Iceland - the land of a thousand waterfalls

For Easter break we decided to fly to Iceland, a place all of us had on our bucket list. It was an amazing trip, even though there was rain, wind and snow! Here's what we did: 

Saturday, April 1st

Reykjavic:

·      "Free" walking Tour with Guruwalk. We learned some interesting things about Iceland, e.g. babies need to be given Icelandic approved names. 


Ingólfr Arnarson: 
First permanent Norse settler of Iceland (c. 849)


Very cool looking church:



Statue dedicated to the bureaucrats:

 C  Crazy thing we learned: some of the sidewalks are heated with underground pipes! There are so many thermal hot springs in Iceland that they can heat their sidewalks with it! 





Perlan Museum - Good educational museum


There's a man made ice cave in there, also Northern Light planetarium, etc. 





Sky Lagoon: Pricey, but so worth it! We did the 7 steps program (with Sauna and cool off pools, salt bath, etc.) and it felt SOOO GOOD! The lagoon is also right next to the ocean, giving us a great view while soaking for 4 hours!!










Sunday, April 2nd

Golden Circle

·     Pingvellir National Park: A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2004. It is true that the park is mainly famous for being the first place where the Icelandic parliament assembled. It is here where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. 









Oxararfoss waterfall:








Bruarfoss – and 2 other foss – a very muddy hike but so worth it 
because we saw the bluest water ever!

Haukadalur & Geysir



Gulfoss Falls











Monday, April 3rd

Seljalandsfoss





And just a few hundred feet down the trail: Gljufrafoss






Skogafoss: 

 





 

Tuesday, April 4

Solheimajokull Glacier: We loved to be so close 
to a glacier and see the cool blue color.











Reynisfjara Beach - Another one of our favorites!



          

Trying to not get caught in the waves!

·       Fjaðrárglúgur Canyon: Amazing, beautiful canyon









Got some very muddy shoes though to get there: 


Skaftafell Nat. Park: hike to Svartifoss 





Svinafellsjokull Glacier









Wednesday, April 5

Diamond Beach and Jökulsárlón lake: We loved these blacksand beaches













Wild horses everywhere:



And a ton of reindeer:


Stokkness, Vestrahorn and Viking Village: Wasn't that great, 
except for the big waves hitting the black rocks 




This viking village was built for a movie that has not been filmed yet. 






Lots of Reindeer on the way to Seydisfjordur (past Egilsstaðir):


Beautiful Drive!!


Road towards Seydisfjordur where Walter Mitty Longboarding clip was filmed! 




There's a ski resort there:



 Seydisfjordur: Quintessential Icelandish town


·     Thursday, April 6


Stuðlagil canyon: We did the West side because of time constraint. The East side 
with hiking in the canyon would have been better.




Dettifoss – Europe’s most powerful waterfall: massive, 
but not as pretty, with brownish water – 
visited West Side road 862, which is a paved road

Hiked Hverfjall volcano – beautiful views from top,

good steep hike. Would be great during a sunset.  










Finally got to see the Northern Lights! 
First night without clouds. 





Friday, April 7

Around Lake Myvatn:

Grjótagjá – Lava Cave with hot Spring

Entrance:



Breakfast with the cows next door:




 Dimmuborgir- Lava Field with a ”church”





The "Church:"



Skútustaðagígar Craters in Lake Myvatn - with lots of wind!



Godafosss – beautiful half circle waterfall – with blueish water







In Akureyi, there wasn't much to do, since it's too early to see the puffins, so Sarah learned how to drive manual for the first time!

 

Saturday, April 8

Hvitserkur – rock formation - looked bigger in the pictures...


    Illugastadhir – Best place for Seal watching!








One more visit to  Reyjkavic – to the Sun Voyager







 

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