Sunday, July 8, 2012
Day 5: Hrossholt to Arnarstapi
The farther we travel, the more interesting the landscape becomes. At one point today, if you looked left to right from about 9 to 3 o'clock, you would see, in order, a wide sandy beach, a lava field, cliffs with waterfalls dropping into the sea, the road, a famous volcano/glacier, pastoral mountains, and sandy desert-like mountains...surreal!
Our requisite Sundlaug (pool, etc.) visit today was to a natural hot spring. They actually have to cool the water down from 50 degrees C to the popular 42 (107.6 if you remember!). What a great midday break!
The most amazing thing about this break was when a "Trek" van pulled up to drop off some excursion pamphlets. We got excited, being about 260 km away from their home base in the city, and greeted the driver, saying, "Hey, we're hiking Laugavegur with you guys in two weeks!" He was excited too, and it turns out that he might be our guide! His name is Gummi (like John over here), and we will be hiking with either him or Cole. This chance encounter reminded us of when Stefan, our bike guy, said that if anything goes wrong that we can't fix, we can just send it back on the bus to Reykjavik and he'll send up a new one. "Anything is possible in Iceland!"
The rain and head winds we battled only literally put a damper on our day - we still had a great time and made it to our next goal: the campground just south of the famous Snaefellsjokull volcano/mountain/glacier. Never heard of it? Go watch "Journey to the Center of the Earth"! Although this is known to be Jules Verne's inspiration, we suspect that Hitchcock was on the Snaefellsjokull Peninsula prior to (or while!) filming "Birds." A few territorial arctic terns pestered/hovered over/chirped at us until we were a safe distance past their breeding ground. VERY reminiscent of the dogs in KS/CA.
Our requisite Sundlaug (pool, etc.) visit today was to a natural hot spring. They actually have to cool the water down from 50 degrees C to the popular 42 (107.6 if you remember!). What a great midday break!
The most amazing thing about this break was when a "Trek" van pulled up to drop off some excursion pamphlets. We got excited, being about 260 km away from their home base in the city, and greeted the driver, saying, "Hey, we're hiking Laugavegur with you guys in two weeks!" He was excited too, and it turns out that he might be our guide! His name is Gummi (like John over here), and we will be hiking with either him or Cole. This chance encounter reminded us of when Stefan, our bike guy, said that if anything goes wrong that we can't fix, we can just send it back on the bus to Reykjavik and he'll send up a new one. "Anything is possible in Iceland!"
The rain and head winds we battled only literally put a damper on our day - we still had a great time and made it to our next goal: the campground just south of the famous Snaefellsjokull volcano/mountain/glacier. Never heard of it? Go watch "Journey to the Center of the Earth"! Although this is known to be Jules Verne's inspiration, we suspect that Hitchcock was on the Snaefellsjokull Peninsula prior to (or while!) filming "Birds." A few territorial arctic terns pestered/hovered over/chirped at us until we were a safe distance past their breeding ground. VERY reminiscent of the dogs in KS/CA.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Day 4: Saurbaer to Hrossholt
Our plan to get up early to avoid the strongest winds worked like a charm today. We had a productive morning that ended with a well deserved stop at the Borgarnes pool/"hot pot"/sports complex. For four dollars, you got a locker (in fact, a pre dip shower is required at all pools here - at least we shower once a day), an Olympic sized swimming pool, hot tubs at 37, 39, and 42 degrees C (42=107.6), three water slides, and even a 6" wading pool in which people just lay on their back without worry of their heads going under. Steph fell asleep in the 6" pool - she used to lifeguard!
Biking after our break was harder, as we were so settled into relax mode and the wind picked up. Some increasingly beautiful landscapes kept us going, including the second largest glacier in Europe (see pic! Although, by our calculations, it's technically on the American plate).
At the grocery store, it only took a couple of seemingly innocent questions for a grocer to figure out that we didn't have a clue. He took us around the store, pointing out Icelandic favorites, his favorites, and some gluten free treats. One of his suggestions was "honkey cut" (or so it sounded - some type of smoked meat) with some pita like bread and real Icelandic butter. It was pretty good, but not a new favorite - we learned our lesson about taking recommendations from people who eat putrified shark and singed sheep's head.
We took so many great shots with our camera today, but remembered to take a couple with the phones to share.
Biking after our break was harder, as we were so settled into relax mode and the wind picked up. Some increasingly beautiful landscapes kept us going, including the second largest glacier in Europe (see pic! Although, by our calculations, it's technically on the American plate).
At the grocery store, it only took a couple of seemingly innocent questions for a grocer to figure out that we didn't have a clue. He took us around the store, pointing out Icelandic favorites, his favorites, and some gluten free treats. One of his suggestions was "honkey cut" (or so it sounded - some type of smoked meat) with some pita like bread and real Icelandic butter. It was pretty good, but not a new favorite - we learned our lesson about taking recommendations from people who eat putrified shark and singed sheep's head.
We took so many great shots with our camera today, but remembered to take a couple with the phones to share.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Day 3: Reykjavik to Saubaer
Within just a few miles of Reykjavik, we biked passed golfers, fly fisherman, walkers, bikers, hikers, wildlife, waterfalls, snow/glacier topped mountains...it really is a pretty city.
Today we had tailwinds and headwinds, rainy skies and even some patches of blue, beautiful scenery and ugly body pain, and definitely "ups and downs." The first day of any bike trip is tough, but today seemed especially difficult because it was our first day riding mountain bikes. We are definitely not breaking any speed records on our Trek 4300s wearing rain gear (and possessing weak legs?), but we accomplished our goal of getting to the campground with a swimming pool. Apparently Icelanders take their swimming pools quite seriously, which generally include a heated pool and various temperature hot tubs. Heavenly, especially for sore legs/butts.
It's tough to estimate how far we biked for various reasons, the least of which is that everything is metric. We're thinking about just calling km's miles since the miles are hard to come by. We'll figure out some way to tally "miles" covered.
Today we had tailwinds and headwinds, rainy skies and even some patches of blue, beautiful scenery and ugly body pain, and definitely "ups and downs." The first day of any bike trip is tough, but today seemed especially difficult because it was our first day riding mountain bikes. We are definitely not breaking any speed records on our Trek 4300s wearing rain gear (and possessing weak legs?), but we accomplished our goal of getting to the campground with a swimming pool. Apparently Icelanders take their swimming pools quite seriously, which generally include a heated pool and various temperature hot tubs. Heavenly, especially for sore legs/butts.
It's tough to estimate how far we biked for various reasons, the least of which is that everything is metric. We're thinking about just calling km's miles since the miles are hard to come by. We'll figure out some way to tally "miles" covered.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Day 2: Reykjavik
Today we put on our fanny packs, carried big maps, were sure to always have a guide book on hand, and threw on our "I heart Reykjavik" t-shirts. Not really, but we were definitely tourists.
Our guide book insisted we start our day with "the city's best coffee" (it was great for the coffee drinker in the crowd). Then, a must for Reykjavik tourists, a city bike tour. Since we are touring the countryside by bike, we thought it only fitting to tour the city by bike. Conveniently, at the exorbitant rental cost of bikes for the next two weeks, Stefan threw the city tour in for free. It was a great simple ride around the center of town. It's easy to see quite a lot in not a lot of time (2.5 hours) or distance (~5 miles) in the capital of such a small country. We got an insider's view/perspective/knowledge of the city's history; we visited/saw all of the important buildings, like the University, Gov't buildings (we strolled right into the back garden of the unguarded Parliament), and Bjork's house (we spotted a blond woman inside - poor Bjork probably gets that a lot); visited some quiet, hidden gems right in the middle of the city (it's impressively green); and Stefan pointed out all of the popular modern day spots, like the restaurant serving the "best lobster soup in the world" (it was great for the lobster soup eater in the crowd).
Our favorite stops on the tour were seeing the oldest house in Reykjavik, Bill Clinton's hot dog stand, and an amazing 76 square meter topographical map of the country in city hall. It's the information Stefan shared that bolstered these to the top. Stefan compared the oldest house in Iceland to his great-grandfather's hammer. Sure, it was passed down to him, but his father had the handle replaced. And then it needed a new head. Bill Clinton only ate at the stand once, but now a hot dog with just mustard is known as a Clinton all over. He had said Hilary wouldn't allow him the mayo and he was meeting dignitaries later so refused the onion (could've been called a Spooner). A famous street musician was actually getting a hot dog at the time - it's on our list of things to eat when we're back in Reykjavik (for the hot dog eater...). The huge map foreshadowed some of the tough terrain that lies (lay?) ahead, and clearly laid (lies?) out the glaciers, volcanoes, and other spots we hope to get to. When talking about the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, Stefan described the buildup of ash that accumulated in a hole in the ground that was the cause of weeks of cancelled flights in Europe, but said it was never explained well abroad because the media never called it what it was - an ash hole.
We also had some boring final preparations to do, but these highlights were more fun. We're excited/anxious for tomorrow!
Our guide book insisted we start our day with "the city's best coffee" (it was great for the coffee drinker in the crowd). Then, a must for Reykjavik tourists, a city bike tour. Since we are touring the countryside by bike, we thought it only fitting to tour the city by bike. Conveniently, at the exorbitant rental cost of bikes for the next two weeks, Stefan threw the city tour in for free. It was a great simple ride around the center of town. It's easy to see quite a lot in not a lot of time (2.5 hours) or distance (~5 miles) in the capital of such a small country. We got an insider's view/perspective/knowledge of the city's history; we visited/saw all of the important buildings, like the University, Gov't buildings (we strolled right into the back garden of the unguarded Parliament), and Bjork's house (we spotted a blond woman inside - poor Bjork probably gets that a lot); visited some quiet, hidden gems right in the middle of the city (it's impressively green); and Stefan pointed out all of the popular modern day spots, like the restaurant serving the "best lobster soup in the world" (it was great for the lobster soup eater in the crowd).
Our favorite stops on the tour were seeing the oldest house in Reykjavik, Bill Clinton's hot dog stand, and an amazing 76 square meter topographical map of the country in city hall. It's the information Stefan shared that bolstered these to the top. Stefan compared the oldest house in Iceland to his great-grandfather's hammer. Sure, it was passed down to him, but his father had the handle replaced. And then it needed a new head. Bill Clinton only ate at the stand once, but now a hot dog with just mustard is known as a Clinton all over. He had said Hilary wouldn't allow him the mayo and he was meeting dignitaries later so refused the onion (could've been called a Spooner). A famous street musician was actually getting a hot dog at the time - it's on our list of things to eat when we're back in Reykjavik (for the hot dog eater...). The huge map foreshadowed some of the tough terrain that lies (lay?) ahead, and clearly laid (lies?) out the glaciers, volcanoes, and other spots we hope to get to. When talking about the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, Stefan described the buildup of ash that accumulated in a hole in the ground that was the cause of weeks of cancelled flights in Europe, but said it was never explained well abroad because the media never called it what it was - an ash hole.
We also had some boring final preparations to do, but these highlights were more fun. We're excited/anxious for tomorrow!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Day 1: Reykjavik
We had an incredibly productive first day in Reykjavik, finding the right maps and camping fuel, buying a new phone, using the bus system, strolling through town, checking in with our bike & hike vendors, and taking advantage of heavy happy hour pours, all while steph napped the day away (that's a slight exaggeration). We learned a bunch along the way:
5) Sleeping pills can work too well.
4) Icelandic people are, indeed, very good looking. There may have been a few kicks under the table at dinner.
3) AT&T locks iPhones. We regretted not listening to/understanding Seth when he told us about "jail-breaking" his phone in Ireland.
2) There are no family names (as we know them) in Iceland. Surnames are derived from fathers' first names. We will henceforth be known as Stephanie Stephendottir and Austin Kennethson and can be reached at 011 354 661-7025.
1) Icelandic people are nice! Well, our first insight into this actually came last week when a parent at school generously offered us his Reykjavik apartment as a home base. (Steph probably couldn't have napped for four hours in a tent.) Today, a nice lady took pity on the stupid Americans trying to figure out the bus schedule - she showed us the ropes and even gave us a couple of tickets since she's going on holiday tomorrow. At the Vodaphone store, there was coffee while we waited and then a salesman told us where to get a cheaper phone than he was selling, waived the start up charge for our sim card, looked up our return bus schedule, and showed us to the back door service entrance when he saw we had three minutes to catch the next bus.
We're excited to document when it actually gets dark tonight!
5) Sleeping pills can work too well.
4) Icelandic people are, indeed, very good looking. There may have been a few kicks under the table at dinner.
3) AT&T locks iPhones. We regretted not listening to/understanding Seth when he told us about "jail-breaking" his phone in Ireland.
2) There are no family names (as we know them) in Iceland. Surnames are derived from fathers' first names. We will henceforth be known as Stephanie Stephendottir and Austin Kennethson and can be reached at 011 354 661-7025.
1) Icelandic people are nice! Well, our first insight into this actually came last week when a parent at school generously offered us his Reykjavik apartment as a home base. (Steph probably couldn't have napped for four hours in a tent.) Today, a nice lady took pity on the stupid Americans trying to figure out the bus schedule - she showed us the ropes and even gave us a couple of tickets since she's going on holiday tomorrow. At the Vodaphone store, there was coffee while we waited and then a salesman told us where to get a cheaper phone than he was selling, waived the start up charge for our sim card, looked up our return bus schedule, and showed us to the back door service entrance when he saw we had three minutes to catch the next bus.
We're excited to document when it actually gets dark tonight!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
All Geared Up II
We fit it all in - not quite sure how! Well, actually we're wearing a bunch of it, decided our sporks are more compact than Grammie and Grandpa's African fork and spoon, and cheated with a couple of bags for bike gear, but the trip definitely feels under way after loading our packs like "real hikers." We broke a sweat and felt our quads on the "hike" up to the train platform - uh oh - but are carrying all of our hiking AND biking gear right now. We'll be walking on air once we dump one set in Reykjavik in 13 short hours.
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