30 October Through 8 November 2021

We are obviously big into travel, so as the pandemic travel restrictions were starting to lift, Iceland was one of the first countries to allow vaccinated foreigners to visit. We read about this and said “pack our bags, we are on the road again!” Luckily we were able to be flexible because there were a lot of flight cancelations and re-scheduling going on at the time. Eventually, we were able to get on a direct flight from Orlando and we were all set.

30 October 2021

After a wonderful lunch to celebrate my beautiful mother’s birthday, we headed to the Orlando airport.  We turned in the rental car and made our way to the terminal.  Of course, we were way early and the Icelandair counter wasn’t open until 3.5 hours before our flight.  We got checked in at 3:15 and spent the next couple of hours in the lounge (reserved seats for Icelandair passengers!) until it was time to board.  We were so excited to be in our seats and on our way to Reykjavik!!

31 October 2021

We landed early – just after 5:00 local time, and wouldn’t you know it, the “jet ways” were stairs down to the tarmac and to a waiting bus.  It was incredibly cold ~ 36* with icy wind and rain (it felt much colder).  Of course, our winter gear was in our checked bags.  We couldn’t get to the terminal fast enough!

We cleared immigration and customs (after a brief stop in the duty-free shop!).  We were officially in Iceland by 6:00!  After a few false starts, we found an airport information booth, and the man there directed us to the car rental shuttle.  Unfortunately, Geysir Car Rental didn’t open until 7:00, so we waited.  Luckily, we were out of the wind as they had a small lobby where people could return keys if returning a vehicle before opening hours.

(Hours 20 through 22 With No Sleep)

We got our vehicle (kind of a POS – per Garth Brooks), a reliable (fingers crossed), if weathered Dacia 4×4 with about 193K kilometers.  But the heat worked great!!  After our briefing (seatbelts are required, headlights are compulsory, ALWAYS hold on to the car doors when opening or the wind will rip it off its hinges), we set out at 7:30 in the darkness, with only a vague idea of where we were headed – through Reykjavik and on to Route 1 (the ring road).  From there we headed north toward Borgarnes and onward to the Snaefellsnes peninsula.

The sun was rising as we drove, and finally the landscape was illuminated.  Not surprisingly, the mountain tops are snow covered.  But the roads were clear, and we covered the klicks quickly.  The max speed is 90kph (55mph) however, being on two lane roads (one each direction), this is about as fast as you want to go.

So, as I was looking at the map, there is a section of Route 1 that is not colored red like the rest of the road.  The “aha” moment came shortly thereafter when we realized that we were entering a tunnel.  It is 6km in length and passes under Hvalfjörður fjord, reaching a depth of 165 meters below sea level.

About 20km on the other side, we were in Borgarnes, and made our first stop at the N1.  The N1s are ubiquitous in Iceland – a combination of a gas station, a high-end 7-11, and a Starbucks – with real coffee baristas!

We grabbed a coffee and a sandwich to go, stopped in briefly at the Netto grocery market (right next door) for a liter bottle of water and were on our way again!

Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Village of Búðir – Tiny black church along sandy and lava rock beaches, Lóndrangar basalt cliffs, Malariff Lighthouse

(Hour 23 With No Sleep)

Except for the airport, this was our first experience with the biting winds.  Even with gloves, hats, scarves, etc., 10-15 minutes is about the most we could endure before having to retreat to the car.

Mt Kirkjufell 
Sadly, this is not our picture, but we thought it was so beautiful that we wanted to include it.

31 October – 2 November 2021

Dis Cottages
Þórdísarstaðir, Grundarfjordur, 350, Iceland

(Hours 24 Through 31 With No Sleep)

L) Our first Icelandic cottage.
R) Inside our cottage and our view.

We continued around the entire Snaefellsnes Peninsula and decided to do a recon mission on our accommodations – just so we knew where we were going because it is dark by 5:00, which is the official check-in time.  We found the cottages fairly easily then headed back to town for gas and groceries.  Now that we were stocked up, we made our way to the cottages and “checked in” even though we were about an hour early.  I say “checked in” because there was no reception area – you simply go to your assigned cottage (#5) and the keys are on the table!

We unpacked the car, loaded up the fridge and put our feet up.  We were drinking coffee and watching the sunset, when the proprietor, Anna, knocked on our door to introduce herself.  She was really pleasant and told us about yesterday’s Aurora.  Interestingly, she said that they weren’t very colorful, which was the same as our observation when viewing from the plane. 

We actually managed to stay awake until about 8:00, when we had to give up.  It had been 31 hours since we last slept and exhaustion had overtaken!

1 November 2021

After a very refreshing 12 hours of sleep (with several wake-ups during the night to check for Aurora with no joy), we finally emerged to explore more of our surroundings.  We first drove to Stykkishólmur, a picturesque fishing village.  In warmer days, there is a ferry that runs to Flatey and to the Westfjords.

L) Scene just outside our cottage.
C) Scenic overlook on our drive.
R) Small churches like this are every where. A farm may have a family church built on it.

Just outside of Stykkishólmur, we picked up route 54, which despite being a primary roadway, is gravel and winding.  We traveled about 40km in an hour and decide to turn around and head back to the cottage.  After a short stop at the grocery store for provisions for dinner, we arrived back at Dis Cottages around 5:00.

We had a delicious pasta dinner and reorganized our bags for departure in the morning.  We are looking forward to the next part of our adventure!

2-3 November 2021

MinniBorgir Cottages
Minni-Borg, 801, Iceland
GPS Coordinates N 064° 4.715, W 20° 45.274
(Interesting that there was no street address – only GPS coordinates!)

L) DIY breakfast.
C) Amazing sunset
R) Typical MinniBorgir cottage.

When we booked at MInniBorgir Cottages we had the option to prepay for our breakfast in their restaurant. On arrival we were asked if we liked various items for breakfast, kind of a pick and choose theme. What we finally understood was that, due to the pandemic, the hotel wasn’t doing breakfast in the restaurant but instead, gave us a box of items and we cooked for ourselves in our cottage. We must have eaten off of that box (contents shown above) for 3 days, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The first stop on today’s itinerary was Geysir and the surrounding geothermal area of the Haukadalur Valley.  Geysir itself, erupts very infrequently (and unpredictably), but Strukkur is much more reliable, with eruptions every 5-7 minutes.  We watched 5 or 6 eruptions while we were there – and even managed to film several of them!  It was truly magnificent!  The power of the earth!

L) Geyser "Strukkur" erupting.
C) Golden Falls.
R) Wild Icelandic stallions...maybe not.

From Geysir, we continued up the road to Gullfoss (translated to ‘Golden Falls’), which is one of Iceland’s most iconic and famous waterfalls.  The amount of water flow is astounding – we think it is the largest by volume of all waterfalls in Europe.  It’s actually a bit frightening to witness the water cascading over two tiers. Also, we had a chance to stop and get a closer look at the Icelandic Horses that are ubiquitous around the countryside.

After leaving Geysir, we continued back south to the tomato farm at Reykholt.  Fridheimar is a working farm comprised of nearly 100 greenhouses, growing a variety of tomatoes – and of course, basil!  There is an on-site restaurant with seating right in the greenhouse.  Not surprisingly, the fare is tomato themed, even including tomato beer and ice cream (we didn’t partake in either)!  I had tomato soup, which was served buffet style with your choice of bread – oh, so yummy!!  Markus had a tomato and mozzarella tortilla; think of a tomato flatbread but served on two flour tortillas.  The food was amazing, and the Bloody Mary was unlike any I have ever tasted!!

L) Talk about "farm to table", your table is in the farm.
C) Amazing soups and breads buffet.
R) We stayed in the "Garage" on the left, formerly a henhouse.

When we left the restaurant, it was snowing, and we were a little worried about the 100km+ drive to our next accommodation.  Fortunately, the roads were not slick and soon the snow/sleet turned to rain.  We arrived at the Garage Apartments around 5:00 without further ado.

3-4 November 2021
The Garage
Varmahlíð South Coast, 861, Iceland
GPS Coordinates N 063° 32.937, W 19° 44.445

4 November 2021

Today, Thursday (11/4) was our longest drive – our destination in the Austurland region was nearly 400km away!  We stopped to take pictures at a very pretty water fall and then again at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon.  The icebergs were beautiful!

L) Waterfalls galore, they are everywhere.
C) Bonnie made a snowball.
R) Our cottage for the night at Bragdavellir Vpyyshrd (not a typo).

The journey took almost 6 hours and we arrived at Bragdavellir Cottages around 4:00.

We were very hopeful that we would see the Aurora – we got up several times during the night to check for activity, but to no avail.  However, the stars were incredible, and we could see the Milky Way, but no Aurora activity.

4-5 November 2021
Bragdavellir Vpyyshrd
Bragdavellir, 765, Iceland
GPS Coordinates N 064° 38.620, W 14° 30.956

5 November 2021

On Friday, we were up and on the road around 9:30.  It doesn’t sound that early, but the sun doesn’t rise until 9:00 and we didn’t want to drive in the dark.  We were about 10km along and we saw a herd of reindeer.  We couldn’t stop to take pictures, but we did get a chance to watch them for a minute.  They were beautiful!

We stopped at the Glacier Lagoon again and had the opportunity to take some great photographs.  We also stopped at the Hofskirkja, one of the few remaining turf churches in Iceland.

L) One of the few remaining thatch churches left in Iceland.
C) Glacier Lagoon, take 2.
R) Ice, ice baby.

After a brief stop at the grocery store and the Vinbudin (state store) in Vik, we arrived at Black Beach Suites around 5:00 and settled in for the night.

5-6 November 2021
Black Beach Suites
Vik, 871, Iceland
GPS Coordinates N 63° 26.266, W 19° 3.622

6 November 2021

A fierce storm raged over night with tropical force winds.  We woke up several times to the howling wind.  Fortunately, there wasn’t too much snow accumulation, and by the time we left at 11:00, it had turned to rain, but the wind was still really strong to the point where the car was being pushed across the center line.  Needless to say, we had to abandon our sight-seeing plans for the day, which was very disappointing.

The first 85km on route 1 were pretty good – the roads were wet from the rain but not icy or slick.  We stopped briefly in Selfoss, and once we got to the other side of the city, we started up the mountain and into the snow.  Needless to say, this was the slowest part of the journey, with about an hour of driving through the snow.  About 25km from Reykjavik, we descended from the mountain and breathed a sigh of relief that we were through the worst of the weather.

L) View of our room at Black Beach Suites.
C) View out the window to the ocean.
R) Oh boy, driving in the snow today.

We were too early to check into our apartment in Reykjavik so we parked the car in the closest garage and explored the area.  We found a pub that served lunch and Icelandic beer and we passed the time with a lamb “dog” sandwich and a bowl of soup – along with a pint of the local lager.  (Apparently the hot “dog” is THE Icelandic thing, so every sandwich is a “dog”!!)

After our late lunch, we got into our apartment and retrieved our bags from the car.  We are on the third floor, and of course, there is no lift! Oddly enough we went to the state store and ran across a bottle of Costco Prosecco, which we then took the opportunity to enjoy.

L) Church of Hallgrímskirkja in the city center.
C) View inside the church.
R) Strange finding Costco Prosecco in the local wine store.

In the evening, we had appointments at the bus station (about 1.4km walk) for our COVID tests to return to the United States (FREE – even for non-Icelandic citizens!).  We booked the appointments on-line and we got checked in, had our tests, and were on our way back to our apartment in the span of about 20 minutes.  We got our negative test results before we got back to the apartment!

6-8 November 2021
Ice Apartments
Laugavegur 1b , Reykjavik, 101, Iceland

7 November 2021 

We explored Reykjavik today, starting with the Maritime Museum, located at the old harbor (in a building that was originally built as a fish freezing plant). It was about a 1.5 mile walk, but the day was nice and sunny and we enjoyed the stroll at a leisurely pace. We even stopped at an indoor flea market along the way. We had also planned to stop for a donut – at a very popular bakery – but the line was ridiculous! No donuts can be that good!! Anyway, the museum was well done, tracing the capital’s 150 year history of fisheries; it took us a couple of hours to go through. On the way back to our apartment, we detoured by Ingólfur Square and shared a hot dog. We couldn’t leave Iceland without eating one!

One thing that was notable was that the Icelandic Phallological Museum was right across the street from our apartment. We chose to give that a miss…maybe next time!

8 November 2021

We had to check out by 10:00, and by the time we had coffee and got our stuff packed in the car, it was almost exactly on the hour. 

The weather wasn’t very nice – it was misting with rain, but at least it wasn’t snowing!  We walked up to the Church of Hallgrímskirkja (pictured above), which is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country. The statue of explorer Leif Erikson in front of the church was a gift from the United States in honor of the 1930 Althing Millennial Festival, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the convening of Iceland’s parliament at  Þingvellir in 930 AD.  The statue predates construction of the church (1945 – 1986).

L) Statue of Leif Erikson in front of the Church of Hallgrimskirkja.
C) Steel sculpture 'Solfar’ (Sun Voyager).  It was created to resemble a Viking long-ship.
R) Photo showing off our cold weather gear.

Since we didn’t have time for breakfast, we decided to stop at one of the innumerable and ubiquitous artisan bakeries (we think the Icelandic people love their pastries!).  We settled on Brauð & co (Bread & Co.), which turned out to be a very colorful structure!  We shared a ham and cheese sandwich on multi-grain bread as well as a raspberry lemon pastry, that was one of the most delicious pastries we have ever eaten – so flaky with super sweet fruit.

Following our short break, we walked down to the waterfront to the steel sculpture ‘Solfar’ (Sun Voyager).  It was created to resemble a Viking long-ship and the views of the bay with Mount Esja in the background were spectacular.

8 November 2021

We left Reykjavik’s city center around 1:00 to head to the airport.  We were very proud of ourselves as we mastered the self-pay kiosk at the parking garage and were on our way!  We stopped to fill-up the rental car with gas (benzene) and returned the car to Geysir.  Oddly enough, the rental desk was open but there was nobody to be seen.  So, we left the keys in the return box and caught the shuttle to the terminal.

We were really early, but the check-in desk was open, and we got our bags checked, got our boarding passes, cleared security and settled down in the lounge.  We had a light meal of soup and a few appetizers along with a nice glass of champagne.  It was somewhat of a relief to be at the end of the trip – we didn’t get lost, we didn’t have really bad weather (except for one day), we got the rental car back with the same number of dings and scratches that it had when we left.  And, we enjoyed the beautiful landscape that is Iceland!

One funny story – November 8^th was the first day that the U.S. had reopened to international passengers, so in celebration, Iceland Air served donuts with red, white and blue icing on the flight to Orlando. We finally got our donut!!

We landed at MCO early and with our Global Entry, we were quickly through customs.  We didn’t know how late we would be so we reserved a room at the Airport Hyatt.  We had a good night’s sleep and headed home on Tuesday morning.  I was back at my computer by 10:00 and thus ended another travel adventure!

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