Monday, July 3, 2017

Iceland - Part One

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
So yeah, back in April, Izzy & I went on an EPIC journey to Iceland! Why? Well… there’s a funny story about us getting a tax return & then looking to go to Japan to see our friend Toure… but then they double the ticket price… so we looked around… saw there was specials to Europe… but they were all through Iceland on this new airline I hadn’t heard of called WOW Air… so we looked into it… and Iceland is EXACTLY what we were looking for!!! Beautiful scenery, hiking, Game of Thrones type sh*t, Vikings, beer, camper vans, odd museums, whales, puffins, hot dogs, great people, wholesome food, all that & more. So come along with us won’t you… as we see ALL (okay, a lot) of Iceland in our week-long journey…
Day 1 – Reykjavik
Like many great journeys, it started with a single step… towards BART to take us to SFO and board an eight-hour direct flight from SFO to Keflavik, Iceland! Now, for this vacation, Izzy & I were going minimalist… for a few reasons. First & foremost, luggage fees on WOW Air are pretty ridiculous. Triple digits each way… for carry-on… so we didn’t need that stuff ruining our cheap flights (seriously, $230 roundtrip per person) so we used backpacks with a few changes of clothes, wore our coats, stuffed the pockets of said coats, and we even had space for freeze-dried meals… more on that later though. So, it was a red eye flight and we ended up in Reykjavik shortly after noon with little to no sleep from the flight (and being a little crammed in). That being said… not too bad.
Oh… and before you ask, YES!!! We saw the Northern Lights… well, sort of. First off, the Northern Lights aren’t really as they’re portrayed on TV or in movies… it’s more of a green glow in the sky. Secondly, it wasn’t really the time of the year (winter) where it’s prevalent… but we did catch a glimpse of it on the flight… so that was a good sign.
Our first stop was to Kuku Campers to pick up our mode of transportation & shelter for the week, Solli the Camper Van! This van was a Citreon Berlingo Diesel hybrid van… so it didn’t have a whole lot of muscle behind it… but it got 50-60 miles per gallon!!! In a country where gas worked out to nearly $10 per gallon & we were planning on circumnavigating it and then some… it was greatly appreciated!!!
Also, because a lot of this voyage was in the van, I want to mention that on this post, these are MY camera photos… not Izzy’s. So when she loads her photos, there will be a lot more shots of the gorgeous landscapes & various other sights with an artistic twist… but I was driving a lot so I can only try to fill in using my words.
After picking up the van, we went into Downtown Reykjavik for some food & drinks. We split a $18 burger at Chuck Norris grill and it was delicious… but this is the start of a pretty key point. Food is expensive in Iceland. That’s because A) it’s an island nation so just about everything is imported save for their legendary wool & hydrothermic pools; B) They have pretty strict rules on their food where there’s no artificial additives & preservatives. So the food is GREAT but expensive. Also, the usual trash food either doesn’t exist or… it’s pretty interesting. For example, I’ve given up Mountain Dew for the most part because of this trip. Why? Well, in Iceland, it’s basically sugar water with glowing green jellyfish bioluminescent coloring in it… because that’s all natural. I had been meaning to give it up for a long time anyway, so with this healthy diet in mind it all seemed to come together. Oh, after the $18 burger we followed it up with a $4 hot dog.
I know what you’re thinking after that paragraph, “I thought you said you were eating good?” We kinda were. The Hot Dogs there are a little different… they’re all REAL meat… and they topped with onions, grilled onions, remoulade & spicy mustard… and they’re pretty f**king amazing! Especially when you’re super hungry & on a budget. They have little booths selling them strategically in the area as well.





Another thing, we were visiting Iceland in April… during what was technically their first week of Summer. That means… the average temperature during the day was about 35-40 degrees Fahrenheit… and when it dropped about 10-15 degrees overnight it got pretty chilling pretty quick. We really lucked out with good weather for the most part… but there were spats of snow here & there which luckily dried up fairly quickly in the sun. That being said, the weather changes on a DIME there. One minute you’re in the sun on a brisk day with a mild wind… the next you’re in the middle of a damn sleet tempest (true story coming up on that too). It wasn’t their peak season tourist wise but… oh man, we can’t wait to go back. Iceland is amazing… but okay, okay, here we go.
Our first night was spent at a Campground that’s next door to the city swimming pool / spa which apparently just about every town in Iceland has. This one had a large pool area with a bonafide waterslide, a few larger hot tub areas, Olympic size lap pools & plenty of smaller, more intimate hot tubs with temperatures ranging from 90-112 degrees Fahrenheit to turn you into the right kind of lobster. Almost all of the electricity & heat for Iceland comes from geothermic pools being a nation on hundreds of volcanoes… and that’s pretty awesome that they can be so reliant on nature… but it’s also a nation of 300,000 people so… less than the state of Wyoming.
So yeah, we slept in Solli, the campground had great bathroom & cleaning facilities, we were a little chilly getting used to it (and figuring out the heater in the van, etc) but we slept like babes for the most part… mostly because we hadn’t for about 44 hours at this point thanks to the plane ride.
Day 2 – Reykjavik
The next day, we slept in a little bit… and our first stop was back into downtown Reykjavik to see something that I had mentioned on the blog many years ago… the Icelandic Phallogical Museum!!! Yes, a museum… about penises & phalluses of all shapes, size & species. There were hundreds of different examples of the male organs so… enjoy I guess…










After the museum, we drove the Golden Circle which is a stretch of road just outside the city of Reykjavik that runs about 180 miles along some of the finest natural wonders that the island nation has to offer. It’s one of the biggest attractions obviously… so here we go…
Our first stop was to see Geysir & Stokkur, which are of course, geysers! There were a number of geysers in the area… but Geysir was the biggest one that was pretty regular, going off every 3-5 minutes and the others are different in their own beautiful way. Here are some examples… and please, take into account the scenery in the background as well…









At the far end of the Golden Circle is Gullfoss, one of the most majestic waterfalls that you will ever see in all of your LIFE!!! Although over a hundred years ago, it was almost destroyed… and here’s a GREAT example of why Iceland is awesome. In the early 20th century foreign investors wanted to harness the power of Gullfoss to produce electricity. In 1907 Howells, an Englishman wanted to buy Gullfoss from Tómas Tómasson, a farmer who owned Gullfoss at this time. Tómas declined Howells´ offer to buy the waterfall but later he leased it to him. The farmer´s daughter, Sigriður Tómasdóttir who grew up on her father´s sheep farm sought to have the rental contract voided. Sigriður using her own savings and hired a lawyer in Reykjavik to defend her case. The trial lasted years and Sigriður went several times barefoot on traitorous terrain to Reykjavik to follow up on her case. She even threatened to throw herself into the waterfall if the construction would begin. Her attempts failed in court but before any damage was done to the waterfall the contract was disposed due to the lack of payments of the rent fee. The struggles of Sigriður to preserve the waterfall brought to people´s attention the importance of preserving nature and therefore she is often called Iceland´s first environmentalist. In 1940 the adopted son of Sigriður acquired the waterfall from Sigriður´s father and later sold it to the Icelandic government. Gullfoss was then designated as nature reserve in 1979 to permanently protect the waterfall and allow the public to enjoy this unique area. So with that in mind, here you go…







  
Our next stop was Kerid Crater near Selfoss which had a small lake you could walk down to… but it’s hella cold. Now, the weather was fantastic when we got there & it’s a quick ten-minute walk around the rim of the crater to take pictures. However, sunny and beautiful when we started, we got halfway across… and we watched a giant cloud coming at us full speed carrying winds & sleet that hit us all the way back. It was pretty incredible to watch… but here are some photos from the first five minutes…
That evening, we went to a Campground in the city of Hella on the southern end of the Iceland… and being out of the peak season, the campground was closed. Okay, it was really a large back parking lot area for a restaurant which was open though… so the owners said we could spend the evening there, just please pick up after ourselves… and that we did. God, I love Iceland! Slept like babies that night…
To be continued…

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