Author: brombergblog

On Thursday we continued our journey around the north part of Iceland. My daughter mentioned that she didn’t understand our route because my old blog had a map of where we were going and this one does not. So you understand, we began in Rejykavik which is in the southwest part of Iceland and we drove east, then north, then west, then south back to the beginning. We circled the entire island.

Google Iceland and connect it to the names in the travel if you would like a more precise idea where we were.  Next trip I’ll try to include a map!

So we had a way to go on Thursday. We stopped at an information center and discovered that there was a place on the way that had turf houses that were built in the 1800’s and earlier.  They were really quite well done – old furniture of the times inside. What impressed us the most was how warm the turf walls were and how warm it was inside.

That’s a little heater, above.  And the Master Bedroom below:

Some long socks!!!!  And a mill below:

The dorm above and the pantry below.

Next we had lunch in the town where we would be staying that night, Sauoadarkrokur – at the Hard Wok Café. No Chinese for us, just burgers and pizza. Speaking of pizza, it appears that that is the go-to meal for lots of people in Iceland. Michael obliged by having it nine times!!!!! That way he didn’t have to try anything weird! But John and I had five pizza meals, Kathryn four. Hahaha…… We passed by our hotel, described as quaint and romantic…….also pretty rustic.

Just a little charm:

The big adventure on Thursday was the Family Rafting trip. We were able to choose between 2+ and up……or 4+ and up. Thank you very much, but the Family Trip was adventure enough! It was in a beautiful canyon and was tons of fun….. we stopped several times along the way; first for hot chocolate, then to allow those that wished to jump off a tall rock, then later at a smooth place, where one could get out to swim in the cold water. We were all in dry suits and Kathryn and Michael were happy to take advantage of the fun.  John and I were happy to watch. The entire trip was fun for me…….until the end when we had to climb a gigantic mountain to get back to the bus to take us to base camp.  My wonderful guide Djeep helped me slowly, slowly, slowly make my way to the top. But I didn’t have a choice – I had to get there!

I didn’t want to climb over the rocks to where they were serving hot chocolate — I received special delivery!!!

Do notice how high the walls of the canyon are……and think about me going up them — even if there was so dirt; it was still quite high!

Michael was the first one to jump — next two pictures (mine then the professional).

Kathryn jumped second; this time his, then mine….

And swimming back….

And I upgraded so I could do video!

That wasn’t even exciting — just a nice little bouncy, bounce!!!

On Friday we also had a lot of driving to do……but we had a great stop midway through the day at Into The Glacier, a fascinating walk into a tunnel inside of a glacier. I am going to include the sign picture because the facts are quite interesting.

Putting on out crampons….

You can read the age, just like the rings on a tree.

Standing behind the altar in the old chapel.

Sitting in the new chapel….  There have been many weddings there!

By the way, when I went to get my drysuit, the woman asked me if I got cold easily — hahaha — NO!  So she said I could just wear my coat (that I had waterproofed) with that light but waterproof blue jacket over it.  Bad choice whenever I sat down I was freezing!!!!  Although I had sprayed Scotchguard on my jeans — they were cold and wet…..

I made it all the way, but I was really tired!!!

We ended the day with a drive back into Rejykavik to our same hotel and a nice dinner at Jaime’s Italian again.

On Saturday morning we slept in a bit, but there was some shopping to do before we headed to our last adventure on the way to the airport – the Blue Lagoon.  However, poor Michael had to make three trips to the car to get us all loaded!!!!

The Blue Lagoon is, arguably,  the most famous of all of the things we did; it’s a very, very nice thermal pool. Our entry included two kinds of masks (one silica mud and one algae) and a drink and a towel. We had very little time, but we did enjoy the experience and wished we had had more time!

Pops found the rain shower….

Our flights were really long and the connection was really late. We didn’t end up getting to Austin until 2:30 a.m. and then had to get our car from the airport hotel (slightly offsite) and drive almost an hour to the lake – that’s getting into Austin at 7:30 a.m. Iceland time…………LONG DAY!

But what a trip – Iceland wasn’t even on my radar when some friends of ours from England told us they were going, maybe about five years ago. I asked them why. And they told me that it was really beautiful. They were right. Mostly it is very interesting: the scenery changes instantly when you go around a mountain from green pastures to a moonscape covered with moss. The weather often changes every few minutes. One of our guides told me that tourism has increased by 30 to 40% each year. That’s huge!!!!

The opportunity to spend such good, quality time with Kathryn and Michael made this a cherished event. Here’s a fun fact: their sister Maddie was in the Newark airport at the same time we were at JFK on the way home. She was on her way to Edinburgh with other students from Texas A & M majoring in dance to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Wow! The world has gotten so much smaller since we were in school!!!! Wish I could have been in both Scotland and Iceland at the same time.

I hope you have enjoyed following us on such an exciting adventure — we had the time of our lives!!!!

Love,

Beth

p.s.  a bonus if you wish —  more videos from past times (courtesy of Kathryn):

Hello All,

Well, we were due for a not-so-wonderful experience!  Even the rainy weather has been nice to us — raining when we didn’t care and sun shining when we did…..or at least not raining!

Actually, Wednesday started out fine.  We drove to see Dettifoss Falls.  It is absolutely beautiful….but I could only look from the top; it was a little walk down (then back up) which the others did.

We drove just a little and found another waterfall close by.  

Then we drove through some pretty countryside…..and some that looked like the moon!  Also, even if we were on the main road, we would go from pavement that was striped to gravel….and then back, and so on.  

On our way we came to Asbyrigi Canyon.  It was really a beautiful sight.  We almost fainted when we saw tiny people at the top (last picture below)…….until we realized as we were leaving that you could just walk up a gentle slope on the back side!

We found it interesting how they wrap up their bales of hay; it’s necessary because it would all mildew with the wet weather…..but there must be a machine to wrap because it’s so well done! 

See, our day is pretty good so far, right?  Lots of new and interesting sights.  And then the sun came out and we got back to the ocean — even more beautiful….

The ocean was so blue.  And then we saw a flat topped island.  We didn’t know it then, but that was Puffin (Lundey) Island, home to a LOT of puffins.  I can’t actually remember how many we were told, but it’s a bunch!  But I am slightly ahead of myself.

We arrived shortly in Husavik, in time for a late lunch while awaiting our Big Whale Safari & Puffins Tour.  

Now here is when our day goes downhill!   When we checked in we were told that it was windy today and asked if we would like some “seasickness” pills; we all accepted.  But we had no idea how rough it was out there — not one person on the boat thought this was fun.  In fact, I was told by someone that I met the next day that they had cancelled one trip which I guess was the one after ours.  We really did feel like we were tortured for two and a half hours!!!!

We did not see puffins up close; we did see them flying around the island.  

We did see one whale.  Others told me they saw at least five when they were out.  I did get a not so wonderful picture of him waving his flipper at us!

On our way back in.  Do notice that the sun stopped shining early on; then it rained a little, then it was just dark and the water looked black!!!!

But we survived, even if some didn’t feel so well.  I watched a woman on our boat pour at least half a cup of water out of her boots.  We were also told that it was usually very calm.  Then why didn’t they cancel?  It was really too rough to enjoy!!!!

And then, our day got better again — we moved on to Myatn Nature Baths.  It was a VERY active geothermal area and the place was mobbed!  We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes just to get in at 7:30p.m.!!!  But it did feel good on our wet, cold bodies!

Notice how light it still is.  We zoomed from the baths to a nearby hamburger joint that we knew about, hoping it was still open.  Lunch was a LONG time ago!!!!  We made it by 9:15 p.m. with a 9:30 closing and they couldn’t have been nicer.  In fact, I must say that everyone we have met from Iceland has been really nice and really friendly.

Believe it or not, there was one last stop for that day — no problem said John — we would be able to photograph Godafoss Falls at 11:00 p.m.  We should see it on this day so we don’t have to double back.  Well no one wanted to get out of the car; we were all so worn out.  John got out and took the pictures…..and I lightened them up to see if myself and to show you.  Still pretty bad!!!!

Can you believe that all that happened in one day?  I will say it was a long one. — we started early and ended really late……but, name of blog notwithstanding, the only bad part was the boat trip — it just left us cold, wet and with a bad taste in our mouths.

That was Wednesday; I think I will do Thursday, Friday and Saturday together.  It may be a long one!!!!!

Love,

Beth

Hi, All,

Wow!  Each day gets better and better!  By the way, I know all my Facebook friends have heard what we are doing through Kathryn’s posts (and my being tagged).  I’m happy that you can see some of the same and some different pictures, but most of all, she has great videos.  I may have to further upgrade my WordPress account so I can post video!

In any event, Monday was a super-filled day.  We put two “extras” into one day so that we didn’t have to backtrack.  After all, we are driving almost 1,000 miles in eight days — and seeing all sorts of sights!  So no time to drive somewhere twice!!!

We started the day with an ATV Tour.  I still didn’t drive, but I was not at all scared.  We had our own private tour and Daniel, our guide, was terrific.  Suiting up for the event was now familiar.  We drove over a fairly bumpy terrain down to a black sand beach……formed from the lava.  Daniel told us that all of this area was covered in lava and ash in the eruption of the volcano in Iceland in 2010.  Remember when all the air traffic in Europe was cancelled because of the huge amount of ash in the air? Well that was from this area.

There was an old abandoned US military plane that had to crash land on the beach.  Apparently, we retrieved the engine, tail and wings, but left the carcass……and that was okay with Iceland.

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Pops just had to stand on the wing.  The graffiti is not original — I hate that!

We stopped in front of a skeleton of a whale who died about ten years ago.  Kathryn had fun inspecting it…

And then we moved on to the soft sand of the beach.  Kathryn and I got off the ATV’s and let John and Michael “hot dog” for a little while on the beach sand!  Then we were off again.  Kathryn and Michael had to drink the water again.  You don’t know, but the water in Jourdanton in AWFUL so they really like good, pure water….

And we were off again.  We spotted some beautiful running water/small waterfall just on the side of the road and we stopped to admire it.

We ended the afternoon with a rib boat (zodiac) ride into a glacial lagoon. It was sunny and beautiful and we loved it. We had planned to do this the next day, but realized we would have to double back for it…..so squished them both into one day! We had a great ride and took lots of pictures (surprise).

Tuesday was a day with no planned activities, just some sights along the way. However, we came upon a few horses standing at the fence line waiting for tourists to feed them…..and we happily obliged. The Icelandic horses are cute – they are small like ponies, but Icelanders are offended if we call them ponies; they’re not – they are grown horses!

We came upon a lovely view site – the North Atlantic Ocean from pretty, rocky cliffs.

Next we stopped in a very small town, Djupivigor, deciding to eat sweets instead of lunch. The town boasted a very cool sculpture of 32 large marble eggs by a reputedly world-renown artist (of whom I had never heard), Rikarour Jonssen. Also famous for its orange lighthouse:)

We drove some more – then stopped at another waterfall…..and posed, of course! We arrived fairly early at our next hotel, Hotel Hallomsstaour; it was in a really beautiful forest in a valley, but I failed to take any pictures. except out our window….but I did take pics of the room. There was a nice balcony, but I thought perhaps too cold and windy to sit outside……although I found out later that Kathryn sat outside and read for awhile. We went back about 25 kilometers to Café Nielsen for a lovely dinner in a cute old house. There was a fabulous, large reindeer rack by our table.  I asked Michael to stand under it to give you some perspective.

Guess what they had for sale there? Items from Stonewall Kitchens – jellies and relishes – just like we easily get at home!!!!

I think that’s enough for now.  But there is lots more to come!!!

Love,

Beth

Hi, Friends and Family!

On Saturday morning we left Reykjavik and headed out to commune with the natural elements of Iceland.

We passed some great sights — interesting.  Below, in the pictures with the tall rocks divided by a path is a place that is important for two reasons:  it was where the country’s first democratic parliament was founded over a thousand years ago.  Also, it is where the tectonic plates of Europe and America meet, causing the landscape to be torn with deep crevasses and canyons surrounded by lava that burst forward when the crust gave way to the power that moves underneath. (Yes, I did copy that last sentence 🙂

We like all the churches.  I think they use the same floor plan…but this one has better windows!!  Then — the geysers at Geysir.  I can’t do video, but the sights were amazing:

As interesting as that was, our next stop was the highlight of the day — I can’t even believe I signed us up for it — and that I did it.  We went on a snowmobile tour on a glacier.  I was partially terrified the entire time……and I had NO interest in driving.  John offered at the stop point and I refused. However, the scenery was beautiful — zooming around on top of the glacier with gorgeous mountains surrounding us!

By the way, we found out midway that Michael turned over his snowmobile ten minutes into the tour; we didn’t have any problem.  Next we had to have individual poses…..and then Michael and Kathryn drank the very pure water from the rivulets running everywhere.  Michael did it normally….then drank it like a dog — such a goofball 🙂

Seems like a lot for one day, but we weren’t done…..the route mandated that we stop next at the largest waterfall in Europe — and a magnificent one, as well — Gullfoss Waterfall.

Can you see the small rainbow in the above left corner?  You really can’t feel how magnificent this is, but it is!  I stopped at this level, but the other three walked down to the bottom of the viewing area and got some more great shots:

We made one more stop — at a very small, but complete crater, Kerid, and then stopped for a quick dinner and checked into our hotel.  We were thrilled that there was a hot tub.  We soaked awhile then hit the bed!!!

Sunday was great — we had no firm time arrangements to meet.  We slept in a little then took off to the east.  First stop was at the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.  It is over 200 feet tall and has a path around it with a cave at the back — very unique.  John and the kids took the hike — John has on a light silver jacket — that’s how you’ll know it’s him.

I watched them walking and decided to take a couple of nature shots:

On our way east we passed an interesting rock formation and it turned out there were small houses built into the rock.  Quite unusual!

We moved on to the next waterfall — Skogafoss.  It’s one of the biggest in the country and here there is a path to climb to the top.  The kids climbed it; we saw them from below at the lookout, then they disappeared for awhile.  It turns out they saw a great hike…..and took it.  At some point after returning, Kathryn told me she had already done 8,000 steps and 77 flights of stairs!  Michael decided to take a rest at the top, but later told me it wasn’t that comfortable 🙂

We continued on our way toward the town of Vik.  After checking into our hotel, we drove to see a few more interesting things.  First is the unusual rock formation that has been featured on this season’s trailer for Game of Thrones.  Then it was on to the black sand beach — formed by the lava flows.  And, finally, we stopped to see the basalt columns at the edge of the beach.  All highlights!

And along the way we spotted the flowers above — they are lupine…..but they sure look like bluebonnets to me.  I googled it and they are in the same family.  Lupines come in lots of colors, but mainly purple in Iceland.

And the reward for a great day:

Let me stop for a minute and talk about how we are traveling.  John and I packed a large suitcase with half of it filled with snack food (the other side had our big coats).  We included a big jar of peanut butter and two kinds of crackers; this was our emergency food.  Sometimes it’s a snack; sometimes it’s lunch.  It depends on our timing and food availability.  There are also fiber bars, peanuts, goldfish, Oreos, M&M Peanuts, etc.  No junk food was forgotten!  Each of the four of us packed for the trip in the duffle bags we got last year — so smallish and squishy.  And inside the suitcase I packed a Costco cooler bag — huge.  The kids transferred some snacks to that and keep it in the back seat between them.  And after a couple of days, I emptied our two duffles into half of the suitcase, further making more space in the back of the Toyota Land Cruiser.

We also planned for not getting lost — we have a GPS that is SUPPOSED to get us anywhere.  It works most of the time, but we backstop it with Google Maps.  Amazing!  And we can use Google Maps because we sprung for an extra — a box that gives us wifi ALL THE TIME in and out of the car!  I did not want to hear “How much farther?”.  We have all enjoyed it; I worked on the blog some of the time.  But you have to look up because there is so much to see 🙂

Also, having my scooter has been really great.  We started out with it on the bottom and packed around; now we just put it on top in case we want to get it out during the day!

More later,

Beth

What a fabulous choice for a trip AWAY from Texas, leaving August 2nd.  But it wasn’t planned that way.  A couple of years ago, when granddaughter Kathryn was awarded her A & M full scholarship we found out that it included some money for study abroad……and we told her that wherever she went, we would meet her before or after for a side trip.

Well, when it turned out that she was going to be in Bonn, Germany from July 4 to August 4, we did some rethinking.  Neither she nor we were able to go on a trip before then and I flat out told her that I did NOT want to go to Europe in August.  Everyone is off work and the AC all over Europe is insufficient for a Texan used to good AC!  So we thought about it and came up with meeting in Iceland.  And then we decided that she could room with her 17-year-old brother Michael (who has never had a special trip with us unless it was with the whole family).

So Michael drove to our lake house on Tuesday afternoon and we had dinner then drove to the Marriott Courtyard at the Austin airport; we arrived at 9:40 p.m. and asked for a 3:15 wakeup call to make the 4:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport.  Our plane left at 5:45 a.m. for JFK.  We had four plus hours in JFK after no food on Jet Blue so we went to the food court for pizza (us) and McDonalds (M).  Thank God we ate that because our menu items in Saga Class (Business) were way too scary to eat.  Appetizer was Atlantic Char, etc.; main course was Salted Cod or Reindeer Sausage, some weird pate and cold cuts — it was a maybe!  Neither John nor I would order any of it; our flight attendant let us order off of the coach food for pay menu.  We each had a ham and cheese baguette and Pringles — worked fine!  And the takeoff champagne/water toast was perfection!

John took a great shot about 11:30 last night — the sky above the clouds just before we landed:

We finally got to our rooms and by the time we unpacked just a little, found our meds, refused to set our phone knowing we would not make breakfast !!  We did not!  John and I awakened about 11:40 a.m. and wakened Michael at 12:30.  Our first act, after getting out the cobwebs, was to search for the famous hotdog stand for lunch since we missed breakfast — by a mile!!!

After our “interesting hotdog experience”, we immediately walked up to the Hallgrimskirja Church.  Don’t worry — we have NO idea how that’s pronounced….but it is a beautiful church with wonderful views!

Then we shopped our way down the shopping street stopping for some organic, vegan, etc. ice cream that they made “on the spot”. Really!  And it was delicious.

At six p.m. I took a pill that was supposed to be like a prescription Zantac.  Oops — we discovered later that I had taken a sleeping pill.  Boy, was dinner a struggle; I felt like I was woozy drunk the entire time…..but, of course I had ordered two gin and tonics  (it was 2 for 1 happy hour) before I realized the problem.  Needless to say, I slept well!!!!!

We awakened ten minutes before our 6:30 a.m. alarm.  A good sign for jet lag.  Of course, we had gone to bed at 8:30 p.m. the night before 🙂

The big adventure awaited us:  a helicopter ride to the volcano and a descent into it — about 180 yards into the earth.  Wow!  Such a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Then we flew back to the airstrip seeing base camp and Reykjavik along the way!

We walked over to meet our travel agent after that — Embla with Guide to Iceland.  We thought she did a terrific job!  But first we had a great pizza at the new Jamie Oliver’s Iceland!!

We followed that with a trip to the Harpa Concert Hall — really beautiful and interesting architecture.  After that we walked (I rode) down the sidewalk by the ocean to a wonderful sculpture.

And then, Kathryn arrived from Frankfurt to join us for the trip.  We went out to dinner, walked up toward the church once more……and had to stop one more time for the terrific ice cream from Joylato!!!

The next morning we left Reykjavik to circumnavigate the whole island…..but that’s the next chapter.

Thanks for joining us,

Beth