Day 9: KEF - RAK

S had a rough night last night.  She caught a bug from one of the cousins, and started feeling crumby on Friday.  Yesterday she felt worse, and overnight she was up a lot.  The hotel was uncomfortable (hot, stuffy), and she was coughing and blowing her nose.  Today she feels even worse.  But, we got up and to the airport in time!

Getting through KEF airport was a breeze.  The signage is clear, and the infrastructure is solid.  The airline we're flying, Play, is a budget airline, so getting checked in took a little extra effort.  There was a little confusion about how many bags we could check and how heavy they could be.  But, it all got worked out and we got to the gate on time.

The flight was MAYBE 15% full, so our row (which had all three of us side-by-side-by-side) was the fullest row on the plane.  Most rows had just one person stretched out.  A few had friends sharing seats.  The flight was uneventful, and the passage through passport control was easy.  We had a bit of confusion finding our shuttle service. 

We thought we'd meet them right after receiving our luggage, but the driver wasn't there.  Another helpful driver suggested that we check outside the airport doors.  I left S and H with our luggage to do that and found the driver.  BUT once I had left the doors, I was not allowed back in.  I had to walk around to the departures terminal and then head towards the arrivals gate. 

The ride from the airport to the hotel made me very glad that I wasn't driving in Marrakech.  Motorbikes outnumber cars 4:1, and while cars seem to obey traffic lights, motorbikes often don't.  Our driver was deft, and he dropped us in Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main market square.  From there, a porter put our bags into a large handtruck and led us through the market's narrow streets, down a few winding alleyways, and to the hotel. 

The Riad Etoile d'Orient is a lovely riad not too far from the main market.  We wanted a suite that had two bedrooms, and we ended up booking a private residence operated by the hotel but with its own entrance.  Dar Bleu is well within our budget but has two private terraces, its own jacuzzi, and our maid also makes our breakfast!  We spent the afternoon getting settled and chilling out.  Literally, since we landed in Marrakech wearing our Icelandic warm clothes.

After our siesta, we headed out to find our restaurant and explore the souk.  We ate at L'Mida tonight, a lovely fusion restaurant with huge Moroccan influence.  The best dish of the night was a gnocchi dish with harisa and a soft egg.  So good!

We were all falling asleep at dinner, but we got a second wind when we got home and took a dip in the jacuzzi.  Then, we finished unpacking.  Time for a much needed rest!

Day 8: to the airport via Reykjavik

We woke up early to check out of our amazing AirBNB and drive down to Reykjavik.  We got into town at around 11, grabbed a bite at a local cafe, and then we to The Lava Show with CC's fam. It was a fun experience, and H and D both had questions for Bastian, our emcee.  I was surprised at how hot the lava was when it started flowing into the viewing area.  It was 15' away from us but still warmed us up!

The Lava Show was our last event with CC's group, and we hugged them all goodbye in the parking lot.  They headed back to the airport to fly home to Boston.  We stuck around in Reykjavik, walking around, checking out sites, and buying more stuff!

After an extraordinary meal at Mat Bar, we drove back to KEF airport, dropped the car, and checked into the airport hotel.  After the wonderful AirBNBs we had, the hotel is cramped and tiny.  Small beds, no thermostat (it's HOT).  But, it's just one night!

 

Day 7: Black Church, Seal Beach, Borgarnes, and another waterfall.

I woke shortly after 7 and found that the sun was finally shining brightly!  I checked to make sure that H was still sleeping and hopped in the car to head to the Black Church for photos.  Along the way, I used a pull-out to take a photo of the coastline where our house is.  You can't really see it but it's on the flatlands between the water and the glacier.

The Black Church is just a few minutes east of our place.  The structure itself is just under 200 years old, and it's recently been restored to what it originally looked like.  It's still an active worship space, though the signage indicates that it was built with no support from the church at all.  How very passive-aggressive of the builders

Then, back home to have a quick breakfast with the group and leave for our adventures.  Yesterday we headed west, so today, we headed east. The kids were all grumpy that we couldn't just stay at home all day, but with the promise of a playground, we managed to get them into the cars. Our first stop was back to the Black Church, where the kids played on their tablets while the grown-ups visited the church.  

Our next stop was Ytri Tunga, a rocky beach frequented by seals.  We got there right at low tide, where the rocks were plentiful and much fun was had.  I thought we'd spend maybe 15 minutes at the site, but we were there for over an hour.  The kids climbed all over the rocks, squealing at each other and playing hide-and-seek games.  As we were walking back to the car, we saw a sign that said asked visitors to please be quiet.  Oops.

From Ytri Tunga, we drove over an hour to Borgarnes, the closest mid-sized town around.  We had a yummy lunch (lots of much-needed veggies!), and then went to the Settlement Exhibition, a site that had two audio-guided tours - one was a history of the first 60 years of the human settlements on Iceland, and the other an accounting of the Egil Saga, one of the most important sagas in Icelandic history.  It was a little creepy.

After that, we gassed up the cars and headed back home via the north road, stopping for one final waterfall at Kirkjufellsfossar.  It was cold and breezy, but I got a chance to try out my new neutral-density filters for lovely long-exposure shots.

From there, it was a short 22 minutes back to the AirBNB where heated up dinner, had one last meal in this lovely place, and sent the kids to bed.  Then, CC, CE, and I had a sauna and a hot-tub, and then chilled out in the living room talking about future plans.

Day 6: circumnavigating Snæfellsjökull National Park

We slept in today.  No one set alarms.  I managed to catch 8 hours of sleep and felt so much better.  

In the lazy morning I managed to snap some photos of the landscape outside the house.  Wild horses, beautiful fields, etc.  The weather was still cloudy and foggy in places (have I mentioned that we haven't seen the sun since Sunday?), but it was still beautiful.

 

After a leisurely breakfast and hanging out at the house time, we hopped in the cars and circumnavigated Snæfellsjökull National Park in a clockwise pattern. From the house, we first stopped at Arnarstapi, a small seaside community seated atop a huge and dramatic cliff.  It was windy and chilly, so we fortified at a small cafe with watery coffee, tasteless sandwiches, and vegan gummies.

Next, we stopped at Hellnar, just a little further along the south coast.  No one lives here, but there were some dramatic rocks jutting out of the sea.  Apparently a friendly Arctic Fox lives in the area and loves people, but we didn't see him!  Guess it was too cold even for him,

Back in the car for another short drive. We were aiming for a lighthouse, but the road got too bad and we ended up stopping at a secluded beach.  By this point, the snow was starting to fall, so we climbed rocks, found a cave to take shelter in, and generally tried to keep warm.

Next on our journey was the small town of Hellissandur, where we first stopped at the visitor center for the National Park. H immediately found a book on Arctic Foxes (her favorite), but the clerk, susipicious of a 10-year-old with an adult book, scolded her and called her boss over to refer H to the kids books.  H got self-concious and had to be mollified, and we departed quickly.  Ish.

Hellissandur is also the street art capital of Iceland.  We had hoped to occupy the kids with a small trampoline park while we sought out street art, but the trampoline park was closed. So, the kids were stuck in the car while we sought out lots of cool art on the sides of buildings.  The snow had let up, but the wind persisted.

After that, we kept going clockwise around the peninsula to Ingjalshóll Church, the oldest concrete church in the world. Legend has it that Christopher Columbus visited this church (long before it was a concrete building, back when it was a monastery) to do research on how to travel to the new world. 

Rif was the next town on our trip.  It's a working class fishing town, though they have a venue called the Freezer that is a cinema/theatre/community arts place.  Reminded us of Opera House Arts in Stonington.

We couldn't let a day go by without a waterfall, so we parked near Svöðufoss and walked the .5 mile grated trail to the falls.  By this point the snow was back in full horizontal force, so the kids were all grumpy.  Said H: 'Why are you doing this to me?'  Answer: because of waterfalls like this:

We ended our exploration in Ólafsvík, a small seaside town on the north shore of the peninusula.  We made a quick stop for groceries and then had a lovely dinner at Sker Restaurant, where we had a delicious meal of cod and mashed potatoes.  The kid had burgers and pizza :)

After Ólafsvík, we cut down the center of the peninsula and back to the house.  As we drove south, we went up onto (or near) the glacier, where the ground was snowy and matched the grey of the sky.  After crossing the crest, our descent dropped us into this valley that was so beautiful we stopped to photograph.

As we pulled back into our AirBNB, the skies at the horizon started to clear, and we got to see some mountains in the distance.

Back at the house, the adults rotated through sauna and hot tub as we put the kids to sleep. Only one more full day together before we split up!

Day 5: Horses and a drive to Snæfellsjökull National Park

I woke at 3.30am and couldn't get back to sleep. Argh!

Today we took the kids on a horseback riding adventure.  We booked all 8 of us to go but 3 decided to bail and shop in Reykjavik instead. The five of us drove the 5 minutes (our shortest commute so far!) to the trail center.  We wore our warmest and waterproofiest stuff, and they gave us an outer waterproof shell and a helmet. 

It was cold and rainy.  Very.  The kids had a great time on the walk.  Our guide was great, and peppered the ride with stories about horses and trolls.  It was cold and rainy.  

After we finished the ride and left the stables, we stopped for a quick bite and then left the Golden Circle region.  We stopped in Reykjavik for a quick sweater purchase, then to Borgarnes for groceries, and then on to Snæfellsjökull National Park, where our next AirBNB waited for us.  The drive was sparsely populated and rugged.  The fog was thick. The rain was intermittent.  

The new house is lovely.  It's an old converted barn with a commercial kitchen and eight separate rooms.  More than we need, but it's lovely.  We got in late and had to get straight to dinner, so I don't have many photos, but I snapped this as the sun was setting.

After dinner, I grabbed a quick hot tub soak, washed the horse stank off of me, and then drooped off to bed.

Day 4: Bread, Geysers, Waterfalls, and Tomatoes

I woke today at 5am and couldn't fall back to sleep.  So, I got up, checked some email, and hung with D when he woke up at 6.30.  As the house slowly woke up, we made bacon, eggs, and other breakfast stuff.  

The kids got a lie-in this morning after a long day yesterday.  We all left shortly before noon to get to our stuff.  CC and his fam went to a hot springs.  We went to see a geothermal bread operation.  

The geothermal bread operation was a total disappointment.  The tour was expensive, was short, was disorganized, and was crowded.  We were all three really frustrated with the poor quality of the experience.  Definitely do not recommend.  

After the lame geothermal bread tour, we zipped out and headed along the Golden Circle and towards the Strokkur Geyser.  This was our first IRL geyser!  A short walk from a very busy parking lot led us to a geyser that erupted every 5-10 minutes.  It was a neat experience, but with the clouds and the rain, there wasn't enough definition for a good photo.

After that, we headed further in to the Gullfoss waterfall. This was a remarkable waterfall, huge and broad and so powerful. It was still rainy and cold, but S and I enjoyed the falls immensely.  H decided to hang out in the gift shop, where she did some personal shopping for some other tourists.  

After that, our trio met up with the CC fam at Friðheimar, a greenhouse and restaurant focused on tomatoes.  The greenhouse supplies 40% of Iceland's tomatoes, and the restaurant had a nice menu of tomato-centric dishes: soup, caprese, pizza, ice cream, cocktails, cheesecake, coffee, etc.  All tomato-based!  It was pretty tasty, and the kids loved the tomato gelato.  We ate in the greenhouse itself, while bumblebees buzzed around pollinating the plants.

After that, we sped home as quickly as possible.  The kids had requested art supplies, so we tried about 4 different stores before we found a place that had colored pencils and crayons.  Then, home for a quick bedtime with the kids.  Horseback riding tomorrow (probably).

E and I played a game of scrabble while we all planned out the next few days.  

Day 3: Ice Caves and Waterfalls

Most of the house slept through our first night in Iceland just dandy, when we woke up, we found that we had a dusting of snow overnight.  

On the one hand, it was beautiful.  On the other, it was just a taste of the precipitation to come.  We had a quick breakfast and were on the road by 8.15 am.  The morning drive was sleety and spitty. Our first stop was Vik, where after we stocked up on equipment and had a warm snack, we embarked on our Ice Caves tour.  It was rainy and windy when we piled into the SuperJeep for the 40 minute trek up the glacier.  These vehicles hold 12 people, require a stepladder to get into, and have real-time pumps on each tire so that the driver can adjust the air pressure to accommodate for terrain changes while driving.

Alex (our driver and host) has been leading these tours for a few years, in between gigs acting as an extra in movies that shoot in Iceland.  On the drive up the glacier, he told us stories about the geology, the people, and the history of southern Iceland.  

When we finished the drive up, we parked the SuperJeep, grabbed helmets, put on crampons (the Icelanders sometimes call them 'mini-spikes,' and started walking into the glacier.  The rain had turned to snow, and while the plateau of the glacier was very windy, once we got over the first ridge, the glacier itself blocked most of the wind.  

The ice cave tour changes rapidly, as new caves are constantly being formed and old ones are melting out.  First he took us to the remnants of an ice cave that he was using for tours just a few months ago:

After that, he walked us towards the current ice cave.  Along the way we passed raceways of water that will eventually form new ice caves, careening through corners as it sped down the hills. 

The cave was big enough for us to stand up, and it was maybe 500' deep.  We walked in along paths notched into the sides, holding onto rope handholds that had been driven into the ice walls.

Alex was a great guide, knowledgeable and payful, and along the hike, he and the kids had a snowball fight!  

After the hike, we ditched our helmets and crampons and drove back down into the rain.  We said farewell to Alex, grabbed a bite, and then headed back north.  We had been planning on going on an Aurora tour this evening, but the cloud cover led the guide to cancel on us.  So, instead of making our way to Reykavik, we stopped at four different waterfalls instead (Skógafoss, Kvernufoss, Seljalandsfoss, and Gljufrabui).  All were pretty close to the main road, and each was unique.  My favorite was Gljufrabui, the waterfall that lived inside a cave accessible by a narrow slot canyon, but they were all beautiful.

S in front of Kvernufoss.

Hiking out of Kvernufoss.

After the last waterfall, it was pushing 7pm. S and I zipped back to town to pick up some pizza dinner, and CC and his crew met us at home for late meal and then bed.  No Aurora tonight.  Bummer.