Friday, April 22, 2016

ICELAND - golden circle and jokulsarlon...

our second day in iceland was our day to just drive around, do the golden circle, stop anywhere else that was picture-worthy (basically everywhere), and finish our night out by the glacier lagoon, 4 hours from reykjavik. we were originally going to make our way to the glacier lagoon and head back to reykjvik the same day, but we realized it would just be too much driving so we booked a hotel out that way. and it's a good thing too, because by the time we made it there, we were chasing the setting sun and it was about 8pm. we definitely would not have wanted to drive 4 hours back to the city at that time of night.

our car for the 4 days.

Þingvellir national park.


i think i said this before, but it really is like another planet.


we're in iceland!


be aware - the water is boiling and the nearest hospital is 62 km away!




the geysir erupts every 3-4 minutes and it's a pretty cool thing to see.
we got to the geysir around 1pm and in the main shop they have a cafeteria style restaurant with ready-made burgers, fries, pop, chips, etc to just pick up. we got ourselves a bite to eat (thankfully we did) and basically didn't eat again until the next day. once you leave the city, there's really not much in terms of food! more on that later.
gullfoss waterfall in all her beauty. also known as: the windiest place in iceland. seriously.
there are horses everywhere in iceland (in fact, there's about 80,000 in the whole country). when driving to our next stop, we just had to pull over and pet them.
look at that hair!


they are so short and stocky and incredibly cute and friendly.
i didn't want to leave them.
seljalandfoss - the waterfall you can walk behind (and get very wet).





there's dylan way down in the bottom in the green jacket.

and then you keep driving.
and i fall asleep in the car. typical.
the small town of vik. too charming.


we finally made it to jokulsarlon glacier lagoon.

so peaceful listening to the ice crashing, the water moving, watching the sun setting.

and then seals popped up!

the clearest of clear ice.
after the glacier lagoon, we had an hour drive to our hotel. we didn't pass any restaurants (ok we did pass one but it was $65 a person for a pasta buffet that didn't look good and i just wasn't willing to pay that) and we were pretty hungry. earlier in the day, we were at a gas station and i picked up a can of pineapples, you know, just in case we didn't pass anywhere else to eat. i also had peanut butter and soft tortillas in my hand, figuring at very least we could get some protein. but dylan didn't think it would be necessary, so i put it back and just got the pineapples. when we got to our hotel around 9:30, we asked reception if their restaurant was still open, but that was a no. we asked if they had any snacks for sale, but that was also a no. he said he would check in the back for any food and came out with two apples and this plate of fruit, which he called 'decoration fruit' that was from the dinner buffet and just sugested we 'give it a wash'. we couldn't stop laughing, bought some drinks, thanked him, and went back to our room. hungry. dylan is a slight germaphobe, so he didn't want to eat the fruit. me? i didn't care. i dug in. tldr: if you're going to be staying in the middle of nowhere, make sure you pack snacks before you leave the city! don't go hungry like we did. total tourist fail on our part.
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