Iceland
This past summer my dad was lucky enough to have a conference in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. Since he had to go there anyway and we were planning to visit family in Europe afterwards, my family decided to all join my dad in Iceland. I was really excited for this trip because I had heard all about how incredible Iceland is.
All those travel bloggers and photographers definitely weren't wrong - Iceland is so crazy incredible. From the minute you arrive at the airport and pick up your rental car you're surrounded by the insanest green mountains (that is, if you visit in the summer, I'm sure in the winter they're less green). While driving along the empty roads, all you can do is stare at the mountains all around you in awe. I forgot to count the amount of times someone said, "It feels like we're on another planet", but it must have been at least 10 times in our first day. If you visit Iceland in the summer, you will probably also see endless fields of beautiful purple lupines along the road. These mixed with the large herds of sheep and cows grazing really makes the countryside that much more idyllic. Also, warning: though we went in what is usually called "summer", summer in mid-June in Iceland only really gets to about 12 degrees (53 degrees F), so it's pretty cold all year round.
We stayed along the south coast, in a little town (like really, really little) called Hvolsvöllur, when we were in Iceland. After getting out of the airport area, your surroundings actually get quite flat until you get a little past Hvolsvöllur. Then the ground shoots up and the most beautiful mountains line the road all along the south coast. This is where you can find many of the most famous attractions such as the Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, two famous waterfalls. Driving along the Ring Road on the south coast past Hvolsvöllur, you could basically stop every 5 minutes and see a new famous attraction that I bet you've seen on Instagram before. Though these are all quite touristy, they are still absolutely worth it to visit, merely because the sheer natural beauty of Iceland is incomparable and you shouldn't skimp out on that because of some tourists.
A memorbale day of mine in Iceland was one of the best (and worst) days I had while there. We decided to stay around Hvolsvöllur for the day, instead of driving to some other place on the south coast. My dad and I went for a hike up to the very top of the Þríhyrningur mountain. We only saw like 5 other people while we were there and they were all locals out for a morning hike. The hike was about 4 to 5 hours, but ultimately wasn't too difficult. When you are climbing up the very last section to the top, it gets quite steep, but still manageable. One warning is that it is almost necessary to have a four wheel drive car to get to the starting point of this hike. Since we didn't we had to drive almost two miles along an unpaved road in a car that wasn't at all meant for that and then had to park on the one side of a shallow river. We then had to cross this river on foot, though all the locals just drive through it with their huge cars. Since there was no bridge we had to jump across the river (there was a narrow section where the river was more like a stream) to get to the starting point of the trail. Unfortunately, it is a lot harder to jump back over when returning to your car, as the one bank is higher than the other. I fell in on the way back and got absolutely soaked. Not fun in 12 degrees. Though I was really annoyed then, I can laugh about it now and it made the day pretty memorable. After that Germany lost to Mexico in the World Cup - so it truly was a pretty bad end to an otherwise great day.
Iceland this past summer was one of the coolest trips I've ever been on and I would thoroughly suggest to everyone that has a chance to go to Iceland to take it!
All those travel bloggers and photographers definitely weren't wrong - Iceland is so crazy incredible. From the minute you arrive at the airport and pick up your rental car you're surrounded by the insanest green mountains (that is, if you visit in the summer, I'm sure in the winter they're less green). While driving along the empty roads, all you can do is stare at the mountains all around you in awe. I forgot to count the amount of times someone said, "It feels like we're on another planet", but it must have been at least 10 times in our first day. If you visit Iceland in the summer, you will probably also see endless fields of beautiful purple lupines along the road. These mixed with the large herds of sheep and cows grazing really makes the countryside that much more idyllic. Also, warning: though we went in what is usually called "summer", summer in mid-June in Iceland only really gets to about 12 degrees (53 degrees F), so it's pretty cold all year round.
We stayed along the south coast, in a little town (like really, really little) called Hvolsvöllur, when we were in Iceland. After getting out of the airport area, your surroundings actually get quite flat until you get a little past Hvolsvöllur. Then the ground shoots up and the most beautiful mountains line the road all along the south coast. This is where you can find many of the most famous attractions such as the Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, two famous waterfalls. Driving along the Ring Road on the south coast past Hvolsvöllur, you could basically stop every 5 minutes and see a new famous attraction that I bet you've seen on Instagram before. Though these are all quite touristy, they are still absolutely worth it to visit, merely because the sheer natural beauty of Iceland is incomparable and you shouldn't skimp out on that because of some tourists.
A memorbale day of mine in Iceland was one of the best (and worst) days I had while there. We decided to stay around Hvolsvöllur for the day, instead of driving to some other place on the south coast. My dad and I went for a hike up to the very top of the Þríhyrningur mountain. We only saw like 5 other people while we were there and they were all locals out for a morning hike. The hike was about 4 to 5 hours, but ultimately wasn't too difficult. When you are climbing up the very last section to the top, it gets quite steep, but still manageable. One warning is that it is almost necessary to have a four wheel drive car to get to the starting point of this hike. Since we didn't we had to drive almost two miles along an unpaved road in a car that wasn't at all meant for that and then had to park on the one side of a shallow river. We then had to cross this river on foot, though all the locals just drive through it with their huge cars. Since there was no bridge we had to jump across the river (there was a narrow section where the river was more like a stream) to get to the starting point of the trail. Unfortunately, it is a lot harder to jump back over when returning to your car, as the one bank is higher than the other. I fell in on the way back and got absolutely soaked. Not fun in 12 degrees. Though I was really annoyed then, I can laugh about it now and it made the day pretty memorable. After that Germany lost to Mexico in the World Cup - so it truly was a pretty bad end to an otherwise great day.
Visiting Iceland is definitely on my bucket list. Everything looks gorgeous. Totally sucks that you fell in that stream, but at least you didn't get soaked at the beginning of the hike! Your pictures are great, and it sounds like it was a fun trip overall!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe those pictures were taken on the same planet as Illinois. They look SO cool! The one of the waterfall is stunning. How do you pronounce all of those crazy names? I feel like if I was there, I would just sound like I was clearing my throat all the time.
ReplyDeleteYou really aren't exaggerating when you say it looks like another planet. Those pictures look like awe inspiring scenes from some sort of movie. Also I liked that your excitement for the trip clearly showed in your tone and style of writing.
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