Iceland

Iceland - the cold North.  It was a place I had heard rumors of beauty and barren landscapes, lovely people and natural landscapes that would awe the traveler.  Many friends had traveled there and assured me it was a land mass we didn't want to miss.  

Our initial impression of Iceland started in Seattle with Icelandic Air.  Having traveled many time over seas, I've come to expect a certain level of enjoyment when making a major oceanic crossing - like free alcohol.  (It's a perk that makes a 12 hour flight endurable - it almost becomes necessity)  Icelandic Air not only lacked free refreshments, they lacked free anything except the common bag of pretzels.  The excitement of flying over seas quickly wore off as the steward came down the aisle selling cheap head phones so you could watch the inflight movie, while mentioning what the selections for in flight food purchases were.  This was going to be a long flight.  

We survived the flight and as always the excitement of the journey kicked in to override the overwhelming exhaustion of traveling for 24 hours.  We arrived in Reykjavik at a cheery 6 am and headed to the car rental to pick up our chariot for the next 72 hours.  

Balin - the very seasoned traveler - had worked with our travel agent Melissa to pull this trip together and did a spectacular job.  He and Melissa arranged the car and hotel and Trip Advisor and Google Maps took over from there. (Honestly, how did we travel with just a map and a guide book?)  Balin found a highly rated cafe for us to have breakfast in in downtown Reykjavik and we headed there for a much needed cup of coffee, hot coffee as it was seriously cold and rainy at our destination.

Perrin with her bag ready for the long flight.  Too bad we didn't pack any food in there for the long flight - we learned quickly and on the return flight had all sorts of goodies.

Sam and Grandma, both ready for the journey.

Going from 70 degree weather to rainy and 50.  Not an easy transition at 7 in the morning.

 

Balin did bring his computer and worked most days while we were on the trip.  None of minded as it gave us time to rest or read a good book.

The first day of our arrival we all went back to our rooms and took a delicious nap, for 3 hours.  We rallied ourselves and went on a walking tour of the town.  The Old Town is beautiful and built right on the bay.  We had a lovely walk and ended up at pizza for dinner, as it was an easy decision.  We've found that after traveling for 18 hours followed by walking a couple of hours, it's best to feed adults and children alike something simple and familiar - save the adventurous eating for the well rested.

Sam had a bit of the grumps - understandably.  I had allowed the kids to bring only their phones on this trip so they could play or read on the plane, but then they were to be turned off.  I was not going to pay for international data - and I like vacations without digital devices.  Grandma on the other hand wanted to love on the kids and said she would pay for any extra data fees so that the kids could play Pokemon Go.  The above picture is Sam trying not to smile at the news. 

The second day on the island we drove to Seljalandsfoss, one of Iceland's most famous waterfalls.  It was a very long drive through a very green but barren landscape.  Add jet lag into the mix and it became a somewhat dangerous drive as we kept wanting to fall asleep.  The falls were gorgeous though and definitely worth a look.

After our journey to the falls, we headed back to town for a little rest and then out for dinner.  We made it to about 8pm and then everyone was dog tired and headed to bed.

The following day we headed to another hike in a different part of the island.  It was a gorgeous day, chilly, but after walking a couple of miles we were all feeling good.  The kids did pretty well on the hikes, but it reminded me that we won't be taking them to New Zealand or Switzerland for hiking any time soon.  They tire out waaaay too quickly for it to be worth it.

 After our hike we headed to the famous Blue Lagoon for a relaxing soak in the mineral waters.  They warn you not to get your hair wet and they're not kidding.  It was like straw for days.  Unfortunately the soothing effects of the bath waters didn't last quite as long.

 

We had a delightful lunch at the restaurant next to the waters.  As one of Iceland's biggest attractions, they have built up the site to include a full service hotel and restaurant.  It was pretty nice.

Our hotel was in the middle of downtown, which made it really nice to take a walk in the afternoon after our naps.  I think we had coffee and sweets almost daily - such a great way to enjoy a city.

We all thought of my sister when we saw this poster.

Loved the architecture: cute and clean.  Many of the buildings were painted bright colors to ward off the dark winters.

Crepes and coffee.  Love.

 

A good book is another great addition to vacation.

On our last night we went to dinner in one place and while taking a leisurely after dinner stroll, found a lovely restaurant where we could just order drinks and dessert.  They had an assortment of macaroons, one of Perrin's favorites, and soon became one of Sam's.  Balin of course sampled beers as we went and was very content.

All in all Iceland was a nice stopover.  I have to admit it's not my favorite place I've been too, but it's nice.  I found that it was incredibly expensive - a Mai Tai at a sushi restaurant was going to cost me $20.  The people were friendly but not overly welcoming, which is understandable as they have 3 times their population in tourists every year.  Unfortunately they haven't quite gotten their airport up to standard for handling such a mass of humanity.  It was painfully overcrowded and understaffed.

Would I go back?  No, I don't think I would.  It's cold and to do the country right you would need to rent a motorhome or camp for 3 weeks to do the bountiful nature justice.  I would rather spend three weeks exploring somewhere warm.