In short, Iceland is awesome, and totally deserving of being a tourist destination i
n and of itself. We've already started thinking about coming back. After getting off the plane (shortly before 7am without having slept the night before), we took a taxi straight to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa about 40km from Reykjavik. Upon arrival, the doors were locked. They didn't open until 9am, but we had reservations for a breakfast buffet at 8. In short, we were confused (and, if you know tired Chris...grumpy). Kent managed to find his way to the back door, through the kitchen, and let us in. All without running into a single soul that worked there. Odd.
n and of itself. We've already started thinking about coming back. After getting off the plane (shortly before 7am without having slept the night before), we took a taxi straight to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa about 40km from Reykjavik. Upon arrival, the doors were locked. They didn't open until 9am, but we had reservations for a breakfast buffet at 8. In short, we were confused (and, if you know tired Chris...grumpy). Kent managed to find his way to the back door, through the kitchen, and let us in. All without running into a single soul that worked there. Odd.Breakfast consisted of typical fruits, breads, eggs, bacon, and franks and beans. Of course it did! 9am rolled around, we got our passes to the Blue Lagoon, changed clothes, stored our luggage, and went out into the 50 degree weather. Brrrr.....let me tell you, I was excited they maintain the water at 95-105 degrees. We swam in the water, gave ourselves facials using the silica mud (yes, there are pictures, just can't seem to get them uploaded at the moment), and enjoyed ourselves until about 12:30. After changing clothes, it was time to head into Reykjavik! Except...
Little did we know Saturday was the annual Icelandic Cultural Festival, meaning, the central core of the city was closed to traffic. What does this mean? Yet another vacatio
n where Chris, Kent and Maggie lug their suitcases through a European city...uphill. Alas, we arrived at our home for the next three nights, Reykjavik4you apartments, conveniently located at the corner of Bergstaoastraeti and Spitalastigur. We checked in, wandered through the city, took a nap, and enjoyed ourselves.
n where Chris, Kent and Maggie lug their suitcases through a European city...uphill. Alas, we arrived at our home for the next three nights, Reykjavik4you apartments, conveniently located at the corner of Bergstaoastraeti and Spitalastigur. We checked in, wandered through the city, took a nap, and enjoyed ourselves.When I say festival, what I mean is the city is full of people, bands playing at nearly every corner, and just a hot mess. I'm sure it was great, if you'd gotten any sleep in the past two days. Maggie went to bed, and Kent and I wandered back out to stand in the cold for fireworks. I love fireworks, especially ones at 11pm when it hasn't gotten dark yet. But we had to get to bed!
Sunday was our day to tour the Golden Circle, the basic "Introduction to Iceland" tour everyone takes. There are four main stops...a volcanic crater, a huge waterfall, geothermal steam field with geyser, and a "rift valley," where the euroasian and north american tectonic plates are drifting apart. Along the way, we passed by a geothermal power plant that's capable of powering the entire country on a staff of...wait for it...two people. Yes, that's right, two. But, to be safe, and allow for sleep and vacations, it employs a total of twelve. So much for efficiency. We also learned that the "lowlands" used to be under the ocean during the last ice age, when the sheer weight of the glaciers caused the island to sink. I wish I could post enough pictures here to tell the whole story, but hey, I guess you'll just have to hear it in person!
I had never seen a geyser before, and now I've seen the one all geysers are named for. As it turns out, this was the first geyser ever discovered. The man who discovered this phenomenon named it after it favorite horse. No, really. So tha name of this particular one is Geysir, and the name stuck apparently. Its pretty awesome, watching the water swell, sink, swell, sink, then form this little bubble immediately before erputing. Wait three to five minutes, and do it all over again!
As I'm writing this, I'm starting to realize I'm not going to be able to tell every story I want to. I mean, we're just on day one here people, and I've told you about 3% of all of the amazing stuff we've seen and learned. Also, its getting late, and we have to get up in six hours to get our butts to Amsterdam. So, unfortunately, this is where the story will end for today. Below you'll find a few pictures from the Golden Circle. Yes, there are more. Many, many more. And most of you will probably have to sit through me telling the stories. Over...and over.
Hahaha, Kent is so resourceful :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing pictures are amazing!