Iceland: July 2015
We spent a week in Iceland at the end of July. We rented a car (unfortunately more expensive because we don't drive a stick) and drove around the country for three nights, then spent three nights in the city. All in all it was a beautiful trip, filled with lots of gorgeous scenery and lots of delicious seafood.
Three out of four of us slept on the plane on the way over, and we had a smooth trip. From the airport, after we landed on Sunday morning, we went straight to the Blue Lagoon. Robert says he thinks it's required--they won't stamp your passport upon exiting if you haven't already gone.
There was a bit of drizzle, and some cloudy skies, but we walked around on the paths outside before heading in to bathe. Marcus managed to dip his sock-and-sandaled foot into a gooey pool filled with silicone and algae, and his Keens still bear some residue over a week later.
The Blue Lagoon was very nice. Samantha loved the provided (even required) water wings, and started paddling all over, and Marcus loved exploring which parts of the lagoon were warmer than others. I was the only one who really used the mud masks, though. We finished with a strawberry skyr smoothie in the snack bar.
From there we drove to Vikingworld, where we went inside to see the replica of a Viking boat that was actually sailed to North America in 2000, and so that Samantha could dress up like a Viking.
Though it was still cloudy, we spent a long time walking around outside at the so-called "Viking playground."
Once the kids discovered that some baby goats liked to slip under the fence and walk along the road, and they could feed them wildflowers, we were in for the long haul.
Eventually we drove into the town of Keflavik. We found a supermarket, picking up some chips, soft rye flatbreads, fresh pancakes (!) in the bread section, and then we grabbed a hot dog and hamburger from a stand--both were utterly rejected by the kids, mainly because of the unusual (to say the least) sweet completely un-ketchup-y ketchup. The kids played at a playground near the hot dog stand, and then we drove to our hotel, the Hotel Berg.
We had a nice corner room with a big tub, blackout curtains, a large bed for us and a double fold-out couch for the kids, and everyone slept very well despite the fact that the sun stayed out until almost 11:00. Breakfast in the morning was delicious, with a sausage and egg skillet dish, lots of bread and butter and spreads, oatmeal, and waffles.
After breakfast we walked down to the harbor to follow some giant painted footsteps to a strange house built into the rocky shore. We investigated from the outside, and then happened to find the keeper of the house just as he was coming to unlock it and let people in.
Inside was a giant troll statue that growled continuously and terrified Samantha. Even Marcus was at first a bit taken aback, upon staring into the windows. The keeper told Samantha that this was just a child troll, and her parents had been fishing to bring back breakfast for her but were caught by the light of the sun and turned to stone, so now she lives here and children take care of her. Samantha wasn't buying it, though she did consent to glance across the shore at the stone statues he said were the troll parents.
We walked through the harbor to this old fishing boat, now a tourist site, and also did a little bird-watching.
From Keflavik we drove north and then east, through a tunnel and over a bridge to Bogarnes, where we stopped at a gas station for a quick snack of ice cream and skyr and a few minutes at a playground.
We kept driving until we stopped at Erpsstadir dairy for more (and of course better) ice cream.
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Created: 8/3/15. Last Modified: 8/3/15.