Part One

THREE WINTER WEEKS IN ICELAND

February - March 2019

Tuesday February 19th 2019

It all started back in August when our back country ski buddies from the CCM put the idea up:

“How about Iceland guys? Would you be up to it?”

So now Joao is stuffing all our ski gear inside a fancy orange Ford Mustang at the Avis parking lot!!!

We had reserved a medium size sedan though…. look what we got instead!

Hey, believe it or not the ski gear fits!...But barely though as we have an extra big luggage that Joao will take to France from Reykjavik while Muriel will fly back to Boston. Yeah, we're splitting: Joao will go back to the barn and Jeremy, while Muriel will sell our CT house.

We make it to Boston without speed tickets. Joao had to try the beast! 10 speeds! 30mpg at 70mph not bad!

Wednesday February 20th

We land at Keflavik at 6am and are immediately welcomed by Iceland's weather conditions: wind is too strong to unload the passengers! Although it was OK for the pilots to  land the plane! So we wait 30 minutes inside the airplane until the wind calms down. What happens when the wind stays strong non stop for 6 hours??!!

With a long day ahead of us we decide to try to stay awake and go tour the classic “Golden Circle” instead of crashing and falling asleep. Tough day but it helps us get rid of the jet-lag faster.

We get to see the Thingvellir World Heritage National Park where the thousand year-old Viking history of Iceland has unfolded and which, coincidentally houses the tectonic crack between the Eurasian and the American plates, and a nice frozen waterfall.

Along the road that penetrates the frozen nordic desert, several cars are stuck in the snow. They pulled on the side for pictures or poney petting and the deep treacherous snow swallowed them. We're learning our lesson to stay on the pavement irrespective of how cute the plush poneys are.

After Thingvellir our next stop is for Geysir. Move away Yellowstone Old Faithfull, here a big geyser makes its show every 7 minutes on average!

And indeed we're treated to the mesmerizing multiple eruptions of a large cauldron of boiling water. It's better not to walk out of the marked trails in this place!

And our last stop is for the very Scenic Gulfoss Waterfalls. They're certainly even more fascinating in the winter.

What an introduction for our first day in this bewildering land of ice and fire!

Thursday February 21st

The next day we visit Reykjavik, with a stop at its splendid all-glass Opera House, a walk in the historical district around the photogenic lake Tjornin.

We spend the entire afternoon at the Iceland National Museum which features interesting exhibits about how people started to live in this harsh island.

We also discover the dry fish delicacy (fish jerky) and like it very much with bread and butter!

Friday February 22nd

We leave Reykjavik early for a long day focused on exploring the Snaefellness peninsula in the west. Jules Vernes, the XIXth century science fiction author made it famous by having his “To the center of the Earth” characters enter through the iconic Snaefellsjokull volcano.

The landscape is breathtaking, with mountain peaks on one side of the road and tormented sea on the other. As we enter the peninsula, a large lava field carpeted with green moss extends over the flat coastal land.

The ocean is stormy.

The weather is actually warm by the way, always above freezing, with strong winds and rain in the afternoons. The snow is melting!

We're lucky to admire the Snaefellsjokull volcano before noon. By 1pm the summit is totally covered by wind-made snow-clouds. We fight a very strong wind going up a little volcano and decide that this is not a day for hiking. We finish our tour bunkering in our car. A storm is beating the island hard.

Thankfully we have a great hotel in Borgarnes with very welcoming sauna and hot tub and an excellent restaurant!

Saturday February 23rd

On our 4th day, after a couple of classic tourist stops at a geothermal hot spring and then at the lava-fed Hraunfossar Waterfalls we try to approach glacier Lang. Langjökull, jökull means glacier. The Icelandic language is impossible for us to pronounce so we end up short-cutting all the overly long words.

We drive our 4x4 Duster on a snow / dirt road but the weather keeps getting really bad in the afternoon once again and we have to abort our expedition.

We still get close enough to the river that flows from the glacier to appreciate its numerous floating icebergs.

It's quite easy to take awesome pictures of this exceptional landscape. Just point and shoot!

We finish the day at the Borgarnes Settlement Exhibition, perfecting our knowledge of Iceland Viking arrivals and associated complex and colorful Sagas….Where we learn that Iceland was originally well covered with birch trees and dense brush, all cut by man to make boats and houses and firewood! Hardly any trees remain now anywhere.

Sunday February 24th

We drive south now towards Selfoss and enjoy a 3-hour horse ride surrounded by steamy hot springs and lava pools. We're on an active geothermal terrain which erupted just 10 years ago. Here you watch where you land your foot...and hoof! And yes we look overdressed like astronauts on horses but at least we stay warm against the frigid wind!

Icelandic horses are everywhere.

We suspect the tourism department has a budget to keep them roaming all over so tourists can pet them, take pictures, ride, etc.

Truth is they're very cute. And they all are descendents of the few horses brought 1000 years ago! No horses have been imported to Iceland for the past 1000 years!

Again, weather-wise we have a decent morning followed by a tough afternoon.

So we shelter inside and go visit one of the largest and most recent geothermal plant which caters to tourists for its PR. Yes the geothermal energy production is indeed controversial as it releases nasty by-products from Earth’s entrails (sulfur oxides, arsenic and other poisonous gases…).

Monday February 25th

Waterfalls day (foss in Icelandic). Seljalandsfoss here with the trail passing behind so that we get a good freezing shower!

Did we mention that tourists are numerous? This is totally unexpected ! We're not the only crazy ones wanting to see Iceland in the winter. There's busloads of mostly Asians and Germans everywhere we go! And quite a few French also...

Skógafoss next. Actually this is the river above it. The big falls are below and will get you drenched in one second.

Here you go Muriel!

Thankfully there is an interesting museum nearby so we can get dry and enjoy this incredible Citroën made in France specifically for Iceland!

A storm has been announced for the next day and we're starting to see its first signs. The sea is ferocious. Not a day to appreciate the black volcanic sand beaches…although…as crazy as we are we go nevertheless...

We reach our impossible to pronounce night stop, Kirkjubæjarklaustur, after a long crossing through the gigantic lava field that resulted from the most powerful volcanic eruption in the history of mankind, in 1783. It lasted 8 months, wiped out 20% of Iceland's population, impacted agriculture all over the planet due to a thick drifting ash cloud and is believed to be one of the major causes of the subsequent French Revolution as poor harvest triggered famine and misery. It could re-occur anytime, wreaking havoc on our mighty modern societies.

Tuesday February 26th

Storm day. We mean, a real one! It comes with a warning from the Icelandic Travel Safety System to NOT get out!!!

The dark areas show gusts at 100mph. We're staying inside today and catch up with the blog!

Well, we'll brave the storm walking to the local Visitor Center to prepare our next day which is forecasted with sunny weather at last! And, as the storm weakens towards the end of the day, Joao can't resist hiking up the cliff along the waterfall by our guesthouse and reach the lake on the high plateau above. There the wind is still raging!

Wednesday February 27th

We knew the day after the storm was going to be sunny.

So we had made plans to pack our schedule with all the wonders around this bountiful area.

But we did not expect it would be THIS sunny. What a treat after the storm!

We get up early and get ready quickly to drive East and reach the glacier areas. As the sun rises on a clear sky, we are rewarded with Iceland at its best!

Bingo! We feel soooo lucky! THE gem in the southern coast is the Vatnajokull glacier National Park and its approachable glaciers. We drive straight to Jokulsarlon, a uniquely gorgeous glacier lagoon with floating icebergs.

It's already packed with tourists but we quickly escape by hiking for a couple of hours along the black lava gravel shore halfway to the glacier that is shedding its blue ice sculptures into the lagoon.

Soon we find ourselves alone and immersed in grand beauty. We're mesmerized. We shoot picture after picture. Today could be our sunniest day in Iceland and we're in one of the most beautiful place on the entire island right then!

Back from our wonder-hike to the tourist packed area: what's this red vision barefeet in icy-water? Well, maybe a gimmick from Iceland Tourist Office; worth the pic though!

There's more wonders to marvel at today. We turn back towards Skaftafel Visitor Center, the entry point to the Skaftafelsjokull glacier, one of the tongue dropping from the gigantic Vatnajokull glacier expanse high above.

We finally put our crampons to good use! A little walk on the thousand years old blue ice gives us scenic views all around. But this glacier, like all others in Iceland, is quickly melting. This year it has seen barely any snow and the blue color is actually a very bad omen: this is the color a glacier takes at the end of the summer, not during winter!

We have a long drive back to our night resting point in Selfoss but a beautiful one.

Even the waterfalls look better under the sun!

We'll drive back for a long time across the gigantic lava field from the 1783 volcanic eruptions, but this time we can see its beautiful layer of green moss while the sun sets on the horizon.

That night, as a final treat for the day, we'll have a Northern Lights show. Our cameras are not good enough to take in the green dancing veil-like cloud but you have to believe us: it was a very good one!

Thursday February 28th

Our last day before we get together with our ski buddies. The good weather is gone. We have mist and wind again. We drive back to the Reykjanes Peninsula south of Reykjavik, taking our time along the coast and exploring at random.

This is how we stumble upon an amazing geothermal area: Seltun, complete with steam bursting from the ground and boiling mud pools, not mentioning the multi colored soil. Here you don't want to stray away from the marked path, or you risk being burnt alive!

All around we criss-cross moss covered lava fields.

And we conclude our day and this  first sightseeing part of our Iceland discovery tour with an evening at the Word Famous Blue Lagoon, a natural hot spring, of course well commercialized. They serve drinks and provide mud masks. And you have lots of nooks and crannies to wander around in this huge pool under the sky. Tonight we're again treated to a Northern Lights show, while basking in the hot waters of the mineral lagoon.