Words do not describe how epically cool today was. We had a windy, rainy, chilly day, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it! I'm truly not sure either my words or my pictures can do it justice, so here's what you need to do.
Go to Iceland. Look up Sterna Travel in Reykjavik. Book their Golden Circle and Kerlingarfjöll Highlands tour. Try to get Gunnar as your tour guide, though I hear Cippy is also excellent. Do NOT wuss out of ANY of it, no matter what the weather conditions. Dress warmer and pack more dry clothes than you think you need, lest you wind up like me with souvenir wool long johns and wool socks! Eat the lamb stew at Gullfoss. Hear lots of stories of trolls and elves. Hike in some incredible areas and mud-ski back down. Touch a glacier. And maybe, if you are very lucky, your tour guide will sing you Icelandic drinking songs on the way home.
Hiking exploits, experimental cooking, general nerdery, and cat pictures.
Seriously. Do not call me Katy.
Showing posts with label Iceland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iceland. Show all posts
Monday, September 3, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
In Which the OMG I'm 35 Trip Turns Into the F*#% Yeah I'm 35! Trip
Sunshine in Iceland!
Today was another fantastic day. We wound up getting to bed earlier than originally planned last night - it was cloudy and the Northern Lights tour was cancelled. Made it much easier to get up early this morning!
We had a quick breakfast at our Guesthouse - cereal, fruit salad, homemade bread, cold ham and cheese, and coffee/tea/OJ. Delicious! Then we got picked up for our next tour, Reykjanes Peninsula and the Blue Lagoon.
The Reykjanes Peninsula is at the southwest corner of Iceland. Relatively flat, mostly covered with ancient lava fields, and very few houses or settlements. We saw a few "villages", some of which consisted of about 8 farmhouses. Very desolate area, even though I know this is one of the more populated parts of Iceland as it's less than an hour drive from Reykjavik. It was overcast when we started out, but the sun came out and we had such a beautiful day! Driving along the Atlantic coastline was just amazing. Again, pictures are coming (or if you know me, you can check the Book of Face) but the upload speed from the hotel is just really slow right now.
We got dropped off at the Blue Lagoon Spa around 11:30. Merrow and I were starving, so we hit up the cafe for lunch - Caesar salad and wine - before spa-ing it up. After my experience at the Dead Sea, I was expecting it to be much more sulfuric than it was, but the water was mostly just salt and calcium. The locker rooms open out into a huge thermal pool area. Some parts are warmer than others, depending on how close you are to the steam vents. We did silica mud on our faces, and then just chilled in the water for a couple of hours. It was sunny, the sky was bright blue, and it was probably about 55-60F outside. You can stand up and cool off when you get too warm, and slide back down into the water when you get chilled. No extra spa treatments for us, but we did partake of the swim-up bar. The white wine was good, but the strawberry champagne was better!
After the spa, we headed back to Reykjavik. Wandered through the local flea market, grabbed cold (non-alcoholic) beverages, poked through a few shops, and grabbed an early dinner at a place called Cafe Paris. Seemed fitting. We both had burgers, which we pretty much inhaled - long day! Unfortunately, as we were eating, the clouds started rolling back in. So strike 2 for trying to see the Northern Lights. One last chance tomorrow, which doesn't look good. Ah well, I will just have to come back!
And come back I will. Iceland is just incredible. The people are so nice and friendly, and the scenery is just amazing. Completely out of this world. Merrow and I were saying to each other tonight that we've run out of words to describe it - pretty unusual for either of us! So one photo for now, and good night.
Today was another fantastic day. We wound up getting to bed earlier than originally planned last night - it was cloudy and the Northern Lights tour was cancelled. Made it much easier to get up early this morning!
We had a quick breakfast at our Guesthouse - cereal, fruit salad, homemade bread, cold ham and cheese, and coffee/tea/OJ. Delicious! Then we got picked up for our next tour, Reykjanes Peninsula and the Blue Lagoon.
The Reykjanes Peninsula is at the southwest corner of Iceland. Relatively flat, mostly covered with ancient lava fields, and very few houses or settlements. We saw a few "villages", some of which consisted of about 8 farmhouses. Very desolate area, even though I know this is one of the more populated parts of Iceland as it's less than an hour drive from Reykjavik. It was overcast when we started out, but the sun came out and we had such a beautiful day! Driving along the Atlantic coastline was just amazing. Again, pictures are coming (or if you know me, you can check the Book of Face) but the upload speed from the hotel is just really slow right now.
We got dropped off at the Blue Lagoon Spa around 11:30. Merrow and I were starving, so we hit up the cafe for lunch - Caesar salad and wine - before spa-ing it up. After my experience at the Dead Sea, I was expecting it to be much more sulfuric than it was, but the water was mostly just salt and calcium. The locker rooms open out into a huge thermal pool area. Some parts are warmer than others, depending on how close you are to the steam vents. We did silica mud on our faces, and then just chilled in the water for a couple of hours. It was sunny, the sky was bright blue, and it was probably about 55-60F outside. You can stand up and cool off when you get too warm, and slide back down into the water when you get chilled. No extra spa treatments for us, but we did partake of the swim-up bar. The white wine was good, but the strawberry champagne was better!
After the spa, we headed back to Reykjavik. Wandered through the local flea market, grabbed cold (non-alcoholic) beverages, poked through a few shops, and grabbed an early dinner at a place called Cafe Paris. Seemed fitting. We both had burgers, which we pretty much inhaled - long day! Unfortunately, as we were eating, the clouds started rolling back in. So strike 2 for trying to see the Northern Lights. One last chance tomorrow, which doesn't look good. Ah well, I will just have to come back!
And come back I will. Iceland is just incredible. The people are so nice and friendly, and the scenery is just amazing. Completely out of this world. Merrow and I were saying to each other tonight that we've run out of words to describe it - pretty unusual for either of us! So one photo for now, and good night.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
OMG 35 day 1 and 2
Update, 9/23/12: Now with pictures!
Flight over yesterday was fantastic. If this is how the rich and famous travel by plane, sign me up! With our Economy Comfort tickets (which were essentially Business Class), we got lounge access pre-flight, free wine for the entire flight, and when we dropped the fact to our flight attendant that this is my birthday trip, she gave us the First Class gift bags with refreshing toiletries, socks, eyemasks, candy, and More Wine.
We entertained ourselves with wine, and more wine, and food, and wondering what the story behind the "Happy Marriage Cake" on the menu is, more wine, and Strategery on Merrow's iPad.
Today was a slightly slow start to the morning (see above re: Wine, Too Much), but we rallied by 10ish and wandered around Reykjavik for a while. Weather was overcast, cloudy, foggy, drizzly, and partly sunny - in about the space of 10 minutes time. A quick stop back at the hotel, a little snack of cheese and crackers, and we headed off for our first tour - lava cave exploration!
We wound up in a small tour group of 6 and headed out to some ancient/cooled lava fields about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavik. At some point in time, the lava made tunnels and caves, and we were able to crawl inside for about an hour. We probably walked about 3/4 of a mile total, in a figure 8 pattern. Coolest. Thing. Ever! Fantastic experience.
For dinner we headed to a local bistro where we split an appetizer of traditional Icelandic meats - cured beef, double-smoked lamb, and puffin, all served with blueberries. Puffins are cute - and DELICIOUS.
Now we are getting ready to head off and hopefully see some Northern Lights. Though, doubtful, as it's pretty cloudy right now.
Pictures tomorrow!
Flight over yesterday was fantastic. If this is how the rich and famous travel by plane, sign me up! With our Economy Comfort tickets (which were essentially Business Class), we got lounge access pre-flight, free wine for the entire flight, and when we dropped the fact to our flight attendant that this is my birthday trip, she gave us the First Class gift bags with refreshing toiletries, socks, eyemasks, candy, and More Wine.
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| Merrow, demonstrating that the third seat between us is not so much a seat as it is our own personal drinks table. |
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| Announcements in English and Islandic |
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| Moonrise over the Atlantic. Full moon Friday night! |
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| World domination is always more fun after a couple of drinks! |
We wound up in a small tour group of 6 and headed out to some ancient/cooled lava fields about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavik. At some point in time, the lava made tunnels and caves, and we were able to crawl inside for about an hour. We probably walked about 3/4 of a mile total, in a figure 8 pattern. Coolest. Thing. Ever! Fantastic experience.
For dinner we headed to a local bistro where we split an appetizer of traditional Icelandic meats - cured beef, double-smoked lamb, and puffin, all served with blueberries. Puffins are cute - and DELICIOUS.
Now we are getting ready to head off and hopefully see some Northern Lights. Though, doubtful, as it's pretty cloudy right now.
Pictures tomorrow!
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