Marching band Family Night

Shortly before school started the March Band invited families to see what they had been learning all summer. We all went to see Ali and took this photo that is my new favorite of our family.

Last Day

Much of our last day in Iceland was taken up by retracing our steps and driving back up along the coast to Reykjavik. We still hadn't spent any time in the capital, so when we got there we took a walking tour of the downtown area (thanks Rick Steves for all your great walking tours!). 

They had several statues with interesting stories. This statue of Iceland's first female member of parliament calls into focus Iceland's history of upholding women's rights; in 1980 they were the first modern democratic nation to elect a female head of state. It also reminds them of the time when in 1975 90% of Icelandic women went on strike to drive home their importance to society. The story goes that the country ground to a halt and the men learned their lesson after just one day.

Skolavoroustigur Street is a fun pedestrian road in the middle of downtown.

I wasn't too interested in seeing Reykjavic's main church (I've seen a lot of old churches, and buildings wasn't why I was going to see Iceland), but then I saw pictures of it- so unique! It was made to look like the basalt columns we saw examples of on our trip, and apparently, at some times of the year, the sun shines in through those top windows, lighting up the whole thing like a candle! It was worth seeing.

I thought this Viking ship sculpture on the water's edge was cool!

The food in Iceland is really expensive, and they're not really known for their cuisine, so Jason and I mostly ate food we bought at grocery stores. We were sure to have the couple of things they are known for: lamb soup and-get this- hotdogs. We had a hotdog with the works as our last dinner in Iceland, and we were actually pleasantly surprised; they were so good! (Those two and the fries were also $50!)

The next morning we headed home, grateful to have seen such a beautiful place. Iceland lived up to Jason's hopes, and may even be his favorite place we have ever visited (or at least the one he would go back to if he could)! I may have started the planning of this trip with lukewarm excitement, but once I got there it was easy to see what the hype was all about. Iceland is truly a beautiful natural wonder.

Day 5 More South Coast

Day five was another beautiful, sunny day. We started with a couple-mile hike to Svartifoss which was, yes, another waterfall (you may have gathered at this point that "foss" means waterfall). We had perfected our tandem hiking technique by this point: if we could walk side-by-side I held onto Jason's arm with my right arm or, if the trail was too narrow, I would hold onto a convenient strap on his backpack and used my walking stick with my left hand. There was something kind of sweet about the slow, paired walking we did on this trip; it seemed to almost foreshadow our old age yet to come. It also meant that we got to really experience everywhere we went; I think we would have done everything much faster if I hadn't been hurt and that would have just meant more time in our very sparse hotel rooms at night. Our way was better!

What set Svartifoss apart was its basalt column backdrop; so lovely and different!

The next stop was probably the one I had been looking forward to the most: Diamond Beach. It did not disappoint! It was another sunny day with made the pieces of iceberg that had washed up onto the black sand beach shine and sparkle so wonderfully! We spent quite a long time walking along the beach and trying to take pictures to capture the beauty.

Then we went across the road to Jokulsarlon Iceberg Lagoon. It was amazing; so much prettier than we even expected it to be! It was our last stop of the day, and so we decided to hang out till the sun went down. The longer we were there, it became less crowded and so peaceful. We found some rocks to sit on at the water's edge and truly enjoyed our time. We saw a seal swimming around, heard and saw a few icebergs split into smaller (but still huge) pieces, and marveled at the clear water and stunning icebergs.

Diamond Beach and Jokulsarlon were two more highlights of the trip for me. 

Day 4 Southeast Iceland

Our fourth day was busy with lots of stops, our first being Seljalandsfoss. We saw lots of waterfalls in Iceland, but this was the only one that we got to go behind. This site made me grateful that so many sites on our trip had semi-paved walking trails because this hike, where the trail was totally natural, was really hard for me to do. We were also extra grateful for our rainjackets because we got soaked when the wind kicked up as we (very slowly) made our way out from behind the falls.

A short walk beyond Seljalandsfoss was another waterfall, Gljufrabui, tucked back through a ravine. It looked a little beyond my abilities, so I sent Jason along to see it while I basked in the lovely warm sun.

We were especially grateful for the sunny day when we showed up to Skogafoss. It is almost 200 feet tall, and it looked stunning with the bright blue sky behind it and a perfect rainbow in front! 

We climbed all 527 steps to get to the top. We were slow and stepped to the side to let people pass us a few times, but I'm glad we did it!

We walked upriver for a bit enjoying the views. 

Next, we stopped at Solheimajokull Glacier. We walked about 15 minutes from the parking lot, and it was still pretty far beyond where we stopped. The shifting, rocky trail made us (me) decide to just view it from a distance. It is crazy to realize that a generation ago, the parking lot was at the edge of the glacier; it is losing about 200 feet of length and 30-60 feet of thickness each year. Yikes! It was on this day at another glacier near here that a tourist died when part of their glacier caved in. It was one of the few times on this trip that we wondered if my ankle injury and the limits it imposed upon us may have actually saved us from greater injury or worse.

We continued on to Dyrholaey promontory and loved the views from up high of its beautiful black sand and interesting rock outcroppings. 

Even better was the nearby Reynisfjara with its black pebble beach and basalt formations. It was stunningly pretty, but apparently very dangerous and known for its sneaker waves and strong undertow; no one was in the water and we all stayed well away from the shoreline (this being one of many ways Iceland can kill you, according to an "I'm kind of joking, but not really" article Jason read before we left). 

This beach was one of my favorite things we saw in Iceland. I could have stayed there all day.

Day 3: Westman Islands

Our third day was one of my favorite days of our trip. We took our car on a 45-minute ferry ride to the Westman Islands off the South Coast of Iceland. These are a group of 15 Islands, all of which are uninhabited except for the biggest one called Heimaey. 

The Island has an interesting history: in 1973 the Volcano Eldfell erupted, covering most of the island with ash and lava, in some parts 50 feet deep. By the time the eruption was over, it had destroyed over 400 homes, but it also added another square mile of land to the island! Luckily, they had enough warning to get everyone off the island, so it doesn't have a sad feel. You can walk along the lava field and see street signs that mark the old streets and plaques that mark old buildings all of which are now 50 feet below you!  

Around town, there are these "Ash Poles" that mark how high the ash got in that particular area. We also loved seeing a new monument honoring the 50-ish ship captains who helped with the evacuation efforts, making sure every resident got off the island before the eruption. 

There are a couple of houses in town that were partially covered in lava and left as monuments to the destruction.

Another day, another volcano. This was one hike we had to cut short because of my ankle; the shifting lava rock was too hard for me to walk on. We made it about a third of the way up and then called it good.

The biggest draw for tourists to The Westman Islands is the puffins. Puffins actually live most of their lives far out at sea. We learned that these cute little birds can actually dive to depths of 200 feet to catch their prey! They come back to the same nesting place each summer to mate, nest, and care for their babies. Between 8-10 million puffins come to Iceland every year. They mate for life (though they don't usually spend time at sea with their mates) and both care for their chicks. 

Before we went to the islands, we read that often the puffin chicks get confused by the city lights at night and fly into the city. They can't fly far and so then get stuck in town, so the island children catch them, keep them at home in cardboard boxes overnight, and then release them back out to sea the next day. We originally thought, "Oh, that's a cute story, but probably isn't something that really happens that often." We hadn't been on the island long when we saw a mom and three darling blond Icelandic girls holding a box and walking to a ledge overlooking the sea. Wondering if we could possibly be so lucky to see what we'd read about, we inched closer. We didn't speak their language, but it was so clear what was being said: "Ok, pick them up like this" "Eek! I can't it's flapping too much!" "Ok, I'll show you with this one." And so on.

And then we watched the mom throw one out to sea and loved hearing the little girls squeal in delight. When I realized there were more chicks in the box I asked the mom if I could record the girls, and she gave me permission. The video I took was one of our favorites from the whole trip! We took the screenshot below, but the video is even better!

Throughout the day we saw several more groups releasing puffin chicks out to sea, but none were quite as cute or pleased with the process as those first little girls. 

After doing a walking tour of the town, we spent a lot of time just sitting and enjoying the views. It was so pretty and peaceful. It was also the first sunny day of our trip and we really enjoyed the beautiful weather.

See the tractor?!

These sheep came to see us but lost interest once they realized we weren't going to feed them.

We came back out to see the sunset, and it was worth the trip! Such stunning views.

We were so glad to have spent a day in the Westman Islands!