Iceland Week 1

5-12 July 2024
Reykjavík, Stykkishólmur, Bíldudalur, Akureyri.

In 2020, my son Double Sub planned a trip to Iceland.

But it never happened.

As the pandemic exploded, they literally closed the border right before his flight!

So when Half Cookie and I were mulling over an international trip this year, it was an easy choice. Double Sub had already designed a lovely itinerary. All we needed to do was make it happen.

And we were both overjoyed when Double Sub and our son Pasta Jay agreed to join us.

Woo hoo!

We flew into Reykjavík and spent a day recovering from jet lag.

pxl_20240706_084557426 — So many cats in Iceland!

pxl_20240706_202701818 — An ice cave at the Perlan museum

pxl_20240706_2110125882 — It’s almost 10pm!

pxl_20240706_213850437 — Nighttime stroll

pxl_20240706_215619125 — And pretty churches!

pxl_20240706_222235536 — And beer, oh my!

The next day we headed to our next destination, Stykkishólmur, taking the “Golden Circle” route to see some of the spectacular countryside.

pxl_20240707_1046166952 — Wood crane’s bill

pxl_20240707_1048085902 — Mother of Thyme

pxl_20240707_1053146052 — I love The Nature

pxl_20240707_1109070912 — Alpine bistort

pxl_20240707_114447634 — Friðheimar tomato farm

We saw our first “foss” (waterfall in Icelandic).

pxl_20240707_1314221582 — Mist filled the air

pxl_20240707_1332109742 — The Langjökull ice cap (Iceland’s second largest)

We visited a thermal area with geysers. It was interesting, but much less colorful and dynamic than Yellowstone.

pxl_20240707_1404389852 — Geysir thermal area

pxl_20240707_1441256122 — Alpine cinquefoil

pxl_20240707_1608387702 — View downstream

pxl_20240707_1627338612 — Pasta Jay has to remove a shoe to get back!

pxl_20240707_1937358262 — Eight-petal mountain avens (Iceland’s national flower)

pxl_20240707_193905566 — Way more of these than people here!

Everyone was really tired, but as we neared Stykkishólmur, we pulled over to look at a mountain lake. And what Pasta Jay and I found was astonishingly beautiful.

pxl_20240707_1940097152 — Hey, what’s over here?

pxl_20240707_194142300 — The trail goes all the way behind!

pxl_20240707_1942492312 — Northern field bittercress

The next day Double Sub was sick and had to stay behind while we toured Snæfellsjökull National Park.

pxl_20240708_0944140552 — Alpine mouse-ear

pxl_20240708_0950491482 — Half Cookie climbs to the falls

pxl_20240708_0952462802 — Pasta Jay gets a close look

pxl_20240708_0959441732 — Rock speedwell

pxl_20240708_1000466492 — Heading back down

We stopped at Djúpalónssandur beach, where ancient sailors were apparently entertained by rocks.

pxl_20240708_1112288572 — The balmy North Atlantic

pxl_20240708_111429285 — Common sea star

pxl_20240708_1123016382 — Vast lava rock fields covered with moss

pxl_20240708_1123304262 — Wooly fringe-moss

pxl_20240708_1129554722 — A structure several hundred years old used by fishermen

pxl_20240708_1133299022 — Walking on the bluffs

pxl_20240708_1136374132 — A tasty lagoon

pxl_20240708_1144355622 — Wait, what are you doing?

pxl_20240708_1144598872 — That’s cold on the umlauts!

pxl_20240708_1145451172 — So this is how the passengers of the Titanic felt….

pxl_20240708_1220571632 — Heath bedstraw

pxl_20240708_1509090392 — As seen in Game of Thrones

Back in Stykkishólmur, we found Double Sub recuperating.

Pasta Jay and I climbed to a lighthouse above the town.

pxl_20240709_0829427752 — Garden angelica

pxl_20240709_0830408882 — Súgandisey Island Lighthouse

pxl_20240709_083355065 — View back towards town

pxl_20240709_0836007512 — Long way down!

pxl_20240709_0843252132 — Northern field bittercress

pxl_20240709_1023194752 — Eight-petal mountain avens

The next day was a long but beautiful drive on dirt and paved roads to Bíldudalur.

pxl_20240709_1025083792 — What do you see Pasta Jay?

pxl_20240709_1026205612 — What’s so funny?

pxl_20240709_1026574192 — Snæfellsnesvegur Foss

pxl_20240709_102558865.mp_ — Sea Campion (Half Cookie’s favotite!)

pxl_20240709_1034573142 — Hairy stonecrop

pxl_20240709_1111212652 — Skaistā kalnu upe

pxl_20240709_1155140852 — Drifandagil Waterfall

pxl_20240709_1159168882 — The lower falls

pxl_20240709_1204371182 — The upper falls

pxl_20240709_1222006042 — Fountain apple-moss

pxl_20240709_1222514532 — Purple saxifrage

pxl_20240709_1224463402 — Rock speedwell

pxl_20240709_1442259882 — The Steinwächter

The highlight of the day was a free sea-side hot spring at Reykjarfjörður. Even though there was a cold wind and it was raining a bit, we still loved it!

pxl_20240709_152938241.mp_ — And some natural pools above

We arrived at Bíldudalur in time to see the main reason for coming: The Icelandic Sea Monster Museum!

pxl_20240709_1655420932 — Cool exhibit on monster stories in the Westfjords

pxl_20240709_1658505382 — Shiver me timbers

The next day it was supposed to rain hard all day, so we left Bíldudalur a day early and headed for Akureyri. On the way we stopped in Hólmavík to visit another cool place, the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft!

pxl_20240710_1343565752 — Icelandic runes

We also stopped at Kolugljúfur Canyon.

pxl_20240710_1652186202 — View from the bridge

pxl_20240710_1658556202 — And from the brink

For a rich country, Iceland has an extreme lack of public bathrooms. We learned early on that we were on our own, and it was sometimes hard to find a place that was both accessible and not in public view on the vast treeless expanses.

pxl_20240710_1704518852 — Half Cookie and Pasta Jay on the distant ridgeline, looking for a place to pee

pxl_20240711_132457737 — This guy hasn’t peed in years

The next day we spent in Akureyri, Iceland’s largest city outside the Reykjavík area. We went to the botanical gardens, where they had a lovely cafe.

Later in the day I went to the public swimming pool in Akureyri. It was wonderful! A sauna, steambath, and 5 different hot pools, each at a different temperature. And did I mention the water slides?

The next day Half Cookie had Double Sub’s cold, so she had to take a day off. The rest of us drove the “Diamond Circle” to Lake Myvatn and Húsavík. It was our windiest day in Iceland, with sustained breezes of 30 miles an hour!

pxl_20240712_115721371 — King of the falls!

pxl_20240712_1339497912 — Dimmuborgir lava field

pxl_20240712_1354544532 — Grjótagjá (also as seen in Game of Thrones)

The thermal area past Lake Myvatn was much more extensive and interesting than the Geysir thermal area near Reykjavík. It was also extremely smelly - I had to fight nausea the whole time while being buffeted by winds laden with sulfuric acid.