Emily and Russell's Travel Blog

With Russell needing some extra rest on Wednesday morning, Marina and Emily went for coffee and pastries.

They brought them back to the cute red house in which we are staying.

We spent the afternoon at Þingvellir, the site of the world’s oldest parliament, the Alþing, established in 930 CE at the site where the North American and Eurasian continental plates meet. Fissures abound, especially along a wall rimming an open valley, in which we walked about six miles, seeing an abandoned farm, a beautiful if modest waterfall, and lots of rocks. Marina explained to us that there were a number of Game of Thrones filming locations here, including the Eyrie.

The scenery on the drive, like all of our drives here, was gorgeous. After we got back, Russell took a much-needed rest while Marina and Em went to dinner and walked a bit more around the old town nearby.

Iceland is beautiful and we all left wanting to return.

After our busy Monday on the southern coast, we took Tuesday to explore Reykjavík. We walked to the botanical gardens, which are away from the old part of town where we’re staying.

The botanic gardens were modest and pleasant.

Marina is unhappy because the natural world doesn’t always, “decenter the phallus.”

We then hopped on a couple of buses to get to the open air museum, with examples of traditional Icelandic homes and work buildings. There was even a train, built in order to construct the first port; they needed the train to transport the stones.

This next picture is for the Settlers players.

With Russell down for the evening with a poorly-timed cold, Em and Marina walked around the old town and ate famouse Icelandic hot dogs, which were delicious.

What a day! We slept well and seemed to have adjusted to the time. Without rushing out, we started by driving about two and a half hours east to the black sand beach in the city of Vik, with plans to stop at various sites along the way back. The drive was spectacular at all times: hills, moss, volcanos, glaciers, waterfalls, rainbows, sheep, and small sturdy horses. We stomped around the beach a while.

Marina found some Icelandic playground equipment.

We headed back towards Reykjavík, stopping next at the Sólheimajökull glacier. Marina expressed a love of smaller waterfalls.

Our next stop was the Skógafoss waterfall. We walked up to the top on some mostly-stable stairs, about 200 feet.

We worried a bit about these sheep who had wandered to the wrong side of the fence at the bottom of the waterfall.

Continuing eastward, we found an enticing cave.

With sunset approaching, we wanted to get in one more waterfall, Seljalandsfoss. Walking behind it entailed getting uncomfortably, but not unhappily, wet.

We ate modestly at a little restaurant on the way back and got to our residence around 11pm. We unwound, managed photos, and headed to bed.

A remarkable day. Our next day is starting slowly.

Waiting at JFK for the flight to Iceland.

Sleep deprived but stalwart, we hied to the Blue Lagoon straight from the airport in Keflavík.

The blue appearance is a product of the reflection of the silica in the water. It also makes ones hair crispy. Russell was unaware that this experience was a spa day, a first for both Russell and Marina. There were facials and all participated.

Perhaps too relaxed, we made it safely, after a stop for groceries, to our place in Reykjavík, a cozy home in a lovely location. We napped and then explored the local environs in the rain, including the nearby Hallgrimskirkja church, before finding a comfy Indian restaurant for dinner.

That’s Leif Erikson between the women and the church.

Here’s hoping that our naps don’t debar a good night’s sleep!

Luna has been left in the best of hands, with her furry buddies.