Iceland - Day 1-6 - July 12 - 17, 2023 — Shelly & Rick's Travels

Wednesday - July 12-13, 2023 - Travel Days

The most difficult and worrisome part of going on an International trip is the flights. This time our flights had huge layovers at each of the connection airports which made it a long day, but we didn’t miss any flights. We flew from Albuquerque to Houston, then Houston to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Reykjavik. It definitely seemed that Frankfurt was too far East to travel to go to Iceland, but that is how it is some days! We did get to fly upstairs on a 747, which is becoming a rarity.

Coming into Keflavik International Airport outside of Reykjavik we passed over the current volcanic eruption - pretty cool!

Volcanic Eruption from the plane landing in Iceland

Thursday - July 13, 2023 - Reykjavik, Iceland

We got to our hotel in Reykjavik mid-afternoon, just in time for a driving tour of the city. Our guide for the next five days will be Hal, who was once the Chief Veterinarian of Iceland. He was an excellent guide and a fun human! We saw the Hallgrímskirkja, which is a very modern looking Lutheran church and one of the tallest structures in Iceland. We also looked around the Harpan, the concert hall on the shore - very modern and interesting. It was a very windy day - which we will get used to over the next five days of our visit! We returned to our hotel for a much needed rest!

Hallgrímskirkja, the very modern Lutheran church in Reykjavik

The Harpan, the concert hall in Reykjavik

Friday - July 14, 2023 - Icelandic Horses, Lava Centre, Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, & Reynisdrangar Beach

After a good night’s sleep, we had a tasty hotel breakfast before heading out on what will be the first of several very long days. When you are on an escorted tour you stay very busy, but you see a lot.

Our first stop this morning was the Eldhestar Volcano Horses to see some Icelandic horses. I am not the biggest fan of horses, but these horses were very cool. They stay outside year around in Iceland and are smaller than a regualr horse. They also have a couple of gaits that other horses don’t - the “Tolt” and “Flying” gaits these are special and fast gaits that are designed with such a smooth gait that you can carry a glass of wine. I really enjoyed meeting these great horses.

Our next stop for the day was the Lava Centre for Iceland. Iceland is constantly moving and the Lava Centre is a great informational place that monitors the lava and earthquake activity that is always going on all around the island of Iceland.

Next, we had a excellent Lamb Shank lunch and then proceeded to the Seljalandsfoss. The Seljalandsfoss is one of the more popular waterfalls (Foss means waterfall in Icelandic) in Iceland because you can walk behind it. We passed on getting wet, but enjoyed the visit of our first of many waterfalls in Iceland.

We then kept heading south along the Icelandic Coast and went to another popular waterfall - Skogafoss. This waterfall had more water than the last one and you could climb 500 steps and go to the top. It was quite steep - none of us attempted the climb.

Our last stop of the day was the Black Sand Beach at Reynisdranger. It is a very interesting geologic area with Black sand and ballast columns. The columns reminded us of the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland - which really is not that far from here as the crow flies.

We then drove 2.5 hours back to Reykjavik - we will do a lot of driving in the next few days!

Saturday - July 15, 2023 - Tomato Greenhouse, Gullfoss, Geysir Centre, Thingvellir National Park

We packed up and left our hotel in Reykjavik to head north to the Stykkishólmur Peninsula where we will spend the next two nights. Our first stop this morning was at the Fridemar Greenhouse where they grow tomatoes. I am not the biggest tomato fan, but I was amazed at the entire process. They are growing everything in greenhouses with special bees and other bugs to control pests. It is an incredibly large and fascinating operation. We sampled some tomato schnapps served in half tomatoes for glasses.

After the greenhouses, we went to the Gullfoss, or Golden Waterfall. This waterfall was amazing! There was a ton of water flowing over it, and it was extremely windy. I am not a small man, but I was scared a couple of times that I might blow over. I took this opportunity to throw a small rock into the Gullfoss. Earlier in the year my good friend, David Cooper, died and we were given small pebbles to take somewhere in the outdoors that he would have liked. Dave would have loved Iceland and this waterfall.

We then proceeded to the Geysir Centre to see a Geysir and have some lunch. We waited around the geysir for about 20 minutes, and it went off for about 30 seconds. If you want to see a Geysir go to Yellowstone; it’s not what Iceland does best.

We then took a hike in the Thingvellir National Park to see Althing, the site of the first parliament in the world and a gap where the North American & European Tectonic Plates meet.

We then closed out our day traveling about 2.5 hours to the Fosshotel on the Stykkishólmur Peninsula.

Drinking Tomato Schnapps from a half tomato

The gap between the North American and European Tectonic Plates

Sunday - July 16, 2023 - Stykkishólmur Peninsula, Snæfellsjökull National Park, Kirkjufell Mountain, & Snæfellsjökull Volcano

This morning we awoke on the Stykkishólmur Peninsula, a very small seaside town known for fishing. We had a great breakfast and all sat together and chatted before heading out for another long day.

We began with a circle tour of the peninsula. Our first stop was Kirkufjell, a very famous postcard photo from Iceland that was used several times in Game of Thrones. The wide open and treeless landscapes in Iceland are very spectacular and windy.

We then visited the Maritime Museum in Snaefellsjokull National Park which is located around the Snaefellsjokull Volcano. We spent the day driving around this very large volcano and seeing the sites of the peninsula. We had an excellent lunch at Hotel Budir - just down the hill from the Budakirkja Black Church.

Monday, July 17, 2023 - Stykkishólmur Harbor & Boat Tour

This morning we had a late start, which was great considering the long days we have been having for the last week. We have seen a lot of Iceland.

We had some extra time so we went to see the Stykkisholmur Church that is just across from our hotel. We then went on a 2 hour tour of the harbor to see seabirds and have Viking Sushi. The very fresh sushi was collected by dropping a cage off the back of the boat and dragging it on the sea bottom for a bit to collect seafood to eat - the fresh scallops were great!

We went to the Bjarnarhofn Shark Museum and had raw shark, a very unique dish they have been preparing for hundreds of years. We then had excellent cooked fish and chips for lunch.

We returned several hours back to Reykjavik. On the way the traffic was stopped for a bad accident, we spent a few extra hours in Iceland sitting on the road. Tomorrow we are off to Norway and our ship.

Iceland - Day 1-6 - July 12 - 17, 2023

bergen, norway - Day 7-8 - July 18-19, 2023