Iceland 2021

We arrived in Akureyri. It is a quaint little town. They changed the red traffic lights into heart shapes to make it nicer. The price of gas is $8/gallon!!!   We visited Godafoss, "Waterfall of the Gods" . In the year 1000, Icelanders converted from Pagan to Christian religion. They threw their statues of pagan gods into the waterfall, hence the name. Lake Myvatn in 37 sq km. It is the 5 th  largest lake in Iceland.   We stopped at Namafjall mountain’s geothermal field to experience the mud pots, steam vents, sulfur deposits, and boiling springs. Boy was it stinky! Tonight, we will cross the Arctic Circle. We have not seen the Northern Lights yet, or any Puffins, but remain hopeful.

We have arrived in Grundarfjordur-try saying that 3 times fast : )-located at the foot of Kirkjufell on the Snaefellsnes peninsula.   The waters were rough so the Captain could not get to the dock, so we dropped anchor in the bay and tool the tenders to the dock.     Enclosed tenders are no fun in rough waters! 11% of Iceland is covered with lava, and the old lava is covered in beautiful moss.  There are 500 different species of moss.   Our first stop which was the crater, they had steps going up to the top of the crater, that wound around the side of the hill… Sue made it ½ way up and said nope to creepy and went back down.  Cheryl of course made it to the top! Saxholl Crator - 990 feet Next stop was a beautiful cove with black sand and black rock beach.     The water was extremely turbulent with big crashing waves.   Dritvik Cove The beach was black sand and rocks, created from lava Lava rocks, tumbled smooth by nature These are t...

Thanks to Justin (the guy who books all our vacations) who contacted one of our Reykjavik taxi drivers who agreed to take us to the Fagradalsfjall volcano that started erupting in March of this year, we got to go. As we left the dock, 3 minks ran in front of our van. Our driver told us that is is very rare to see them. Minks were brought here for the fur business : (. Some have escaped and are flourishing in the wild : ).  Our driver called them very cute serial killers. they kill for food but they also kill for fun. We finally got to hike the active volcano!  What an experience, it was absolutely incredible!  Over 5 mile hike with over 1400 ft of elevation gain.  The hike up had some tough spots and some scary spots for those of us that don't like heights!!! (Sue) Lava Flow Once at the top, we decided to take a different path down so we could walk back along the lava flow. This was not a hike for the timid. it was steep with loose rocks and soil. Our hiking poles ca...

Well, they don't call it adventure travel for nothing! Our hike to the active volcano was cancelled due to bad weather - rain and winds - Bummer. We decided to explore Reykjavik - must be flexible on these trips!  Rain & wind most of the day, but we were prepared for it. Started the day with a quick trip to the Penis Museum for a selfie ... yes that's right an entire museum dedicated to male body parts... why? because we thought it was funny.  :^)  After a good laugh, we went to the Perlan Museum which is all about Iceland's Natural Wonders.  Very interesting exhibits, including an ice cave and planetarium show on the Aurora Borealis.  Four different types of Whales can be found in Iceland: Humpback, Blue, Minke and Fin.  Over the years there have been 700 polar bear sightings... they drift on sea ice from East Greenland.  Maybe on this trip we will it will change to 701 sightings.   Iceland is famous for Hotdogs and Ice Cream... so we had to ...

Up at 4:30 AM! Off to SFO to start the adventure.  Traveling in the "new normal" is very interesting.  Lots of paperwork, new dynamics and some people not wanting to following the rules. They had to make 3 announcement over the plane's PA to remind/warn passengers that is is a federal offense. SFO to Newark Perfect way to layover in Newark Newark to Reykjavik - We scored an empty middle seat!  Once we landed in Reykjavik we had basically been wearing our masks for 18 hours.  Ugh!  Attempting to sleep in masks was interesting! obligatory flight map Driving from the airport to the hotel, we got a great view of the smoke from the active volcano  Walking around Reykjavik, early morning trying to find coffee... we asked a local and her answer was... "at this hour it's a little early"  hmmm it was 9:30AM, what time do the locals drink coffee?  They may not get up early, but the town is very gay friendly. We walked to a cool Lutheran Church.  Very i...