Mon
Aug.21
2006

Monday Memories of Iceland

Did I ever tell you about our MAGIC TRIP TO ICELAND?

We had always wanted to go to Iceland, both of us and we finally made our dream come true a week in June 2004.

We were prepared for bad weather, as Iceland very often is at least very windy if not rainy, but we actually met unusually good weather to be in Iceland. We even went short sleeved up in the glaciers! My bad weather curse only seem to struck when we go to places were you can expect a sunny holiday. And I didn’t get ill either, incredible!

The first day we just relaxed by going to the Blue Lagoon thermal spa to have a bath. And boy, did we bath! We never wanted to go up from the hot water… The geothermal seawater comes from wells 2000 m (6000 feet) deep with a temperature of 36-39°C (100-110°F) filled with silica, minerals salts and blue green algae. It’s kind of milky but oh, so refreshing to float around there. It’s surrounded by lava fields and black sandy beaches.

The next day we went on a roundtour. First to the nationalpark Thingvellir, incredible beautiful of course. Further to the geothermal power plant Nesjavellir which were providings Reykjavik with 25% of all their hot water through pipelines down to the city. An incredible installation, to see those pipelines drawn all over the countryside.

Then we have the spectacular waterfall Gullfoss which falls 32 meters in two steps. The water comes from the glacial river Hvitá, which source is from underneath the glacier Langjökull and floats after about 133 kilometers right into the Atlantic Ocean. We weren’t able to catch that beautiful rainbow above it.

What would a trip to Iceland be without seeing the Geyser-area? Wooha! What a spectacular sight to see those Geysers have these hot outbursts. I can’t even describe it. To be able to get real close to them and actually see the hole in the ground and the boiling water and then, slowly it built up this one big bubble just before it had the outburst way up in the sky as a surprise. Truly magnificent and must be seen to understand the feeling.

The volcano Hekla is the most active volcano there, the last eruption were in 2000, but we just passed that one which I’m glad for… I’m also grateful that there were no noticeable earthquakes while we were there. They have a lot of small earthquakes, every day I understood. Their houses is built with the thought of earthquakes protection and they’re quite ugly actually.

We were doing excursions by jeep into the area of Thorsmörk (Thors wood), which is a valley who is difficult to reach beacuse it’s placed between three glaciers, named Myrdalsjökull, Eyjafjallajökull and Tindafjallajökull. They emit a lot of melting water in the area, creating glacial rivers, so it’s difficult to go there without a jeep. Some days the crossing is quite challenging. An innocent stream can change in a matter of hours to a thunderous torrent.

It was when passing one of those rivers, Mr Lifecruiser bumped his head in the car celing and got some kind of whiplash in his neck. It was also in there the jeep had a flat tire…. But they’re prepared to that, when you start the car enginge it starts to blow up the tire again!

On the way to the area there is another smaller waterfall Seljalandfoss where you can go behind all the falling water, quite unusual experience. And wet :-)

There is also the narrow gorge of Stakkholtsgjá, a magnificent and breathtaking canyon, which we were taking a walk through. The walk included a difficult passage on rocks in the water, so we were lucky that we were well prepared with waterproof boots!

One day we even went out on the sea for some whale- and birdwatching. I was prepared, I took sea sickness pills - for the first and last time in my life - I was totally numbed of them, like a zombie for the rest of the day. I’d rather be sea sick than don’t experience anything at all. We only spotted one dolphin and a lot of puffins that were nesting on a small island outside Reykjavik. According to them, it’s unusual to not spot more than that, so they gave us a free ticket for the next time we visit, that’s nice hah?

Of course, if we now were on Iceland, it was a MUST to take a ride on the Icelandic horse over the lava fields! It was the first time Mr Lifecruiser were horseback riding and he did well, I can tell you. It was very special with their special walk, the tölt. Very comfy, you sat almost still in the saddle. Though there were a bit of problems when one of the leaders got thrown off her young and lively horse, but all went well, luckily.

The nature in Iceland is magical. You feel like you have come to another planet. All those volcanos and lava fields makes it somehow unreal, but it’s amazingly beautiful. The southern part of Iceland do have green fields and plants, so it’s not just bare lava fields. They have also been planting a lot of Alaskan lupines, so we saw beautiful blue fields.

We were not particularly impressed over the city Reykjavik though and a bit disappointed when we got the news that they had closed down their biggest disco, which we had been looking forward to visit for a dance evening.

The Icelandic language is extremely difficult. Even though Sweden are pretty close to Iceland, it’s totally different from Swedish. The names and words are just not understandable. Kinda cool I think!

The last day we booked us in for another trip to the Blue Lagoon, on the way to the airport, they took care of our luggage while we were bathing. Truly wonderful relaxation, you’re coming out from there as a new person.

Like I said before: if we ever go to the U.S again, we just have to make a stop over at Iceland and take a bath in the Blue Lagoon. We dream about that bath, you know, it’s that wonderful. We also have that whale watching to do to again and maybe go up in the northern part as well.

This was one of our favorite trips, so there is no problem for us to go there once again!

Lifecruisers photos from Iceland 2004

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Comments on Monday Memories of Iceland

  • 1

    Wow, it does sound magical. What a great excursion. Guess you aren’t planning a return trip anytime soon. Too bad, sounds like a place that needs more than one visit in a lifetime. Now I have to go google Iceland….sigh, see the things you make me do? (giggle)

    Lifecruiser: Funny, I was just on my way to email you about this post and here you are reading it :-)

  • 2
    Ma UNITED STATES said:

    That is just awesome! I like when people share their travels with others, cause we come to know things that we ourselves would not be able to do. thank you for sharing and for stopping by my MM.

    Lifecruiser: Glad you enjoyed it, I love to travel by other peoples photos myself :-)

  • 3
    Chelle Y. UNITED STATES said:

    That sounds like a beautiful trip! That is a place I never thought about visiting before until now!

    Lifecruiser: Yes, I hope that I really tempted you to go there ;-) Maybe I should begin to market trips to Iceland hah? *lol* I sure have the enthusiasm for it!

  • 4
    Norma UNITED STATES said:

    This sounds really delightful. On our Russian tour this summer, the 2 other couples had both been to Iceland, and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the memories, and thank you for visiting mine.

    Lifecruiser: I think it would be hard not to enjoy it since it’s so very different and special, like being on the moon or something :-)

  • 5

    It would be a geological buffet for me! I am truly inspired by your trip and your photos are wonderful, -AMAZING- to say the least. I can almost imagine floating around in those hot, milky waters and peering down a geyser hole. I would have my backpack full of rocks-of course! Thank you for sharing this trip….One word to define it: MAGIC.

    Lifecruiser: Yes, I do hope that will get the possibility to go there some day, it’s so worth it and for you, well, you said it yourself: a geological buffet :-)

  • 6
    Tricia CANADA said:

    The photos are absolutely stunning. Iceland sounds amazing and I’d definitely like to try out the Blue Lagoon spa. How long was your trip? A week, two weeks or more?

    You know, before beginning to read your various posts about Iceland and seeing all the gorgeous photos it wasn’t even on my radar as a place I’d like to visit, but now I think it might be on the top 10 list.

    Lifecruiser: The trip was only 8 days, but oh, was it worth it! It should be on everybodys #1 list I think, it’s just so different from anything else you have experienced. It’s not that far from the U.S. It’s between us :-)

  • 7
    Kasia POLAND said:

    You should work as a PR specialist for a travel agency:lol: I mean it.
    Iceland is one of my biggest dreams. I like when the landscape is *raw* and fresh and looks like it just had been created. And all the trolls and giants living among waterfalls and gezyers. Do you know Bjork? Her music is a ltitle bit weird, like from other planet, yet addictive. Just like Iceland i guess.
    Thanks a lot for this post.

    Lifecruiser: *lol* Thanks Kasia. Iceland really is everything you seems to think it is! I can confirm it! Yes, I know Björk, she surely is a product of Iceland. Different like the country, yes.

  • 8
    mrhaney UNITED STATES said:

    those were some great photos that ou took and put them on flickr. i belong to flickr also. you had asked me what program i used to put the wedding photo on my blog and the program is called merge. you can get it here . i wouldn’t mind taking a hot bath myself but i will probably never go. i stay pretty close to home now.
    well have a good one and it was nice talking to you. say hello to your mother for me.

    Lifecruiser: Thanks :-) That hot bath really could have been something for you, especially after a hard working day on the house. But now you got to travel a bit in the imagination anyway. Thanks for the link, I’ll check it up. And I will of course say hello to Mom. Hope your wife is coming back soon, I’m sure you’re missing her :-)

  • 9

    This was wonderful. The story set the stage but the photos were spectacular! Just wonderful. I was viewing them when hubby got home and he was just as impressed as I am. And you are such a cute couple! Just wonderful!:razz:

    Lifecruiser: Thanks. I think some people get tired of us sometimes, with all the spontaneous kissing we do, but we can’t help it :-) Yes, it truly is wonderful. That is one of our absolutely favorite trips for sure. And we simply MUST go there some time in the future again.

  • 10
    Suzy UNITED STATES said:

    Thanks for the link to your blog and pictures! You know how busy life can be, that sometimes I just don’t get the time to browse like I’d like to. I looked at all 96 photo’s on flickr and wow, what a trip! Yes you are a cute couple and great photographers as well! I’m hoping to be a halfway decent one, someday when I grow up! hehe

    Thanks again,

    Suzy

    Lifecruiser: Yes, I know, I wish the day had double up with hours. Yes, it was a wonderful trip for this wonderfully in love couple ;-) I’m sure you’re quite as good as a photographer too, it’s not difficult when you have such interesting objects to shoot!

  • 11
    Chi UNITED STATES said:

    I so enjoy reading about your fantastic vacations & you make it seem as if I am there. *s*

    Thanks for visiting me today…and when you get back to Scotland, I will look forward to hearing about it.

    Lifecruiser: Glad you enjoyed it Chi. Of course we’re gonna let you read about Scotland too when we get back there, in the meanwhile you’re probably going to get to read a post about our past trips there. It’s just a matter of time to prepare the photos….. Pheeew.

  • 12

    Wow! looks like a very lovely place to spend a vacation.
    Thanks for passing by.

    Lifecruiser: Yes, it sure is, no doubt about that :-)

  • 13
    tnchick UNITED STATES said:

    I’d love to visit, truly. I may be old when I do - if ever I do. I just don’t see it in my near or semi near future. I’m afraid to look at the photos for fear I’ll wanna go more. LOL But, I will… because I really want to see them.

    Lifecruiser: Yes, they can be both a temptation and addicting too :-). Well, You have something more important to take care of than travelling: your kids! I re-expereince the whole trip just by looking at them. Magnificent trip.

  • 14
    Danielle UNITED STATES said:

    Wow! I never knew Iceland was so beautiful! I especially like the waterfalls!

    ou really should market trips–I’m sold!

    Lifecruiser: Good, you ought to go there, everybody should! I knew that Iceland were special, but I could never dream about how beautiful and magical it really was…. Unbelievable.

  • 15

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