Food

 Did you know that Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in the world?  We decided to save money by eating almost all of our meals in the van.  After 10 days of only eating out once, we were happy to have a change from instant oatmeal, sandwiches and REI backpacking meals!

Ice Cream at the highly rated Omnon Chocolate.  Eating ice cream outside in the 40 degree weather made us feel like locals.  And as George commented, "the ice cream didn't melt quickly"

Several people had recommended Braud Bakery. Since it was walking distance from our place and absolutely delicious, we went both mornings that we were there.  

I do believe that the two pastries I had were among the best I've ever eaten.  Layers of flaky crust!  Sweet vanilla pudding! Raspberry!  Just divine!

Because we had to spend two nights in one place thanks to Iceland's mighty winds, we missed our planned lobster dinner.  For our last full day, we drove down to the south coast and had one of the best meals I've ever had at  Fjojrubordid.

The Lobster soup is the stuff of dreams. Perfectly flavored, creamy and smooth!

We used the bread to sop up every bit.  I thought about licking the bowl clean. 

The lobsters are not the large Maine variety but much smaller langoustine, which are sort of like a large crayfish who lives in salt water. They are sautéed in garlic and a tasty rich butter; served with new potatoes (also garlicky and buttery), pickled cucumbers with dill and a salad. Mouthwatering! 

For dessert, a rich chocolate cake and whipped cream!

I don't know if it tasted so good because we had been eating REI meals for 10 days, but every seafood meal for the rest of our lives will be compared to this one.  I can't imagine anything tasting any better. 

 

The Capital

 After saying a sad good-bye to our camper van and picking up a rental car, we drove into the capital city of Iceland - Reykjavik.   Population of Iceland is 364,134 and the population of their capital and largest city is 131,136.  The 2nd largest city in Iceland is Akureyri with less than 20,000 people.  Boise has a population of about 240,000.

First order of business was getting our Covid test so that we could reenter the US.  Iceland has a very convenient set up for testing.  Within about 1 hour, we already had our results - both negative!  

The city definitely has the most traffic we have encountered in Iceland but still not as bad as Boise.  It was easy to find our Airbnb, the first one we have ever stayed in.  Normally we would have considered it a small unit but after 10 days in the van, it seemed luxuriously roomy! 

Best of all, the location was perfect for sightseeing.  We could walk to all the tourist sites, starting with the Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat.   I knew George would like it.

A quick walk by Harpa, the very beautiful concert hall right on the water.

Photo op at Sun Voyager -I think it looks like a viking ship but the sculptor describes it as a 'dreamboat, or an ode to the Sun'.  He wanted it to convey the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom.  I think it lives up to his ideas.

The next day we made it to Hallgrímskirkja, the iconic church.

While I love the ornate Catholic cathedrals of Europe, there is something so refreshing about the clean lines of a Lutheran church. The ceiling encourages you to gaze heavenward.

Hallgrímskirkja is dedicated to the most renowned, sacred poet of Iceland, Hallgrimur Pétursson.  I am glad that there were plaques with parts of some of his poems.

Not wanting to miss anything,  we had to take the elevator to the observation deck.  Funny that after standing in line to enter the small elevator, we saw the sign that said we were to stay 2 meters apart and not ride in the elevator with strangers.  Our solution was to quickly introduce ourselves so that we were no longer strangers!!!

Quite the view from up there!

I think that bright colored roofs and buildings are popular because the winters are so dark.  The pops of color are mood boosters!

I guess the rainbow sidewalks are painted for the same reason!

Aurora Dancing

The main reason we decided to go to Iceland in October was to give us the most chances to see the Northern Lights.  Watching the Aurora Borealis dance across the sky is mostly a matter of luck. In order to see them, you need a dark, clear night.  They are visible from late August to early April anytime during dark hours.  In Iceland during the winter there can be darkness nearly 24 hours a day.  That would be great for seeing the Northern Lights but not for much else a tourist would want to do. There also needs to be solar flares on the sun; the Aurora Borealis happens when particles from the sun enter the earth's atmosphere and collide violently with gas atoms.  There are Aurora forecasts and even an Aurora Forecast app for you phone which will predict the aurora activity. 

We had the app on our phones and had been watching carefully but every night either the skies were cloudy or the magnetic activity too low.  Finally on the night of October 12, things aligned just right and the forecast was perfect.  Clear skies and a KP (measurement of magnetic activity) of 5-6.   So excited!!!!  

We went out at the time that was supposed to be the best and couldn't see much.  A nice man camping by us who had a camera set up on a tripod, suggested that we try taking a photo because he said, "they are out there dancing right now.   You just can't see them with your naked eye."  And he was right!  There they were.  As the evening went on, we could see them better just looking but they were amazing through the camera.

George and I stayed out until about 11:30.  The peak time was supposed to be 3:00 a.m. but we decided that we had seen enough and didn't set an alarm.  Luckily, I woke up at 2:45 and decided to get out of my warm bed and have a look.  Boy am I glad I did!  The color filled the whole sky in one direction.  Simply breathtaking!

I love the Facebook comment my cousin, Leigh Ann Stankoski shared when I posted photos of the lights, "God sure can paint."  Amen to that!

Waterfalls

It is said that Iceland has 10,000 waterfalls.  

Because I am a slightly weird, I decided to keep count of how many we saw.

258 was my final count with 15 of those 'named'. 

There is Godafoss

And Dettifoss - the most powerful waterfall in Europe

Skogáfoss

And the very beautiful Gullfoss.....you just learned an Icelandic word huh?  Foss = Waterfall

Some tumble over black basalt...

Occasionally they are very tall and narrow

Some are wide

One had a fish ladder at the side...

This one was made famous by Justin Bieber.  It's Seljalandsfoss.  In his video, Justin posed exactly where we were standing . 

You can walk behind Seljalandsfoss, if you don't mind getting wet!

There are even waterfalls in caves....

Best of all, there are lots of rainbows!

Can you see the rainbow in this one?

Finally the most photographed spot in all of Iceland is Kirkjufell Mountain and Waterfall. 

Even with all these beauties, it seems that we've only seen 5 of the 'most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland'.  I think I need to go back!

Zodiac Boats

 No visit to Iceland would be complete without an excursion in a zodiac boat on a glacier lagoon! 

Our stylish, and very warm jackets, were also flotation devices.  I've mentioned several times that on this whole trip I never felt the urge to 'suck in' when someone was taking my picture.  I looked like the pillsbury dough boy the whole time since I was wearing so many layers!

After a short hike, we arrived at the glacier lagoon.  

Beautiful glacier, icebergs and the zodiac boats!

The icebergs reminded us a bit of our Antarctica trip but these were much smaller.  

Some of the ones in Antarctica were the size of aircraft carriers!

They were quite pretty, especially the blue ones.

So many shapes of ice and gradations of color!  It really wasn't cold at all, but then we did have on multiple layers.

Our guide took several photos of each couple. I think that pre-COVID, you actually were encouraged to taste the ice.  Now you just pretend to taste it.

Even though no pieces of the glacier calved when we were there, it was still a really fun experience.  

The group before us, had two pieces calve and said it sounded like thunder.  Sorry we missed that experience.  

I love adventuring with my handsome arctic explorer!