Adventures in the land of ice

Now that I have been back for a while from Iceland, I decided it was well past time to post an update about the adventures we had there. I uploaded all of the pictures (at least the ones I thought worth sharing) to my Facebook page, but provided very little details on the pictures themselves. I wanted to share some of the stories as well, which should come as no surprise to pretty much anyone reading this post.

For those who weren't aware, the trip to Iceland was in celebration for Sheena and Todd's wedding. We arrived two days before the ceremony, planning on doing some exploring and activities around the hotel. We left Seattle early in the morning and landed in Iceland at about 2300 local time. In the SeaTac airport, I debated whether or not to check my bag. I normally carry it on - I hate checking bags. But, it was a direct flight, we were already checking one bag, and it was free. So, I thought "what could happen?" and checked my bag. At least now I wouldn't need to worry about finding space for it on the plane.

We landed and went to the baggage claim, only to find that my bag wasn't there. There was another section for "unusually shaped bags", so we spent about 30 minutes going back and forth between the two baggage claim areas, but nothing showed up. When I went to report my bag missing, I was told I had to wait an hour before they could do anything. After waiting an hour, I filled out a report, and they said that it was probably not put on the plane and that they would put it on the first flight the next day. So, I should have it shortly. On the plus side, they did volunteer to drive it to the hotel. However, I had to go through a special customs line because my bag was lost where I was grilled about everything that was in it, down to the most minute detail. All because my bag was lost. Then we stood outside in the very cold temperature (my jacket and my pants were in my missing bag - I wore shorts on the plane) in an empty parking lot, waiting for a bus to take us to the car rental place. When we finally got there, the car company had no record of our reservation! Luckily, they had enough cars that it wasn't a problem, but at this point, at one in the morning, it was not looking good for our trip.

Then we started a two and a half hour drive in the fog that was so thick that lights made it harder to see. Every time we started to see lights and signs of civilization, our directions told us to turn away and enter the wilderness. We had serious questions for where we were going. But, eventually, at about 0330, we arrived at the hotel - only to discover the door was locked and you had to call a number to be let in. We were so tired and punch drunk at this point that we just stared at the sign, because neither of our phones were set up to work in Iceland. Luckily, a wonderful receptionist saw us waiting at the door and let us in to check into our room. From there, the trip started to look up.

The next day we started our adventures in earnest, staying close to the hotel because my bag was due to arrive around 1400. We drove around, and the first thing we saw that stood out was the viking gate here. It just felt like it was so appropriate. It just seems so... Icelandic. We had to get a picture, even stopping on the road and turning around to go back.

That first day we stayed in a fairly small radius, taking detours wherever we found one. There was a lot of small hiking down trails and up hills where we would just pull up to the side of the road and climb out of the car. I was amazed at how many horses there were everywhere. Most of the areas seemed fenced off, but there were still a lot of places open to exploring. Including climbing down into a sinkhole. In my defense, I didn't know it was a sinkhole at the time. We didn't find that out until much later that night when we had dinner with other friends there for the wedding.

And now let me pause for a moment of recapping and just share this street sign. This is one of the signs along the highway that you are supposed to be able to use (I imagine) while driving down the road at 70 km/h. Not knowing Icelandic, or where we were, we found that to be a little daunting. This is just one of many signs, but one that I think best summarizes our experience. That made a lot of sense to us!

That night we went to go see a horse show centered around the myths and legends of the Icelandic horse, and I learned quite a bit. One of the fascinating things I found out is that the Icelandic horse is apparently one of the most genetically pure breeds of horse in the world. In the 12th century, vikings declared that no new horses would be brought to the island, and that rule has been maintained ever since. In fact, if an Icelandic horse ever leaves the island, it can never come back. They have been bred to survive in Iceland for generations, and as such as very specialized mounts.

Later in our trip, we would get an opportunity to ride some, but for right now we had to settle for the show and being able to tour the stables. I also learned that the Icelandic horse has a gait that no other horse has: the tolt. It is a very steady gait and is characterized by always having one hoof on the ground.

The next day was the wedding day, and that was a gigantic bustle of activity. Even just listing all of the activities would take a lot of time to write out! Sheena and Todd had a very energetic and enthusiastic wedding planner who made sure we were always keeping to a very intense itinerary. It was great to see so many different places in such a short amount of time, and not have to do any of the driving! We started with the wedding itself which was held in this lava tube that stretches for several kilometers. The cave was mystical and rocky, and quite literally breathtaking. When the ceremony was over, I climbed through to the dark areas in the back, and with the mist and fog, it really looked like a dragon cave.

From there, the whirlwind commenced and we went to black sand beach, an old fisherman's hut, a lighthouse, Thingvellir National Park, and more. The park was amazing because it is literally where two tectonic plates meet. It is a very popular tourist spot and was expectedly crowded, but it was well worth visiting. Just being there is a little bit humbling and awe inspiring.

After our full day of touring and activities, there was the reception with some amazing food. I do think that it is worth mentioning that the food we had in Iceland was fantastic. There was not a bad meal that we had during our entire stay. However, it was also incredibly expensive compared to what I am used to paying back here in the States. It is not surprising, considering how much needs to be imported to Iceland, but it was still a bit of a shock that took some getting used to.

The next day, we bid adieu to our friends and toured Iceland on our own, heading along the south coast all the way to Vik and then a bit further. One of our first stops was a geothermal plant that we wanted to tour. It is fascinating to think of how much of Iceland's energy and heat comes from sources like geothermal energy. Apparently, all of the hot water in Reykjavik is supplied from the plant we toured, and even though it is transferred long distances, it only loses two degrees during it's journey. The inner science geek in me had a field day at the plant, seeing how it all works and then picking up some flavored salts to use once we got back home. Seriously - I was recently introduced to flavored salts, and they are amazing. I used some smoked birch salt in meatballs last night, and it provides just a nice little touch of smokey flavor. This is a new thing in my culinary repository and I cannot recommend it enough. But I digress.

The next place we found was Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, which was and is still my favorite place that we found in Iceland. The waterfall itself was something almost out of this world. You can climb down to where it crashes into the water, only a few feet away from you. There is a trail that goes all the way around it and is well worth walking, as long as you don't mind getting a little bit wet. I am a water creature, and just loved being around it and soaking it all in - sometimes literally.

If you continue following the path, you find that it leads to a large cave where another waterfall comes down and crashes into this hidden pool. I had to go inside. If you don't want to get your shoes wet, you need to step from rock to rock through a narrow split in the mountain. Once you are in there, the entire place opens up into this large cavern with the water cascading down from overhead in this near-deafening roar. You are secluded from the outside world and feel like you have stepped into another one completely. It was magical. There is no better word to describe it.

From there we continued our theme of driving along and stopping at any place that seemed interesting. One thing that we noticed is that it is very clear why a lot of filming is popular in Iceland. The terrain is so varied, and in such a small area! You can go from hot springs, to a beach, to a rocky wasteland, to lush fields in a matter of minutes. Heck, on one single day we walked through a rocky flat wasteland (more on that in a moment), toured a beach, hiked a mountain, climbed to the top of a waterfall, walked in a glacier, and spent some time in some green pasture fields. And that day wasn't even rushed or had the most driving in it!

Speaking of that wasteland...

We were driving along when I saw that we could get to the ocean just be hiking across a flat field. So we pulled over to the side of the road and decided to start the trek to the ocean. I didn't think it would take that long, only a few minutes since it didn't look like it was that far. About two hours later, I learned some very valuable lessons. First, I cannot measure distances accurately across level ground. While I have been in the wilderness a fair amount in the forest and in the mountains, open plains is a whole different kind of wilderness. In D&D terms, I understand why you need to specialize your wilderness survival with specific terrain types. Secondly, I saw how feasible it was for people to have walked across long distances in the desert or in fields, always thinking they just had a bit further to go, and then collapsing from exhaustion. Lesson learned. Flat wasteland is worse than I thought!

We saw several more mountains, walked around a few other waterfalls, and yes, even did manage to hike onto a glacier. We didn't go too far down that road, because it required ice climbing gear we were not equipped with, but we wanted to at least walk on the glacier to say we did it. How often do you get to say that? Especially when earlier that day you were walking and playing in the ocean?

The next big event we had was horseback riding, and that was a treat. I was astounded at how small the horses were, and how hairy. Yes, I realize that sounds odd, but it is true. They even had long hairs coming out of their nose and all around their eyes. It makes sense considering their climate, but it was still very different from what I was used to. And even more surprising, this was their summer coat. It was thicker than most winter coats I know on horses from around here! Again, it makes perfect sense, but it was a noticeable oddity.

My faithful steed for the day was Brunni, who was the largest of the horses out there and had this "I can do it, I want to be in front!" attitude the entire time. I spent most of the entire ride convincing him that he wasn't allowed to pass the guide. Needless to say, probably a good match for me - or a horrible match depending on your point of view. I would frequently try to keep him at the back of the ride, but that would last for no more than five minutes before he was trying to shoulder his way to the front.

I did have a chance to ride the tolt, and I have to say, it is incredibly smooth! At first it was make me very tired in the core because I was trying to move along and force myself to sit it. But once I relaxed into the gait and kept my core loose, everything just clicked together and flowed smoothly. It is a fast pace too! Those horses can cover an amazing amount of ground, especially over rocky terrain that would normally make me terrified of a horse injury. Wonderful animals, and definitely one of the best things of the trip.

After that, we had a couple of days of quiet exploring, including a brief retreat to a spa and gym, where I did in fact go swimming in an outdoor pool in Iceland. I don't know why, but it made me happy to do that especially since it wasn't a hot spring. We were going to go to Blue Lagoon, but had to change our plans because it was the one thing we didn't schedule ahead of time and it is so popular that you need to do so. In retrospect, it is also very expensive, so perhaps it was best that we did not go.

We also went to go see some old volcanoes and hiked around some hot springs - not the kind for swimming in. In fact, they had warning signs about how your shoes could melt if you walked off the path. They also had some very interesting plaques about local myths and folklore regarding the steam vents that were good to read and very inspiring. It definitely was a trip that was good for writing purposes as well as just general relaxation.

Our way back was luckily uneventful and all of the baggage arrived. However, it did take almost two hours to get through customs on this side, something that I was not expecting. And for the record, once you leave the plane, there are no bathrooms until you have finished with customs. Just something you might want to be aware of for your own travels. It was a wonderful trip, and so much more happened, but much more than I could ever get in a single blog post. Well worth it, and energizing on multiple levels.