Iceland in the Books

Iceland...the land of waterfalls. Iceland...the land of sheep. Iceland...the land of hot dogs??

To answer your first question which is the question that I'm getting the most from those in my life is "Why Iceland"? Well, I'll give that credit to my dear husband who selected this as the destination to celebrate his Big 30 Birthday coming up in November. So this item on my list was really for him, but how could I not include it right?

For those that know nothing about Iceland (and I was in that boat before Chance selected this destination), the only thing I could remember when he mentioned it was that line from Mighty Ducks 2 about Iceland being green and Greenland being ice. Here's the refresher if you need it. And thankfully, that was very true.

The capital, Reykjavik, was our starting point with its beautiful architecture, public and street art and great metropolitan vibe. Here are some examples of our fun:

Hallgrímskirkja

Sunvoyager Sculpture

Reykjavík has an incredible street art scene.

And while I could go through every detail of our trip happily, here are some of my highlights:

Skogafoss

Waterfalls - There are countless waterfalls dotting the Iceland country side to the point where breathtaking falls that would cause mass pilgrimages here in Tennessee were somewhat underwhelming compared to monsters like Gulfoss and Skogafoss. And the nice thing is most of the waterfalls are easily accessible either from the road or with short hikes.

Snorkeling in between Continental Plates - In Iceland, the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and are pulling away from each other at a rate of around 2cm a year. And that divide is filled with glacial melt. So, what do you do? You snorkel in it of course. No problem that the water is 35 degrees Fahrenheit right? We did wear dry suits which made the experience doable. The rock formations, the plant life, the clarity of the water at 100 meters deep (30/40 meters is considered great if you're snorkeling in the Caribbean to give you some perspective) were truly unlike anything else in the world. And we had hot chocolate after to warm up.

Blue Lagoon - A geothermal fed spa, the Blue Lagoon was pretty fantastic. If you look into this destination, you'll probably see mixed reviews. First, it is very touristy. Almost everyone who visits Iceland goes here. But, there's a reason. We spent a few hours lounging around, visiting the swim up bar and lathering silica all over our faces. But the best part was the in-water massages we treated ourselves to at the end of our day. And to top it all off, my masseuse looked like an Icelandic Bradley Cooper from American Sniper named Olef. It didn't hamper the massage experience.

Airplane Wreckage - Back in the 1970's, the US Navy was spying on good ole Russia, and the spying plane got into some icing trouble which resulted in a crash landing on the black sand beaches close to Vik. And for whatever reason, no one cleaned up the wreckage. While it isn't the most populated tourist spot, it is a photographer's dream. There's this carnage of a plane that's somewhat ghostly in its long neglect on a coarse black sand beach with vast expanses of sky and a huge punctuating sea cliff in the background you can see on a clear day.

We also saw geysers, massive sea cliffs and caves, seals, a monster of a geothermal plant (the engineer hubs was super into this), experienced a minor snow shower which would have been considered a blizzard here, quaint sea villages and glaciers (another list item that I'll post about soon). All in all, an outdoorsy sightseeing paradise that was definitely worth the trip.

Some general positives about visiting Iceland. It's much more economic now with Wow Air and can be easily added as a short stopping point on a trip to Europe as well if you have a longer trip in mind. Driving is very comparable to the US and is the best way to get around the county. Public transit isn't very prevalent, but most cars are manuals. Icelanders speak great English and most materials you come across will also include English. A negative - gas and food are really expensive. We averaged $6 a gallon for gas and drove a Chevy Spark for better gas mileage. I named it Spark Plug. Most meals will cost you $20-40 per person for standard restaurants. But, lodging was not bad and most places included breakfast which helped keep the food costs down.

Below are some additional favorite pics from the trip. And last, the hot dog story. Icelanders love hot dogs, and my guess is because it's the only cheap-ish food around. And while I agree their meat and bread are much higher quality than the standard American version, I found the mustard, remoulade and grilled onion combo to be revolting. But, the hubs loved them - to each their own.