Month: November 2018

I finally have a new charger for my laptop and will be able to update this later tonight!

We had our second breakfast buffet at the Icelandic Hamar Hotel, checked out, and left for Reykjavik for the Kringlan Shopping center. The conditions were snowy and windy and reminded us of driving on highway 93 south of Boulder – but here the snow didn’t melt on the highway because the temperature fluctuations are so narrow. A normal high and low is 36-32 degrees F and so road traction was fine. We went to MacLand in the shopping center and purchased a new charger for my Mac Book Air (60W MagSafe 2 power adapter) and I am now updating this blog on my laptop instead of my iPad – much better!

After getting some steps walking around the shopping center we got some Coffee and a Chai Latte and headed for the Thinguellir National Park North East of Reykjavik. This is the original location where the Icelandic government met to pass laws and legislation. It is also where the American and European tectonic plates meet and shift apart annually. There has also been periodic volcanic activity historically. We toured the diorama, visited the scenic overlook and headed towards Geysir.

The Stokkur Geyser goes off every few minutes and because it was so windy the erupted water blew sideways over the sidewalk nearby. The wind was at gale force and threatened to blow people over.

Next we went to the Gullfoss waterfall – a double tiered waterfall that was blowing spray 100s of yards away and causing ice to build up on one of the nearby parking lots where we happened to park.

After Gullfoss we headed back south and towards the Frioheimer Farm restaurant near Reykholt, Iceland.
This Farm specializes in growing tomatoes year round in Greenhouses and produces nearly 20% of all the tomatoes grown in Iceland. We had some Tomato soup with gluten free bread and enjoyed it very much.

After our soup we drove to Selfoss, checked into the Hotel Selfoss and retired after a quick dinner in the hotel restaurant to rest up from our busy day.

kws

To be added to later

Well – this is embarrassing. My MacBook Air charger bit the dust and so I am limited in what I can do on this blog. I will try to keep updating the text but there will be very few pictures until later. I am hoping I can get a replacement charger in a couple of days but time will tell. Stay tuned!
Kws

After narrowing down the destinations from 4 (Paris, Spain, Belize) to Iceland – we embarked on our first visit here with hopes to stay warm, see the northern lights, and get to know Iceland better. We took a direct flight from Denver to Reykjavik and left at 3:35pm Denver time and arrived at 5:55am Reykjavik time. Because of the 7 time zone difference between Denver and Reykjavik – we landed at 10:55pm Denver time on the same day – but it was the next day in Iceland.

After clearing customs we found our driver who drove us to the hotel Kron in Reykjavik where we checked in, unpacked, got a quick breakfast at the hotel and then walked to the “H” church for the start of our walking tour.

We joined a very international group of people for our 3 hour walking tour around Reykjavik. We learned about the history, (the tour guide was a history major at the U of R), the architecture, weather, geology, and how to stay warm. For anyone who visits we recommend it!

Typical street

Some architecture

This was a lake near some of the government buildings:

The Iceland Coat of Arms with a Dragon, Eagle, Giant, and Bull protecting the Island

And my favorite – the statue representing all politicians:
The BlockHead

After the tour we went to a nearby restaurant and had some delicious local food – seafood and lamb predominate;

Afterwards on our way back to our hotel we stopped by a cinnamon roll place that we spotted/smelled on our way to the start of the walk and made sure they were “ok”.

Tomorrow we head north to Borgarnes and will have a relaxing bath at the Krauma and see a hot spring and some waterfalls.