Hot Pots, Waterfalls and Lava Tubes

Hot Pots: 

Iceland is a geothermal paradise!  Marie and I went in at least one hot pot almost every day of our two week visit.  From isolated hot springs in green valleys to hot pools literally feet from the frigid ocean to man-made pools filled with thermal water, we saw just about everything.

Outside Snorrislaug.  Snorri is an Icelandic legend (hero in a saga) and we went to soak in his pool... and found out it was closed to tourist use.

Marie next to Europe's largest geothermal spring.  It was huge, this picture doesn't do it justice.

This enormous hotspring was literally boiling, at 210 degrees.

So steamy!

Natural hot pot in Heydalur, one of our favorite places.  After a long hike, this soak was welcome.

A natural spring shaped by man, directly across from the above photo.

Pool with a view...

This one was almost too hot to get in!

Left: hot pot.  Right: ocean.

Hot pot.

Ocean.

Amazing.

Marie, in a hot pot aside the freezing fjord water.

Me, same place.

us!

Blue Lagoon, round two.  With a new friend (Anne-Chris) and a former student (!) to the right.

Blue Lagoon, the first time.  A happy day and a welcome way to relax after the plane ride.

Waterfalls:

We saw waterfalls every day.  Whether it was a small trickle down a lush, verdant hillside or a massive, formidable goss, we appreciate everything Iceland had to offer in terms of cascading falls.

 

Golfoss (Gold Falls), Iceland's Niagra Falls and largest waterfall.  Golfoss was nearly turned into a power plant in the early 20th Century, however the potential power plant owner's daughter protested and threatened to throw herself in if he destroyed her beloved falls.  Thanks to Sigrídur Tómasdóttir, the falls remains untouched and protected to this day.

Travel buds in front of Golfoss.  It was freezing and very wet.  And we nearly missed the bus back.

After a long day's drive, we arrive at Dynjandi waterfall.  One of the most impressive sights we saw!  It was a decent hike from the bottom (ocean/fjord side) to the top.

Dynjandi from the very bottom.


And Dynjandi from across the fjord.

Beautiful blue glacial river...

leading to some of the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen.

Beat this!  I think this is my favorite photo of the whole trip.

Small but beautiful falls trickling into the fjord below.

Nearing Dynjandi falls we saw dozens of smaller falls like this.

Lava Tubes:

Many things make me nervous, but hiking through lava tubes in the pitch black (and wondering if today is the day these thousands-of-years-old lava tubes will cave in) topped the list on this day.  Luckily, Marie was encouraging and helpd me push my own limits.  We had a great hike through the tubes, even after her headlamp went out and we only had mine to guide us.

Our first rental car witha backdrop of glacier and fjord.

Map of the network of lava tubes.

Entrance to the first of the lava tubes.  We crawled down and hiked through this one and part of the next, then returned to the car after Marie's headlamp died.

Icelandic Cuisine!

The first question I usually ask myself (and my friends and family usually ask me) is, "What's the food like?"  In response to Icelandic cuisine, my initial response is, "expensive," followed by delicious!

Here we see Marie and her lovely plate of láx.  Yes, folks, lox is a word derived from (take your pick: Norwegian/Icelandic/Swedish/name your Nordic language) meaning salmon.  Soft, flavorful and creamy are the best descriptors of Icelandic láx.  

Katie was inspired to eat the smoked puffin.  Note the irony (and slight sacrilege) of the stuffed puffin behind her on the antique radio.  It was quite a small portion and had a lovely blueberry sauce over it with an accompanying soy-sesame dressing.  It was really good, though a full dinner for one would require at least three birds, which doesn't really seem worth killing three animals for one human to have one meal.

Bakarí in some small town.  Lots of fresh-baked bread and pasteries, how to choose?

 A delicious meal at an Icelandic fish n' chips spot.  Locally-caught haddock flash-fried in uber-crispy batter served with roasted garlic potatoes and a citrus-ginger soda (no sugar, so a bit tart!).  

Anne, notice the kitty?

 Here it is, the Icelandic hot dog stand the world is talking about.  Frequented by Bill Clinton, Anthony Bourdain and Marie Burns (among others), I'd really looked forward to this experience and nagged my travel buddy more than once about when, exactly, we would have lunch here.  We stood in a line 25-deep (didn't think I needed all of the photos on the blog, but it was long) and I successfully ordered in Icelandic ("eine mith ölla," one with everything!).  The nice blonde girl hands you a normal-looking hotdog with three kinds of sauce on top and, buried between white bread bun and wiener, some chopped white onion and its cousin, the crispy-fried onion.  One bite and, well, it didn't change my life quite like I thought it would.  It was a hot dog and I was in Iceland, but I didn't need a second.  I did, however, buy both sauce and aforementioned crispy-fried onions at the store so I could host an Icelandic hot dog party once I got back.  The bargain meal of the trip at only 320 Kr, roughly $2.50.

Perhaps my favorite meal of the trip: lobster soup at the Seabaron at the old harbor in Reykjavík.  Yum, yum, yum, this is the best soup I've ever had.  The tenderest bits of lobster in a rich, salty, creamy, leeky broth served with warm bread and way too much amazing Icelandic butter (and you know how much I love butter), which is the second-best butter I've ever had (Jersey butter being the best, slightly begrudgingly).  I think I talked about it every day of the trip.  I'll be combing the Internet for recipes.

 Happiest moment of the trip...maybe...

Reykjavík

This is the largest church in Reykjavík.  Made out of concrete and standing tall at the top of the main street's hill, it's lovelier than I was expecting.  Note that it's 9pm, not 9am!

Coolest map of Iceland located in the town hall in Reykjavík.  It's a 3-D model made out of blocks and is to-scale.  It took 17 "man years," meaning 4 solid years with many people working on it.  It was too big to take just one photo, so I've posted the Westfjörds.  Tilt your head to the left.  

 

This is the lower part of the outside of the town hall, a largely concrete and glass, modern-looking building with a nice touch of organic.

It's Iceland, look!

An archaeological excavation is taking place in downtown Reykjavík, not far from the parliament building.  They're uncovering ancient viking settlers.  Just think what's below our very own feet!

Icelandic parliament, called the Alpingi (Althing), originally founded in 930 AD in Pingveiller (Thingvetler, see Golden Circle post) and is the oldest parliamentary institution still in existence in the world!   For such a humble building, its legacy is quite impressive.  

Chocolate volcanoes, one for each of the famous, troublesome darlings.  Only in Iceland.

Blue Lagoon

Welcome to the Blue Lagoon, arguably Iceland's most popular (and most luxuriously relaxing) tourist attraction.  Located just 20 minutes from Iceland's international airport, it is the perfect first destination after a long flight (someone should be paying me for saying this).  

The geothermal hot spring starts just over 6500 feet below ground where the water is almost 465 degrees F.  The pressure forces it up through the earth, through the lava field (also through the geothermal energy plant) and then, finally, into the lagoon, bringing with it minerals (predominantly silica) and several kinds of algae, two of which are only found in the Blue Lagoon itself!  This combination leaves one's skin soft and rejuvenated.

Here you can see the length of the main lagoon which is surrounded by silica-coated lava rock:

What's fun is that the water temperature ranges from 95-105 F and sometimes is layered: the surface water is hot and gets gradually colder as it goes down toward your feet.  Tourists and locals alike flock here to relax in the warm waters and to coat their faces with silica mud masks.

Massaging waterfall is stronger than you'd expect!  

We love it anyway.

 Marie and I can't help but indulge in the silica mud masks.

Me, relaxing in the lagoon.

My face has NEVER been so soft!

If you ever go here, don't miss the relaxation room upstairs.  There's also a bar, a snack area and a massage pool that require no cash.  Simply scan your bracelet (also serves as your locker lock) and you pay as you exit.  Genius.  Ask Marie which hottie Icelander "had" to help her remove her bracelet.  Apparently, she had trouble.  

Speaking Icelandic

Ok, you've got 30 seconds to pronounce just one of these correctly.  If you do them all in a minute, you win the prize.  Then there's Eyjafjallajokull... Ay-ya-fee-ett-la-yoke-ull.

NYC Stopover

We had 8 hours in NYC so we decided not to waste it!  First stop: cheesecake lover's paradise, Junior's!  Just three days before I had watched "Throwdown with Bobby Flay," and they'd done a cheesecake throwdown at Junior's.  Best cheesecake of my life!

It wouldn't be summer in NYC without 96 degree heat and a slice of pizza! 

Mmmm, best cheesecake ever!

I got plain, Marie got Devil's food.  Mine was better :)

This is a cool urban getaway, Café Habana, or Habana Outpost (can't figure out what the actual name is), but it was a fun and funky bright green bar and eatery right in Brooklyn.  Marie's friend Kate took us there and it was the best way to beat the heat of a hot summer afternoon.  Check out the margarita's and roasted corn with chile and cotija cheese.  http://www.habanaoutpost.com/locations/location/habana-outpost

Iceland Itinerary 2012

Day 1: Reykjavík, Blue Lagoon

Day 2: Visit Hraunfossar waterfall, hike through lava tubes, hot pots next to ocean in Drangsnes
Day 3: Drive through Westfjörds, Heyðalur, bathe in hot pots, drive to Isafjörður. 

Day 4: Kayak through fjörds, Dynjandi waterfall, Látrabjarg bird cliffs and Rauðsandur red sand beach

Day 5: Hot pots next to ocean, ferry ride to Snaefellesness Penninsula, drive to Raykjavík

Day 6: To Landmannalaugur (awesome hot pots) and hike 12km to Alftvatán.  590m vertical climb.

Day 7: Alftvatán to Emstrur hike, 12km mostly downhill.

Day 8: Emstrur to hike, 15km.

Day 9: Final trek into Þorsmörk (Thorsmork), 15km.

Day 10: Bus back to Reykjavík, visit National Museum.

Day 11: Golden Circle-- Geysir, Gullfoss, Þingveiller National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site

Day 12: Keflavík

Day 13: Reykjavík, ferry to Viðey island.

Day 14: Hitchhike to Blue Lagoon and back to Keflavík.

Day 15: Home!  Takes longer to get from NYC to Porland than from Reykjavík to NYC.