a travel log : Iceland : post 1/5

This post covers: Hafnarfjordur, Hella, Skogar, Vik, Grimsvotn Volcanic Eruption

This week I'll be writing all about our latest Icelandic adventure.  Enjoy!

 

Our vacation began bright and early.  This is what we left the house with.  2 big bags, 1 carry on suitcase, 1 jam-packed camera bag, backpack/carrier, carry-on bag/big purse, car seat with our kid.  We got dinner at the airport, the baby ate one of the easy complete dinners we brought for the trip.  We saw Gweneth Paltrow while we were waiting.  The baby was not happy from the get-go and we really hoped he'd sleep quickly when we got going.  That was not the case.  It took a long time for him to fall asleep.

I was glad that I brought so many new toys for him to play with including this "necklace" of mine I wore for him to play with.  (He just tried to eat it the whole time.)  I've never flown on an airline where they give the parent a little seat belt for the baby that loops through your own seat belt.  That was pretty cool and it made it easy to hold him.  We flew Icelandair which we are always pleased with.  They give kids a free meal, you just have to call before hand and request it.  Not bad at all.

 

It was a long flight until he finally fell asleep.  So I was happy It was absolutely beautiful as we flew right into the sunrise.  The reflection of the moon was very dreamy as it shown through the clouds on to the ocean.  I was happy there was such a pretty view since I couldn't sleep.  But it was painful how quickly the night and darkness flew by, literally.  We were thrilled to finally be in Iceland, though.    We rented our car from Sixt.  It was great.  We got a car with 27km!

 

As we made our way from the airport to Hafnarfjordur (just outside of Reykjavik), we were already loving the place.  It is all old lava fields.  (We hadn't seen it in the daytime since last time we were there it was at the end of November.)  There were tons of rock "statues", towers of rocks, some look like people.  When we got to our friends place (which is available to rent if you are traveling to Iceland) we took a nap.  Then we met up with some friends for their motocross company's 10th birthday party where O Baby slept some more.  We made a stop at the Perlan and then went back home to relax as we would start our journey the next day.  

That evening, May 21, the Grimsvotn Volcano erupted.  We couldn't miss out on seeing something eruption related so we decided to drive the next day towards the eruption and see how far we could get before road closures stopped us.  We didn't get very far since the ash cloud was really bad and with out knowing the danger it was to breath, we decided to turn around and head back. Images below are from our drive to and from Vik, the furthest point we drove during the eruption.

 This image above is what the air looked like on our way to Vik.  This is Hella in the morning and Hella in the afternoon on our way back from Vik to Hafnarfjordur.  That is how thick this ash cloud was.

 (above) Seljalandsfoss in the AM - before the ash cloud shadowed over

(below) a little kid sized turf house we had to play in

 The ash cloud was beginning to hide the land as we drove deeper into it.

 

 Skogafoss on our way back from Vik.  Much different from the drive there when it was clear blue skies.  Ash clouds are pretty heavy and mean.

I won't say much about this part of the trip since it was really crazy.  When we learned that it was dangerous to be breathing the ash-air, that is when we turned around.  We had seen enough.  Fortunately, the eruption didn't last long and by the time we drove around the country we would be able to see all that was so covered by ash cloud. 

The next day we planned on starting our journey towards the West Fjords of Iceland.  We were very excited about this part of the country.  It seemed to be far off the beaten path which is totally our cup of tea.  After driving around the entire country, it was one of my favorite parts so I am really looking forward to sharing some of these photos.

*  If you have questions or would like suggestions for planning your trip to Iceland, I'd be happy to share what I know.  Also, if you have something to share about traveling in Iceland, please share it in the comments or email me.  I'd love to hear.  You will find more posts about Iceland HERE.  Thanks for reading!