We are wearing like 5 layers of clothes...

We get there and gear up...this includes an ice ax to help if we slide and crampons which are metal spiked soles for your shoes.

Um. that's terrifying.

Info about this glacier tour:

Less than two hours drive from Reykjavík is Eyjafjallajökull glacier, and just a little further the Sólheimajökull glacier tongue extends down from Mýrdalsjökull.

Here's how it's advertised:

Take a Walk on the Ice Side

We take an easy walk on crampons up on to the ice field where a wonderland of ice sculptures, ridges and deep crevasses awaits discovery. We will provide and teach you how to use basic glacier equipment. Ice climbing is not included in this tour.

Remember to bring warm clothing and rain gear. Minimum age is 10 years. Lunch and refreshments not included. On the way back there’s a stop at the striking waterfalls, Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss.

This tour is subject to road and weather conditions.

Let me just be clear that no where in the advertisement does it say that there are 19 different ways for you to die on this tour.

These holes and crevasses form from melting ice creating little rivers, and then can be hidden by snow the following season. Once that new layer of ice melts to a thin layer - it becomes very dangerous to walk across the glacier. This happens, oh, around late July. :) Good thing we have that pickaxe!

We were in awe of the beauty, but also happy to get back on solid ground.

We stop for two more amazing waterfalls on the way back to Reykjavik. This open land is used by farmers, we saw many sheep and some fuzzy cows.


This is the only picture of the two of us together from our whole trip. A woman saw us and offered to take it, and she took a great photo - thank you!!

This was a taller narrow waterfall with a trail in the rock that leads behind it.

The water also tastes pretty good, it's coming from the glaciers.

Photos from the bus ride of homes out in the rural parts of Iceland. Some of them were built right into the rocks...

This little stand in Reykjavik has "the best hot dog" in all of Europe, rated according to this European poll, and Matt ate one daily. He tried different combinations of all the toppings until he finally got it right.



He really loves that hot dog.

Tuesday

I got up earlier than Matt, and went downstairs for the hotel breakfast. After Matt got up we went out to the "Grey Cat" (Grái kötturinn) for his breakfast. We fell in love with this place pretty quick.

In search of the elusive puffin

We took a 1 hour boat tour that put the Gilligan's Island theme song in our heads for hours. It took us out to an island to see puffins. They are the sweetest little birds.

Once back on land we're hungry, and head back to the Seabaron for dinner - the restaurant seats group style so that you're nestled in with lots of strangers at long wooden tables. It's very friendly.














Matt says the best lobster bisque he's ever had...

Then we decided to walk along the harbor, it was a little drizzly and atmospheric, very lovely. It turned into a very long walk, a very, very long walk.

We ended up at a ferry that crossed to an island near the harbor, and we decided to take the ferry and check out the island. The tour guide spoke Icelandic, so once there we were on our own to explore for an hour...

Matt found a geocache and we added a note and put it back.

At this point we have been walking in the rain for close to 2 hours, and we still have yet to ferry back and then walk all the way home.


And Matt is loving every minute of our rain drenched exhaustive walk...

This pretty much sums it up

We finally catch the next ferry back,


Then walk the ridiculous distance back to town.

And Matt grabs a hot dog.

wednesday

Wednesday morning we got up and had a wonderful breakfast back at the Grey Cat before we headed out. It would be our last breakfast since our plane leaves early the next day. I started to miss Iceland even as we sat there.

Then we rented a car with the intention of driving along Iceland's main road which loops the island. We had difficulty, because this highway actually becomes a gravel dirt road shortly outside of Reykjavik.

We saw wonderful surprises...

and stopped to hike a small mountain side.
The geothermal activity is so prevalent that the stem is coming out of the ground all over the island.

We ended up driving a smaller loop, and passing simply specular landscapes.










The Icelandic horse is considered a special breed - and is not ever bred with outside horses. No foreign horses are permitted in Iceland and any horse to leave may not return.