I cannot believe that it has only been a day since we started this adventure! It feels like much longer somehow. I suppose that is partially due to the fact that it feels more like yesterday never officially ended before today started. Our flight out of Boston was uneventful. As hoped, we almost immediately found the most comfortable positions we could and conked out. I did wake up at one point and glance out the window, where my bleary eyes were greeted with an ethereal scene: the moon light was slanting across the top of the cloud cover, which gently shaded the swirls and eddies of the air currents that shape the clouds and bright pinpricks of stars were poking through the violet haze... it was simply lovely, in an entirely other-worldly kind of way!
We landed just before 7am (Iceland time) and the sun was already shining brightly when we arrived. Unfortunately, this was only 3am EST for our confused circadian rhythms, but we nonetheless picked up our rental car and hopped right onto the road (we had purchased a GPS for this trip that includes the roads of Iceland, so we were able to navigate without too much trouble). Iceland is a really neat country. The scenery is stark and dramatic, as there are very, very few trees around (only a few stunted pine and some scraggy little saplings) so you can see pretty far across the lichen-covered lava rock to the steep cliffs of the low mountain ranges on the west coast. The configuration of the scenery changes as you drive, too, and we were reminded at different times of various things from scenery reminiscent to the familiar look of the Maine coast, to the foothills of the Rockies, to far-off photos of a space landscape. Only on this planet, there are lots and LOTS of sheep, most of them with cute little babies that prance along after their mothers. I'm pretty sure we saw way more sheep today than we saw people!
We drove for 10 hours today and covered more than half of the Ring Road that circles this island country. At one point, we went through an extremely long tunnel that went actually went under a very large fjord/bay/inlet. It lasted for at least 5-7 minutes of driving, I would say, which is quite long for a tunnel and looked like a lava tube... very neat! Despite still being pretty tired, we really enjoyed the drive. We were excited about the hot springs that we knew we would eventually get to, and so we kept a close eye out for steam vents. At one point, we spotted a cloud drifting up from the ground and pulled over right away, eagerly jumped out of the car to go explore, and... realized that the "steam" was a dust cloud blown up by a wind gust. We had a good laugh at ourselves and got back on the road. We stopped at a waterfall near Follhoss and climbed around a bit... such incredible scenery! We eventually did make it to Myvatn in the north of Iceland and found the hot springs. The water really is that famed cloudy, milky blue color and looks so neat!
We were hungry again by that point, though, so before going for a dip, we found a little restaurant that is attached to - get this - a cow shed. Literally, the place is called Vogafjos Cowshed Café, and there is a huge plate glass window between the restaurant, which is cute and clean, and the cow pens, in which the twenty or so cows were just hanging out, munching on their hay and doing all the other things that cows do. Fortunately, the smell that first greets you at this restaurant (that of the cowshed part) is not indicative of the quality of the food. It was quite tasty! We ate homemade mozzarella that came from the milk of the very cows we were looking at and "geysir bread" - a thick brown chewy bread that was baked in an oven heated by the geothermal activity of the area - amongst other delicacies. (Although I tried smoked trout caught from Myvatn Lake and I am *not* a fan.)
After dinner, we went back to the hot springs and got to soak in the delightfully warm waters heated by the earth itself. It was so, so neat to swim in steaming hot mineral water and gaze out over the snow-covered mountains and the lava rock that covers the landscape, lit by light from both the moon and the sun! In fact, even as I write this after 12 midnight, the sunlight is still bright outside! (Although the sun has dipped behind the horizon, the light will not go away before it "rises" again.) It was a bit of a surreal experience, and quite memorable... and we've only been on this trip for one day! :)
We landed just before 7am (Iceland time) and the sun was already shining brightly when we arrived. Unfortunately, this was only 3am EST for our confused circadian rhythms, but we nonetheless picked up our rental car and hopped right onto the road (we had purchased a GPS for this trip that includes the roads of Iceland, so we were able to navigate without too much trouble). Iceland is a really neat country. The scenery is stark and dramatic, as there are very, very few trees around (only a few stunted pine and some scraggy little saplings) so you can see pretty far across the lichen-covered lava rock to the steep cliffs of the low mountain ranges on the west coast. The configuration of the scenery changes as you drive, too, and we were reminded at different times of various things from scenery reminiscent to the familiar look of the Maine coast, to the foothills of the Rockies, to far-off photos of a space landscape. Only on this planet, there are lots and LOTS of sheep, most of them with cute little babies that prance along after their mothers. I'm pretty sure we saw way more sheep today than we saw people!
We drove for 10 hours today and covered more than half of the Ring Road that circles this island country. At one point, we went through an extremely long tunnel that went actually went under a very large fjord/bay/inlet. It lasted for at least 5-7 minutes of driving, I would say, which is quite long for a tunnel and looked like a lava tube... very neat! Despite still being pretty tired, we really enjoyed the drive. We were excited about the hot springs that we knew we would eventually get to, and so we kept a close eye out for steam vents. At one point, we spotted a cloud drifting up from the ground and pulled over right away, eagerly jumped out of the car to go explore, and... realized that the "steam" was a dust cloud blown up by a wind gust. We had a good laugh at ourselves and got back on the road. We stopped at a waterfall near Follhoss and climbed around a bit... such incredible scenery! We eventually did make it to Myvatn in the north of Iceland and found the hot springs. The water really is that famed cloudy, milky blue color and looks so neat!
We were hungry again by that point, though, so before going for a dip, we found a little restaurant that is attached to - get this - a cow shed. Literally, the place is called Vogafjos Cowshed Café, and there is a huge plate glass window between the restaurant, which is cute and clean, and the cow pens, in which the twenty or so cows were just hanging out, munching on their hay and doing all the other things that cows do. Fortunately, the smell that first greets you at this restaurant (that of the cowshed part) is not indicative of the quality of the food. It was quite tasty! We ate homemade mozzarella that came from the milk of the very cows we were looking at and "geysir bread" - a thick brown chewy bread that was baked in an oven heated by the geothermal activity of the area - amongst other delicacies. (Although I tried smoked trout caught from Myvatn Lake and I am *not* a fan.)
After dinner, we went back to the hot springs and got to soak in the delightfully warm waters heated by the earth itself. It was so, so neat to swim in steaming hot mineral water and gaze out over the snow-covered mountains and the lava rock that covers the landscape, lit by light from both the moon and the sun! In fact, even as I write this after 12 midnight, the sunlight is still bright outside! (Although the sun has dipped behind the horizon, the light will not go away before it "rises" again.) It was a bit of a surreal experience, and quite memorable... and we've only been on this trip for one day! :)
So much in one day. Beautiful scenery. Very descriptive writing. Thanks for letting us take your trip with you. Mil & Fil
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Finlaws! I love reading all the details of your trip. I'm actually really jealous about that cowshed/cafe experience. Haha! That sounds really neat! And let's face it, it doesn't get much better than fresh, homemade mozzarella! Yum!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you guys are enjoying yourselves. Can't wait to catch up on the rest of your shenanigans!
P.s. You guys would get psyched over a dust storm. Whoops. :)