Saturday July 6th- Today we decided to drive the well-known Golden Circle. We slept in a little bit because we were all exhausted from the long day before. We had lunch in the apartment before making dinner to pack for the road. We all loaded up in the car to drive to our first destination: Thingvellir National Park. On the way we saw a small parking area in front of mountains and fields so we decided to pull over for a bit. It was so peaceful and beautiful. We then got back in the car to finish our drive to Thingvellir. Here we were able to see Iceland’s largest lake and a fissure that was created by the movements from the tectonic plates. There was a lookout pier where we were able to see mountains and the water which was so pretty. We spent a little while walking around the park before heading to the next stop: The Great Geysir. The geyser went off every 5-10 minutes and shot water up to 20 meters high. It was so cool to see the water bubble up before exploding out. Our next stop was Gullfoss Waterfall. This was probably our favorite stop of the day. We were able to see a huge rainbow stretching across the entire waterfall. It was the largest waterfall we have ever seen and it was stunning. It was a few levels high and the water was rushing with so much power. We spent a lot of time here taking in the view and listening to the water crashing. Our last stop of the day was Kerid Crater. This was a huge crater with a little pond at the bottom. There were SOOOO many bugs people were wearing bug nets. However, it was still so cool to walk down to the crater and also look down from above. It’s crazy how something so cool like that can be natural. We then drove back to Reykjavik where we went to get ice cream at Valdis. We figured it had to be good because the line was out the door every night. We waited around 45 minutes and man was it worth it. It was the perfect end to such an amazing day. We then went home, planned tomorrows adventure, and went to bed.

Sunday July 7th- Today we left around 10 am and headed off for the southern coast of Iceland. Our first stop of the day was Seljalandsfoss waterfall. It was very different from the one we saw yesterday. This one had a smaller stream but higher. We were able to walk around the whole waterfall. It was a very cool experience. We did have a little trouble walking up the hills on wet rocks in our shoes (next time we need to bring proper hiking boots) but it was still fun! After that we ended up stopping on the side of the road to go pet some horses. They were so calm. They were on a really pretty piece of land and seemed to have acres to roam. It was a great little stop. Just down the road we saw a cute little farm with a beautiful mountain with snow behind it. Well, at least we thought it was just a mountain (more on that later). We took some cute pictures, saw a lady fall in a metal grate in the ground, and headed off for our second planned stop of the day, Skogafoss waterfall. Again, this was different than the other two but still just as beautiful. Here we saw a gorgeous rainbow and were able to get super close to the stream. We were also able to climb 429 stairs (yes, I counted) to see the waterfall from above. The climb was worth it because the view was beautiful. After that stop we made another unplanned stop in a field of Alaskan Lupine flowers. These flowers come from Alaska but were introduced to Iceland to produce more Nitrogen and better the soil. However, they are an invasive species and have taken over a lot of the land. They are very beautifully and kind of remind me of lavender. We then headed out to a town called Vik to see two major landmarks. One being, Dyrholaey, an arch at the end of a peninsula. We had to drive up a very steep, windy, and gravel road to get there. It was scary to drive up and some jerk passed a bunch of us on the way, but the view was incredible. The water was so blue and the arch was beautiful. It was very pretty! Next we stopped at Reynisfjara, a black sand beach with caves and basalt sea stacks. We must have walked 2 miles on that beach. It was so cool to see all the caves and climb the hexagonal basalt columns, and see the sea stacks. The contrast from the gray caves, black sand, and blue water was beautiful. This was one of our favorite stops of the day. On our way back stopped at Solheimjokull, a glacier. It was very pretty, but also sad. Each year it shrinks the size of an olympic swimming pool (global warming and climate change are real people, please be mindful and save this beautiful Earth). We hiked down to the base of the glacier and saw some climbers coming in for the night. It was a really cool stop on our adventure. Our final stop of the day was at a volcano called Eyjafallajokull. When we arrived, we were all a little confused because we had all been here before. Remember that thing I said was a mountain with snow on top? Well, that was actually a volcano. We had already stopped there without realizing it. We all had a good laugh and decided to take a few more pictures of it before heading home. It was another beautiful day in Iceland and once again we were exhausted when we got home. This Iceland trip has been the absolute best and we were so sad to be going home tomorrow (Monday). Iceland is our favorite place we have ever been! -SYD & SAM

We’re back! We had such long and busy days in Iceland so when we got home we just we just went to bed. We are back in London now so we will be able to blog more. Before we talk about London again though, lets recap on some things we did in Iceland.

On Friday July 5th, we decided to drive over to the Reykjanes Peninsula. We made up a path to take around the area with various stops that we thought would be cool. For us planning this on our own with no real route to follow, I would say it was pretty successful! We woke up around 8:30 to pack our lunch and dinner and hit the road by 9:30. The drive was absolutely beautiful! On one side of the road it looked like Mars. It was all rocks and dirt. On the other side it was all green, hilly, and full of wild flowers. It was so insane the contrast just on the other side of the road. It was something we have never experienced before. The views on the drive were so stunning. Some of our drive times were about 2 hours, but it only felt like a few minutes because we were all so captivated by the landscape. Our first stop of the day was near some mountains. This was on the side of the road that looked like Mars. While walking through there alone, it felt like we were living in a post-apocalyptic world. It was so neat. After that we drove just across the street and hiked up a little hill to get a view of all the wild flowers and beautiful green grass. It was very calming to walk through the grass. Our next stop was at a place called Brimketill, a lava rock pool. We were able to climb on these rocks and see a few little pools that have been created due to the beating waves. It was so beautiful up there. We loved just climbing on the rocks and watching the waves crash below us. Our fourth stop of the day was at a bridge called “the bridge between Continents.” It is a bridge that connects the North American and Eurasian plates. It is one of the only places you are able to do this. It was a really cool experience. We then stopped in a town called Grindavik. It is a really cute little town. While we were there we saw the tallest lighthouse in Iceland. It made for a very pretty photo because the sky was so blue and clear that day! We then headed to our favorite stop of the day. One that we had not originally planned but added on last minute. We went to the Hafnarberg sea cliffs. We were the only people out there so it was so peaceful. We hiked about a mile and a half to the cliffs. It was so gorgeous. We stood way up on the cliffs for some really great pictures. It was so beautiful walking along the cliffs and looking out at the ocean. After we were done exploring the cliffs we walked over to the ocean. It was a stunning black sand beach. We were able to touch the water and it was SO cold! We ended up walking to some sand dunes to get an even prettier view of the landscape around us. It was there we noticed we could hardly see the car and realized we had a long hike to the car. After about a 3 mile hike (most of which in the sand) back to the car, we drove to our second to last stop of the day, the Gunnuhver hot springs. When we arrived we opened the car door and immediately shut it due to the horrid smell. We soon realized that we needed to get over it because it was going to smell like sulfur the whole time we were there. It was so worth the bad smell! It was like walking through clouds. It was amazing! We did get wet though, but the water was very warm, unlike the ocean. It was a really cool experience. After that we headed to our last stop, the place we had been planning on going to for months: the Blue Lagoon.

After checking into the Blue Lagoon, we headed up to the changing rooms to shower and put our suits on. It is mandatory to shower before going into the water. We then walked out to the lagoon and were amazed by how beautiful it was. The water was so warm (38 degrees Celsius or 100 degrees Fahrenheit) it felt incredible. We spent the first few minutes taking pictures in the water and exploring the lagoon. We then went to the bar in the water to order our included drink. We all got the local beer called Gull. It was probably the best beer we’ve ever had. We relaxed by the rocks drinking our beer before heading to the face mask bar. We were given a silica face mask which made us all look crazy. However, it felt so nice and made our skin so soft. We then just wandered around the water for a while. We sat in the shallow area watching the sun go down behind the mountains which so so pretty. Just before we left, we went over to the waterfall. The water felt so good on our backs. Sadly, it was already 11:30 (although it didn’t feel that late because the sun was still out) so we needed to get out of the water. On the drive back to the apartment we were all so tired from our long day, but we still enjoyed the beautiful views. We made it back to the apartment at 12:30 so we all showered, had a snack, and went straight for bed. It was such a long but incredible day! -SYD & SAM

We landed in Iceland on July 3rd around 3pm. We didn’t have the smoothest start because we could not find the car rental place. Once we did find our car, there was a light that came on. Turns out I just had the hand brake on (not my finest moment). After we had that minor issue solved we drove into Reykjavik to our apartment we will be staying in for the week. The apartment is very cute and we can see the ocean and mountains from our bedroom window. We all got situated in the apartment before we headed out for dinner.

We walked about 30 mins through the cute town to a diner called, Grillhusid. It is the oldest diner Reykjavik. We had some of the best burgers. We have found that everything here is super expensive, but we are on vacation so that is okay right? After dinner we explored the town a bit. We walked by the Harbor and to a beautiful Lutheran Church called, Hallgrimskirkja. After exploring for a bit we went home to relax, shower, and sleep. It is super strange because the sun does not set until midnight here and it rises at 3am. It’s a good thing our apartment has black-out curtains.

Today (Thursday) was our first full day in Iceland. While it was rainy today, I think we made the most of it. We slept in a bit before heading down to the Harbor to take some pictures in front of the mountains. Unfortunately, pictures do not capture the true beauty of the mountains and water. We then walked to a sculpture of a ship on the water called the Sun Voyager. The ship is supposed to represent hopes and dreams. We got our pictures just in time because it started to pour. We made the decision to get out of the rain and go grocery shopping. This turned out to be very overwhelming because most of the stuff in the store was not in English, so we had to use google translate to figure out what kind of cheese and meat we were buying. We walked our groceries back to the apartment where we made tacos for lunch. It was still raining pretty hard outside, so we used this time to plan our travel routes for the week. By this time the rain had slowed down so we walked back into town to do some souvenir shopping. Along the way we saw some amazing street art. After shopping, we went back to the apartment to plan the rest of our evening.

We decided to try a cute little restaurant on the University of Iceland campus. It was about a 35 minute walk so we stopped at the Lutheran Church again to go up to the top. We were told this had the best view of the city. This proved to be very true. It was so beautiful seeing the water, mountains, and the town below us. We then continued on our way to dinner. The restaurant was very laid back and cozy. They had a movie playing and students were sitting in booths studying. It was a very different environment than we are used to when it comes to restaurants, but it was really cool. After resting in the restaurant for a bit, we walked to the City Pond to explore the water and buildings over there. The homes along the water were so cute. There was a pretty green church on the water as well as some beautiful homes on the hill. It was such a good end to the day just walking around and exploring the town. Tomorrow is another busy day of driving and exploring Iceland and we can’t wait. -SYD & SAM