Iceland: part 1
DAY 1
The long awaited moment, the start of our 5.5 months around the globe. This journey starts in a place like no other, Iceland. First, we start with a long drive to Chicago (from where we live it is about 7 hours to the airport).
Now some of you are saying, “Josh, why in the world would I take the time to drive there when I could just fly?” well let me tell you. The largest point I can make is this: it comes completely down to preference. If you would like to save money and your time isn’t as valuable, then my way is worth it. If you aren’t ballin’ on a budget then you can fly, but I have a tip for you too so just keep reading. First of all, the flights to Iceland out of Omaha range typically from $900-$1500 depending on the time of year. With us going at the start of summer it is closer to the $1500 round trip. Secondly, we were traveling with family, meaning we can split gas, parking, etc. The flights out of Chicago were only about $400 for one way or $650 for a round trip. As we are carrying on from Iceland, we of course went with the one way, but the round trip price is still considerably better than Omaha. In fact all winter, the prices can be found for $600-$650 round trip out of Chicago, while Omaha is $885 at its cheapest all year, with many prices well over $1,000.
Now for those of you who value their time more than a 7 hour car ride, what if I told you, you could save too? Now follow me here as I explain the term bookend flights. Bookend flights are the flights that sandwich the actual flight you would like to take to your actual destination. Essentially you start with looking when it is cheapest from your local airport to a large airport such as New York, Boston, Chicago. For example, I looked at flights to New York from Omaha, almost every month you can find them for just under $300 round trip. Then what I do is look at days within those dates round trip to Iceland. Here, I found a flight from New York to Reykjavik inside those dates for around $400. This brings your total for the two round trip flights to approximately $700! This is about half of the cost of what Omaha can typically cost! As always an important reminder is that flight delays are real, so make sure to give yourself enough time between flights since you are booking them separately and they don’t have to place you on the next flight if you miss one. The positive is you have 8 hours in New York City to spend all that money you saved on a New York Pizza.
Anyways, back to the featured program, after we arrived in Chicago we got checked in and waited for our flight. Thankfully there is not much to tell about this because the flight was relatively seamless, barely late, and really smooth. Thankfully I got about 3 hours of airplane sleep because we were off to the races as soon as we landed in Reykjavik. We picked up our far too small rental car for 6 people plus luggage and headed for the city center. We spent a few dollars on parking near downtown and ventured out to see what we could see. The landmark church in Reykjavik, Hallgrímskirkja, is very large and makes for a good starting point for anyone walking around the city.
Immediately adjacent to the church we found a lunch spot at Cafe Loki, where the six of us tried a variation of food from mashed fish to the rye bread with smoked lamb and even their famous rye bread ice cream.. and trust me it was all better than it sounds. After this we continued to venture around the coastline in the city where we were able to see the mountains and the sculpture called Sun Voyager.
After finding a cheap pair of gloves for Bre, we made our way to our Airbnb for the night. This accommodation was nothing special compared to the next few nights but it was efficient for what we needed for the first night in the city. The only funny thing is the smell of sulfur as you shower since everything runs on Geothermal power, it is impressive but does leave you feeling not quite as clean as you should feel if you aren’t used to it. After convincing everyone it is better to power through exhaustion we carried on to the Grótta Island Lighthouse. Here you could see a variety of birds nesting on the ocean as we walked.
We finished the evening with very traditional Icelandic food, Shawarma and pizza, before calling it a night at our Airbnb. Something to note too is that we were there during the summer solstice, this is the season where the sun does not set, or if it does, it isn’t for long. Thankfully we were all very tired and had black out curtains because it stayed as light as the morning sun all night long. Some of us even woke up in a panic at 2 am, thinking we had overslept.
DAY 2
Day number two in Iceland started bright and early with something we had wanted to do for sometime. There is a national park in Iceland called Thingvellir, and here you have the opportunity to snorkel in frigid water (around 30 degrees!) between the two tectonic plates of Europe and America. The giant crack in the ground we swam through was clear and visible for a few hundred feet. The depth is up to 60 meters deep. This extremely cold swim was beautiful, and at one point even had what looked like trolls hair seaweed growing in the bottom. Since our bodies were in wetsuits we were mostly warm with the exception of our faces which were exposed to the harsh cold water. We were told by our guide, Matt, that our lips would go numb in 30 seconds. Sadly this was not the case and it turned out to be closer to 30 minutes of it being frozen slowly. Either way the experience was unlike anything else and was a very fun accomplishment to complete.
Following that we walked around Thingvellir before continuing our journey onward towards some even more exciting views. Thingvellir is spectacular but we would recommend seeing it first as the rest of Iceland will put it to shame. After almost getting lost, even with GPS, we found our way to our first waterfall of many, Brúarfoss. This waterfall gets the record for the bluest water you have ever seen, almost like a light blue Gatorade. The waterfall comes with a short hike and like many it is free, but you must pay around $5-$7 for parking per park most times. Also like many of the parks, you can park a bit farther away outside of the park for free and walk in to avoid the cost, as long as you don’t mind a hike.
On our way out, we realized this same river was home to two other waterfalls if we were willing to hike around 45 minutes, and of course we did because who wants to miss a waterfall?! The other two waterfalls, Miðfoss and Hlauptungufoss, were both beautiful in their own regards. The best part of these was the hike along the water, the fact we were able to see them all alone, and that we were able to get so close to them.
After this we made a short stop at some geysers before seeing the largest waterfall we saw on our trip, Gullfoss. This waterfall to this point was by far the best. It had such power and you were able to get so close to it you could touch it. It was a short walk down some steps, but make sure to wear a rain jacket because like many waterfalls in Iceland, you will be drenched if you don’t.
Eventually we made our way south to the town of Hella, where we ate dinner at 9:30 pm because it was still light out and we were not adjusted in the slightest. We eventually found our way to our Airbnb in the country. It was a beautiful farm house with mountains surrounding it on one side and a river on the other. The views in Iceland simply can’t be beat.
DAY 3
Skógafoss. What a waterfall. As we write this blog you will find I love each waterfall so I will attempt to give a fitting title to each one since none of them were bad. This waterfall wins the award for the nicest waterfall you can see from Iceland’s main highway, highway 1. The waterfall itself you can walk right up to and take a picture in front of. Also like all the other waterfalls in Iceland this one came with the pleasant surprise of a hike to the top where you are able to see out to the ocean and if you hike the path on top back a few hundred feet you happen across a smaller but still beautiful secondary waterfall.
Afterward we drove nearby to a glacier that was feeding some of the waterfalls we were seeing. It was a shorter hike back in but it provided a really fun look at the glacier wall. We had lunch at a place in Skoga called Freya cafe, where Bre and I were able to eat our fill in Fish and Chips. Believe me when I say, I am not a fish person but I had fish and chips about 5 times over the last two weeks and it is THAT good!
Near Freya cafe is another waterfall, Kvernufoss, which wins the award as our new favorite to that point. This was the first of a few waterfalls that you were able to hike a canyon to get to and then go behind it. Of course dress in a rain jacket because you will either miss getting up close and personal with the waterfall (which is no fun) or you will end up soaking wet. This waterfall had several hiking spots for different vantage points for pictures and was not very busy at all thankfully.
Following a waterfall, you will never guess what we saw next. Well not to spoil the surprise but it was another waterfall, well 4 next to each other actually. I am beginning to think I need to change this blog from Iceland to Waterfall Hunters but either way, all of these waterfalls were worth a visit for one reason or another. These next four waterfalls were actually a complete surprise. We arrived for Seljalandsfoss, another waterfall that you can walk behind and made famous by shows like the Amazing Race or Justin Bieber music videos. The waterfall was good but it is not even why I am talking about this place. Thankfully Bre was freezing so we didn’t go close to this waterfall and we decided to walk the trail along the bottom of the cliff. We passed the other two waterfalls that they had advertised and again they were nothing terribly special. This is when we noticed a sign that said 300 meters. It didn’t say what was there but rather just 300 meters. Our conclusion to this point was, well we have already walked this far, what is a little farther. We were not expectant of anything special as we were the only ones this far down the trail. Boy were we wrong. From the trail there is nothing visible but there is a tiny crack in the rock and the sound of rushing water just beyond it. As we hugged the rock and squeezed around the cliff we were greeted with what became our favorite waterfall of the trip. Pouring down into this hole in the ground was a waterfall that you could stand under as if it was your shower. It was so secluded and peaceful, like nothing Bre and I had ever seen before. It was the best also because it was just by chance that we saw it.
Sadly though just as Bre had warmed up and we had dried off, we found ourselves soaking wet and freezing again, but it was every bit worth it! Before the night was over we found our way to a black sand beach, and like most things, we were completely alone (possibly because it was 30 degrees and by the ocean but still). This is just the tip of what we were able to see during the start of the trip. As time carries on we were greeted with many more surprises and fond memories, so make sure to be watching for a part 2 coming soon!
