water warmed our cold hands...and steamed up my glasses!

Tonight we are dining in (hotel restaurant which is run by a very good/recognized Icelandic chef) so we can eat some good food, stay up until maybe 8:30pm, then fall fast asleep. The restaurant was actually closed because they are remodeling it into a Jamie Oliver Italian dining place. We walked 3 Doors Down and ate at a place called Apotek. Very good food, but our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. It's an Icelandic restaurant with an Argentinian twist, which really just seemed to describe it's tapas style. We had:

DUCK & WAFFLE (crispy leg con t, caramelized apples, Belgian waffle, Icelandic root beer sauce) THIS WAS THE BEST THING EVER!!!!!!