This is an origin story.
Remember that time we traveled around the globe for our honeymoon? Flash back to 2015, we were newly weds and full ideas. Our original plan was to go to Amsterdam when we learned of IcelandAir’s extended layover – you can stop over in Iceland for up to 7 days at no additional flight cost to your original ticket. Iceland seemed like a fun adventure so we decided “why not”. The plan proceeded to escalate as our plans often do, but more to come on that in future posts.
How not to start off
The red-eye flight might not have been so bad if the heat on the plane wasn’t broken on high, and the guy beside Sarah took off his shoes, and socks and rested his bare foot on her, but we land in Iceland without incident. That is until we tried to find our rental car. We booked the rental car from the same guy who we booked our cabin through. He gave instructions as to where we could pick up the car when we arrived at the airport. Seemed simple, pick up keys from the counter, and head to the North parking lot. It’s about 5:00 am, we are sleep deprived, it’s pitch black and snowing sideways. We have no idea which way the North parking lot is. Oh man that sucked. After freezing and wandering around the airport parking lot like a bunch of noobs for what seemed like forever we finally find our car and head to Reykjavik to pick up our cabin keys. Staying on theme with wandering aimlessly, when find the address to pick up the keys the guy informed us that left them at his girlfriends place and told us to follow him in his car around the side streets of Reykjavik, not that Reykjavik has sketchy areas. We didn’t get abducted or mugged. On to the hotel for some sleep. Iceland has a Christmas tradition with Yule Lads. We were greeted with treats and a letter detailing that on December 17 Askasleikir – Bowl-Licker – hides under beds waiting for someone to put down their “askur” (a type of bowl with a lid used instead of dishes), which he then steals and licks clean.
After a very early morning class at Crossfit Reykjavik we walked around Reykjavik for the day followed by an evening tour of the Olgerdin brewery where we learned about the prohibition of beer until 1989, which explains Brennivin or black death.
In true Berrison fashion we rented a cabin in the woods, (Iceland doesn’t really have woods, but it was in the middle of nowhere). The drive out of the city and to the wilderness was breathtaking.
Another thing we learned is to check the GPS settings before setting out. Ours was set to “most direct route” which translated to a back road adventure that would make ice-road truckers proud. To her credit Sarah did a great job guiding us over the iciest, most winding mountain road, (there were no other cars on it, and it was closed to traffic shortly after we started down it) it was a skating rink. (Side note, the route we should have taken was Highway 1 – the Ring Road – it’s their main road so it is clear and easily to drive).
Once we found our way to our cabin we had to to scale the icy hill, as the car couldn’t make it up even with 4×4 and studded tires. Thank Odin for the Costco crampons #lifesavers. We were truly in the middle of nowhere, we could only see about 7 houses and only 1 with lights on.
Once settled in we hydrated with some Icelandic brews we fell into a deep slumber for about 13 hours. It was so quiet and cozy we slept until noon the next day. At that time of year the sun doesn’t rise until about 11:00, even then it’s only light out for about 3 hours. We ended up wandering around Selfoss that day and had dessert for lunch because Iceland prices…$$$
Adventure time! Being in Iceland we figured we should see some ice. We booked an excursion to hike on the Solheimajokull glacier and do a bit of ice climbing. The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull left piles of fine black ash all over the glacier. Zig-zagging across the glacier, we were careful not to step on the snow as the snow drifts tend to hide deep crevasses in the ice.
The ice climbing was fun although the basic crampons made it difficult but I did manage to ring the bell at the top, only about a 20 foot climb, the ice was chippy and very blue. Sarah did great too, must be those Nordic genetics. After a stop at Skógafoss Waterfall we enjoyed a soak in the geothermal hot tub under the stars.
We had plans of visiting Vik and its black sand beach but the way was shut due to weather. On to the Blue Lagoon! It’s a pretty mystical place with steam rising from its milky blue water in a setting surrounded by volcanic rocks. After a long trip of exploring, you’re wading through this beautiful, blue water, you have a mud mask on your face, maybe a drink in your hand, the water is warm, it’s very serene and peaceful. Yeah, it’s expensive. Yeah, it’s busy, but it is a really unique experience. It’s a tourist trap but I’m glad we did it but wouldn’t go again.
As you may have seen in our other Iceland posts, we went back because 5 days in the winter just wasn’t enough.
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Amazing!