Totally Non-Disney (WHAT????) Trip Report to Iceland!

[Kristia]

We continued our walk around the harbor. This dock is from where the whale-watching cruises leave. There are two red whale-watching ships in the back round of this photo.
Boat Dock - Reykjavik by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

After we passed by the docks, there was this beautiful walking path.
Harbor Walkway by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

I loved the way the color of this ship stood out against the sky and the mountains!
Boat in the Harbor by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

I had heard (and seen pictures) of an artist's installation at near the harbor that I wanted to check out. It is called Þúfa by Ólöf Nordal. Now we don't have that funky P looking letter in English and it actually has a "th" sound so I will write it as Thufa! Thufa is a mound of sod with a fish drying shed on top. Sounds fascinating doesn't it? It is pretty cool looking though. I forgot to mention too that this day was my birthday and Dan liked to joke that he brought me all the way to Iceland to climb a hill of sod to look at drying fish on my birthday! And again...not so great with the pictures because I really should have gotten better ones from the bottom to show the size of this hill!
Me next to Thufa!
Thufa and Reykjavik Harbor by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Dan next to Thufa..
Thufa and Reykjavik Harbor by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

There is a spiral path along the edge of the mound so that you can climb up to the top.
Climbing Thufa by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

At the top! It really had a great view and there were definitely fish drying in the hut.
Thufa by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

By this time we were starting to get a bit hungry and we had seen a little restaurant on our way around the harbor. We stopped back to have a bite. No pictures of the food but we each had a ham and cheese sandwich and some cream puffs. I found out later that it was National Cream Puff Day in Iceland! I am glad we were able to partake! They were some of the best cream puffs I had ever had!
Lunch at Kaffivagninn by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

As we were heading back, we had a glimpse of the Harpa from the other side.
The Harpa by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Even a shipyard looks beautiful with this backdrop!

Reykjavik Harbor by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

We went back to the downtown area to do a little shopping. There are two main shopping streets in downtown, Laugavegur and Bankastræti. Skólavörðustígur runs into Laugavegur and is the way to the church. Skólavörðustígur also has some cool shops on it. Don't ask me to pronounce any of those names! Icelandic is such a tough language. Luckily almost everyone speaks nearly perfect English. English is mandatory in school so it was not a problem to communicate with anyone. The stores closed pretty early on this day since it was Sunday. Most of them closed around 5 pm. We stopped at one of the grocery stores on the street to pick up some snacks and drinks for the evening and walked back to the hotel.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Wow it looks gorgeous there!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Gorgeous pictures!!! It's funny...I think you're the 4th person I know of that's gone (or is going) to Iceland this year. And from the pics...I can certainly see why. Thanks for sharing

 

[coachwnh]

I am loving this report

 

[Kristia]

Wow it looks gorgeous there!

It is!! Thanks for reading!

Gorgeous pictures!!! It's funny...I think you're the 4th person I know of that's gone (or is going) to Iceland this year. And from the pics...I can certainly see why. Thanks for sharing

Thank you! I know it is becoming quite popular. Icelandair keeps adding new cities for its direct to Iceland flights and they are relatively cheap. In the winter season, they were offering a deal that included airfare and 3 nights hotel for $689 a person. We missed that deal by a few days but it was still quite affordable. Much cheaper than going elsewhere in Europe!

I am loving this report

Thanks for reading!

 

[Kristia]

After stopping back at the hotel to drop off our goodies, I wanted to make one more stop for the evening. Perlan (aka The Pearl) sits atop a hill across the street (as the crow flies) from our hotel. Perlan is a building that house a café, fancy restaurant, some shops and the Saga Museum. I mostly wanted to check out the observation deck located on the 4th floor. The building was built around some large hot water storage tanks. Hot water and heat is very cheap in Iceland due to all the geothermal activity. These tanks store hot water for Reykjavik.

This is the view of Perlan from our hotel.
The Pearl by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

There was a small walking path that looked like it lead up to the building. As we started up the path, we has a fleeting idea that this might not be a good idea. The path was pretty steep and covered in a sheet of ice! We decided to go a bit further. It is much easier to climb up an icy path rather than going down. After a little while of hiking up this treacherous path, it was clear that this wasn't leading where we wanted to go. It is a good thing that Iceland is a safe country! We were hiking on an unlit wooded icy path. We decided to turn around. It was quite slow going getting back down and I thought more than once that I would be going down on my bum!

We made it back down to the bottom and it was getting dark. You can see the path we tried to hike on the right side of this shot.
The Pearl by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

We ended up walking down the side of a highway on the grass to the main driveway for Perlan. It was quite a hike, but it was worth it!

Perlan I by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Perlan II by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

View from the observation deck
Night in Reykjavik by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

View from Perlan by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

View from Perlan by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

View from Perlan by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

We took the same route via the highway back to the hotel and called it a night.

 

[Kristia]

I have to digress a little. I found a few more photos from just before we went Perlan. I forgot that as we walked from the harbor to the harbor we stopped to see Stjornarrad which is the Reykjavik Cabinet Building. It was a prison until 1816 and then became a government building.

Stjornarrad by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr
This statue is Hannes Hafstein, the first minister of Iceland. He became minister after Iceland gained their independence from Denmark.
Hannes Hafstein by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Next door is Menntaskólinn - the Reykjavik Junior College. This school traces back to 1056 but came to its current location in the early 1800's.

Menntaskólinn by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

We also stopped by Tjornin, "The Pond". I thought these people were a little crazy, walking on the ice so close to where there was clearly unfrozen water!
Tjornin by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

We stayed on dry land and watched the swans ducks and geese.

Whooper Swan
Whooper Swan I by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Greylag Goose

Greylag Goose by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Loved this cute little café that we passed by. Too bad it was closed.

Grai Kotturinn by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

 

[HopLow]

I am so excited that you posted this TR! I've always wanted to go to Iceland - it's on my bucket list. I was going to ask about the language barrier. That's really helpful that everyone speaks English, but how are you supposed to pronounce the names of the restaurants or streets?!?! It looks like a heap of letters to me. How long were you there for?

I know what you mean about getting someone to care for the animals while you're away. I'm from NJ too and I have horses. When we went to WDW in December (during those ice/rain storms), I was so worried about them being taken care of the way I would do it. LUCKILY, there's a girl who rides at the same barn as me and she was wonderful taking care of them while we were gone. Those fur children are high maintenance!!

 

[Kristia]

@HopLow - I am glad you are enjoying the report! I am already pricing trips for the future because I want to go back!! I really want to see what it looks like when it is green and the fields are full of wildflowers. While we were away, I was freaking out because that was the week that they were calling for 12+ inches of snow for the day after we left. I felt so bad saddling people with taken care of everything during that weather. Luckily it fizzled out and we only had 4 inches. We were there for 5 nights. Next time I definitely would like to stay a week.

As for the names of everything, I didn't even try to pronounce most things. We did pick up a few pronunciation tips but boy is Icelandic tough! My husband had the guides on one of our excursions teach him how to pronounce the volcano that no one can pronounce...Eyjafjallajokull. He still practices LOL! A-ya Fyed-ya yo-klitch. Something like that anyway. Looks nothing like what it sounds!

Stay tuned for the next installment...Horseback riding Icelandic style!

 

[Kristia]

We went to bed fairly early since we were tired from the time difference and we had a bit of an early morning the next day.

The next morning we got up about 7 am. We went down to the restaurant and had a nice breakfast. Today was the day of our first group tour. When I booked our trip online we also booked two tours. The first was the Horses and Whales tour. This morning we would go horseback riding and in the afternoon we would go on a whale watch.

We were supposed to be ready for our tour by 8:30 am and they would pick us up in our hotel lobby. Luckily, I am a research nut and had read about these tours ahead of time. The riding academy that does the tours has many hotels to pick up from. If you are the first hotel, they may pick you up at 8:30 but if you are further down the line, they might pick you up late. It is a little confusing because there are many different tours picking up from the hotels at that hour so you just have to keep your ears open and ask the operators if they are for your tour. Finally at about 9 am, our bus came. Unfortunately, a few people that were on our tour were not in the lobby yet (but some of their party was) so that held us up. We picked up a few more hotels after we left ours too.

Finally, we arrived at Ishestar Riding Center. They have complimentary coffee, hot tea and water available when you get there. We filled out the legal forms and a short questionnaire about our riding ability and experience. The ride we went on was for all abilities. I have had horses all my life but my husband is an advanced beginner. We weren't sure if he would be comfortable going on the advanced ride so we decided on the easier one to begin with. They have you watch a short instructional video about the Icelandic horses and how to ride them/handle them. They are a little different than horses in the states.

Icelandic horses are quite short and would be considered ponies in the US. DON'T call them ponies! Icelanders are offended if you call them ponies. Luckily I didn't make that mistake LOL. They are really stocky and can easily carry a full-grown man. My husband is 6'3 and 200+ lbs. His horse had no problem with him. They do have a 230 lb weight limit though. Icelandic horses are a gaited breed like some horses in the states but they have a gait unique to them called a tolt. This is a very smooth, yet very fast running walk kind of thing. Look them up on YouTube. They are amazing! Unlike group trail rides in the US, these are not Hack horses. They have a little bit of get up and go. They try to match horses to abilities so be honest about your experience! For riders, they like some contact on the bit and do respond to your legs. Another interesting fact is Icelandic horses are not vaccinated. They don't need to be. No horses are allowed to be imported to Iceland and once a horse is exported, it can never come back. They are very strict that you not wear any clothes, boots, gloves or other apparel that has been near other foreign horses. They provide boots, gloves, helmets and overalls if necessary. I had my own non-riding gloves and used their boots. My shoes were not ones I wear at the barn but I didn't want to get mine dirty. Also when you come back into the US, they ask if you have been near livestock. It wasn't a problem since we used their boots but had we used our shoes, they would want to sterilize them.

On to the pictures! We were matched up with our horses. The stalls where they keep them are so neat. I wish I got a picture. They keep 2-3 horses in the stall with very low walls. They are more like little pens in the barn. They call you up with the more experienced people getting their horses first. The horses were already saddled and partially bridled. I was given a little mare named Mindablest (not totally sure on that name). I was told later on the ride by one of our guides that Mindablest had only been trained to do this last year and that we did really well together.

Horseback Riding - Icelandic Style by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Dan had a gelding named Februar.

Dan and Februar by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Waiting to go out.
Horseback Riding - Icelandic Style by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

During the ride, you do ride single-file nose to rump. The guides want you as close to the horse in front of you as possible because it is safer. Horses are herd animals and they find comfort in each other. A lot of people find this off-putting because it is harder to talk to your friends and family but it really is a safety thing. We had three guides, one at the front, one behind and one riding back and forth along the side to keep people in line and making sure everyone was good.

Horseback Riding - Icelandic Style by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

I think they may be a little more relaxed on the experienced rides but we really did have all levels on our ride.

We rode through old lava fields and saw beautiful mountains in the distance. People have complained that the landscape was boring but I thought it was beautiful. In my previous picture you can see that the road is just a sheet of ice. We were worried that they horses would slip but the guide told me that they have spikes on their shoes. Every few minutes the guides would call out to start trotting they horses much to the dismay of some riders. They guides told us that they like to try and mix it up so the experienced people don't get bored and the less-experienced get a little excitement!

Horseback Riding - Icelandic Style by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Horseback Riding - Icelandic Style by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Sorry my pictures aren't a little better. It was really tough to take pics while riding. I wanted to try tolting but since the group was mixed we couldn't go that fast. When we go back, we will do the advanced ride. This ride lasted about 2 hours. When we got back to the barn, tied our horses, took off the saddles and carried them back to the barn. Take note...if you do this tour and you have a combo tour with another tour after this, it can be a tight squeeze. Some people were doing the "Golden Circle" Tour after and had to run right to the bus. We had a little more time but not much. Including in our tour was a boxed lunch which we received at the riding center.

 

[Kristia]

Hi! I am back! I have been slacking on my trip report but I am here for an update.

After our horseback ride, we hopped back on the bus with our box lunch and were driven back to the harbor area for the whale watch. We made it just in time and were some of the last passengers to get on the boat. Luckily everyone wanted seats outside, so we were able to grab a table so we could eat our lunch. Having done whale watches before, I knew that it is usually a long haul out to where you might see something and it is usually quite chilly! They always announce when a whale is sighted and it is easy enough to find a spot at the rail when you want to see.

The box lunch was just ok. They gave us a cucumber and cheese sandwich, a piece of fruit (actually only mine came with fruit. Dan's fruit was missing.), some crackers and a candy bar. Nordic folks seem to like their chocolate topped with a strip of very strong black licorice. Blah... Luckily, the licorice part peeled off easily and I was able to eat the chocolate. They also sold snacks on the boat.

After eating, we went up to the top to check out the view. It had been cloudy all day, and it stayed cloudy for our cruise.
Mt. Esja by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

We saw this lighthouse on our way out.
Reykjavik Lighthouse by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

It was really cool to see Reykjavik from this vantage point. You can see the church, Hallgrimskirkja, in the center of the picture.

Reykjavik by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Unfortunately, this is the closest we got to a glacier on this trip. This is Snaefellsjokull on the Snaefellnes ula which is about a 4 hour drive from Reykjavik. It is a volcano with a glacier on top.

Snaefellsjokull by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

A fishing boat. We saw more of these than whales!
Fishing Ship II by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

We made our way around to the other side of the same fishing boat.

Fishing Ship I by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

So this is about all we saw for marine mammals. Just some dolphins. Still nice to see but no whales. It is kind of the wrong time of year to see the whales. They are around, but much more difficult to find. They are much more plentiful in the spring and summer.

Dolphins by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

So one of the interesting things we learned on the cruise was they naturalist on the cruise told everyone that Iceland is one of the few countries that still participate in whaling under the guise of "research". They collect their data and then are allowed to sell the meat. In the past, whaling was an important source of food but that is not as true anymore. The naturalist urged tourists on the cruise to not patronize any restaurant that sold whale meat. He said that only about 10% of native Icelanders still eat whale and it is mostly the curious tourists who buy whale meat. I am not sure if this is true or not since a tour guide on a later tour told us that he does eat whale. I personally would never eat whale and don't think any countries should still be whaling but I wondered if the naturalist said that for personal reasons. Most of the restaurants that advertised whale also had other "traditional" Icelandic dishes that I didn't want to eat like foal (horse), puffin, and Svið (sheep head). I do think these restaurants do cater more to tourists for the strangeness factor.

One thing about whale watches that I dislike is it takes FOREVER to get out to where the whales might be. Then it takes FOREVER to get back. When you have a day where you don't really see much, it is pretty boring. If we go again, we will probably skip the whale watch.

After we got back to the harbor, we were both pretty hungry as it was close to dinnertime and we had only had a small lunch. We weren't sure what we wanted though. We didn't want whale or horse though! As we walked back to the downtown area we checked out some wall murals. These are all over Reykjavik.

Reykjavik Wall Mural by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

We finally decided on an Italian restaurant called Caruso's. I don't have any pictures for the rest of the evening. I must have been tired! We had personal pizzas and they were quite yummy! I wasn't sure how good pizza in Iceland would be but it was great! I had read that Icelanders are pretty quiet and even the quietest American is still louder in public settings that the loudest Icelander. I was embarrassed to be sitting near a rude loud American girl. She was probably mid to late 20's. She was with a British lady who was speaking quietly. This girl was guffawing at everything this lady said (couldn't hear her)! She was so loud, the whole restaurant was looking at her in disbelief and she was totally oblivious. I heard her whole order, going back and forth about what kind of wine she wanted, what kind of appetizer she wanted, etc.. It was so totally obnoxious. This was a pretty fancy restaurant too. We felt totally under dressed after day of riding and cruising. It was not a bar atmosphere where you might have been able to laugh it off.

Anyway...I do have one more picture for the night. On our way back to the hotel, I saw this little cemetery. It looked really cool and a little creepy although it didn't turn out as well in the photo.
Cemetery at Night by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

 

[Kristia]

Awesome report, love the horses!!!

I could never eat foal. Even hearing people eat veal gives me an upset stomach.

I hear ya! It is a different world in Europe. I know that horse meat can be very popular in different countries but I just wouldn't be able to do that. It hits too close to home for me since I have two of my own and also board for friends. It kind of surprises me that they eat horse in Iceland because they are super proud of their horses and their special abilities. Iceland can be pretty harsh though with not a lot of food resources so I guess maybe it stems from long ago when you had to eat what was available.

 

[Kristia]

On our 3rd day we rented a car to explore a little on our own. I was super worried about renting a car while trying to decide which car rental to go with, I found all these horror stories about car rentals in Iceland. Most of the bad experiences, surprisingly, were with larger international chains that we also have in the states. Most of the bad experiences occurred when people returned the car and were accused of having damage to the car such as a tiny scratch, or a nick in the windshield, or a door that opened too far (wind is a problem and can damage a car door if it catches it as you open the door). With all the stories it was really hard to decide which company to go with. I really didn't want to go with one of the big names so we went with carrentals.is which deals with a few local companies. They seemed to have good reviews. We also got the extra insurance (which we normally wouldn't do in the states) and the gravel and windscreen damage protection which Theyis not part of regular coverage. I wanted to be over covered and it was only an extra $20 or so. Small price to pay for piece of mind. The roads in Iceland can be a little rough even though we would be staying on paved roads for the most part.

Another good thing about this company is they had pickup and drop off at your Reykjavik hotel for no fee. A lot of rentals are located at the Keflavik Airport so if you aren't renting there, they charge a fee for Reykjavik pickup. The rental agent dropped our car right at the hotel at 9 am. There was no need for a ride to the office. I guess she took a bus back to her office? I am not totally sure. We decided to go with a 4x4 Suzuki Jimny which was not much more than a tin can on wheels. It did the job and it was pretty new but tiny and didn't feel really sturdy. I have heard tourists tend overestimate the things these Jimnys can do because they are 4WD and then have accidents in them. I can see why!

We were on the road a little after 9 am. We decided to take a drive down to the Reykjanes Peninsula which is the southwest section of Iceland.

It was a chilly, snowy day. Not a great day for driving in a strange country. It was a little nerve-wracking but I wasn't doing the driving. Lucky me!! The landscape almost looked like we were on a different planet.

Iceland 2 by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Iceland by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Icelandic Farm by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Iceland Farmhouse 2 by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Iceland - Farmhouse by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

This is a main road outside Reykjavik not far from a town called Grindavik. It is quite common to not see any cars for miles. It was wonderful! Not great if you breakdown though! They also don't salt the roads. All the cars have studded tires.

Snowy Road - Iceland by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Iceland - Outbuilding by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

There are cute little churches everywhere.

Icelandic Church by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Iceland - Abandoned House by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

 

[Kristia]

Some more on our drive to Reykjanes. I mostly have pictures since I am not sure exactly where we took these. I was just snapping away as we drove. Sorry for the quality. The day was just so gray!

Iceland Lighthouse near Reykjavik by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Mt. Keilir can be seen in the distance of this photo. Mt. Keilir is a small volcanic mountain that has a distinct cone shape. It is easy to spot and identify this mountain in the distance.
Iceland - Volcano in the Distance by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Icelandic Harbor by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Steam vents can be seen in the distance here. Geothermal vents can be found all over Iceland. They harness this energy to provide cheap heat and electricity.

Steam Vents in the Distance by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

The landscape is incredibly vast. You can see for miles in places. The house in the center of this picture is dwarfed by the landscape.
Houses in the Distance by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Icelandic Landscape by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

Hey look! There's a car! Also in the distance is the steam coming from the Blue Lagoon which is a huge geothermal pool which caters primarily to tourists now. Locals used to go there but they jacked up the prices and made it more of a spa/tourist location. I have heard it is really neat to go there but we didn't have time on this trip. They do make it convenient though if you want to go on your last day as they have shuttles that go right from Blue Lagoon to the airport which is only about 25 minutes away.

The Road to Reykjanes by SupersonicNJ, on Flickr

 

[Patrick_Ears]

Love the trip report. Keep it coming!!