I stole that from Alaska. But Iceland is at the same
latitude, so it still applies.
Our final destination was Iceland. We thought it would be
awesome to tag that on the end as we headed back across the Atlantic. I don’t
know that either of us really expected it to be one of our favorite spots, ut
since our return it has been in the top three places we recommend to others.
Iceland is amazing. Granted, it was sunny the whole time, so I don’t know that
I would feel the same in December. But June is incredible.
We were there for Midsummer’s Eve. I feel like if ever one should
be pagan it should be on the solstice. And what better place to be pagan than
Iceland? Seriously. I was also sure that Bjork would somehow be part of this as
well.
Anyways, we had put together an itinerary that would allow
us to see the most we could in seven days. We decided to stick to the southern
end of the island. Someday, we would like to return and do the whole Ring Road
all the way around. For now, we didn’t want to rush around, but we also knew
there were some key highlights that we didn’t want to miss. We had three areas
we decided to base ourselves. The first was just north of the Snaefellness
Peninsula (west of Reykjavik), the second was northeast of Reykjavik, so we
would have access to the eastern coast, the final stop was in Reykjavik, so we
could see the city and enjoy the Blue Lagoon.
We landed just outside Reykjavik, picked up our rental car
and headed to the Peninsula. We had arranged to stay in a cozy cabin at the
edge of a tree farm. It was brilliant. It felt fairly remote and was tucked
into the trees. It had a living area, a small kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom. The shower was at the
back of the house, guarded by the trees. So, our Midsummer celebration was
spent in an outdoor shower, enjoying the hot water while the cold wind blew
around us. About as pagan as we get. I think we both showered a couple times a
day.
Since it was the solstice, we had sunlight all day. The
middle of the night at its darkest was just twilight. We loved it because we
were comfortable spending the whole day exploring the area and weren’t
concerned about driving in the dark or missing sites because it was too late.
We did end up staying up later simply because we didn’t feel
like we needed to go to bed when it was so light. One night, while we were in Reykjavik,
I looked out the window at midnight and saw a kid riding his bike around the
street, just for fun.
Anyways, we used that light and spent the whole day driving
around the Snaefellness Peninsula. Iceland is unlike any other landscape I had
ever seen. It is so volcanic that the rock has formed the land in peculiar
ways. It was truly stunning. We drove out to a small fishing village and walked
up to the lighthouse after lunch. We brought our Ikea thermos along and drank
hot chai all day long.
As we drove south, we saw a sign for a shark museum and
decided to visit. It was run by a family that catches shark and supplies most
of the restaurants in Iceland with shark meat. We ate fermented shark meat. It
was as unpleasant as you would expect it to be. (ask Matt and he will give you a very articulate description of the flavors). The artifacts the family had
gathered over the years were pretty interesting. There was a boat about 25 feet
long that had originally been used to catch shark. That is a small boat between
you and a shark.
After that we continued along wrapping around a volcano. We
stopped in various places for short walks to craters and viewpoints. And the
sun never set!
We drove north and returned to our little cabin, and
showered, obviously.
The next day, we drove the long way around a bay to our next
little cabin. This one was not as remote (no outdoor showering) however it did
have a hot tub, which was incredible. The couple who owned it were very sweet
and welcoming and made us traditional Icelandic desserts, so that was fun.
Also, the woman’s name was Thora, as in the female version of Thor. How awesome
is that?
We took a couple day trips from there. We drove up to some
geysers and watched those spew into the air every few minutes. We were also able to get up close and personal with several waterfalls.
We visited a sustainable village called Solheimar. It had
once been used as a children’s home. The pictures made it look pretty campy.
Today, it is adults with disabilities live and work there. They learn various
arts and crafts and make those to sell to visitors. It was a beautiful little
place that we enjoyed wandering around.
We also drove by this massive church several times. I
believe it was considered a cathedral. It was huge and always stood out against
the landscape.
On our last full day out with the car, we headed out to the coast for some more sightseeing. It was so cold! The land, though is so beautiful. As I go through our pictures trying to select which ones to share, it is so hard to narrow it down. The wild hinterlands of Iceland are unbelievable. Writing this makes me want to go back!
The next day, we drove off to Reykjavik and had our first
sightseeing day there. We walked around and found some tasty restaurants. We
went to the cathedral, and found a few shops. As far textiles go, there were
some great wool sweaters that were so tempting and animal skins, which I am not
against. Reindeer and seal were the most intriguing, although seal seemed kind
of wrong and slightly illegal, but I guess it isn’t. Needless to say, we will
not have any animal skins on our floor layered with our Turkish rugs, yet.
We planned to return our car once we were in Reykjavik and
just use public transportation, because it’s not cheap to have a car there, but
it was worth it. So early the next morning we drove out to the Blue Lagoon
before taking our car to the airport. The Blue Lagoon is a natural hot spring
that is used as a resort now. It is a brilliant blue in the middle of this
rocky molten lava landscape. It’s impressive. We booked the first possible
time, having read that by mid-morning all the tour buses arrive. So perfect to
go first thing in the morning. At that time of year, the light will never be
different, so it’s not like you’re missing out on a twilight swim, and the air
is so cool, that the water feels amazing. I think that Matt was the very first
person in and had it to himself for a couple minutes. A few others were in when
I arrived, but it was still pretty empty, which was not what I had expected.
There are different areas of the lagoon to swim around in. One has a waterfall.
Other areas are obviously where the water is being pumped in and can be
extremely hot. The bottom has a soft, but thin layer of mud making it very
comfortable to walk/crawl around. It’s never deep enough to not reach the
bottom, I don’t know that I even ever stood up straight while still being
submerged, you just kind of crawl around. The water is opaque, but not in a
creepy way. There are vats of mud around the pool that is supposedly very good
for your skin, so you use it as a mask. We had a lot of fun doing that and your
skin does feel really smooth when you finish. You can also spend a lot of money
to bring a small bottle home with you. It was tempting. Once you’re in, you can
stay all day long if you want, which is really great.
After that, we spent our time walking around Reykjavik. Our
apartment was not really within walking distance, but we’re cheap and the city
bus is not, so we walked. On our anniversary, we walked along the water, pass
the Viking ship statue and made our way to an amazing restaurant, that was so
hipster, I loved it. Iceland is a surprisingly hipster place. We even made it to our last international living history place. Matt found an organ to play and I found lots of gorgeous textiles to admire.
I think it’s great that our last full day of travel was our
anniversary. It seemed like the appropriate way to celebrate. The next morning,
we gathered our backpacks and went to the airport. We flew into Seattle where
we met our friends and enjoyed a very American meal. Oh that was good. Then we
continued on to San Francisco and ended our year abroad. How strange to say
that.
Now, we have a list of places we want to return to and
places we hope to visit for the first time someday. South America is still out
there. We’ve been to Chile, but there is a lot more to see. I have a little
dream of fixing up a trailer and driving south. We could do it. There is also
so much more of Northern Europe and Eastern Europe. We didn’t see any of the
‘Stans, and I am determined to make it there someday. The Holy Land is also a
place to reach eventually. The hinterlands are so vast, and yet so small. The
connection of people from land to land is just beautiful. There is struggle and
there is relief. There is tragedy and there is hope. Most of all, there is wild
beauty. I can’t believe how much we’ve
seen.
How blessed we are.
