Cousin Iceland Adventure 2018: Day 4 and 5

Day 4:

The sun graced us with its presence for all of Day 4. We were treated to amazing views as we drove north through the East Fjords. We made lots of stops along the way to take pictures and enjoy the amazingly warm and sunny weather.

Maddy introducing herself to the Icelandic horses

We arrived in Fáskruðsfjörður around mid afternoon and were greeted by our hosts, Bogga and Elvar, and their son Stefán Alex. I had recently seen them when they had come to visit in Minnesota a few weeks ago, but was just as excited to see them now on their home turf. We plan to stay with them until Thursday morning when we start our drive back toward the Reykjavik area. The afternoon remained hot and sunny so we sat outside on the deck and chatted for awhile before deciding to do some pre-dinner exploring. Bogga, Elvar, Maddy and I loaded ourselves into the car, a special waterfall our destination. 

After visiting the waterfall and little cave underneath it we drove around the fjord to the north to see one of the old family farms and the gorgeous land surrounding it. We found some more waterfalls near the road and stopped to walk around them for awhile. 

We had a great dinner of grilled hotdogs and hamburgers, which was a perfect fit for the weather. Maddy and I were tired from traveling, but not too tired to go to the shop with Bogga for some ice cream before bed.

Day 5: 

This morning the weather was very different than yesterday. It was a perfect morning to burrow under the quilt and avoid the foggy, chilly weather outside. We were in no particular hurry to get up and go anywhere. We did make it out of the house before noon, but just barely. Maddy and I drove down to one of the local galleries where she bought a beautiful lopapeysa (wool sweater). Later in the afternoon Bogga hosted some cousins at her house for a coffee and cake party. There were little boys everywhere making lots of noise and chasing balloons around. I set myself down in the middle of the chaos and made some new friends. 

By the time the coffee party ended the weather had cleared up a little so Bogga, Elvar, Maddy and I went to Kirjuboli, where our great-grandfather lived and worked before he left Iceland for North America.  It's a beautiful spot inside the fjord, and it was very special to be able to bring Maddy there. 

Maddy at one of our ancestral farm sites- Kirkuboli

Maddy and I took a late evening walk in the mountains behind Bogga and Elvar's house and soaked up the beautiful views.

Tomorrow the plan is to take a little day trip to Seydisfjörður.

Cousin Iceland Adventure 2018: Days 2 & 3

Maddy and I have been very busy, adventuring hither and yon. So busy in fact that I haven't had any time do write down the saga of days 2 and 3. Let's begin...


Day 2:
Yesterday we woke early to the pitter patter of a steady rain outside our window. It was going to be an indoor museum sort of day by the looks of things. In order to have enough energy to educate ourselves at the National Museum of Iceland http://www.thjodminjasafn.is/english/ we first stopped at Brauð & Co. for pastries, skyr, and chocolate milk. We scarfed down the crumbly breakfast in the car since it wasn't exactly stroll around and eat croissants on the street weather.

The museum didn't open until 10am so we made an unplanned stop at the coffee shop where Erin works to say hello. Maddy enjoyed a fancy cup of hot chocolate and introduced herself to several of the wooden sculptures that live in the coffee shop.

The museum was a great way to spend a rainy morning. We were there for several hours, reading about the history of Iceland and interacting with the various exhibits. Our favorite parts were the children's dress-up area and the craft corner.

They had an exhibit on fancy side saddles that women used to use.

For lunch we HAD to go to Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur http://www.bbp.is/ for a classic Icelandic hotdog. We waited in line with the hoards of tourists eager to try the famous dish. "Bill Clinton ate here once," people inform each other. "It's been on my bucket list for ages," one woman informs her husband. We all scowl as a group of either very ballsy or extremely ignorant people cut right to the front of the line and order. "I hope they give you a bad one," I think, sending them some serious passive aggressive vibes. Maddy and I finally arrive at the front of the line and get our lunch, enjoying the messy delicacy. The opportunistic birds nearby were thrilled with my messy eating.

Kolaportið was next on the agenda. We met up with Selma (a cousin) and voila, Maddy met her first Icelandic family member, however distant she may be.  At Kolaportið Maddy also has the opportunity to taste hákarl (rotten shark). Good thing there was lots of nearby candy to help her wash it down. *See video below*

We did a little souvenir shopping and walked around the rainy downtown for awhile. Maddy made a friend with a local kitty who was spending his afternoon curled up in a shop window on a pricy wool blanket. What a life.

Maddy with Jon S.

Maddy had a long nap in the afternoon while I visited with Asta Sol and her little boys, and then we went to the food hall at Hlemmur http://www.hlemmurmatholl.is/english/ for a late dinner with Erin. 

The sun actually started to shine while we sat inside eating, so Maddy and I took advantage of the nice evening and visited the hot pot at Grótta AND later took a dip in the hot tub on the roof of our Airbnb. Now we both plan to buy homes in Iceland and have extra large hot tubs of our very own. 

Warm toes at Grotta

10pm or so

Maddy at Hallgrimskirkja with her pal Leifur E.

Day 3:

Today was another whirlwind. We hit the road just after 8:30 and began the drive along the south coast. Our first stop was in Hveragerði at the Geothermal park. We had read that you can actually boil an egg in the hot springs there and we were determined to try it. We followed the advice to boil the eggs for 10 minutes, but they were still a little undercooked. Totally worth the low cost of admission and price per egg. Kitschy, but fun.

(Mostly) cooked eggs

Skogafoss offered less kitsch and more awe. This waterfall really is a thing of beauty. The first sight of it actually made Maddy gasp. She's pretty quiet, so it can be a little hard to know what exactly she is thinking about different things that we have done. I think this particular stop was a home run. After we both checked out the waterfall up close, Maddy made the long climb all the way up the steps on the side of the falls while I waited in line for the bathroom and then waited in the warm car for her to come back down.

I am apparently not managing my time well enough tonight... It's getting late and I'm quickly running out of energy, so the following is a summary of the rest of today's adventures in picture form. Tomorrow we seek more adventure in the East Fjords and will arrive at Bogga and Elvar's house where we will stay for a couple of nights.

Skogafoss

Spiderman was also visiting Skogafoss today.

I'm teaching Maddy the fine art of Icelandic road trip
peanut butter & jelly sandwich making (and enjoying)

Reynisfjara black sand beach

Windy stop overlooking the glaciers

Jökulsárlón selfie

Lobster soup in Höfn

We ended the day by checking into our guesthouse and then driving into Höfn to have some lobster soup and explore the harbor area. It was a truly lovely day.

Cousin Iceland Adventure 2018: Day 1

Day 1:

I picked Maddy up at the airport in Keflavik at the crack of dawn. I mean... I guess there is no actual crack of dawn here at this time of year in the land of the midnight sun... My point is that it was very early.  Too early. I considered (only very briefly) calling her a taxi and having them deliver her to me so I could sleep an extra couple of hours. I'm not willing to part with any of my internal organs though, which is roughly what a cab from the airport would cost here. Maddy is the 16 (almost 17) year old daughter of my cousin Jackie. She lives near San Francisco and as of today I have met her exactly three times. The first time we met she was about 8 months old and I was 14 or 15. The second time was last April when I visited her family in California. Maddy is very enthusiastic about Iceland and I'm so excited to get to introduce her to the country and to some of our Icelandic relatives. We are going to spend a full week exploring Reykjavik, the south coast, and the East Fjords in a whirlwind tour before she has to return to California next Friday.

Today as soon as I picked Maddy up we headed to the Blue Lagoon. This is a great way to freshen up and feel relaxed after having been on an airplane for 8+ hours. Or, in my case, having woken up grouchy at 5:30 in the morning. The last time I was at the Blue Lagoon was with my Snorri group in 2011. I remember having a quick evening visit and doing some wading around in the Lagoon, but the memory is murky. I was happy to go back today and see everything again. It is super touristy and busy, but don't that stop you from checking it out. With the amazing blue color of the water contrasting with the black of the lava rocks, and the steam rising up, it is sort of magical. We enjoyed smoothies from the swim up bar and applied the complementary silica mud masks to our faces as we lounged around the lagoon. Maddy really enjoyed it, saying that she could happily live in the lagoon, mermaid style.

We drove south to Grindavík and stopped for a quick lunch. Maddy shares my affinity for gas station tuna fish sandwiches, so I think we are going to get along very well on this road trip. I wanted to show her Seltún, which is a goethermal area on the Reykjanes peninsula, and some spots along the shores of nearby Kleifarvatn as well. I missed a turn and we ended up going a little farther than necessary, but we ended up seeing a cool church called Strandarkirkja because of the error, so it was okay.

Maddy took a quick power nap on the drive to Seltún. She hadn't slept much on the plane and her energy was flagging after so many sleepless hours of travel. She perked up for a little walk around the bubbling, sulphuric landscape. We managed a quick hike up the steep side of the little mountain. As always, climbing down is way worse than climbing up. I did my old lady shuffle all the way down after we enjoyed the view, wishing I had worn my super grippy hiking boots rather than my slippery soled tennis shoes.

Maddy at Seltún

Edging our way back down the hill.

Maddy at Kleifarvatn.
Not pictured: Me in the background, shrieking, "Don't go any closer to the edge!"

Maddy and I both napped once we checked into our Airbnb in Reykjavik. I only let myself sleep for about 45 minutes, but Maddy got in a couple hours. I felt like a real villain making her wake up so we could walk around for awhile in the late afternoon, but I wanted to make sure she would sleep tonight and get on a normal sleep schedule for the rest of our trip. By the time we finished our early dinner (delicious plökkfiskur for her and the "fish of the day" for me) at Cafe Loki she was mostly awake. We took a brief walk down to the shore near Harpa and the Sólfar statue to look around and then made a very necessary stop at Valdís for ice cream cones on the way back to the hotel. Once we reached the room I think Maddy was asleep before I even had my shoes off. She will be well rested for a day of adventuring and exploring more of Reykjavik tomorrow!