Iceland Pt.2
This continues from a previous post that can be found here
Day 4
Overloading on complimentary breakfast we yet again loaded up into the car and went on our way to Joskulsarlon. Joskulsarlon is part of a huge glacier with a very surreal black beach. We took loads of photos of the same things and chucked no end of rock at ice. I have no idea why but it was loads of fun and good for the soul. We even made a little game out of it.
Being animal lovers we got super excited at seeing a seal riding the tide into the black beach. Unfortunately the seal was a little camera shy. Not wanting to get cut off by the water we headed back to the car and the hotel. The trip hadn’t really stopped so we took a lengthy nap. Once awake we took in the surroundings . We were sandwiched between a huge mountain and the expansive sea in the middle of nowhere. It was a good place to be.
Day 5
This day was the biggest single day in terms of driving distance. It was roughly 440km overall. We made a pit stop in Vik which happened to be the most southern village in Iceland. There was a beautiful church that looked over the entire village and headlands.
The kilometres ticked by and the playlist continues until we found our log cabin in Uthlid. I knew straight away that we were in for a cold night. Chilling out and making the most of the wi-fi, Slaney found a geothermal spa on the edge of a huge lake in Laugarvatnsvegur. The pool and steam rooms were all heated purely by the Earth’s geothermal activity. Having no control over the heat made some of the steam rooms and pools unbearable. Some were a little chilly and some were just right. It was all very Goldilocks-esque.
We had red peppers stuffed with quinoa, mushrooms and courgettes with a side of sweet potato for dinner. I’m writing this while we all chill out listening to spotify playlists courtesy of Huckberry. The cold is creeping in and we are ready to head back to Reykjavik and civilization.
Boredom set in quickly in the cold cabin so we made ourselves wrap up warm and head to Gulfoss. It did not disappoint. You could hear the roar well before you could see it. It was a breathtaking view to say the least. Keeping ourselves layered up we climbed into bed ready to be amongst people again.
Day 6
A straightforward drive saw us into Reykjavik and back to Reykjavik roasters. A quick scout around town to find the happiest hour and also visit the liquor store. Surprisngly a woman was raising money for recovering alcoholics in the doorway of the store. We found a bottle of Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast which was the first decent beer of the trip. Skuli was a tucked away craft beer bar we found, but it didn’t fit in with our happy hour drinking plan. They did have three BrewDog beers on draft though.
Power nap and Mikkeller beer drunk we marched to Glo for some healthy organic sustenance. It was great apart from one of my teeth breaking on a tough part of my chicken wrap. I didn’t swallow it thankfully. We went to our scheduled happy hours and ended up in Dubliners playing foosball. I came out on top 6–2 against Slaney, it was quite an intense game. Out of time and out of happy hour we went back to our basement accommodation and got a night of restless sleep.
Day 7
Awoke to snowy conditions, mild for Iceland, severe for England. We arrived at the airport safe and sound (so did the car) and we are now killing time in the airport before our flight home. It has truly been an amazing trip full of sweeping landscapes and many a waterfall. I would definitely come back, maybe in the winter to catch the Northern Lights and to see a blanket of white.
Thanks for reading.
Here is the video to go with it too.
Here is what I was listening to on Spotify while writing this.
