Iceland 2021

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Barb and Alan Iceland 2021
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- Aug 1, 2021
- ☁️ 52 °F
- Altitude: 325 ft
- Iceland East Borgarhafnarhreppur 64.086288, -16.26356164°5’11” N 16°15’49” W
Jökulsárlón
August 1, 2021 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F
Today was all about the ice - Glaciers and Icebergs.

We spent our entire day at Jökulsárlón - Glacier Lagoon. We checked out Diamond Beach first. This is where remnants of icebergs wash ashore after floating out to sea from the lagoon. The smaller ice pieces sit on the black sand and sparkle like diamonds. 💎

We also stood along the short river watching the big pieces of iceberg break apart and float under the bridge and towards the sea. Birds circled and dove snatching up small fish every time an iceberg rolled or broke apart.

To end our day, we took a zodiac boat tour of the lagoon, getting right up close to the glacier right after a huge chunk calved off. It was awesome floating by huge, beautiful icebergs, but also sad to learn of how fast the glacier is melting. 😞

Highlights:
1. Deafening roar of the ice breaking off the face of the glacier
2. Zooming over the waves
3. Our Zodiac guide, Teddi, who is an Elvis fan and can’t wait to visit Memphis 🙂
4. The seals 🦭
5. Diamond Beach sparkling ice
6. Watching an iceberg flip and break apart
7. The turquoise blue of the iceRead more
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Barb and Alan Iceland 2021
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- Aug 2, 2021
- ☁️ 54 °F
- Altitude: 26 ft
- Iceland South Vik 63.419807, -18.9989263°25’11” N 18°59’56” W
Vik
August 2, 2021 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F
We spent time in Skaftafell National Park today hiking to Svartifoss and to the old turf house and farm at Sel. Svartifoss means black falls because the waterfall is surrounded by dark lava columns. The hexagonal basalt columns were created when lava cooled very slowly so that the molten rock could crystallize. These columns inspired the design of the National Theatre building, the Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavik and the striking church in Akureyri.

There aren’t many waterfalls that drop of a cliff with basalt rocks looking like an church organ. 🙂

We are staying in Vik tonight and hiked up above the church to the cemetery. I love the view of the church and town from up there…so much beauty!Read more
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Barb and Alan Iceland 2021
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- Aug 3, 2021, 5:35pm
- ⛅ 55 °F
- Altitude: 30 ft
- Iceland Capital Region Reykjavik Miklatún 64.136902, -21.913964°8’13” N 21°54’50” W
Skogafoss and Dyrhólaey
August 3, 2021 in Iceland ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F
We are at the tail end of our trip here in Iceland and it has definitely been a bucket list of a trip. 🙂 Today, we hiked up Dyrhólaey for the views down the black sand beaches and were surprised to find a bunch of puffins! Then we hiked up above Skógafoss along the river and next to the green hills…breathtaking! ❤️ We even zipped up to Geysir for a tiny bit. Tomorrow, we will go to Reykjavik for our scheduled COVID tests…praying we will be negative so we can board our plane on Friday 🙏. We have had an awesome time, but are getting anxious to get home. 🙂Read more
Wunderbare Aufnahmen, lieben Dank fürs mit erleben.
8/3/21Reply
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Barb and Alan Iceland 2021
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- Aug 5, 2021
- 🌧 57 °F
- Altitude: 69 ft
- Iceland South Gljúfrafoss 63.619633, -19.98889763°37’11” N 19°59’20” W
Thórsmörk and Reykjavik
August 5, 2021 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 57 °F
We ran to Reykjavik to get our COVID tests done Wednesday morning. I had scheduled rapid antigen tests for us at 9:00 am. Fortunately, our line and wait time was very short. The PCR test line snaked out of the building and all around the health center property. 😳

While we waited for our results, we walked around downtown Reykjavik, stopping for what we thought would be great pizza 🍕, but let’s just say we ended up eating some outstanding Pad Thai instead. 🙂 With our negative COVID test certificates emailed to us, we drove to the Hamragardar camping spot to spend our final two nights. We have a view of Seljalandsfoss waterfall ( and two others) from our van. 🙂

Today, we went on a super jeep tour into Thórsmörk ( Thor’s Valley). Our first Mercedes super jeep overheated and broke down and our poor driver was sprayed and burned a bit by the water from the radiator. He rallied, though. After the tour company replaced the Mercedes with a couple of super jeep Fords, he gave us an amazing trip of hikes into caves, hikes across rivers and streams, and a culminating hike into a “Land Before Time” type of valley to an amazing waterfall.

We will fly home tomorrow with memories of this breathtaking country stored away for a lifetime. ❤️Read more
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Jökulsárlón

Vik

Skogafoss and Dyrhólaey

Thórsmörk and Reykjavik