Golden Circle Tour & Snow Mobiling!

Super Jeep

Day 4 in Iceland continues with the popular Golden Circle Tour, which hits up many of the major attractions of Mother Nature that one must see when visiting Iceland.  The all-day tour traverses across Iceland's rugged terrain and requires special-equipped "Super Jeeps" to take you around -- they were more like Monster Trucks and our tour guide was adventurous enough to take us off-roading, as well, which was quite the treat!

First stop was the breath-taking Gulfoss Waterfall.  Not as big as Niagra Falls, but the view was amazing, nonetheless.

Gulfoss Waterfall

Gulfoss



Dog Sledding



I was originally supposed to go Dog Sledding for this Day #4 in Iceland, but there was a last minute change in plans, as there wasn't enough snow for the dogs to go sledding, so we had to cancel the dogsledding, but go SNOW MOBILING instead!  As consolation, we were able to visit briefly with the dogs at their camp site, on the way to go snow mobile.  After visiting with the dogs, it probably worked-out better that we didn't go dog sledding -- while I've made a lot of progress getting over my fear of dogs, these big dogs were still kinda aggressive even chained-up!  Note the "fear" on my face just trying to get through a picture with the dogs, hehe. 

The main attraction of the day:  Snow Mobiling on Langjokull Glacier (Iceland's second largest glacier)!  Being on the snow mobile was exhiliarating and we were very lucky that after many days of rain and fog, today was perfect blue skies with tons of sunshine, so the snow mobile tour guide leader actually gave us even more time snow mobiling on the glacier with extra time.

As if our day wasn't already fulfilling enough after the snow mobiling, we still had a few sites to soak-up.  Because of Iceland's unique geology consisting of active tectonic plates and volcanoes, you actually see certain mountainous areas emitting gas and steam.  One of these areas has a famous Geysir that shoots water every 9 minutes, so you have tons of tourists who line around the circle waiting to catch the water Geysir spout.  It's hard waiting for the Geysir to erupt with your camera on cue -- my arms got tired snapping the shots, so hope you especially appreciate these images!



Starts with Nothing

Steam Starts to Build

   

  At its peak, the Geysir's height can be almost as tall as the Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral in Reykjavik.

Kerio Crater

Last stop of the Golden Circle Tour was the Kerio crater, which was another impressive sight to see....All and all, it was another very successful and adventurous day; an extremely rewarding experience...... 

Day 2: Adventure-Packed Day on Vatnajokull Glacier



Eagle Air to Hofn



 The itinerary for Day 2 took us to Vatnajokull Glacier - Europe's largest glacier.  To fit this excursion into our trip, we had to hop on a small propeller plane from Reykjavik (on the Western end of Iceland) to fly to Hofn, a small village town all the way on Iceland's Eastern end -- a one hour plane ride, instead of a 4-5 hour car ride.  While I enjoyed my first prop-plane ride, Lucia turned pretty green given the bumpy ride on the way back to Reyk....I'm just relieved she didn't hurl - it was close there for a moment and I had the barf bag on standby......

Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon

After landing in Hofn, our tour guide drove us to Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, where huge aqua-blue icebergs float around.  This is also the site where 21 minutes of the 2003 version James Bond "Die Another Day" movie was filmed (now I gotta go check-out that movie, hehe).  The view of the pristine icebergs was breathtaking and surreal.  Definitely an incredible site!  An added bonus of the tour was being able to board the equivalent to a "Duck Boat" to take you into the waters of the lagoon and get an up-close view of the icebergs.

"Duck Boat" Equivalent

 

Iceberg up-close

While it was hard to peel ourselves away from the lagoon, next stop was to climb aboard four-wheel ATVs to traverse the unique rugged terrain of Iceland's "countryside," consisting of green hills and glacier rivers.  It was my first time riding on ATVs and it was definitely an awesome experience.  Along the way, we stopped by a stream of running glacier water, where our ATV tour guide handed-out cups for us to drink the "freshest tasting water" you can ever find....Shockingly, I didn't hesitate drinking water that wasn't from a Poland's Spring water bottle, but it was pretty cool....

The ATV ride was a lot of fun, and the view of Hoffesjokul Glacier that we were treking towards made the experience even more awesome.  From where we were standing to snap all these pictures, we would have been on the glacier itself 80 years ago -- that's how "quickly" the glaciers have evolved and melted...

Hoffesjokul Glacier



Lucia got stuck!



Of course after a long, action-packed day of adventure and physical activity, we worked-up an appetite and made sure to get in some more good eating...Iceland is known for being seafood-rich, and I've made sure to get in my fix of "Langoustine" (a.k.a. Lobster).  Langoustine is smaller than the lobsters we're used to in Boston, but the meat is very tender.  For dinner, we had to try out "Icelandic Fish & Chips" with an ice cold beer to go along with it.  So delicious....It was the perfect way to end a very successful day of adventure in Iceland!

Grilled "Langoustine" (Lobster Tails)

Icelandic Fish & Chips



Cold & Rainy Conditions in Reykjavik, Iceland

I'm in Reykjavik (capital of Iceland) for the next week, first half for vacation with Lucia who's joined me, and then for business meetings.  After taking the red-eye flight, I'm just wrapping up an exhausting first day in this "village city." While it's not freezing cold here at about 40-50 degrees Farenheit, the wind makes it feel a lot colder than it really is.  Plus, it's been overcast and showery.  If it's like this in May, I don't want to know what it's like in the winter!  It's past 11pm here and it's still bright outside this time of year.  The landscape of Reykjavik is definitely unique, and it doesn't have a metropolis feel to it.  It's more like a village with lots of cute little streets and shops, and an endless number of bars and pubs!  However, the streets haven't been filled with people - it's actually been pretty quiet.  Originally, we were supposed to take a speedboat tour down a river, but I got a call last minute from the tour group saying they had to reschedule because the river flooded and the dock was washed away last night.  Thus, we had to change-up plans and our first day entailed lots of walking, exploring around the city streets, and eating! 

 

Baejarins Bestu

First up on our list of to-do's was to hit up the famous "Baejarins Bestu" hot dog stand for lunch.  It claims to have the best hot dog in the world, with President Clinton as one of its patrons.  While it was pretty good, it still doesn't compare to "Pinks" in L.A.  Though, it was nice not having the same 2 hour + line at Pinks.....I'd still recommend visiting this stand if you're ever in Reykjavik. 

Can you tell I'm wet & cold?

I think Lucia is handling the rain better than me

After lunch, it was time to burn off the calories from the hot dogs and get in Lucia's fix of window shopping...there are tons of random little shops here offering unique Icelandic clothing and souvenirs.  And, of course, Iceland is known for being by the water and offering lots of seafood.

Hereford Steakhouse Special

 I had heard from others that had previously visited Iceland that the country is known for unique food, such as Puffin and Whale.  I decided to be adventurous on my first night and ordered Puffin for dinner.  I figured Puffin would be a safer bet over Whale.  While the first course was pretty good, "Smoked Puffin Salad," the main course entree of Grilled Puffin Breasts was much too gamey for my taste....I'm still smelling the bad aftertaste...

Smoked Puffin Salad

Grilled Puffin
(and the souvenir I bought earlier in the day)

So, despite the cool and raw weather conditions, it's been a pretty successful first day of exploring Reykjavik.  Tomorrow's going to be a grueling day of physical activity, so stay-tuned for my next update from Iceland!