Brady and I woke up fresh faced and excited to walk the city for a few minutes before go time. We found a croissant shop and ate the most delicious baked goods of the trip with the group.
From my reading, I expected Reykjavik to be more hopping and filled with people. Cory, Kristen, Brett and Shireen learned that happens after 11pm on Fridays, but we missed the whole thing.
First stop: hike to Glymur falls. Glymur is the second tallest waterfall in Iceland at 650 feet, and it's located an hour from Reykjavik in the Hvalfjordur fjord of West Iceland. There were plenty of people on the trail, as expected from the highest rated trail in Iceland, and we waited a little while for a group of people in jeans to cross a river on a log. I kept wondering about those people the rest of the trip.
After searching for lupine in Washington, we were shocked by its abundance in Iceland. It is an invasive species and everywhere.
Of all the places we visited on our trip, to me this was the one that photographed the most poorly compared to the actual experience.
At the highest vista, we were told the water was impassable and we should turn around. An older man told us the water was waist high and treacherous. A younger man told us that there were still "minier" waterfalls we could see and we should keep walking. I couldn't stand to not check it out for ourselves and we were thrilled to discover they were attempting to cross at the wrong point.
The river crossing was easy barefoot but I was nauseous within a minute from the cold. So happy we could make it a loop.
Our first up-close sheep sighting!
We expected to be faster than average but it turns out when you travel with photographers, you end up with a slower pace and fabulous photos.
This beast put our car to shame.
We found the most charming lunch spot, learning the glory of whipped heavy cream on top of the lobster soup. This was mine and Brady's favorite restaurant.
Mmmm...Pepsi Max is the European favorite.
Next door, we explored the historic doll museum--a real life haunted house.
We drove several hours to our next destination, all of us grateful we switched our itinerary and did not attempt this on Day 1.
Next up: the iconic Kirkjufell. Cory has been waiting to see this since his last visit years ago. Kirkjufell is on our every Icelandic website and brochure, and the picture photographers crave. We read that it was potentially underwhelming, as people expect grander falls or mountain, but with this in mind, it was still stunning.
The unexpected highlight of the day for me was the charm and beauty we found at the basalt formations. Waiting for Brady to unpack his fancy camera from the roof, I spotted an Arctic Fox! Brady was able to see it, too. We walked along the coastal trail, around the lighthouse, and down to the left where we were shocked to find huge basalt columns and a basalt arch.
Iceland has these fun zip lines everywhere. This location cannot be beat.
We tried in vain to find a place that would allow us to eat past 9pm. Instead, we spent time at the famous Black Church, traveled through an underground tunnel, and ate a hearty meal of gas station food that made us vow for dinner reservations the rest of the trip.
Funny Quotes of the Day:
Brett: "Repunzel, let down you hair!" at the lighthouse tower.
Brady: "Wouldn't it be fun if it turned out to be a beautiful sunset?" Shireen: "The best part is it will last 4 hours."
Brett: "If we don't eat soon, I might get hungry again."
Cory: "We've got to get to Kirkjufell before it gets dark." Shireen: "So before September."
Fun fact: $116 to put in 1/2 tank of gas.
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