Visiting Iceland was the perfect way to open and close our trip. The initial visit was pretty uneventful—we were all fairly delirious from a long travel day—but a day of seclusion in one of the most captivating places on Earth was a nice way to ease back into travelling. We stayed in a cabin by the sea (with a hot tub!), completely aware of what could be, unburdened by what has been.
The second half of the sandwich was more substantial. Our Airbnb, in Reykjavik this time, was a quirky home stocked with a piano, a mini accordion, and five whole beds—six, including the couch. That last point was a very welcome surprise after weeks of shockingly uncomfortable pull-out beds. The location also gave easy access to the Golden Circle, one of the popular routes through the country that we drove around. Highlights were Gulfoss, Thingvellir, and Geysir—all places from our 2019 trip which we were excited to revisit. Icelandic landscape is like no other. In one moment it’s red and pockmarked, in the next lie vibrant flowered hills, and still further down the line are glaciers two-thirds the size of Connecticut. It’s truly bizarre and extraordinary.
A new addition to our picture of Iceland was Vestmannaeyjar, or “Iceland’s biggest secret,” as was advertised all over the airport. It’s an island three miles in length off the southern coast, home to about thirty people, eighty volcanoes, and a million puffins. To sum it up: almost never before have we felt so off the grid. In a few hours, we hiked the entire length and back (we were unable to get a reservation for our rental car on the ferry), stopping for loads of pictures, ice cream, and a blob trampoline. The beauty of the scenery and isolation was remarkable; it was hard to believe that less than 24 hours later we would fly home to civilization.
And we did, only delayed by 25 minutes, leaving behind one of the most beautiful, alien places on Planet Earth. I look forward to my return to the land of strange birds and endless strings of consonants.
Thingvellir National Park:
Iceland trampoline:
Geysir:
Gulfoss waterfall:
Vestmannaeyjar, the small island off the south coast of Iceland:
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