Day 5 & 6 Traveling the Southern ring road from Seyoisfjorour to Vik

Since the sun never sets we were up early and hit the gravel road to find a couple of water falls that a Scotsman told us about at dinner the night before. We almost turned around because the road wasn’t the best but we eventually found them and was so glad we did. Peaceful, beautiful setting! 

Enjoy this video of the waterfall! 

After spending about an hour hiking around we set out to reach our destination for the evening, Hofn, which sits on the edge of Vatnajokull glacier, the largest glacier in Iceland and it's also the largest glacier mass in Europe. It covers an area of roughly between 8100 sq. km and 8300 sq. km, and it's about 1000m thick at its thickest point. In order to get there we had to zigzag along the coast in and out of fjords covered in fog. It was a beautful drive. 

There were many fish hatcheries along the way

The fog was beautiful rolling in 

Adding a stone to a Cairn with the purpose of bringing good luck. 

Many reindeer in these parts

The coast is beautiful 

After a full day of driving with many stops along the way, we finally arrived to Hofn. Our hotel, we’ll use that term loosely,  it was located on an old farm in a container type building. Very modern and cozy!  Lots of sheep bleating and little lambs running about. We had the most beautiful view of the Skaftafell Glacier. 

Andrea enjoys eating lamb but after watching these little ones play has reconsidered her food choices

. 

An old barn on the property. 

Chilling out watching the glacier move. 

An abandoned tractor on our walk around the farm.

After a good nights sleep and wake up call of sheep bleating outside our door, we enjoyed the hotels buffet breakfast consisting of meats, cheeses, hard boiled eggs, yogurt and croissants  and a white milky juice that  neither one of us could determine what it was. Water and coffee was our friend. Our destination for the evening was Vik, with many planned hiking and viewing stops along the way. 

Andrea woke up at 3am to this view. Sunrise or sunset? 

Many of the beaches have black sand, remnants of Volcanic ash. 

 One of the stops was, Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. Its still blue waters are dotted with icebergs from the surrounding glacier. The glacier lagoon flows thru a narrow waterway into the Atlantic Ocean leaving chunks of ice on the black sand beach. It was amazing! 

After touring the lagoon, we made our way over to the Atlantic side where Andrea held an iceberg in her hands and Bill licked one. 

Icebergs floating in the Atlantic. 

No, it did not stick to his tongue. 

Chunks of icebergs were scattered  all over the beach. 

After a quick stop at a waterfall, our next planned stop was Fjadrargljufur Canyon. The canyon has steep walls and winding water and is up to 100m deep and 2 kilometers long. Its origins date back to the ice age, about 2 million years ago. It was created by progressive erosion by flowing waters from glaciers. It was about a two mile hike and Bill’s new knee carried him the whole way! Fun fact, in 2019 they closed the canyon due to an overwhelming amount of visitors after Justin Bieber filmed his music video “I’ll Show You” here. Yes, we googled it and it’s actually filmed all over Iceland. Lots of sites we have seen. 

This waterfall was on private property but they allowed you to admire it from afar. 

Hiking up to the canyon overlook. 

The canyon 

The water was so blue and the walls were very steep. 

Bill braved one of the overlooks. 

View from the bottom of the canyon 

We continued on to Vik. A sweet little community on the coast. We bought provisions for the next day, a 12 pack of beer and a bottle of wine which cost $86. Using her conversion calculator Andrea quickly realized we were double charged for the beer, the clerk rang up 24 and not 12 cans. So after much ado, she credited back a 12 pack. No problem, except buying ice. You would think in Iceland there would be a lot of ice! Well, it’s usually warm right now so the campers are swarming the countryside and buying up bags of ice like gold. Andrea finally talked a restaurant owner into filling up a plastic bag full of ice from their restaurant so we could chill down our beer. Andrea tried to pay for it but the owner said “water is free in Iceland”! So, we opened the 12 pack to fill the cooler and realize we bought 16 ounce cans of beer rather than 10 ounce ergo the double charge. Oops. 

High up on the hill in Vik was this pretty church. The views from here were amazing! It’s one of the most photographed churches in Iceland. Great day today! 

A tribute to my old friend from Reykjavik

MANY years ago....1958 to be exact...one day in Mrs. Waites’ second grade class, a new kid showed up. Quite frankly, he was not at all like the others kids because he did not speak much English and what he did speak was with a strange and heavy accent. Plus, he had hair almost as white as my grandmother’s hair and his skin was as if it had never seen the sun. He said he was from some place called Iceland. Reykjavik, Iceland to be exact. He could have said he was from Mars and it would not have mattered any much more to me or my friends. Oskar Moller was his name. Oskar and his family had moved to Birmingham, Alabama where his father Dr. Palmi Moller had taken a prestigious position as a chair of the new dental school at The University of Alabama. Oskar and I quickly became friends as did he and all our classmates. He was smart and funny and quick to learn the ways of life of a kid growing up in the deep south of the United States. But, as frequently happens our lives took different paths when I went off to military school and he became very focused on academics and the civil rights movement. I did sort of keep up with him after high school and knew that he studied at the University of New Hampshire and then fulfilled his lifetime dream of becoming a medical doctor. Oscar became a respected Director of Emergency Medical Services in Taos, New Mexico but died unexpectedly in 2012. This week when we arrived in Reykjavik, I just assumed that the phone book would be full of his Moller relatives and I could fill their ears with stories from long ago...but it was not to be. There were just a few Mollers and no one had ever heard of him or his family. After all, it HAD been almost three quarters of a century! Anyway, I’ll still post this tribute to Oskar ... Dr. Oskar Moller ... in hopes that he’ll know that I finally visited his homeland and what a beautiful country he called home. 

Day 3 and 4 : City life to breath taking scenery

 We spent our anniversary exploring Reykjavik. After a very late wake up, jet lag is tough, we set our sites on the infamous Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur hot dog stand for a couple of their famous hot dogs for lunch. Bill Clinton ate here in 2004 and legend has it he came back 3 times and got mustard only on his dogs. We opted for everything minus onions. It’s also graduation weekend for the local high school. Friend groups dress up in different costumes and run all over the city. Some were quite elaborate. They all seemed to be having a lot of fun! 

We got two dogs and a Coke Zero. 

          

The stand is very small 

  Groups of kids 

After chowing on the dogs we hit the Harpa Concert Hall. We couldn’t see the actual performance hall but we did get to admire the beautiful colored glass facade which is said to be inspired by the landscape of Iceland. We also went to the “Volcanic Experience”, located in the halls basement, somewhat of a thill ride with moving seats and hot air blowing in your face to assimilate you being dropped in a Volcano. $40 well spent.. 🤣. 

Next on our tour was the National Museum of Iceland. It is the history of Iceland from 800AD to modern times, but focuses mostly on the history and culture of Iceland from settlement  times. Lots of artifacts and history! 

Along our walk to the museum we came across this monument that represents The Unknown Bureaucrat, a satirical tribute to the countries numerous bureaucrats who serve their county and keep it running. Looked like a guy with a briefcase and a big rock on his head to me. You decide…

Typical home and tulips are in bloom! 

Museum Entrance 

Couple of interesting artifacts from the museum.

Christ the King, carved in birchwood, 1200AD

Romanesque beehive shaped Church Bell, 1200AD

Skautbuningur Costume, first worn as a wedding dress in 1859

Andrea had a portable computer similar to this in the mid 80’s during her time with Warwick MFG in Norfolk, VA. 

Next stop happy hour and anniversary dinner! We met a few nice ole chaps when we stopped for 2 for 1 beers at the local Irish pub. Everyone is so friendly and they recommended Hereford House for dinner where we could have dined on Horse or Puffin but opted for the tuna steak and ribeye. We were treated to a shot of Brennivin, which tasted like black licorice and a special dessert.  Great way to celebrate our 33rd anniversary! 

You’re never too old for a good pint! 

Our buddy, Gunnar, who recommended Hereford House 

Horse or Puffin?? 

Nope..fish and steak. 

The happy married couple 

Andrea drank her shot and Bill’s 

Fabulous dessert for the win! 

Day 4

After an early wake up call only to find out our flight had been delayed by two hours, we finally made it the east coast of Iceland to begin our driving tour back to Reykjavik. This is the land of glaciers, beautiful waterfalls and stunning scenery. After leaving the airport and stopping for provisions we did a drive round the lake before heading to  our destination for the evening, the quaint town of Seyoisfjorour on the east coast of Iceland. This is a port city for passenger ferries coming from Europe. We use the term city loosely, there are no stoplights, 3 restaurants and one grocery but it is just perfect nestled amongst the waterfalls. 

Happy to be boarding, finally! 

A view of the Vatnajokull glacier from the air

Legend has it that a large grey monster with a big head and limbs has been seen lurking in this lake since 1819. It has been spotted 4 times with the last glimpse in 1999. Scientists say that large bubbles of methane gas are  the real culprit. They bubble  to the surface creating the illusion of a giant monster. You be the judge.

Love this picture! 

Our picnic spot

One of many waterfalls 

Road over the mountain to our destination for the evening 

Here’s looking at Ewe! 

Breathtaking 

Small church by our hotel 

Rainbow road 

Of the two buildings to the right of the church, the white one with the dark blue roof is our hotel. It was formerly a bank. The building to the right of it with the red roof is city hall. 

Happy 33rd Anniversary! Day 2-3 Reykjavik, Iceland

Today is our 33rd anniversary. We were married in Aiken, SC at South Aiken Presbyterian. We visited this church again in April of this year. Looks just about the same, we’ve changed a little. 

1992               2025

Our first country, Iceland! It’s not as cold as it sounds. After a quick customs check we met our driver, Eli (not his real name  but the name he used for us because his real name was like Bjorwdgnmklsa)  for the 45 minute drive to the city. The drive into Reykjavik was mostly lava fields on both sides of the road and thermal pools bubbling in the distance. After a quick nap we headed out to explore. First stop: Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral. Complete in 1986, this Evangelical-Lutheran church took over 40 years to build. The church bells rings every fifteen minutes and we enjoyed views of the city from the bell tower. **As a side note, just click on any picture to see it enlarged. 

 

This massive organ weighs over 25 tons and stands over 49feet. 

Looking west from the tower

View of our hotel and rainbow road. 

Love all the colorful houses. 

 The bells. 

In front of the church is a statue of Icelandic Viking, Leifur Eiriksson. According to Icelandic sagas he was the first European to set foot on the North American continent around 1000AD. That sure does beat Christopher Columbus’s  finding by about 492 years. 

Next we ventured on to Laugavegur street, a major shopping and dining area. We had to get a picture on the iconic rainbow road and eventually made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe so Andrea could get Hard Rock pin #69. 

The church is in the background.

69th Hard Rock we have visited. 

The obligatory beer…

And pin! 

We’re off!

 Our good friend Todd Leonard picked us promptly at 7:45 am and we headed out for Charleston International Airport. After a brief stop at Walmart (Andrea broke her iPhone cord before we even got out of the county) and coffee for Todd, we hit the road. Got all checked in with the help of the wonderful Delta agents and to our gate in plenty of time to chow on a few Dunkin’ Donuts and wait. First stop, JFK for a 9 hour layover and then on to Reykjavik, Iceland where the real fun starts.  Arrival time in Iceland is 9:30am tomorrow!