Tag: iceland

Iceland’s Ring Road – Vik 1.0

by ginnyinshanghai

We are starting our journey around the Ring Road in Iceland, Road 1. I was still thrown off my sleep pattern so when I woke up at 6am their time, I went for a walk to one of their most recognized spots – Hallgrimskirkja Church. Just don’t ask me to pronounce it.

While our hotel had a buffet breakfast, I had read about a local bakery that was fantastic and walked to find it. I did! BRAUD & Co (translation Bread & company) Ha!

Their organic sourdough breads are made on-site and are at the opposite end of the commercial ones found elsewhere. Pastries are made with local high-fat butter and they are known for their cinnamon rolls, having a number of flavors. Yes, I got one, the traditional cinnamon roll. Yum.

They opened their doors in March 2016 and immediately sprung to the top of artisanal baking in Reykjavik guided by their Danish owner, baker & pastry-maker, Agust Einporsson. Since I found my destination, I’m ready to start driving. Let’s go find Eric at the hotel!

Any trip around the ring road has to have a starting point and the Sun Voyager sculpture was ours. The artwork is located straight down from the city center, along the bay. The temps weren’t too bad for a quick photo, especially with the sun shining. 🙂

We were driving counterclockwise and Ohhhh, the traffic. Now let’s be real…….we were in morning rush-hour traffic in the city early on, but very quickly this became our norm. There are a few tiny cars to the right of my photo below.

I mentioned the temps, what were they mid-morning? Not bad for Iceland in May.

Our first destination was……..Seljalandsfoss Falls.

The wind and spray were blowing quite a bit. Most visitors purchase some type of rain gear or poncho for their Iceland visit. Not us.

This waterfall was known for the ability to walk behind the waterfalls. We started to, then stopped. No sense in starting this trip with a twisted ankle from the (very) slippery rocks.

Here’s a short clip. The little spots of color behind the water – people.

If time allows for a 30-minute side trip, there was a small waterfall within a cave which needless to say not all visit since depending upon the water depth, you could be trekking through the stream. I did not visit Gljufrabui on my first trip, so it was my goal if possible. This waterfall is much smaller, drops into a hollow within the rock and then exits as a stream under a tall, narrow, natural archway. Did it and not too wet! Yeah!

Here is another short video clip from that waterfall.

Eric really wanted to make it, truly was a bit nervous about my intended goal and yes, he did it also. It was pretty tight and basically you had to wait to enter/exit when the rocky path was clear of other adventuresome souls.

For those not wanting to make the adventure trek, parts of the waterfall could be seen from outside.

Walking back to the car one of the side streams had these vivid yellow flowers. You know me and flowers – they pull me. 🙂

Our destination for that evening was Vik, pronounced ‘Veek’. This part of the ring road has quite a number of stops. I ultimately decided to break this post down into two parts otherwise it would be realllllly long.

As you might expect from the deserted road seen above in one of my shots, eating establishments were not plentiful. They exist, but you have to hunt them down. Gas stations have filled this void with local cafes that have been quite good. Such was the case for lunch today.

Eric started with a bowl of mushroom soup (he let me dunk some delicious bread to taste it – oops no photo) and I ordered the fish & chips. It was a big hunk of fish – cod I think. Plenty of fish and chips to share, which was the plan!

There was one advantage (for me only) by renting a car………………I can sample the Icelandic beers – Eric cannot since he’s driving. Sorry hon. This was a nice lager to accompany my meal.

Driving the ring road, lends itself to some interesting sites – like this land-locked boat. I’m sure there was a story, but it was on private property and no info seen nearby.

Then you have the bra-fence. Actually, when googling it there’s a number of them around the world. Who knew? Eric asked if I had one to add to the collection. Not with me, but dang, I had some at home that I could have contributed.

Then we came across this wooden fence where another vehicle had stopped – so we stopped: Steinahellir Cave:

For centuries this cave was used by farmers to house sheep. In the early 1800s it became the areas’ parliamentary assembly site. The cave is believed to be a naturally occurring feature but deepened and broadened over time with human intervention. There are many stories of supernatural happenings and enchantments connected with this cave. I peeked inside the doorway.

One tale warns not to pick the enchanted ferns in the cave or bad luck will befall anyone who does. Good thing I only got a photo!

There were still a number of sites we visited prior to getting into Vik. Hence, I made these two posts.

Ginny

The Anniversary in Iceland

by ginnyinshanghai

I alluded to it earlier, we were here for a special anniversary milestone – 30 years. WOW!

Never crossed my mind 30 years ago that we would be celebrating this together, in Iceland – but here we are. 🙂

Our restaurant of choice for our anniversary meal is TIDES, part of the Edition Hotel, one of Reykjavik’s newest. On our last visit in 2019, it was still under construction.

Their guiding principle is to serve the best seafood from the pristine waters of Iceland,along with locally-sourced meat and ingredients. All was cooked to perfection on their Josper charcoal grill – smoke being their specialty. Josper? What is a Josper charcoal grill you ask?

Had to search the internet. Josper was born in 1969 in Barcelona when innovative technology and tradition joined hands. With over 40,000 clients, their grills are the perfect partner for the most demanding chefs wanting high quality grilling over charcoal. There you have it. No idea what model was being used here in this restaurant but I found some stock photos. As you might imagine there are a number of models and price points.

Let’s get back to the food………

Wine and a cocktail started the meal. White wine for me. No, I didn’t drink the entire bottle, just one glass.

Eric’s cocktail was the first introduction to ‘smoke’, their signature cocktail ‘Ice & Fire’.

It contained gin, honey, ginger, lime and bitters, oh yeah, and smoke. Eric said it went down very smooth. I had a sip, not bad.

Since he was getting lamb, he ordered red wine for his meal.

Bread followed our drinks, getting us ready for the meal. Very tasty cheese popovers (?) with salt-topped Icelandic butter.

We ordered a starter, Mediterranean Tuna Crudo: tuna with blueberries, orange puree, sunchokes, coconut-almond leche de tigre. Quite frankly I was a little skeptical when I saw it on the menu. Boy was I wrong. We were both reaching for the last morsel.

My selection was the Braised Icelandic Lamb Gnocchi: potato gnocchi, braised lamb sauce, roasted tomatoes and Feykir cheese. It was enjoyable, a hearty selection that filled me up quickly.

Eric ordered the North Icelandic Lamb Fillet: lamb with caramelized celeriac puree, pickled burnt shallots and red currant jus. It was great. He shared some of the lamb and that’s the reason I started eating lamb – just saying.

Naturally we had to celebrate with desserts. My selection was the Omnom Chocolate Banoffee: chocolate cake, caramelized bananas, chocolate cream and crunchy coffee phyllo dough. Desserts are always a winner!

If an ice cream option is available, 9 times out of 10, that will be Eric’s selection, and this was one of those times. Berry Sorbet: mixed berries, mint marinated strawberries and roasted chocolate. The berry sorbet had some of the most intense berry flavor than anything we’ve ever tasted. Excellent!

Two young kids, starting a life together in 1994, not know what was going to happen, but going to do it together – hitting the 30 year mark.

Here’s hoping we make it another 30 years. Happy Anniversary hon! Thanks for Iceland. 🙂

Ginny

Iceland’s Sky Lagoon

by ginnyinshanghai

This had been on my list once I heard it was built in 2021. Most visitors stop at The Blue Lagoon for their Icelandic thermal experience. Nothing wrong with that, they’ve built a solid business model – everyone knows about it. Most visitors stop there after landing or before getting on the plane to leave. We are not most visitors. 🙂

As the owners were building they took a holistic approach to sustainability for themselves and when selecting materials and construciton partners. Soaking in warm, healing mineral-rich geothermal water is a beloved Icelandic tradition being a part of most communities. It’s where you meet your neighbors and hear the latest goings-on.

This place is ……..

……..a journey of the senses, powered by the elements. LOVE it!

This was exactly what we needed after the ‘angst’ of getting to Iceland. There are a few different packages that can be booked (a reservation is a must – we had a hard time finding one) with the SKY package being our selection.

This package included private changing & showering, direct stairs to the lagoon and the 7-step Ritual. More on that in a bit. But in case you get stuck on the word private? You might think – huh? Isn’t everything private? Think of your gym class. Yep, locker-type changing rooms, communal locker showers BEFORE putting on your swimsuit and stepping into the lagoon. That is the norm around here. We’ve got no problem with that and have done it in Iceland previously. The only way to get the 7-step Ritual was through the SKY package. But enough of that. Let’s get into the water.

Instant warmth, I’m going to love this. Eric, he’s not the biggest fan of the thermal water, but there are pockets where cooler water prevails – he has to hunt for them, ha!

We haven’t even gotten to the best part yet and it’s heaven.

We went straight for the waterfall. Wellllll, maybe not me.

Time for a bit of refreshment.

And just in case there is some unsafe behavior…

The sea meets the sky at the edge of their infinity pool.

So I mentioned this 7-step Ritual.

With a map included below. All of my photos thus far are part of number 1, the lagoon, begging your body to slow down.

Number 2 the cold plunge – no way. Heartier souls than me were getting in and getting out extremely fast. Entering this portal started the rest of your Ritual.

Number 3 the Sauna was okay for about 1 minute – maybe.

Jumped into Number 4 the cold mist – just to cool down and man – I needed it. Number 5 the body scrub – undoubtedly the best step for me.

I was able to stay in longer for Number 6, the steam room. but showering off in Number 7 was bittersweet.

You’re done. At this point, Eric was very excited to get back into the main lagoon.

It was time to slowly make our way back to the shower & changing area.

Total time was about 1.5 hours. It was relaxing and everything I wanted it to be. I would definitely do it again!

No lie, was a little shaky getting out. All the relaxing thermal water (and possibly the lack of sleep) had an effect. Stopping at their cafe for a little refreshment did wonders for the body.

Ginny

Iceland 2024

by ginnyinshanghai

We came back!!!!!

We hit another anniversary milestone and I couldn’t believe that Eric offered this option to celebrate the years. I’ve always known I would be going back but had no plans formulated. But even before we left the states, we had some ‘angst’. Really?

We booked our flights on Icelandair, but we had a layover in Boston, with the first leg being served by JetBlue. Okay, no problem, until we couldn’t check-in online and get our boarding passes for the first leg. Okay. We got to Terminal C and the service desk for JetBlue could check us in – but no boarding passes yet. Aarrgghh. Okay, she assured us we had seats, but still had to go to the gate for our seats. Okay. I’m not liking the sound of this but there’s nothing we can do at this point.

Being in Terminal C gave us the chance to try out their new lounge. The bar was on the 4th floor and overlooked the other arriving passengers.

Very nice and obviously very new.

There were a few differences between the one we normally visit in Terminal B. All the drinks and food was complimentary in Terminal B. Here there were comp options and other things had small surcharges. I couldn’t resist ordering these fried cheese sticks – very 1980s – good, hot and tasty.

Okay, got to the gate, got our seats……..the absolute, v.e.r.y last row in the plane. We’re smiling only because we’re on the plane.

Plenty of time for our layover and the next flight was again, v.e.r.y different, luckily in the opposite way. We were some of the first to board and were given an option of prosecco while the remainder were boarding. I’m liking this! Eric stuck with the Icelandic water since he would be driving after landing.

Our flight and temps when we land.

This flight was such a difference. Almost made up for the earlier flight – almost. Eric slept 3+ hours of the 4.5 hour flight. He felt somewhat refreshed, I did not.

Not too often do we walk off the plane onto the tarmac.

Since our bags were carry-on size, no waiting at the baggage claim. We walked outside towards the Blue Car Rental Service area and got our wheels for the next 9 days.

Next up? Storm Hotel in Reykjavik.

Adrienne and I stayed there in 2019 and were quite happy with the location, the accommodations AND the included (help yourself breakfast) before crashing. Similar to the past, we paid for the room the night prior and could instantly get into it.

That extra expense is sooooooo worth it. I would advise anyone coming from the states to do it. All of our American flights get in super early. Our flight was on-time at 5:30am, their time. We got a few bites of breakfast then I got almost 4 hours of sleep before our next adventure. Which I know will be one of the highlights of the trip for me.

Ginny

I’m apologizing in advance………I was so very tired when writing this, I kept going over and over and over everything I wrote. Undoubtedly there are some wrong words used, but I needed to posted.