Emhoff Family Adventures: Iceland 2019 Week 1

Iceland 2019 Week 1

Note: For those that did not previously hear, Becky and I are helping out with a study abroad program run through the University of California, Davis in Iceland for one month. Paul Erickson, the professor running the program, is married to Becky's cousin Dena. Becky is volunteering as the program's on-site coordinator.

Monday, June 17: We said goodbye to the kids and Terry drove us to the Sacramento airport. We met two of the students at the airport. Our first flight was about 3.5 hours to Dallas. There was quite a bit of turbulence for most of the flight. We were scheduled to only have a one-hour layover in Dallas, but when we arrived we learned that the flight was delayed for mechanical reasons (lavatory issues). We then were told to go to another plane and gate. Once we got to that gate we learned that that plane had a problem with one of the lavatories and was also delayed. Finally after 2.5 hours we were loaded into the plane and on our way to Iceland.

Tuesday, June 18: After a 7.5 hour flight, we landed in Iceland. We took a bus to the Viking Village Hotel where we had to get a taxi van out to our hotel, the Fishermen’s Village at Hlid.

Flying over Greenland.

Leaving the airport and heading toward Reykjavik.

We hung out at the main dining/class area until all of the other students and Paul arrived. Once most of the students were there (a few were delayed), we went over some of the rules/expectations. Everyone then went on the bus to the Viking Village for dinner. But, once we arrived we realized that things were lost in translation and that our dinner was actually delivered to our hotel. So we all turned around and got back on the bus. We spent the evening unwinding and getting in the hot tub, even though it was windy and cold outside. The hot tub is filled with natural hot water from the geothermal features that are all over the country, so it has a bit of a sulfur smell.

Fisherman's Village, Hlid, our "home" in Iceland

Dessert at Fisherman's Village

Hot tub on top of our room filled with natural hot water.

Wednesday, June 19: After Paul’s morning class we went with most of the students to one of the main bus stations so we could buy our month-long bus pass. We then split off from the students and went around town looking at different thrift stores and pricing out slightly used Icelandic sweaters. After looking at several stores, we walked up to Hallgrimskirkja, the main large church that sits prominently in the middle of Reykjavik. We eventually made our way back to our hotel for dinner and some time to unwind in the hot tub.

Downtown Reykjavik

Laying heated pipes to warm sidewalks in winter

Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik

Lupine

Thursday, June 20:This morning we made our way over to Costco to see what unique items they were selling and try out some of the items in their food court. Their hot dogs were more like the Icelandic type in that they had several different sauces you could put on them.

Guess where we went for lunch...

They have way more condiments than our Costco!

After wandering around Costco, we went over to the local Bonus supermarket and bought a few items. We went back to the hotel and met back up with Paul, then headed out again to Reykjavik to get signed in for the midnight sun run. Becky and I switched from the 5K to the 10K run after Paul told us the 10K has a more scenic route. Paul was signed up to do the ½ marathon. We went and grabbed some overpriced Mexican food, which was tasty, but not exactly like authentic Mexican food. After our bellies were full, we headed down to the starting area to stretch and get ready for the race. We ran into several of the students who were also running in the 10K. Once the race began, Becky and I stayed together for the first 4 kilometers or so until her knee started hurting and she had to walk. We met back up to take a picture at a waterfall at the halfway point, then split up again. I finished in 1 hour and 13 minutes and Becky was about 10 minutes behind me. We didn’t post spectacular times, but we finished. Paul said we had really lucked out with the weather. This was the first time he had run the midnight sun run with the sun out and no rain. We waited at the finish line for Paul to finish the ½ marathon. Once he did, we ate some hot dogs and took a taxi back to the hotel for the night. All of us were pretty sore.

Paul, Matt, and Becky picking up our numbers

Waterfall along the 10K course

Paul the Puffin and Matt post-race picture. This was at 11:30 pm.

Friday, June 21: Today was a recovery day, since we were all still sore from the run. After Paul taught his class, the three of us went to the local swimming area, which is about a mile walk from here. Since the pools here are all heated with geothermal water, they are all kept clean and pristine. In order to keep them clean, you are required to shower completely naked and thoroughly wash your body before you get in the pool. The swimming area has a large pool, several hot tubs, a small wave pool, large water slide, a wet and a dry sauna. We spent some time rotating to all of the different options. After dinner we stayed up to watch the sunset at 12:05am.

Community Pool near our hotel.

Snaefellsjokull volcano at sunset

Sunset at Fisherman's Village. Our room is in the building on the left. Matt is sitting in the right corner.

Paul's watch says it all... sunset at midnight.

Saturday, June 22: We woke up to clear blue skies and warm weather, so we caught the bus and went downtown. First we hit the Reykjavik Flea Market, which was pretty small compared to some markets. We were on the hunt for some gently-used Icelandic sweaters that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. Most of the sweaters at the market were not much cheaper than some of the other ones we had seen earlier.

Reykjavik Flea Market

We had found a store a few days prior that had a good selection of used sweaters at reasonable prices, so we walked up to the old part of town to try on sweaters. We both found sweaters that fit us and our budget. We hooked back up with Paul for lunch. From there we explored around downtown, mainly walking around the waterfront and over to the Harpa Concert Hall. Once we were all tired we caught the bus back to our hotel.

Downtown Reykjavik

Helga and Thor

Reykjavik Harbor

Harpa Concert Hall

Inside the Harpa

Our new slightly-used Icelandic wool sweaters

Sunday, June 23: Today was mostly a down day. After breakfast we went to church at the local branch of church. There were about 45 people there, which were a mix of locals and foreigners and missionaries. After church we took it easy and caught up on our journals.

Inside the church in Reykjavik

A few quirky things that we’ve noticed so far: the hot water for the showers comes from the geothermal features and has a sulfur smell. Also, though many locals won’t admit it openly, many believe there are “huldufolk” or “hidden people”, such as elves, trolls, gnomes, dwarves, etc. Whole road and construction projects have been moved so as to not disturb elf habitats. This is usually due to the construction crews having machines break down, equipment fail, workers getting hurt, etc. Many buildings and homes have miniature versions of the same building in the yard that serve as homes for hidden people.

Elf house

Elf houses in front of the real house

Don't mind the smell...

Monday, June 24: This morning Becky and I took the bus into Reykjavik. We had a few minutes to kill, so we walked around and looked in some souvenir shops. Out on the main tourist street we thought we saw Robert Plant, the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin. He was actually in town the day before for the Secret Solstice concert, so there was a high probability that he could be wandering around town. Becky got a few paparazzi videos, but after careful observation, we determined that it probably wasn’t him, but a very close doppelganger. We then went over to the Harpa Concert Hall to listen to a free concert by the winners of the international piano competition for children. These kids were amazing to listen to! The youngest was seven years old and had been playing for three years but sounded like they had been playing for 20! We skipped out of the concert early and went back to our hotel.

In the afternoon we boarded a charter bus with the rest of the group and took a trip around the Golden Circle. Our first stop was at a geothermal power plant. We took a quick tour and Paul explained to the students how the turbines worked. Iceland is covered with hot spots where the superheated steam from the ground is used to power the turbines to generate electricity. Iceland also has cool spots where they can pump hot water from the ground. They then use this hot water to heat most of the homes and buildings in the country.

Driving to the power plant. Try to pronounce the name.

Diagram of how the plant works

Turbines

Our second stop was at Gullfoss, a giant two-tier waterfall. Fortunately we were there after the hordes of tourist had all mobbed the place. We spent some time wandering around to all of the different viewpoints and taking pictures.

Gullfoss waterfall

Our next stop was the Geysir geothermal area. The original geyser that’s called Geysir is the one from which we got the term. It has been inactive for years. There is another geyser named Strokkur which goes off every five to eight minutes. It isn’t as high as Old Faithful, but seems more explosive when it goes off, usually with minimal warning.

Strokkur Geyser

From Geysir we drove over to Pingvellir National Park. This is where the first Alpingi, or parliament, was held in AD 930. Each year people from all around Iceland would gather here to create new laws, hold court, and have a great celebration. The site sits right in the middle of a fault zone where the North American and European plates meet. After wandering around, we eventually made our way back to the bus and then took the hour drive back to our hotel for the night.