Iceland September 2010

In September 2010 we took a journey through Germany.  The trip originally was started so we could see the Passion Play in Oberammergau.  The play is put on once every 10 years as a promise to God for sparing the village from the plague in the 1600’s.  We also wanted to finish circumnavigating the world since our world cruise in 2009 stopped in Rome after leaving Ft. Lauderdale.  We were able to catch a cruise that was repositioning from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale.  We were looking for flights to Europe and happened upon Icelandic Air that was the cheapest and allowed us to have a stop over in Iceland for no extra cost.  It’s surprising how these things work out and get combined for one terrific trip.

We left the states on September 15^th and arrived in Iceland the next day.  We arranged to rent an apartment found on VRBO for a reasonable price.  It was located within walking distance of downtown Reykjavik.  We had originally booked two one day tours that went to the south coast of Iceland.  We were able to combine both tours into a private 4-wheel tour for less money.  The tour went to a waterfall, visited a lighthouse, visited an arch on the coast, went to see the farm that was featured on Time Magazine when the eruption occurred and traveled up to the glacier where the melted ice poured out beneath the glacier.  There was a lake at the base that was completely washed away from the flooding

Downtown Reykjavik viewed from the church.

Farm featured on Time Magazine

We climbed to the top to have our picture taken.  Yes, those are people at foot of falls.

Arch on South coast of Iceland.

Our guide (seen here) told us a story about him and friends staying there one night which resulted in him scarring the heck out of his friend who was also up in the wee hours.

This is the base of the glacier where water washed away a lake after the eruption.  I’m standing where the lake was to take this picture.

Another waterfall that we were able to walk behind.

We then took another tour to the west side on Iceland and the most spectacular site there was these fresh water springs that flow under a lava flow before hitting the river.  Here’s a picture of us and the springs.

There were other stops to see hot springs the Icelanders use to heat their homes as well as cultural stops and panorama sites along the way.

We did do the obligatory stop at the Blue Lagoon but if you go be sure to use cream rinse before and after taking a dip. It’s expensive to get there and to get in and I’m sure we won’t do it again as each town has heated pools that can be enjoyed.

Blue Lagoon.

We stayed our last night before leaving Keflavik and wondered around town and saw this hut built into the side of the hill and on the pier.

Since this is a bit long, I’m going to submit this on the blog and then do Germany on another entry.  Iceland was very interesting and had alot to see.  If you go be sure to stay a week.