Golden Circle (Part 2)

Hello! I don't have much time to write at the moment, but wanted to share some more photos from our Golden Circle adventures in Iceland. I mentioned our visit to the Thingvellir National Park in my previous post, but want to share photos from both Geysir and Gullfoss, which are the two other main sites in the Golden Circle.

To begin, Geysir refers to one large geyser and several smaller geysers that are all clustered around each other. The English language actually gets the word geyser from this particular site. The Icelandic word geysa means "to gush", so it is definitely a fitting name. The main geyser typically erupts once every 5 minutes or so, which means you are able to see it erupt many times, and each time the height varies quite a bit. The area is also situated by some really cool hiking paths, which I might have enjoyed even more than watching the geysers themselves! It was an absolutely beautiful day here!

 To continue reading this blog post, click "Read more" below.

The Golden Circle (Part 1)

Hello! After we left Reykjavik, we headed out in a rental car for the countryside of Iceland! At first we were a little nervous, since the rental car was brand new, with only 35 kilometers on it, but Jake did a great job driving in this foreign land, even when encountering a few surprises (more on that below)! We immediately fell in love with the natural landscape. This was what we were waiting for! Many of the following photos are taken from the car. 

One cool thing about Iceland is that there are so many natural wonders, parks, hiking trails, etc, that along the roads there are a lot of picnic table/parking areas for you to stop at to take pictures and relax. We found one unexpected site where many people had built little towers out of the rocks found nearby a lake. After taking some pictures, we decided to also partake in the tradition, and built a tower of our own!

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Reykjavik

Hello from Reykjavik! Well, we are currently in Vík, along the southern coast of Iceland, but we have internet again and Jake and I finished going through a lot of photos from our three days in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik! Let's get started!

These first photos are when Jake and I were walking around the city and the harbor.

This particular image is of a statue that honors the seamen who lost their lives along the coast of Iceland, and it accompanies many maps (some of which you can see in the background) that illustrate the shipwrecks that happened around Iceland throughout their history.

Here's a train for you, Uncle Bill!

One of the first and most beautiful sights we saw in Reykjavik was the Harpa, which is the performing arts center and concert hall in Reykjavik. It is definitely an architectural wonder, and the unique pattern on the outside of the building is supposed to symbolize fish scales and have a glacier/ice effect.

The next attraction we visited was the Solfar Sculpture, which means the "Sun Voyager".

This is a long post with many more photos! If you would like to read the rest, click "Read more" below!

Travels to Iceland

Hello! I must be experiencing a little jet lag, because I would never wake up at 5am without an alarm, but I thought this would be a great time to update you on our travels.

We had a great experience with air travel. We first flew into Toronto, and we even arrived a half hour early! It might have been one of the coolest airports I had ever been in. Compared to the crowded seats/gates at O'Hare, the fancy tables with free iPads was pretty awesome. The following is not my picture, but gives you a sense of how nice it was. The main purpose of these deluxe tables was for the restaurants, but when there are over 40 of these seats at your gate, we couldn't help but enjoy it! During our four hour layover we ate here as well, and it was some of the best food ever! I had an outstanding vegan meatball and pesto sub sandwich, and Jake ordered a pizza.

The next phase of our trip was flying to Iceland. This flight was about five hours, and Jake said it was one of his best flying experiences he has ever had. We both watched some movies, and even flew over Greenland, which was very exciting! I had never seen anything like Greenland, with all of the snowcapped rocky coasts and completely snowy/icy interior. The girl next to me was sleeping so I did not get a picture out of the window, but I took this picture to get a sense of our route.

The menu on the plane was absolutely hilarious. We didn't end up ordering anything, but we loved their humor.

Here is a picture of our plane. Iceland's airport was also really great, and unlike any other airport I had ever been in. Some of the architecture seemed reminiscent of Ikea/modern style, but then there were also areas that were mostly made of wood. The food here was excellent once again and not nearly as overpriced as the other two airports. We both bought some yummy smoothies and veggie sandwiches.

After we left the airport, we were off to our first stop, the famous Blue Lagoon! This giant geothermal spa is a major tourist attraction in the middle of a vast expanse of a lava field, with rocks more than 800 years old.

 We stopped to pose by some of the rocks before we went in.

 These aren't the actual areas where we were swimming/relaxing, but you can get a sense of what it looked like. The waters were about hot tub temperatures and has a cloudy color because of the silica and other minerals that are in it. There are also spots where you could put some of the silica mixture on your face like a face mask, which was humorous.

After the Blue Lagoon, we hopped back on a bus which took us to the city of Reykjavik. The following are some of the photos taken on the bus.

Once we arrived at lodging, the rest of our day was pretty relaxed, and since it had been about 30 hours with no sleep, after getting some food at a local supermarket we got some good rest!

Hope you enjoyed these first updates! Happy day!

Europe Trip

Hello! It has been quite a while since my last post, but this blog is back in action! As Jake and I head to Europe during the next few weeks, we will be using this blog to provide updates and pictures from our travels in Iceland, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Ireland.  Have a great day!