Iceland Week 4
Tuesday, July 9: Today was a relaxing day for us. In the morning we lounged around and hand washed our laundry. After Paul’s class, we helped Helga, our tour planner, collect the optional trip payments from all of the students. Later on in the afternoon we went back to Reykjavik with Paul and walked around and bought a few more souvenirs. We grabbed some fish and chips for dinner.
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| Napping in downtown Reykjavik |
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| Fish and Chips for dinner |
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| Souvenir shopping |
Wednesday, July 10: This morning Becky and I went for a walk over to the President of Iceland’s house, which is a little over a mile from where we are staying. On the way there we stopped to take pictures of Icelandic horses. They are a smaller breed that have a unique look and have five gaits (they are fun to watch). We finally made it over to the President’s house, which you can walk right up to (try doing that at the White House). The house sits out on a piece of land overlooking the bay and greater Reykjavik.
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| Icelandic horses |
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| President's House |
Afterward we made our way downtown and went to the Culture Museum since we had free tickets to it. We then met Paul down at the Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach (also known as the “hot beach”). It is an arc of sand that has a hot pool and a lukewarm one. Some of the excess geothermal water that is used to heat the homes in Reykjavik is released into the lagoon to raise the temperature. Paul and Becky got in for a minute or so. I made it only for a few seconds.
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| Headboard at the Culture House |
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| Geothermal Beach |
When we were done soaking we hiked up to the Perlan. The Perlan is six massive tanks with a glass dome on top. It used to provide all of the hot water for Reykjavik. Now it is a huge tourist attraction that houses a replica ice cave, a northern lights theater, interactive bird exhibit, etc. The best way to describe it is a hugely overpriced tourist trap that has busloads of tourists dropped at their doors everyday, waiting to see “Iceland”. We briefly walked around the free parts before we all decided that that was enough.
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| The Perlan |
While we were walking back to the bus we passed a chicken restaurant. Becky really wanted to get a T-shirt from there and went in and asked if they sold any T-shirts. The employee said no and was really confused why she would want one in the first place. Becky explained to her about all of our Icelandic chickens and then the lady was willing to call her manager. They were able to sell Becky one of the used employee shirts, so she went home with a unique item from Iceland.
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| Becky's chicken restaurant |
Thursday, July 11: Today we went with Paul and all of the students to Glymur, which is a huge waterfall north of Reykjavik. It used to be the highest waterfall in Iceland, but another higher one was recently discovered. On the hike up we crossed a log over the river and made our way up on the right side. Paul said there wasn’t as much water in the river compared to previous years. We stopped several times to take pictures. It was amazing to see the birds flying around underneath you.
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| Hiking out to Glymur |
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| Glymur |
Once we made it to the top we had to cross the river. Luckily the water wasn’t running high and wasn’t too freezing. We made our way back down the trail and back to the bus. By the time we got home, everyone was tired.
Friday, July 12: After Paul finished his classes, the three of us, plus one of the students, took a bus over to the town of Hvergerdi. From there we walked about 4-5km to the trailhead. There were lots of cars in the parking lot, but surprisingly the trail never felt that crowded. We then hiked about 3km from the trailhead up to Reykjadalur, which translates to “hot river”. On the way we passed mud pots and hot springs.
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| Hiking out to Reykjadalur |
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| Sheep warming up next to the hot springs |
Once we arrived at the hot river area, we changed into our swimsuits and went for a dip. The water was nice and hot. The area is spread out enough that it doesn’t feel like you are soaking with millions of people.
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| Reykjadalur (hot river) |
Once our muscles were relaxed we got out and changed and started hiking back down the trail and then on to the town of Hveragerdi. We stopped for a hot dog before we caught the bus back to Reykjavik. We decided to stop for dinner at the same chicken restaurant where Becky bought her chicken shirt. The place was full of locals, which is was a good sign. The food was good and plentiful. We then finally made our way back home. We figured we hiked and walked close to 14 miles today.
Saturday, July 13: We spent most of the day walking around Reykjavik. We did some last minute souvenir shopping at the flea market. While there we also tried a bite of hakarl, which is fermented Greenland shark. Some consider it the worst tasting food in the world. Since the Greenland shark has no urinary tract, its flesh absorbs its urine. To make the meat edible, it has to be cured and fermented and hung to dry for four to five months. At first it had a fishy flavor and then a nasty ammonia aftertaste. It wasn’t as bad as we thought, but it was very disgusting.
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| Tasting Harkarl (fermented Greenland shark) |
We then went and walked around the harbor area. Along the way we decided to take side streets and get off the beaten path. We found some cool murals on the sides of buildings.
After we ate lunch in the main square, we walked up to the Einar Jonsson museum and sculpture garden. Einar Jonsson was one of the most famous Icelandic sculptors. We walked around the sculpture garden and admired the sculptures.
Afterward we walked around a bit more and finished our shopping.
Sunday, July 14: This morning we went to church again at the Reykjavik Branch. After church they had a potluck and they invited us to join them. We brought some cake and walnuts from Washington state. Since it was raining, we spent most of the day indoors catching up on our journals and (sadly) starting to pack.
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| Potluck at church |
Monday, July 15: While the students were taking their final exam this morning, Becky and I finished packing and went around Fisherman’s Village one last time to take some pictures.
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| Our last hot dogs in Iceland |
We then headed south to the town of Hafnarfjordur. We walked around a small park that is supposed to be the home of elves. We checked around the cracks and holes in the lava, but didn’t see any elves. After that we walked around the harbor area and went inside a few smaller museums.
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| Looking for Elves |
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| No elves here |
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| Hafnarfjordur Harbor |
In the evening we met all of the students at the Viking Village for our send-off dinner. The Viking Village is owned by Johannes, who also owns the Fisherman’s Village where we have been staying. We had a great meal of leg of lamb. There was a great musician there that roamed around playing guitar and singing in Icelandic, English, and a few other languages. After we said goodbye to a few students, we hopped on the bus back to the Fisherman’s village to get ready for our flight home.
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| Paul and Matt at the Viking Village |
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| Viking Village |
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| Leg of Lamb |
Tuesday, July 16: We got an early start this morning and walked our bags the ½ mile to the bus stop. After taking two buses, we finally arrived at the airport. Our flight to Dallas was uneventful, other than I’m pretty sure someone was smoking in the bathroom behind us. During our 8 hour layover in Dallas we ate some barbeque and tried to sleep a little. After a 3 ½ flight to Sacramento, we finally made it back. When we picked up Becky’s bag, we had a little surprise from the TSA. Since the zipper on Becky’s bad broke at the beginning of the trip, we had to use a knife to cut open the expander pouch and use that zipper instead. Before we flew back, Becky even put a note on duct tape on the suitcase warning not to use the bottom zipper. The folks at TSA decided to open the bottom zipper anyway. Since they probably couldn’t get it closed, they decided to use their tape to secure it...a lot of tape! It was comical, but at the same time very frustrating.
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| Becky's "surprise" from TSA |
Loved it all!
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