Iceland

Family Reflections:

The biggest rule in Iceland is kindness...like, for real. I'm in love!
The land of fire and ice!
Iceland is the most equal rights country to exist today; from gender equality to sexual orientation...you just have to be kind.
Reykjavik smells like sulfur...a bit in the air, but a lot out of the water pipes.
The most unique, drop-dead gorgeous, winter sights!
Electricity is cheap (overabundance of geothermal energy here) but food is super expensive.
The eruption from a couple weeks ago, surprisingly came from a 600 year dormant volcano close to the Blue Lagoon, airport, and capital.
The sun has been rising after 10am. It's pretty crazy to have five hours of light, but great for sleeping in.
Police officers have to be nice...by law!
There's always an elf spokesperson at construction sites (for real).

Gljúfrabúi, Seljalandsfoss, and Skógafoss Waterfalls

Seljalandsfoss...we brought the sunshine with us.

Reminded us of CO weather, it'd be rain for two minutes, no rain for five, then snow pellets for two, and so on.

Gljúfrabúi - The hidden waterfall.

Skógafoss - This is the waterfall used for scenes in Game of Thrones, other films, and numerous music videos.

Those little white dots on the cliffs are actually gulls flying in and out of their nests.

Drove up to a welcoming little rainbow at Skógafoss.

On the road with quick stops...

Ice chunk paradise driving along the South Coast.

Vik i Myrdal Church overlooking the town of Vik (also the evacuation zone for the town in case a volcanic eruption happens, melting enough glacier to flood the town. They practice once a month.

This name, which newscasters quickly dubbed E15, because nobody outside of Iceland could pronounce it (the first letter E plus 15 letters after), is the one from 2010 that grounded all planes from Europe for two weeks. It barely affected Iceland at all.

Black Beach Of Reynisfjara

Cliffside stack of basalt columns, with crashing waves.

Other than all the volcanic sand and rocks, this reminded us of the Oregon coast, sneaker waves and all. In the distance, the gigantic stone arches of Dyrhólaey.

We kept our distance from the shoreline, as our guide warned us about sneaker waves and people who have been swept out to sea forever. We sure saw plenty of people accidentally getting wet to their knees, and a couple of people falling into the water, ending up drenched in the windy, cold temps. Guess what? They were all men. We warned Waylon of the dangers of testosterone.

Waylon lost a tooth right befor arriving at the hotel. We didn't know what an abroad tooth fairy would do, but he earned a 100 kroner piece (which was lucky because we didn't get any cash to look at here).

Our hotel seemed in the middle of nowhere, but the holdiay spirit and kindness were alive here. We've seen more Christmas lights here than anywhere ever!

Blue Ice Cave in Vatnajökull National Park

Driving in, as the sunshine started peeking out, made it seem like we were on another planet.

We're blurry because my hand is shaking in the wind. The massive glacier is behind us.

Here's the Super Jeep to get here...the wheels are huge!

Life, even in December, a Glacier Rose.

That's natural light shining in through over a hundred year old ice!

This reminded us of being surrounded by dragon scales.

A hole to the outside world deep in the cave.

The entrance and exit...this cave was just found, and is one of the best one they've found ever! It's incredibly deep and showed itself at the last moment for this season. Every year, a new cave has to be discovered as they change seasonally.

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

This was one of my favorite places! The lagoon comes alive with moving ice chunks, birds on icebergs, seals swimming throughout (we didn't see any on the icebergs, only swimming, but they do that), and waves lapping. The glacier literally leads into the water, chunks breaking off, some layered with volcanic ash from the past, and it starts its journey to the sea, sometimes lasting up to five years floating!

I was in my element, and couldn't get enough, everyone else got a bit cold with the wind.

I went on a little walk in search of seals. Found some swimming!

Diamond Beach (right next door to the above lagoon)

The sun was finally officially out!

Waylon and Amari loved finding "diamonds" that looked like things, and throwing them into the inlet to watch the current take them out to sea.

The ice chunks flow out of the lagoon and into the sea, brought back and forth by the tough Atlantic waves, shaping these "diamonds" and laying them on the black sand beach.

Hofskirkja Turf-Roofed Church from the 19th Century.

En route back, had some beautiful views with the moon rising.

Eldhraun Lava Field

The wind picked up and it was bitterly cold on our faces, but we visited this historic lava field (now covered in moss), created from the infamous Laki eruption of 1783.

This eruption, which spewed ash and gas, impacted weather patterns and resulted in grave hardships throughout Europe. Some even say it was a contributor to the French Revolution.

Reykjavik

This striking Lutheran church, Hallgrímskirkja, represents both the glaciers and volcanic basalt columns of Iceland.

This was super cool! I've never done one of these, but the Iceland adventure is breathtaking! We all loved it!

Along with the 13 mischevious Yule Lads who may leave presents in your shoes or potatoes if you've been naughty, this is the Yule cat. The humongous Yule cat will eat anyone who doesn't receive new clothes for Christmas.