Day 4-5 – FreeFALLing

Today’s theme is: waterfalls! We’ve seen a bunch of them! And they did not disappoint. We left Reykjavik around 9:00 and started driving the “golden circle,” which is the loop around the island that hits most of the high points. Iceland’s population is 400,000 and it’s the size of Kentucky, so it doesn’t take too long to see the whole country. However, we’ll be making several stops and spending the night in several small towns along the way.

Our first stop was Thingvellir, which looks like a national park of some sort but is actually an historical site where the first Icelandic Parliament met. Also, the mid-Atlantic ridge lies at this point, so as we walked through the canyon, we were straddling two continents, N. America and Europe. Interestingly, the tectonic plates are pushing the entire island outward on each side by two centimeters per year. So in a few billion years, this place will be as big as Texas! Speaking of…there are bluebonnets here!

OK, not EXACTLY bluebonnets…they’re called Alaskan lupine and they’re everywhere! And they might actually be a litttttttle bit prettier than bluebonnets, but shhhhhhh….pretend I didn’t type that out loud.

After Thingveller, we stopped to see the geysers. There are 2-3 in the area we stopped and they erupt every few minutes. One of them makes Old Faithful look my shower. Impressive. There were signs everywhere warning people not to touch the water or the steam. As our bike tour guide told us on Friday, Icelanders strongly believe in “natural selection” and often don’t put guardrails or barriers around natural areas that could be dangerous or risky. I suppose this sign was intended to curb natural selection a bit…and it was only in English.  I found it pretty amusing, especially the last two. ;)

The next stop was listed by CNN as one of the top ten most beautiful waterfalls in the world. TRUTH. Gullfoss is actually several falls, but the main one is crazy big and powerful. We spent at least an hour there getting soaked while trying to capture the perfect shot. 

After the waterfall visit, we stopped for the night at Myrkholt Farm where we stayed in a very comfortable multi-room “cabin” that had a nice common room and kitchen. The kids edited pictures, worked on their blogs, submitted their assigned self-portraits and took pictures of the horses, sheep, etc. around the property. Tota, the lady traveling with us who prepares all our meals when we’re not near civilization, made chicken tiki massala and rice and salad, which was delicious. The best part of the whole night? The blackout curtains in the rooms! I slept the best I’ve slept so far.

On Sunday, we got up extra early so we could leave by 8:30. When I woke up and took my first step, I realized I had done too much the day before on “the foot.” It was feeling so much better on Saturday that I walked all over the waterfall like I owned it. On Sunday morning, I was quickly reminded that I had gotten a little cocky.

We ate breakfast, cleaned the lodge, and headed towards, you guessed it…a waterfall. The first one we went to is called Saljalandsfoss. We were able to walk behind it, and of course we got sprayed, but it was worth it. We loaded back up on the bus, drove about 30 minutes, put our rain gear back on and walked up to the tallest freakin’ waterfall you can imagine. It made waterfall number one look pretty wimpy. There were stairs to the top (at least 7,000…or maybe just 1,000m but who’s counting…), so of course we climbed them. An amazing view and – bonus! – quads and glut workout! Once at the top, we took hundreds of pictures, and I nervously watched the kids around the edges of the cliffs. Stannar wasn’t kidding…very few rails or barriers, and I was a nervous wreck watching them all try to get the very best shot. Luckily, natural selection didn’t get the best of us today.

We ate lunch in the park at the base of the waterfall, paid $1.00 to go to the bathroom (standard) and then headed to the beach. It was a cold, windy, damp, gray day, but well worth the hike up to the cliffs overlooking the water. Huge, imposing rocks with even huge-er holes in them sit right off the shore, waves crashing up over them. We took pictures, hiked quite a ways up and down, tried to get some pictures of the puffin (not so successfully for most of us…) and made it back to the bus in about an 

hour.

We headed for another part of the beach just 15 minutes or so up the road to see the salt columns and more big rocks. Salt columns look like this:

I really have no understanding of how these are formed or how long they’ve been there, but they look really cool!

The next stop was a cute fishing village called Vik, where I took this shot of the church among the bluebonnets…I mean lupine.

We were able to get a item that has been most coveted since we’ve arrived: a hot dog! Before we left, we’d read the number one thing we had to eat was an Icelandic hot dog. They are lamb hot dogs, and they are actually quite good. Don’t taste much different than American hot dogs. The majority of the kids also got ice cream, and Juan got a package of cured fish, which we demanded be opened outside/not on the bus.

After what seems like two days worth of activity packed into 8 hours, we are currently on the bus, traveling through very remote areas. Most of the kids are napping, missing the sites - cute turf houses, waterfall after waterfall after waterfall, sheep and horses, glaciers and lava fields. I now understand why my mother would get frustrated when I would sleep or read on roadtrips. Every time I see something cool, I want to scream, “Wake up! Look!” but I am refraining. We are headed towards our final destination for the day, Skaftafell National Park. We will be tent camping for two nights at Skaftafell. It is MUCH colder in this part of the country than anywhere we’ve been yet, so this might be a challenge for this born and bred Texas girl who thinks anything below 60 degrees warrants a coat and gloves. I only hope someone takes pictures of me trying to set up my own tent with 17 layers of REI thermal gear on. It should be comedy gold. Wish us luck!

PS: All the pictures on this post are just iphone pictures…”real pictures." I'll post more pictures when I can get someplace that I can charge cameras/computers, etc. 

Day 1-3: Rekajyvic? Reklyvic? Rekykvalic? Reykjavik?

When I read on the itinerary that we were going straight from the airport to the Blue Lagoon, I thought it a bit odd. Now that I've been there, I realize it was genius! I got up at 6 a.m. Central Time on Tuesday morning and traveled until 7:00 a.m. Iceland time on Wednesday morning. What better way to relax after a day of  (literally) limping through airports than soaking in 98-degree natural spring water? The Blue Lagoon is the top attraction on every Iceland travel site I’d looked at, and there’s a good reason for that. It’s unlike anyplace I’ve ever seen. A huge geothermal power plant sits in the background, overlooking a very large pool of steamy, almost iridescent, warm blue water. The Icelanders take hygiene seriously, especially when it comes to mucking up their lagoon. We were given towels and lockers and were required to shower sans bathing suits BEFORE getting in the water, an idea I was in complete favor of, given the number of humans who dip in and out of the water each day. The second I stepped into the lagoon, I wanted to move to Iceland. All around the lagoon are stations with buckets of “mud” from the lagoon floor and walls that people spread all over their bodies and face. The mud contains minerals that are very healing and good for the skin. 

Of course we slathered the white mud all over our faces, took plenty of pictures and then relaxed on the side of the pool while the mud dried and did its magic. I rinsed my face after about ten minutes and felt sure I looked five years younger. What I didn’t account for is what the mud-water combo would do to my contacts. I felt like I had a gallon of sand and salt poured in each eye. I blindly found my way back to the locker room and spent ten minutes reviving my contacts, but it all ended well. We stayed in the lagoon for another couple of hours, taking tons of photos of people of all races, ages and sizes wading through the steam and water with white mud smeared all over their face. We made our way over to the swim up bar, had a green smoothie and some very pure, very delicious Icelandic Glacier bottled water and even though we didn’t really want to leave (ever!), we decided it was time to head to the hostile.

Our hostile was basic, but very clean and comfortable. After an hour or so of getting settled, our Nat Geo leaders, Erika and Peter (both awesome!) led us a couple of miles into the city center so we could get familiar with the city and take in the views from the water. Dinner was very good pizza and pasta and then we headed back to the hostile for our first group meeting and early bedtime. Unfortunately, the sun didn’t realize how tired we were. I laid down at 11:00 pm, and it was as bright as 5:30 pm is in Houston. It was unsettling and made sleep difficult, but I was exhausted enough that I managed to sleep with the aid of earplugs and a sleeping mask.

On Thursday, we took taxis to the largest cathedral in the city and broke up into small groups for some photography practice. The kids did a great job following instructions and practicing techniques. We walked around, stopping in shops and cafes, took lots of photos of locals and ended up eating Indian food for lunch. It was very good! After lunch, we visited the photography museum to view an exhibit by local photographer Ragnar Axelsson. He talked to us about his work and answered lots of questions.

We went back to the hostile, learned the basics of Adobe Lightroom with Erika, ate fish at a nearby restaurant for dinner and walked home at 10 pm in broad daylight. I was up until 2:30 a.m. because I can’t get used to the sun being out all night. Even with my $13 sleeping mask on, my brain knows it’s light outside. I finally took a zzzzzzz-quil, which did the trick.

Friday was a packed day. At breakfast, we met our Nat. Geo photographer, Gianluca Colla. Gianluca is an Italian photographer who lives in Switzerland. He did a great lesson with the kids before we set out for lunch and a 2.5-hour bike tour around Reykjavík. At lunch, we sampled mink whale. I was most reluctant to try it…I mean, I’ve watched Whale Wars! We learned, however, that the mink whale is not endangered. There are about 25,000 of them in the waters around Iceland and only 150 are killed each year by the Icelandic fisherman. Nevertheless, there is a lot of controversy among Icelanders about the ethics of killing the mink whales…most agree that it is acceptable, but some are adamantly against it. I tasted the meat…tasted like steak, actually, but chewier. I can’t say I want to eat it again, but I can say I tried it. After my bite of whale, I had lobster soup and a shrimp kabob – both delicious.

Besides the Blue Lagoon, the bike tour was the highlight of our time in the city. Our tour guide, Stannar, was entertaining, we saw parts of the city we’d never normally see and – bonus! – I got a glut workout! We learned a bunch of interesting facts about Icelanders on the tour:

1. Most Icelanders either believe in elves or at the very least, don’t dismiss them. There is a lot of superstition about messing with or moving “elf rocks” and most locals won’t do it, even if they don’t whole-heartedly believe in elves…just in case.
2. Icelanders are considered laid-back and easy going, for the most part. They don’t get too stressed about much of anything, especially the men. AND…they are often late. Being up to 20 minutes late in social situations is pretty much expected and not considered rude. I think I may be Icelandic!
3. There are usually only 2-3 murders in the entire country each year. Theft is very rare and parents will go in to a store to grab some groceries or have a cup of coffee and leave their sleeping babies in carriages outside. No one bothers the babies, no one thinks twice about doing this. 
4. The divorce rate in Iceland is the highest in the world – 60-65%. Stannar explained that many, many couples do a “trial run” for several years before getting married (maybe I actually am Icelandic???). They also often have children out of wedlock, which is not really considered taboo.
5. Stannar also explained that when the Vikings left Scandinavia to pillage and plunder England, they killed ¾ of the men and stole 60% of the women. He explained that they “obviously took the prettiest 60%” and took them to what is now Iceland. Taking the most beautiful of the English women, combined with the Nordic ruggedness of the Vikings, resulted in a “spectacular gene pool,” which is why Icelandic women and children are known for being so beautiful, why the Icelandic men are “near-perfect specimens” and why “England has still not recovered.” Perhaps a little biased in his explanation, but entertaining to hear!
6. Finally, Stannar explained that the women who were brought to Iceland were most unhappy about their abduction (duh!), causing them to become angry, bitter, tough-as-nails women who pretty much hated men. These traits were also apparently passed down through the gene pool and, according to Stannar, is the reason the divorce rate is 60%. 

After the bike tour, we set out for a Viking Festival in a town about 20 miles outside the city.  We took two city busses and arrived to find about 75 locals dressed in very authentic Viking garb, selling a variety of jewelry, stones with magical powers, sheep horns, and leather works. We also watched aViking Battle and talked to several locals. Everyone we’ve encountered speaks excellent English and is very friendly. The festival offered endless photo ops, especially good people pics, so the kids got some great practice. We ate at the Viking Village restaurant afterwards, which was very over-priced, but fun. I ate $40 ribs and coleslaw.  No worries…Iceland is not taking over Texas as the bbq capital of the world anytime soon.

We walked back to our bus stop at 10:00 pm in broad daylight, got on the wrong bus, got off the wrong bus and onto the right bus and made it back home by 11:00. I finally fell asleep around 1:30 a.m. to the sound of birds chirping and was up at 7:15 for our departure from Reykjavik. Even if I can’t spell Reykjavik correctly, I like it! It’s clean, colorful, and seems to be “well-plotted” as described by Erika and the people are friendly and laid back.

I’m currently typing this on a bus that will be our transportation around the island for the rest of the trip. I wish I could tell you what town we are stopping in first, but I can’t pronounce it, much less spell it…suffice it to say, it’s in the middle of nowhere, it’s cold and windy, and it’s beautiful!

Brace Yourself!

We've made it to the gate and haven't lost a kid yet. I got to ride in an airport cart for the first time ever bc of "the foot" issue. I'm sporting a very fashionable Velcro brace, which has helped greatly. 

The ride on the cart was surprisingly "breezy" - they move quickly! Headed for a five hour layover in Boston. By this time tomorrow, I'll be soaking in the Blue Lagoon. 

You're Going to Iceland?? WHY?

That's the question I've been asked most since I first started telling people I am going to Iceland for two weeks. Of course, a few people have responded with "awesome!" or "that's so cool...that's where Game of Thrones is filmed!," but for the most part, I get quizzical looks when I tell people where I'm going.

Honestly, when my friend/travel partner/co-teacher Cathy Bottoms asked me way back in September if I'd like to go to Iceland, my initial response was probably also a quizzical look. Within 10-15 seconds, however, I heard myself saying, "SURE!" I then immediately began wondering how I was going to stay warm. I love mountains and snow, but I mostly like seeing them through a window while I'm sitting by a fireplace, under a blanket, preferably drinking something that warms me from the inside out. Instead, for at least two nights of the trip, I will be looking at mountains and snow from the plastic window of a tent. On the ground. In a sleeping bag.  I guess the saving grace is that we'll have only four hours of darkness each night, so it will only be in the 30s or 40s instead of the 20s. Luckily, I'm only sleeping outside two out of 14 nights, so I think I can manage. I slept outside and didn't shower for a WEEK in Africa...this should be a piece of (very cold) cake!

Of course, I've spent more money preparing for this trip than the actual trip costs (not really...but close), but you can be sure, I'm going to be warm! Layers, layers and more layers are the theme of the trip. I will be traveling with Cathy, 16 photography students, two National Geographic Leaders, and a Nat Geo photographer. We will be gone two weeks and will cover the entire county of Iceland, which is only as big as Kentucky.

I've started packing, and of course, as is always the case, I have way too much stuff. I'll be paring down my packing list this weekend, praying that I can somehow survive two weeks of trekking around Iceland with only 50 pounds of stuff.

Wish me luck and please pray for unusually warm temps in Iceland for the next two weeks! Stay tuned.