Iceland Vacation, Day 3

This morning we departed Reykjavík and drove northeast to Thingvellir National Park. It is the original meeting place of the Althing, the Icelandic parliament, starting with the Vikings in 903 until the last session there in 1798. (Now the Althing meets in a parliament building in Reykjavík.) Thingvellir also has geographical significance: it is a rift valley in the divide between the North American and Eurasian continental plates, with the gorge caused by tectonic forces as the movement of the plates has torn apart the lava fields there.

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Almannagjá Gorge

Looking east out of the gorge toward the waters that flow south into Thingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

The Icelandic flag marks Lögberg, meaning law rock, the location for the Althing, where laws were recited and legal disputes were heard.

The Thingvellir church is a wooden structure built in 1859 at the site of one of Iceland's oldest churches, originally built there just after Christianity became Iceland's official religion in 1000 A.D. Near it is the national cemetery and the Icelandic prime minister's summer residence.

This water flows from the waterfall that is pictured next ...

Nate, Angie, Susan, I, Lisa, and Marcus posing beneath Öxarárfoss, the waterfall caused as the river Öxará flows over the Almannagjá rocks toward the Thingvallavatn lake.

Afterward we drove to Efstidalur, a historic family-run dairy farm dating back to the 1750s. We ate in their farm-to-table restaurant (beef/vegetable soup, cauliflower soup, and smoked trout on homemade bread) at a table with a window that looked into the barn, where several cattle were lazily munching on some hay.

Then we drove to Geysir, the main geyser located in a hot springs area with boiling mud pits and other geysers. It is the steaming hole in the upper left corner of the photo. I snapped this pic just after it had erupted--I was leaning past a crowd of other photo takers, so this isn't my best work.

Our next stop was Gullfoss, a two-tiered waterfall on the Hvitá river.

Obligatory scrapbook pose at Gullfoss.

Then we went to see Kerið, a volcanic crater lake. Minerals from the soil color its water a beautiful aquamarine. The walls of the crater are basalt and volcanic scoria. Afterward we had supper (fresh fish) in the town of Hella at the restaurant in Hótel Kanslarinn. Then off we went to our accommodations for the night:

We stayed in glass igloos! Each couple had our own igloo, outfitted with bed, heaters, lamps, and a table and two chairs. Nate and Angie also arranged for each igloo to have champagne, chocolate, and grapes waiting for us. We slept facing north so we would have good views of the Northern Lights throughout the night.

Yes, this was the view through our glass ceiling! This is just one of very, very many Northern Lights photos, some taken when we first went to bed and others taken in the middle of the night (after waking for a trip to the restroom).

Iceland Vacation, Day 2

Today was a full day to spend in Reykjavík. After some much-needed sleep, we made breakfast in our Airbnb and then went back to Hallgrímskirkja to participate in their mid-morning worship service.

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Although the nave of the church can seat 1,200, the midweek services draw a much smaller crowd and are held in the chancel. About 30 of us were seated in three rows of chairs right behind the altar. The service was conducted in Icelandic, but we had a bulletin written in English--and we recognized most elements of the Lutheran service even without it. The Icelanders spoke English to us for the sharing of the peace, showed us where to go for communion (everyone stood in a circle in front of the altar), and invited us to join them for fellowship after the service. Along with the strong Nordic coffee, they laid out baked goods, crisp breads, cheeses, jams, and pickled and smoked fish.

After church, we walked around Reykjavík to explore. This stainless steel sculpture is called The Sun Voyager. That body of water is the Atlantic Ocean.

Nearby is Harpa, a concert hall and conference center. Here are a few more interesting buildings from our walk:

After a delicious dinner at the 1892 Brasserie (tomato soup in a bread bowl and a seafood salad), we continued our walk around the city. This is one of many statues in the sculpture garden of the Einar Jónsson Museum.

We sampled some local beers and ciders in the Reykjavík Bruggfélag, a craft brewery.

We stopped in Kaffi Loki for some fermented shark. Icelandic Vikings needing to eat discovered that Greenlandic shark, poisonous when fresh, became edible after being buried underground to rot for two months. Nowadays eating it is a mark of strength (being able to tolerate the taste!) and respect for tradition. For tourists, it's something to check off the list of "Icelandic things to do." Put a small cube of hákarl (the shark) in your mouth and start chewing. After several seconds, the taste of ammonia will wash over your tongue. That's when it's time to swallow the shark and then take a shot of brennivín, Iceland's signature spirit (a type of akevitt, which is aomething our family drinks regularly with our Norwegian meals). Brennivín, which means burnt wine, is 80 proof and definitely burns away the taste of the shark!

Then we went for much more pleasurable food: supper at the Reykjavík Fish Restaurant (fresh cod and Arctic char) and ice cream for dessert from Valdís (with interesting ice cream flavors like rye bread, salted licorice, and rose).

Iceland Vacation, Day 1

Yesterday, Susan and I traveled to Iceland for a weeklong vacation with two of our couples friends: Nate and Angie and Marcus and Lisa. The flights were reasonable: an hour from Bismarck, ND, to Minneapolis, MN; an hour-and-a-half from there to Detroit, MI; and a six-hour flight to Keflavík, Iceland (just outside of Reykjavík). It's just that our 1:20 A.M. Central time arrival was actually 6:20 A.M. in Iceland ... so it was already time to start our day of touristy activities without a full night's sleep! We picked up our rental cars and got started.

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Our first stop was Kökulist Bakery for pastries and coffee. Then we spent a few hours at the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa located in a lava field outside of Keflavík. This photo came from the InterWebz (here) because we were all submerged in the water with mineral masks on our faces and cocktails in our hands ... so we were too preoccupied to take our own photographs!

Then we drove to Reykjavík, where we'll spend two nights. We ate fish stew and fish soup for dinner at The Icelandic Bar, where Nate tried (and shared) grilled puffin, Iceland's signature bird. We checked into our Airbnb and then walked around the area to explore the shops and take photos of interesting buildings. We found a grocery store and bought some items to make our own supper tonight (crackers, meat, and cheese) and breakfast tomorrow (eggs, bacon, toast, and jam) ... because food in Icelandic restaurants is expensive! For example, at dinner my fish stew came in a soup bowl with a slice of rye bread on the side. It cost 3,890 Icelandic krónur, which is about 32 American dollars.

Just a couple blocks from our Airbnb is the Lutheran church Hallgrímskirkja, the largest church in Iceland and a prominent part of Reykjavík's cityscape. It is named after the Icelandic poet and minister Hallgrímur Pétursson (Hallgrímskirkja means Hallgrímur's church).

This is just one of many Reykjavík buildings painted in interesting ways. Many otherwise traditional houses are painted in bright colors to add cheer during the long winters; and street art is embraced, with murals small and large (like this one) painted in alleyways and on the fronts of homes and businesses.