{"id":5053,"date":"2024-10-16T12:10:54","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T19:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/?page_id=5053"},"modified":"2025-07-04T17:00:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T00:00:07","slug":"iceland-2024","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/trips\/iceland-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Iceland 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Sep 26, 2024 - Oct 10, 2024
Last updated: 10\/16\/24 12:00pm PT<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
One of the things we’ve wanted to see in person was the Northern Lights. Sure, we could have driven out to rural Oregon or Washington, which on very rare occasions have views of the lights. But that’s not as much fun as going to a new country. Iceland is located just short of the Arctic Circle, so it usually has a high probability of seeing the lights. It also has other nature to see. So even if we had missed out on seeing the lights, we’d still get to see other interesting things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We picked late September\/early October for our visit because we needed a time of year when the sun actually sets and it is not too cold. In summer the sun goes below the horizon, but you don’t get a lot of total darkness. Winter is mostly dark, only getting 4-5 hours of sunlight a day, but it’s too cold. We also picked these two weeks because the moon was into the new moon phase, making the nights even darker. We decided to go this year, as 2024-2025 is the peak of the 11 year solar cycle, meaning lots of solar storms and chances to see the lights.  And our trip was a success.  Every time we went out, we saw the lights (4 or 5 times).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We stayed in Reykjavik for 4 nights, then drove along the south coast of Iceland, staying in Vik for 2 nights, then drove back to Reykjavik for 7 more nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reykjavik seems to be booming. There were a lot of construction cranes and new buildings. And there were a ton of tourists (said the tourist). It was mostly cold when we were there, but there were a few pleasant days where the high was 10C\/50F. The wind was a killer though. But we bundled up with multiple layers, windproof pants, scarfs, gloves and hats, and it was tolerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Aurora<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Seeing the Northern Lights was the main reason for going to Iceland. After a couple of nights to acclimate to the timezone (7 hours ahead of our normal timezone) we booked a tour with a company that drives you out of the city to a dark location that is free of clouds. Normally we don’t do tour groups, but since we weren’t familiar with the area, it was nice to let someone else drive in the dark. After we got familiar with the area, we drove ourselves multiple nights to see the lights, and we saw them every time we went out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seeing the lights in person was not as impressive as a total solar eclipse. In real life, they aren’t as green as in the pictures. They were still cool to see, the most exciting part was when you could see them moving or flowing in the sky. It was also cool to see the Milky Way and shooting stars. Tons of stars are visible when you get out away from the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We took a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, our phones\/cameras are old-ish\/cheap-ish and just mostly produced black images. We didn’t have the settings available that allow you to have long exposure shots. When we went out with the tour group, they took our picture with their camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is the best one of us from the tour group. (they had a light to light up our faces)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Here is the best picture from our phones. (The white glow above the horizon and below the aurora are the city lights of Reykjavik)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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South Coast<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Along the south coast there are many sights to see, like waterfalls, canyons, glaciers and icebergs. Here are some pictures, not in any order. (Excuse any spelling mistakes, I’m cutting and pasting names from Google Maps)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diamond Beach is a place where small icebergs wash up on shore and if they are worn down enough and the sun hits them just right, they look like shiny diamonds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Denise and a mini iceberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Icebergs in the ocean<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Shiny ice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Diamond Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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On the other side of Diamond Beach is where these ‘diamonds’ come from, J\u00f6kuls\u00e1rl\u00f3n glacier lagoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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J\u00f6kuls\u00e1rl\u00f3n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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J\u00f6kuls\u00e1rl\u00f3n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A little to the west was a better glacier lagoon, Fjalls\u00e1rl\u00f3n. It’s a smaller glacier, but you get closer to it and there are fewer people. We heard this one cracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Fjalls\u00e1rl\u00f3n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fjalls\u00e1rl\u00f3n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fjalls\u00e1rl\u00f3n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Here is a scenic canyon, Fja\u00f0r\u00e1rglj\u00fafur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Fja\u00f0r\u00e1rglj\u00fafur<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Some areas are very flat with moss covered rocks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Near Vik is Reynisfjara Beach, with black sand and basalt columns<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Reynisfjara Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Reynisfjara Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Reynisfjara Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Seljalandsfoss is a 210 foot high waterfall you can walk behind<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Seljalandsfoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Seljalandsfoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Seljalandsfoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sk\u00f3gafoss is another waterfall, wider and more powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sk\u00f3gafoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sk\u00f3gafoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another waterfall, this one with basalt columns. This one required a bit of an uphill hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Svartifoss in Skaftafell National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Svartifoss in Skaftafell National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Svartifoss in Skaftafell National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Golden Circle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There is a drive you can take called the Golden Circle. It really doesn’t need to be a circular drive because at the bottom of the circle is a ‘crater’, and I use quotes there because it’s not much of a crater (Crater Lake in Oregon is way better). So if you go to Iceland, just do a straight line from Reykjavik to Gullfoss and back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first stop is \u00deingvellir, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are separating (slowly).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00deingvellir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u00deingvellir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Next stop is Geyser (this is where the word geyser originated)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Geyser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Geyser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Last stop, Gullfoss.  It was extremely windy here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Gullfoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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High winds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Gullfoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Gullfoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Gullfoss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Reykjavik<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The view from our Airbnb apartment on the 7th floor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Reykjavik apartment view<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Murals on buildings are fairly elaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Art at the waterfront, the Sun Voyager<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sun Voyager<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The famous church, Hallgrimskirkja<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Hallgrimskirkja<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rainbow Street with the church in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Rainbow Street<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Perlan is an Icelandic museum experience, with info about auroras, lava and ice.  They have a man-made ice cave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Man made ice cave<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Man made ice cave<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Our favorite place was Reykjavik Chips for fish and chips, went there twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Reykjavik Chips<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Soup and lamb are popular items, and we had both.  The lamb was at the Geyser Park site and was really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Meat soup at Svarta Kaffi\u00f0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lamb at Geyser Glima restaurant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A really popular spot, with the tourists anyway, was Brau\u00f0 & Co. Everyone raves about the cinnamon rolls. They were good, quality bakery indeed, but ehh, didn’t blow our socks off. Guess we are used to the sugary ones in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Brau\u00f0 & Co<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another popular item is the Brag\u00f0arefur, basically a Blizzard or McFlurry.  Again a bit of a let down for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Brag\u00f0arefur<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hot dogs. They’re different in Iceland (probably because they have lamb in them). There is a place that has extremely long lines in the afternoons (down the block and around the corner), B\u00e6jarins Beztu Pylsur. All the tourists go here (us included).  Allegedly, Bill Clinton had a hot dog here once, and I think he was being polite when he said it was the best hot dog he’s ever eaten.  For us, there was nothing special about them. We went at 10:00am and there was no line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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B\u00e6jarins Beztu Pylsur<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We had donuts from DEIG Workshop. Their famous donut is a creme brulee donut, where they light the top on fire to caramelize the sugar. It’s basically a Boston Creme with a sugary crust on top. Was good, went here twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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DEIG Workshop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One day for lunch we went to a local place called Salatbarinn, which is an all you can eat buffet, Icelandic style.  Lots of locals eating there.  Very good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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We did not try the H\u00e1karl (fermented shark). Everyone says how awful it tastes but yet they all still try it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Misc<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Denise really should have bought this hat<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Flying home over Greenland, here we see what I’m assuming are large icebergs floating in the ocean (we were very far away, obviously)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Off the coast of Greenland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sep 26, 2024 – Oct 10, 2024Last updated: 10\/16\/24 12:00pm PT One of the things we’ve wanted to see in person was the Northern Lights. Sure, we could have driven out to rural Oregon or Washington, which on very rare occasions have views of the lights. But that’s not as much fun as going to … Continue reading “Iceland 2024”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":499,"menu_order":46,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5053","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5053\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hovorka.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}