Our first and last visit to Iceland

Nathan and Roger enjoying the Jaw Dropping views of Iceland
see all photos »

I apologize for being so far behind in our journal entries.  Internet has been scarce, expensive, and we've been really busy.  Rest assured that we are all ok.

Iceland has a great scam going on to lure unsuspecting tourists into their country.  Offer affordable airfare to Europe with a "free" stop in Iceland to explore the scenery of their beautiful and remote country.  As it turns out, the "free" stop in Iceland will end up costing you an arm and a leg, and use up most of the money you had budgeted for the rest of Europe.

Iceland. Been there, done that, won't do it again

Icelandic ponies
see all photos »

I was super excited to pick up our rental vehicle at Avis.  Paying a whopping $140 PER DAY for a car would surely get us something special - perhaps a pimped out Hummer?  A Bently?  A Ferarri (not sure how 4 of us and our luggage would fit, but whatever)?  Nope.  We got a grey Toyota hatchback wagon, complete with an interior full of the last persons dog hair and garbage.  Rental car clean up is not a priority in Iceland.

We headed north and drove around the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.  It was a scenic drive with volcanic terrain, few trees, glaciers, moss, steaming geothermal  areas, and lots of Icelandic horses and sheep.

Teletubbies at Gulfoss Waterfall
see all photos »

Here's a funny little story about the hotel where we spent night number 1.  When booking hotels, I found out that they are extremely expensive - like $200-300 per night.  After much digging I found a cheaper chain called Hotel Edda, which is called a "summer" hotel.  I didn't really know what that meant until we checked in.  The Edda chain is actually a group of boarding schools around Iceland - during the summer break (peak tourist season) they rent out the dormitories to tourists!  So the 4 of us checked into our cozy dorms (bathrooms down the hall!) for the evening.   And do you know what else is expensive in Iceland?  Well, everything really, but dining is especially costly.  After seeing the hotel menu ($25 for mushroom pasta, $35 for a chicken breast, $55 for a steak), Nathan, Brian and I drove to a gas station and had a hot dog and Roger ate alone at the hotel.

Snfellsjokull Glacier
see all photos »

The next morning we opted to not eat the $16 breakfast buffet of bread, a few slices of cheese and meat, and coffee.  Instead we got some rolls at the gas station and made our way south to the famous Golden Circle.  Our first stop was the Tingvellir National Park, which is an important historical location and UNESCO World Heritage site.  The Vikings established the worlds first democratic parliament there, and it's where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates separate.  After a short hike there we drove a bit to the Gullfoss waterfall, a two tier waterfall which drops about 32m and gets the tourists very wet.  Our last stop of the day was at Geysir, the area which all spouting hot springs are named.  The main Geysir is no longer reliably active as it became plugged in 1950 from tourists throwing rubble in to set it off.  We saw the smaller and more reliable geysir next to it, as well as steaming pools of blue sulfur water and we also hiked a bit there.  Night number 2 was once again spent in a Edda dormitory.

Thingvellir National Park
see all photos »

Our last day in Iceland was spent in Reykajavik, which is becoming quite famous for it's wild weekend pub crawls.  We were there on a Wednesday morning so things were very quiet.  We saw the huge concrete Hallgrimskirkja Church and walked around town and the lake Tjornin.  For lunch we split the worlds most expensive pizza, then headed to Keflavik where we were spending our last night.

I was excited to see our room in Keflavik because at over $300 a night I expected great things.  We had booked the family room for 4 people - I expected 2 rooms as well as a sitting area for watching tv and relaxing.  Instead we had a big room with 3 beds all crammed against one wall with absolutely no separation between them.  And one chair to sit in.  What a weird country.  We took a short drive around the area to see a few sights but it was pouring rain, freezing, and very windy so the remainder of our day was spent in the hotel.

Gullfoss Waterfall. One of the free things to do in Iceland.
see all photos »

I think I speak for the group when I say "Iceland.  Been there, done that, won't do it again."  It was an interesting country with lovely terrain but it is just too astronomically expensive to explore.  But we did get some fantastic photos, and hopefully we will be able to post them soon.

Anne