The trip to Reykjavik and my first day in Snaefellsnes

What a crazy long first day in Iceland! 

I started out with all sorts of missteps- my flight from LAX to JFK was delayed Friday morning so I had to buy a new flight to Reykjavik while waiting for my Uber to the airport. Fortunately, every flight in Icelandair from the east coast arrives at 6:15am, so I ended up making it on time without any other major hiccups. I packed super light (17.5 lbs light) so spoiler alert you will see me in one of 2 sweaters every day. 

I landed in Reykjavik after a simply beautiful sunrise landing over some geysers at the west side of the country. After a quick trip through the airport I could already tell that Scandinavian design that is so simple, clean, and elegant. Unfortunately, no one was holding a card with my name on it so I ended up buying a ticket for the bus to city center. I ended up at my lovely hotel Apotek at about 8:05 am. The shuttle driver just told me “stop 2 or 3”… um sir could you help me a little more than that? 

The city of about 300,000 people was so beautiful in the morning. There was literally no one out, it was so peaceful and quaint. Hotel Apotek is on this park square and I can’t wait to walk around.

But not today- today was my only free day so I had to either go all in on the northern lights tour or the Snaefellsnes tour (side note I can’t pronounce anything in this country). Most of the tours left at 8am so the front desk guys said I was out of luck. But I’m one of those people who takes no as a starting point and was determined to find a tour. And I did! BusTravel Iceland had a tour leaving at 9am… My hotel guys sent me to one of 2 bus terminals where I (thank god I had phone service) called upon arrival at literally 9:01 and said “I’m not sure where to meet you!” Fortunately a shuttle driver swooped me up about 10 minutes later and I was off to meet the group and our tour guide Tony! He started with a funny story about how he has seen volcanos erupt so much at this point that it is yawn worthy now, lol! 

Snaefellsnes is the western peninsula of Iceland. Just picturesque at every turn. It is winter now, turning into spring, and so while we started in Reykjavik where there was no snow, we quickly got into the countryside where there were mountains and hills topped with snow. There is a layer of moss and grass that covers everything, I can only imagine how bright green it is in the summer. Moss begins to grow on lava after about 100 years. There have actually been some parts of Iceland where the lava flow has covered the street, and after a certain amount of it has cooled, they rebuild the road on top of it. 

Our first stop was this cool waterfall tucked away in a snowy hillside. There are so few areas with trees here, I think because of the volcanic soil, so a lot of the mountains and landscapes are completely barren. 

From there we stopped at the game of thrones mountain Kirjufell. This was a cool landscape with another waterfall that was especially cool because the water actually comes out under the snow. You can see some places where the snow above has melted to reveal the rushing water below. Again, this landscape in April is covered with snow, and Tony mentioned that all of the snow in this area will melt in the next few weeks and give way to green moss and grass. 

The next stop was probably my favorite, a trip down a small snowy hill to a black stone and sand beach. The ground was divided into zones of varying sizes of volcanic rock made smooth my the ocean. The sound walking on it was memorable. At the coast, waves crashed over some rock outcroppings that are, according to Icelandic lore, trolls that got caught in daylight and turned to stone. Also, there were a couple shipwrecks whose iron remains laid on the beach, for a great rust accent color. This area was a big part of life for local farmers and fishermen, and they used to have strongman games periodically. This picture is of the 4 stones that they competitively lifted, named “Weakling” (50 lbs), “Half-Carrier” (120 lbs), “Half-Strong” (220 lbs), and “Full Strong” (340 lbs).

This “troll” even turns into a Viking ship as you move around it…

From there we stopped in a couple fishing villages that were quaint and beautiful. One, Olafsvik had a very modern church in the center of it that was beautiful and super cleanly designed. We passed another church that is known for being in Chinese eye exams, so the 2 Chinese people on our tour got a kick out of that. At this point we had driven around the glacier at the center of Snaefellsnes… the snowy top of the mountain that apparently stays covered in snow year round. 

We then went to a couple rock arches along the coastline that were absolutely overcome with birds, another unique soundtrack of the day. Just seeing the waves crash through the arches was so cool. 

Our last stop was another favorite for me- Budir Black Church. Lots of churches and buildings here seem lonely in this rolling landscape. Many homes with no neighbors in sight. But this church- What a picturesque building. It was built in 1701 by Bent Lauridtsen but fell into disrepair. A woman apparently has a dream where Bent appeared to her to tell her to rebuild the church and she restored it all back to its original use in 1951. So now it is an Icelandic historical monument, and still used today as a church. Not sure how they keep it warm, but seems like people here are a little more robust than me. There was a guy outside playing soccer today with only shorts on! It was probably right around 30° all day today, but a beautiful bluebird day. 

So now we are on our way back to the City, and I am now noticing how green the mountains are after returning from Snaefeldus. I’m tempted to try a northern lights tour tonight because am so afraid I won’t see them, but I haven’t stopped since yesterday morning, so I think I’ll need to get a good nights sleep. This tour has provided ample opportunity for car naps though, which is what Sara will be doing on tomorrow’s tour!