Among the Icebergs

Wednesday was our rainiest day, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. We took a long drive along the south coast toward the largest of Iceland’s 200 glaciers—Vatnajökull. The glacier covers 15% of Iceland’s land mass and has seven active volcanoes underneath.

The Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon formed in the 1930s from one of the outlet glaciers of Vatnajökull, and this is where we took an amphibian boat ride among the icebergs. With a cloudy (rainy) day, the icebergs show off their pretty blue color better than a sunny day, so that was some consolation. A couple of the James Bond movies were filmed in this lagoon—“Die Another Day” and “License to Kill.”

Nearby the lagoon is “Diamond Beach,” a black sand beach where icebergs have floated out to sea from glacier, through the lagoon, then are washed back onto shore. It really does look like giant crystals sitting on the beach.

While out on the lagoon, Arna got a big piece of crystal clear ice to bring back to our hotel. That 1,000 year old ice tasted just fine in our margaritas!Read more