Author Archives: Christina Gustin

Day 9: The Blue Lagoon and the Grill Market (Christina)

The Blue Lagoon

Some of the more iconic tourist attractions in Iceland are the geothermal hot springs that abound across the country. One of the most renowned is the Blue Lagoon. A sign proudly told us it is one of the 25 wonders of the world (per National Geographic).

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So far, every geothermal spring that we’ve been to has claimed to have some sort of healing properties. Given that Michael and I are a little skeptical when it comes to the restorative powers of a tourist attraction, we didn’t give these claims much weight until the day after we visited the Fontana geothermal spa. My face had started breaking out at the beginning of the trip, no doubt a combination of packing stress and grimy airplane air. I was obviously disappointed because I didn’t want to look back through all our vacation pics to see blemishes written across my skin.

But, the day after we visited Fontana, my skin had cleared up. I was surprised to find that the lava minerals and geothermal properties had actually made a difference given the brief time my face was in the water. This plus the relaxing nature of hanging out in a geothermal spring led us to spend the late morning and early afternoon of our last full day at Iceland’s most famous geothermal spa, the Blue Lagoon.

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The Blue Lagoon is so called because all the water is a beautiful, almost unreal, shade of cyan blue, but what makes it truly unique is the mixture of saltwater and silica that give the water curative properties. This geothermal hot spring, it’s said, is the most healing of them all. Before the spa even opened, a clinic was set up at this site to aid those who suffered psoriasis and the like.

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Since my face was still fresh and pretty from our last Monday hot spring visit, I didn’t have as much chance to verify its affects. But I can attest to the smooth skin you get after you cover yourself in silica mud.

Grill Market

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After we were nice and lobster-ified from the hot springs, we went back to the hotel to finish yesterday’s blog post. The real exciting part of the day, for us at least, came with our evening plans. While researching for this trip, we stumbled upon a review of several different fine dining establishments in Reykavik. The one that stuck out to us was the Grill Market. Not only did their food look amazing, but they also had a tasting menu option that took you through nine courses of their most popular dishes.

Given our love of a delicious food, we both immediately agreed this had to be on our travel itinerary. We saved it for a last hurrah in Reykjavik. It was, probably, the best meal either of us have ever had, and certainly the best we’ve ever shared.

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Fresh bread with volcano salt-ed butter

 

wpid-wp-1427795245904.jpgSpinach, mandarin and slow cooked duck

wpid-wp-1427795238158.jpgCrispy traditional dried fish and squid (the dried fish is the green thing)

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Grilled chicken wIngs marinated in oystersauce with home-made peanut butter

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Grilled pork ribs with apple celery salad and cherry glaze

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Fish with shrimp chips

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Grilled prime of Lamb with mushroom potatoes, enoki mushroom and apple glaze

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Ribeye of Beef

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Desert was a mix of fresh fruit, sorbets (blueberry and passion fruit), creme brulee, a chocolate mousse volcano, and some sort of caramel chocolate ball with coffee rice krispies inside

 

 

 

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Day 8: Return to Reykajvik and the Northern Lights Tour (Christina)

Good Bye Snæfellsnes Peninsula

The day of day eight is somewhat un-exciting. Our last morning at the Framnes hotel began with me shivering and refusing to get out from under the down comforter. Michael stuck his hand in the snow that had collected on the window sill and happily announced that he could easily submerge his entire finger. After breakfast and writing the blog post for day seven, we packed up our bags and left them in the lobby while we dug the car out of the (more than) foot of snow that had fallen over night.

Unlike Nashville (which is my only point of reference) snow fall in Iceland doesn’t mean a thick blanket of ice covering everything. Sure, we pushed a foot of powder off the roof of our car, but we didn’t also have to melt down and scrape off inches of ice beneath it. Which meant that all in all, it didn’t take us long to get back on the road.

The drive from Grundarfjörður to Reykjavik, which was the first stop in our journey and will be our last also, takes about two and a half hours. Snow fell fairly consistently throughout, but the wind didn’t try to push us around this time. We arrived in Reykjavik, roughly as planned, and checked into the hotel.

Quick Trip Out On The Town

Because we were on the second-to-last full day in Iceland, we’d saved the time in between driving and our Northern Lights Mystery Tour to do some souvenir shopping. We went down town and stopped at one of Iceland’s famous hotdog stands, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur.

All around us people were snapping selfies with their faces pressed close to the Icelandic hotdogs in their hands. Michael and I scarfed ours down without even thinking of pulling out our phones. It was then we’d realized he hadn’t taken any pictures yet today. We debated getting back in line to purchase a second round so that we could properly document this culinary experience before scarfing them down again, but decided to hold off.

Northern Lights Mystery Tour

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The Northern Lights Mystery Tour is the only actual tour that we’d scheduled before we stepped foot on a plane. One of the main reasons we booked our trip when we did is because the northern lights have a few habits. First, they are typically brighter near an equinox. Second, there’s something to do with eleven years. Every eleven years they are brighter, or every eleven years they show up more frequently or something like that. This was the eleventh year. And Third, the northern lights are only visible at night.

Iceland is one of those funny places that doesn’t really have a night time during the summer, and doesn’t really have a day time during the winter. A lot of people who come to Iceland wait for the summer when the puffins and the seals and the flowers and the warmth are out to play. But we came at the tail end of winter (risking the ice caves melting and the weather being difficult) because the equinox was our target.

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Already this week, we’d felt lucky to spot as bright of northern lights as we’d seen. Every night that we’d hunted them out there has been a mixture of regular bands (whitish to the eye but brilliant on camera) and a few brilliant bands (where even the naked eye can pick up some of the colors). We expected last night to be much the same. We were wrong.

As the bus drove us out to a not so deserted lighthouse, we began to see faint glows of the lights in the sky. They were dancing in almost 180 degrees by the time we had parked. We pulled the camera and started shooting. Every time I moved the lens, there were bright streaks of the northern lights waiting to be captured.

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Michael was kind enough to figure out all the tricks needed to get good lights pictures in the previous nights. So, he handed the camera off to me for the night they were the brightest. Michael played look out, re-directing my focus, whenever a new, brilliant band of lights sprung into existence. I snapped away, marveling at each new angle I could capture.

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DAY 6 – The Settlement Museum and Grundarfjörður (Christina)

On the Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Borgarnes looks out over a bay and more mountains

While we were prepping for this trip we purchased down filled weather-proof(ish) coats and thick snow pants, both of which would be needed for the glacier hiking and ice cave exploring we intended to do. (We later learned that the ice caves have all started melting and can no longer be explored this season.) My coat came with a tag that promised to keep me warm in -10 degree weather (with some physical activity), and Michael’s coat adds 15 degrees to the temperature as soon as you put it on.

I was concerned because we don’t really have good in-between coats. You know, ones that were rain and weather proof without adding all the extra warmth. My concern was furthered when I realized most of my winter gear depended on heavy sweaters that, in Nashville, I rarely needed to wear with a heavier coat. The Saturday before our departure, I dragged Michael to Target in search of thinner, long-sleeved shirts to wear beneath our coats without stifling us with all the added heat. Given that the Iceland temperatures looked between 25 (lows) and 40 (highs) during our trip, I was still unconvinced that we were adequately prepared to the point where I might have suggested (half-jokingly) that we leave our heavy coats at home in case they were just adding unnecessary weight to our luggage. Michael reminded me about the glaciers and ice caves, and so they came with us.

Looking back, it’s laughable to think that I ever wondered about the coats, which have been needed every day. Today especially as it seemed that the whole Snæfellsnes peninsula was covered in snow.

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The view from our Hamar hotel room, including hot tub.

 

The Settlement Museum

We checked out of our hotel in Hamar and drove into Borgarnes (the town just minutes from the hotel) to check out the Settlement Museum. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

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The museum has an audio tour that takes you through two exhibits, one that re-counts the original settlement of Iceland (apparently the Vikings could have gotten to Iceland from Norway in roughly 72 hours) and the second that goes through a few of the Icelandic Sagas (which roughly recount the history of the land).

A precurser to modern day hockey

A precurser to modern day hockey

In our excursions we learned how they used the birds and the whales as compasses, since the navigation techniques we’re familiar with today were not yet invented, and we learned about the original five Viking founders.

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Perhaps the more interesting (and possibly nightmare inducing) of the exhibits followed the story of Egill Skallagrimsson who (Michael and I assume) might have been the inspiration for parts of the Game of Thrones series. (Okay, we don’t really know that. But his story would fit right in at Westeros.)

Possibly the Original Red Wedding

Possibly the Original Red Wedding

His Uncle, a shape shifter who was knowledgable in the magic arts

His Uncle, a shape shifter who was knowledgable in the magic arts. (I was scared this maniquin would go all Doctor Who and follow us around the exhibit).

Once we finished the exhibitions, we browsed the gift shop and purchased our first souvenirs of the trip. A book of all the Iceland Sagas, a book of photos of Iceland, and a CD of humorously narrated Icelandic tales.

Grundarfjörður

With the museum done, we started on the (should have been) hour long drive to the Framnes Hotel. The snow was pouring down steadily throughout the morning, and we’d hoped the Iceland weather would remain consistently inconsistent. Unfortunately, it did not.

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Once again our drive through rural areas was plagued with heavy snow and frozen rain. We passed at least four snow plowing vehicles clearing up the road, but their efforts were soon hidden as the snow piled up again. At one point, we just had to stop driving, because the road was completely hidden by the wind.

By the time we reached Grundarfjörður, where the Framnes Hotel is. We were exhausted and ready to relax. Dinner time rolled around, and we tried to foray into the town in search of food. The snow was several inches deep, and everything appeared to be closed.

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So, we headed back to the hotel to eat there. As we’ve found with almost all the places we’ve stayed, the meal was delicious.

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DAY 5 – FROM NUPAR TO HAMAR (Christina)

The only problem with doing a self-drive experience in Iceland is that you have to actually drive. The island itself isn’t hard to get around (providing the roads aren’t snowed out). Being able to pack up and move at your leisure, having access to any of the things you brought as you need them is wonderful (we’ve taken to keeping our snowpants on hand at all times in case the weather gives us a cold shoulder). And having the freedom to choose where and when to go places makes travel awesome.

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We had to stop by the waterfall we spotted the day before and get a full shot of it.

The main “problem” is that when you wake up in Skaftafell after watching the northern lights through the new-born hours of the day, and you know you have a four hour drive a head of you, part of you wishes that someone had already created that teleportation machine so that you didn’t have to worry about the actual drive.

Of course that part of you doesn’t realize that the nice thing about a four hour drive is that you get four hours of beautiful scenery and the ability to stop and take pictures anywhere you want. Our approach was to stop every 30 minutes, get out, stretch, and take a picture because, we figured, that’s about as far as you can go before it looks like you’re somewhere completely different.

After we’d been on the road for about an hour, driving for maybe thirty minutes, and stopping three times off schedule to take pictures at whim, we realized the detriment to our approach was that we really wanted to take pictures every ten minutes or so.

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Be sure to pay special attention to the times in the slideshow above.  We tried to take one at least every 30 minutes, and in some cases much quicker. Hopefully this gives you a sense of the drastic shifts in landscape can be over the span of just a few minutes sometimes. The gallery should be in chronological starting with our first stop at 11:30am

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Day 3 – A LAND OF FIRE AND ICE (Christina)

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Christina got this great shot of a lava field being eroded away by a glacial river.

Before we came to Iceland, before we even bought plane tickets, we began to research the sorts of things in which we’d be interested in seeing. One of our main joined areas of interested is scenery that makes for beautiful photographs (Michael) or for great attempts to make beautiful photographs (me).

When you’re in Vik, there are a few breathtaking sights that are hard to ignore. There are basalt columns, glacier rivers, the black lava beaches, an awesome natural stone archway, and even the remains of a crashed plane. And let us not forget that the whole area is surrounded by glacier covered mountains and covered in fields of laval rocks and sand.

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Panoramic shot of the incredible mountains, glaciers and the vast black sand desert on the way to our first destination. We had to go a bit off the beaten path for this one… (Make sure to click and view it at it’s full size)

Having a light schedule for the day, the only fixed point was checking into our hotel in Nupar (near Skaftafell National Park) in the afternoon, we decided to dedicate most of our free time to photography. We grabbed breakfast and headed to the beaches.

Abandoned U.S. Navy Plane

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The morning light, black desert, and pale sky made the wreckage look like something directly out of a Sci-Fi movie.

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Day 2 – The Golden Circle and Vik (Christina)

Waking up today was hard. Not jetlag hard, but I was up at 3AM two days ago and then awake all night on Saturday (because, let’s face it, sleep did not happen on the plane) hard. Iceland is five hours ahead of Nashville and our itinerary for day 2 was one of the busier ones which means that we were up and moving at 7 AM (okay, 7:20) local time and 2 AM our time.

We packed up the car, grabbed a quick bite to eat at our hotel restaurant’s delectable breakfast buffet and headed out. Today’s plan was checkout: 8:30 AM, drive to Geysir (the original namesake of all geysers): 10 AM, continue on to Gullfoss (an amazing waterfall): 10:30 AM, Drive to Laugarvatn Fontana (geothermal spas anyone?): 12:00 PM, and finally, arrive at our hotel in Vik: 4:00 PM.

The Drive to the Golden Circle

Today went, almost, according to plan. Let me start this portion by saying, I’ve never been in a sand storm. I want to say the closest I’ve ever gotten is either a vicarious experience through a movie or maybe when sand pelted me in the face during a mild breeze across the great sand dunes in Colorado.When we started driving today, we knew the following things: today would be colder, today would be snowier, and today would be driving through less inhabited portions of Iceland as we made our way across the top of what’s known as the Golden Circle.

What felt, at the time like a wasteland of just snow and ice everywhere.  At several points it was so windy we couldn't see the car in front of us as the snow blew across the road.

What felt, at the time like a wasteland of just snow and ice everywhere. At several points it was so windy we couldn’t see the car in front of us as the snow blew across the road.

What we did not know was that our GPS has a delightfully Icelandic road trip guide with fun tidbits about the history and culture of the land we were about to drive through. We also did not know that said guide would try to hijack GPS navigation girl’s directions in a tug of war for our attention (no worries we didn’t get lost). But perhaps, most importantly, we did not know that just outside Reykjavik the land evens out into a beautiful near wasteland of uncultivated space. The long road stretching in front of us and the breeze swirling snow made us feel like isolated beings on some sort of frontier-land (with a nicely paved road to follow) until the pleasant breeze grew strong enough to push the car around (in Michael’s capable hands, we were fine). But the snow assailed us until I found myself thinking, this is what it must be like to be in a sandstorm.

Thankfully, the windy-snowy blind didn’t last long, but certainly long enough to get my adrenaline kicked in and push us about an hour behind schedule. The sun came out, making the rest of the drive to Geysir bright and beautiful.

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Þingvellir National Park

Þingvellir National Park (pronounced Thing-vel-ear).

Þingvellir National Park (pronounced Thing-vel-ear).

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