Iceland
Beautiful hikes, the Blue Lagoon, lots of exploring.
June 29/ June 30- Iceland
So today was supposed to be the day we went paragliding, yet weather did not permit us to do so. So instead we at breakfast decided to go into a lava tunnel. We got ready, drove there,blahhhhh, blah, blah fastforward to at the place we checked in and put on our gear. Then set out with the rest the tour group entering the cave. There were a lot of people, which we did not expect there to be such big groups( we got tickets at the extreme last minute and had to rush to get there on time). When we entered it was pretty cool colorful, glittering rock illuminated by the added lights. Though there was a lot of water dripping from the ceiling of the cave onto our heads, it was cool. Further, into the cave we saw snow and icicles, it was pretty epic. I kinda blocked out our tour guide blabbing on about the cave’s history because I didn’t care enough, I mean well you get what I mean. We had some people behind us, who eventually left early, but they were so annoying! They kept talking super loud over the tour guide, and telling everyone else to be quiet when they were the loud ones, and cutting in front and all sorts of rude things. Anyways, on another note, we continued walking through the cave that at one point was filled with lava. We even had a time during the tour that we got to see complete darkness where we turned off all our headlamps and phones, closed our eyes while our tour guide turned off all the cave lights, then we opened our eyes, yet it was like they were still closed. I couldn’t see my hand or its structure a centimeter away from my face. I didn’t know where anything was, it was so weird but really calming. Next, the tour guide took photos for us, then we headed out of the cave. It was pretty cool. Next, we went to lunch at a restaurant near our hotel. Then we walked down this cool street, where we stopped at this little cafe where I got banana Ice Cream and my sis got crepes( if you don’t know Ansley is obsessed with crepes). Then we walked down the street to this really cool church building, that we got to go really high up to the top of and look around to see all of Reykjavik. It was pretty cool. We went all around the top tower looking at all the colorful buildings. It was kinda like a smaller, less nice, version of the empire state building. Then we quickly went back to the hotel, where Ans and I played Fortnite and got a Victory Royal squad win. I was excited since that was my first win other than 50 vs 50 which is the easiest thing ever. Anyway, next we went geocaching( where you follow directions on this app to an unknown location to find an unknown prize) we walked around Reykjavík geocaching, we did 3 geocaches one by the waterfront amongst the rocks( we found it relatively fast, it was easy, it was a journal you signed and apparently tons of people had found that one), next was one supposedly in the heart of Iceland, it was by the rocks near this Viking ship monument thing( this one took us way longer but we finally found the magnetic metal case attached to the bottom of this old light structure thing, it was another journal). Next we tried to find one by the harbor at this historic train thing, we spent forever looking all over but sadly couldn’t find it and had to give up :( Next we were headed for dinner when we saw this cat in the window of a store, and had to stop to pet it and say hi. It was such a sweet and lazy cat OMG! I was in love with it. Anyway while we were loving on the cat, a guy from a bachelor party dressed as a girl was dancing around on the street until he got a tip, his friends put him up to it and it was hilarious. Anyway next we ate dinner at a random place across the street.Then headed home, though halfway to our rooms, Jen and I decided to go out into the city to find cupcakes.On our way to get cupcakes we stopped at a 66 North store to check if they had anything we like and an hour and 30 minutes later after we kept going between the two 66 North locations and looking at loads of stuff we ended up getting 3 sets of matching 2018 Iceland World Cup sweatpants and sweatshirts for Jen, Ans, and I, then also a shirt for my dad. We then after that roamed the streets in search of a cupcake place, but all them appeared to be closed, so we ended up walking to a restaurant place for dessert( I got chocolate mousse). After that we just went back to the hotel room, showed my dad and ans their gifts, and got ready for bed. Just to brief on the next day, our flight got delayed till 9 PM, so we ended up going back to Gullfoss Waterfall to kill some time, then we headed to the airport, and eventually got on our plane back to Texas. Thanks for letting me share my adventures with you, and remember to live your life to the fullest and keep smiling.Till next time ~Riley
June 28- Iceland
So today was a free day. We were supposed to go paragliding, but that got canceled due to really bad weather and moved to Friday. So we laid around in bed for a while, I worked on my blog from the night before since I hadn’t done it. We then went to breakfast at the hotel breakfast buffet place we did the night before. At breakfast we discussed options for the day, then we went back to the hotel room to further discuss. We decided on going to a geothermal bath in the middle of nowhere that required a hike out to. It was essentially a river that was heated really warm due to the deadly burning temperatures of the hot springs, heating up the cold stream when combined. We got packed and ready, then we set off on the car ride to the place; where we passed a beautiful waterfall off to the side the road that we had to check out. Jen, my dad, and I all ran out to the beautiful scene taking photos with the lovely flowers( that looked like a combination of lavender and bluebonnets) and with the awesome waterfalls that I even took my shoes off to walk to the middle segment to get an amazing photo. It was cool, we had a mini photoshoot in our own scenic discovery. Random info, the moss surrounding us was so spongy and soft it was like low key the coolest thing ever to walk on, I was loving it. Then next we continued on our way, worried for a bit we would get caught in terrible weather cause it was foggy to the point my dad could barely see in front of him while driving, but then we entered a valley and all the fog disappeared and the view was spectacular. We were all in awe of the breathtaking mountain view.We then, in the small town where our hike would begin, stopped to get lunch at a pizzeria. Next, we headed off to find our hiking trail. We parked the car in the parking lot and bundled up to stay warm on our hike, then we headed for our 3.3 km hike. Yeah, it was only 3.3 km, but omg the whole hike there was steep uphill which was exhausting, not to mention the wind that was trying to knock us over. The hike consisted a lot of steep edges, bridges, and a lot of beautiful views from waterfalls, to colorful hot springs, as well as sheep(which we chased and Jen even got close enough to touch), and gorgeous surrounding mountains, it was a gorgeous hike. When we arrived we arrived at the heated river I took off my clothes since I had my bathing suit conveniently underneath my clothes, then jumped straight in the water which wasn’t as hot-tub hot as I expected, it was not cold but it was not hot. Ans and I played around a bit splashing in the water, laying against the mini waterfall, etc. Then Jen returned with a report she had gathered from going up further, where she said there were more people who they said the water was way hotter over there. Anyway, Ans and I reluctantly got out into the cold air to walk over to the populated part of the river which we found to be hot tub hot. We were excited by how warm it was, finding a deep area of warmth to relax in the natural hot tub. My dad and Jen then got in the water, too, where we all then took photos and enjoyed. Lucky for us the river was not crowded by any means since the place was not that well known, we only found it because looking for a cliff jumping place turned into looking for hot springs with waterfalls, and we ran into Reykjadalur Valley which we decided would be fun, so yeah. At the place, I saw other people giving themselves mud face masks, so I caked myself in mud covering me from head to toe. LOL. Anyways, Jen and I decided to explore upstream past where all the people were, so we walked in the river, finding the river water was gradually getting hotter with sudden hotspots ( one even sent me flying out of the water onto the mossy river bank It was that hot). I also discovered some greyish-blue clay rock on the side the river bank that I rubbed on my face, and it turned out looking like a real facemask and making my skin super soft. We ended up reaching one the points where a freezing cold waterfall mixed with burning water straight from the hot spring. It was a matter of the left was super cold, while the right was burning hot. We were in our own private cove area while we laid down in between, letting hot and cold sensations hit us balancing each other out. It was so strange, but felt so good at the same time since it kept alternating one second I was freezing cold the next I was burning up, it was exactly like that Icy Hot stuff you use for injuries. It felt amazing, Jen and I laid there for awhile in our peaceful little area, surrounded by mountains and nature, breezing in the fresh, crisp air as clean, pure water rushed over us I have never felt more relaxed. Finally, my dad and Ans got curious and came and found us, they were already dressed, so Jen and I headed back to get ready to hike down. After we got our clothes on, we started our hike down, Ans and I both practically ruined our tennis shoes by getting them dirty( I tripped and my feet landed off the path in a huge pile of mud turning my shoes dark brown from grey. I attempted to wash it off in the water, but it was hopeless). We along the way took tons of photos and such, and the hike down was so much easier than the hike up so yeah. Near the bottom we entertained ourselves with milder but still extremely hot- hot springs, flicking our hands across them, admiring them, we even found a baby mud hot spring that when you put your foot on one side of the thick mud, the other side exploded upward, It was satisfying. Then after the hot springs, we headed homeward, won't’s again admiring the scenic drive of pure beauty. Back in Reykjavik we parked the car, went back to the room to drop off our stuff, then wandered the streets for a dinner place, stopping in a few stores along the way. We finally decided on “Hard Rock Cafe” where I got a veggie burger, and we talked about Iceland in general. After that we went back to the hotel, Ans practically asleep on my dads’ back. At the hotel, we got ready for bed, and I am now working on this journal entry, and yeah. Until tomorrow :) Peace Out!
June 27- Iceland
Today we conquered Iceland! I woke around 7 to remember I hadn’t wrote my blog from the day before, so I ended up spending some time writing that. Then after that I just chilled and got ready for the day til we went to breakfast. We first attempted to find breakfast outside the hotel, walking around the streets, but after failing at that we ended up just going to the hotel restaurant. It happened to be a buffet, where I made amazing avocadotoast that tasted so good. Then we finished getting ready and headed out to the car to set off to explore the Golden Circle. So we first drove to see Thingvellir National Park,yet stopped multiple times on the way to try and pet wild goats and sheep(ended up just chasing them around) and we stopped to try and climb this mountain thing with unsteady ground where rocks fell at every movement, so we didn’t get far up. My dad had driven far off the road for us to stop, and it was a struggle getting back on the road, but he managed. At the National Park, we saw a really pretty lake, and we saw a part where that was a result to the continental divide, so we walked on a bridge in between two different tectonic plates. Anyways are next stop was Kerið crater, which we accidentally went out of sequence and ended up going in a triangle rather than a circle which added like over an hour to our time due to great amounts of backtracking but it’s all good. The crater was beautiful it was so colorful reds, oranges, yellows, and there was a lake in the middle of the crater that was so blue. We took photos and walked around the top of the crater, then traveled down into it. Down below I walked all around the crater, it was bigger than I thought it would be, then I even ended up swimming in it. I initially was walking around in the water, then had my bathing suit under my clothes, so I wore my bathing suit in 40-degreeweather, and went swimming while everyone else was bundled warmlyin layers. It was so cold but after a while, my body went numb so I couldn't tell a difference. My dad took tons of photos of me swimming around one handed since I was holding my hair up with one hand, trying not to get it wet. It was kinda like an ice bath. Anyway, after that, we went back to the car where we then drove and stopped for lunch( we were in the middle of nowhere so options were limited). After lunch, we drove out to our next stop Geysir. We got there we saw tons of steam everywhere, and Ans and I were putting our hands in the steaming streams to feel how hot it was( it surprisingly wasn’t that hot), we then all went over to the big Geysir where we waited about five minutes before it, what's the word, exploded I guess, y’all know what I mean it went so high up. Then Ans and I moved to the splash zone where the water would hit us after it erupted, the next time the geysir exploded I was rained on by the water that felt surprisingly good in the moment… then I was wet in the cold so. We watched the geysir numerous times, my dad videoed our experience, it was really cool. After that, we quickly stopped by a store where we ended up getting Iceland world cup squad shirts. Then we tracked how far the blue Lagoon was from where we were and it was over two hours away when it should of been 30 minutes away because we went out of sequence. We had reservations and had to get there between 5-6, and it was already 3:30. We still had one stop in the Golden Circle which was Gullfoss, a waterfall, so we quickly went there, took some photos, admired it, bla, bla, bla, then jumped in the car again to head to the Blue Lagoon. We had to stop on the way there to quickly get snacks cause we were starved, then two hours later( after a very scenic drive)we made it to the Blue Lagoon. We went to the wrong place first, but eventually made it and checked in. After checking in, we went to the dressing room to get our bathing suits on( or in my case mine was under my cloths so it was easy). Then we put loads of conditioner in our hair so it wouldn’t dry out when we were in the Lagoon. When we first got in it was amazing, it felt like a spa, we walked all around took photos in the crystal blue water, and ended up being in the Blue Lagoon for 2 hours before getting out. In that time we put on face masks, got drinks( I got a slushy and a smoothie), explored the huge lagoon, and just enjoyed our time in paradise. The water felt so warm and amazing, and the lagoon was surrounded by lava rocks, and was truly out of a fairy tale. Anyway, it was a pretty awesome experience. Anyway, after that we got dressed, then tried to go to the restaurant there “Lava”, but none of us liked the food, so we ended up driving back to Reykjavík to get food. We went to a pho place by our hotel that had really great food, but the service was so slow. Anyway, then we just went back to our hotel and got ready for bed. So yeah, that was my first entire day in Iceland. Bye!!! :)