Did I mention how much we enjoyed this airbnb?
Such a cute little red fridge.
We drove up to the church on the hill overlooking the little town of Vik. The rocks off to the left are in the Atlantic Ocean near the black sand beach that we will visit.
The church in Vik.
Our first stop today was at Reynisfjara Beach. It is a black sand beach with basalt sea stacks adjacent. It was tough to get a good photo of the basalt stacks because of the angle of the sun.
The waves on the beach were so powerful. The broke right on shore and took people by surprise because every once in a while there was a sneaker wave that would come way higher than the earlier waves. There were signs that every year or two somebody drowns on this beach and while we were there we saw a sneaker wave catch a girl who tripped trying to run from it. I thought that the wave was going to drag her into the water and I was gearing up to try and help, without sacrificing my own safety, but luckily she was able to grab a rock. She and a couple of her friends were completely soaked though, and it was frigid today.
That is one of the same rock formations visible from the Vik overlook.
A better photo of the basalt columns. Reminiscent of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. Someday I'd like to see that formation.
Another lovely Icelandic church.
We next visited the Dyrhólaey Peninsula, just a few kilometers down the coast from Reynisfjara Beach. For as small of an island as Iceland is there are amazing sights around every corner.
You can see the same rock formations on the right side of the photo above. This was a blowhole that spurted water at every large wave.
Our next stop was at Seljalandsfoss. This is another of the more famous Icelandic waterfalls. Since we have been home, I have seen this waterfall on everything from screensavers, to advertisements to even Music and the Spoken Word. It is a very photogenic waterfall.
There is a trail that goes behind the waterfall. It was really cold today, so Alison waited in the car with Lyla and Kate. Only Ada was willing to brave the frigid mist.
The beautiful glacier water.
We made our way to the Golden Circle. Most tourists to Iceland stay in Reykjavik and take day trips with tour groups to the stops along the Golden Circle. I like to think that we're a little more adventurous than that.
Our first stop was at the Secret Lagoon. This is a little swimming join with a large outdoor pool fed by geyser water. Just up the hill from the pool are a few geysers. When they erupt, the pool gets noticeably warmer, especially near where the water comes into the lagoon.
This little cafe was at Gulfoss, the big mama waterfall in Iceland that is one of the top tourist attractions in the country.
No drones. We actually saw these signs at many of the more crowded spots.
Gulfoss. The total drop is only about 100', but they way that the water just appears to disappear into a crack in the earth is haunting.
You can see the canyon/crack that collects the water above.
Continuing on the Golden Circle we made our way to the Haukadalur geothermal area. We watched a sorry eruption of the Strokkur Geysir (really, it was pitiful, but everybody watching clapped afterwards. We all looked at each other questioning whether or not an eruption had really just happened or not. I guess we've been spoiled, having visited both Yellowstone and New Zealand in the past few months). Nearby Strokkur is also the Great Geysir, which is where the word geyser originated back in the 1400s. Apparently it is a spectacular geyser, but only erupts intermittently and usually accompanies other seismic activity.
Just another example of how quickly the weather changes in Iceland. The photo above was taken at 5:43, while the photo below was taken at 5:56. Two different worlds.
We checked into our hotel in Reykjavik and then started searching for somewhere to eat. We found The Roudhouse Reykjavik, which was very good, but once again was very expensive (have I mentioned that before?). Alison's shake above was $10. And that burger? $25! Yowsa.
Tomorrow, we visit a glacier.
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