Picked up our rental car at 8 AM this morning. With the exception of water and electricity, everything else is very expensive in Iceland A 24 hour rental, including insurance was 31,265 ISK (~$225.99 USD).
Our first stop was Oxarafoss, a large, powerful, magnificent waterfall.
(Glenn's favorite part of this stip was the waterfall. I enjoyed walking through the rocks. - Angie)
Don't worry. We didn't get one of the SadCars. We have a very nice Mitsubishi Eclipse hybrid which can run all on electricity, although we'll be mainly utilizing the fuel option since there aren't electrical charging stations where we'll be driving today.
Iceland drives on the right so no adjustment needed from driving in the United States. Although I was prepared to summon the left-hand powers I used in Tasmania.
After visiting the magnificent waterfall named Oxarafoss in the Thingvellir National Park, we made a 40 minute drive to Hvammsvik which is a hot springs. Whereas the Blue Lagoon was located next to a thermal energy plant, Hvammsvik is located next to a fjord named Hvalfjordur. Quite a difference in scenery. It was an amazing drive into the area and even more beautiful as we got out of the car and walked towards the springs.
The springs have been here in some form since 1187. There are eight geothermal pools ranging in temperature from 37° - 40°. We tried almost all of them but not the hottest one. There is even a pool bar. And two of the pools are at the edge of the fjord and "disappear" at high tide.
After relaxing for a couple of hours, we decided it would be a good spot for lunch. One thing we learned driving in this area is there is not a lot of infrastructure outside of the large cities. You better have a full tank of gas, bring bottled water and some snacks. You won't be finding any Buc-ees, Cracker Barrels or a 7-11.
Lunch was at Stormur which is derived from the Norse word stormr which means to swirl or move around. Seems appropriate for this place. We shared a delicious baked brie which had walnuts and blueberries along with fresh sourdough bread. And then both had an open-faced shrimp salad sandwich on that same bread.
It was such a simple and delicious sandwich. Just so many salad shrimp topped with a spicy mayo and pea tendrils. And that squeeze of lemon added a nice balance of citrus. We ended up staying almost four hours at Hvammsvik. Such a great place. While I enjoyed the Blue Lagoon, this place was more to my liking. How can you not like relaxing in a thermal pool while gazing into a fjord?
We then started driving to our next destination. The town of Geysir. Any guesses about the main attraction? Neither Angie or I had ever seen a geyser so it was quite surprising as we walked up and saw all the people with their cameras pointed at a steaming area of the earth. This one is named Strokkur which loosely translates to "the churn". What would be happening? Then ten seconds later, it did happen!! Caught us both by surprise. Do geysers erupt? Do they spout? Do they "geys"? Whatever they do, this one does it about every six to ten minutes. It was pretty spectacular.
We walked around the area and there were small streams off water runoff from the geyser. Make sure you know the difference between C and F.
About ten minutes away was our next destination called Guillfoss. Just as any name in Iceland with "fjordur" at the end is a fjord, anything with "foss" at the end is a waterfall. And this "foss" was magnificent. Really two or three waterfalls all at once. Massive amounts of water. I just stood and stared. I've been to Niagara Falls but have to say this was much more impressive. They don't have a "Maid of the Mist", but you really feel the power of this giant, even standing so far away.
Our next destination was the Kerid Crater which was about 45 minutes from Guillfoss. This is a volcanic Crater formed about 6500 years ago. It's 270m long, 170m wide and 55m deep. In the winter months, the pool of water at the bottom will freeze. Many people were hiking to the ridge and walking around.
After the crater, it was time to make the hour drive back to Reykjavik. We got to the rental at location, dropped off our car and the got a taxi back to the hotel. After dropping off our stuff in the room, it was time for dinner. Directly across the street was the Reykjavik Kitchen. Sounded perfect after a long day of driving. We shared the most delicious coffee cured salmon starter. Lightly cured salmon with just a hint of coffee, in a pool of a wonderfully citrusy mandarin sauce along with marscapone and honeydew melon. And what initially looked like crumble bacon, was actually toasted oats with chili flakes. What a clever way to add some crunch.
The definite star of the night was the black pasta. This was a squid ink tagliolini. Tagliolini is a ribbon-like pasta, a bit thinner than fettuccine. Perfectly cooked pasta. And it was served with a delicious piece of pan fried cod along with shrimp and a few scallops. And the sauce. It's always all about the sauce. It had this velvety cream sauce that could (should) be a dish to itself, served with some crusty bread. It had a delicious "taste of the sea" brininess along with some citrusy notes. And hints of the spices from Old Bay Seasoning. The kind of sauce where you just have to keep going back for more. Without question, the best pasta dish I have ever had.
After dinner we headed back to the room. What an amazing day of adventure! On Wednesday Angie's parents will be landing at KEF about 8:30 AM local time (three hours from when I am posting this). They should be at the hotel by 10 AM after clearing immigration. Tomorrow we'll start another part of the adventure.
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