As I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s too difficult to blog
on a daily basis while I’m actually enjoying the expedition. Now at home, I can truly share the adventures
myself, and my travel partners Debbie and Bill experienced. So let’s get started as we “Travel Thru My
Eyes”.
With the Icelandic sky in its predawn glow, our WOW Airlines
plane touched down shortly after 0400 on June 3rd, 2016. We were rested and excited to have arrived
after a five hour flight from the northeastern US city of Boston
Massachusetts.
After clearing Immigrations and Customs, which I must say,
was one of the easiest and friendliest welcomes I’ve experienced, we made our
way to our prearranged rental car.
Paperwork complete, car checked out, the expedition begins.
Debbie had done extensive research covering several areas
from the international airport in Keflavik on the southwest side of the island
to Hofn on the southeast side. Our first stop was for breakfast in the small
village of Grindavik. This
fishing village has a population of around 3000 residents and is home of one of
the few harbors on this side of the island.
Entering the village our search was on to find Bryggjan Café which is located at the harbor. In Trip Advisor, this is advertised as one of
the better places to eat in the area; and it proved to be.
As we walked in, we were greeted by the owner Kristinnn Johannsson, who explained the food he served was
typical Icelandic. With three of us
eating, he recommended the “Fisherman’s Breakfast” which consisted of salmon,
smoked sardines, cheeses, meats, breads, Skyr
(Icelandic) yogurt, with coffee and juice.
Always go with what the locals recommend.
While eating we talked with Kristinn who began telling the legend of a village
fairy. As the legend goes, back when the
fishing from Grindavik harbor was very strong, a large
fish processing company from Europe moved in to build a processing facility.
During construction of the facility, a village woman had a
vision in three separated dreams telling her not to allow the removal of a stone
within the construction area. She
informed the village council, who in turned told the European company. Their reply was they would not listen to the
dreams of a crazy old lady; they crushed and removed the stone.
Over the next few years, the company lost three new fishing
vessels they had purchased for their Iceland project. These vessels all sank in local waters very
close to Grindavik harbor, with only one sinking could
be explained. No fisherman died, but
record catches were returned to the sea.
As the company grew, they expanded their facility. Again, the old woman advised them not to
remove a specific stone, this time, they listened.
Why so much controversy about a stone you may ask? Many legends and local belief is that
Icelandic fairies use stones to make their homes. Be it, homes built of stone or living under a
stone, it’s their home. (MIKE’s
NOTE: you have to ask Kristinn how to find this stone.)
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| The legend continues; here is the stone with the processing facility built around it. |
Breakfast and fairy stone legend complete, Kristinn told us about an unnamed volcano. He explained that since this was not a large
volcano, it was not considered a tourist attraction but it would be worth a
visit. We took notes and told him we
would check it out after a short stop and the Blue
Lagoon.
The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa and is ranked as one of Trip Advisor’s top ten attractions. This actually is a spa with packages starting around $50USD; this is what we got. The website says “pre-booking is required”, but walk-ins are accepted, IF space is available. I personally saw three groupds get turned away, so pre-book if you really want to go here.
While the lagoon is nice, relaxing, and does have therapeutic advantages, in my opinion, it’s not all that. It is worth a visit, but it was not one of the highlights of my trip.
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| My travel partners Debbie & Bill |
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| Me & Bill - Fins Up |
After the Blue Lagoon, we decided to find the unnamed volcano
Kristinn had told us about. Following his directions, we passed a
geothermal pipeline, turned off onto a dirt road, and proceeded three
kilometers. As we reached a fork in the
road we veered left and proceeded one kilometer past the smoking volcano to a
parking area.
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| A look to the top |
With its
natural beauty and isolation, this is one of those places that words just don’t
do justice. The volcanic rocky hills,
craters, endless flow of steam from beneath the rocks, and majestic views calm
the soul and relax the mind. I am so
thankful that Kristinn shared this gem with us so I
can share its beauty with you.
After some
discussion and the fact that hunger was setting in we made our way back to the
Bryggjan Café in Grindavik
for some of Kristinns lobster and mushroom soup. They make it daily using fresh, local lobster
and keep the soup pot full from 1100 hours until it’s time to go home.
Kristinn joined us for lunch where we told him of our
morning adventures and he shared some history of his small village and country.
By now it was
early afternoon and time for us to continue our trek to Reykjavik, the capital
city of Iceland, and our lodging location for the first few nights. Debbie had secured an Air BnB within walking distance to many of the cities notable
sites.
As we made
our way toward Reykjavik, we noticed steam coming from a hillside. As we rounded a curve in the road, we saw a
boardwalk leading up the hill with several cars parked at the base. We stopped.
The steam was
coming from the Kyrsuvik-Seltun Mud Pools. The pools are part of the Reykjanes Park and
the pools spew water at over 200⁰F. The
mud pools and steam vents are constantly changing so it is highly recommended
that visitors stay on the boardwalks and marked trails.
Okay, the last twenty four hours have been a whirl wind of activity. We traveled from 80⁰F weather in Florida to 55⁰F weather in Iceland where the locals are commenting on how hot it is. We’ve met a native Icelander, ate two traditional meals, visited a couple sites not normally seen by tourists, and visited a few tourist attractions.
Even though
it is the time of year when streetlights or car headlights are not needed, the
day is coming to an end. We had a couple
beers over a meal of fish and chips before returning to our lodging. There Bill had another beer, Debbie had a
mixed drink with vodka, and of course I had a glass of rum as we recapped the
day.
In closing
this blog, as I will do the rest, here are a few shoots of the Icelandic
landscape.
Until next
time,
Mike
Great read! Enjoyed every minute.
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