Iceland 2018

Iceland

A destination chosen for convenience.

We decided to go to Iceland because it was accessible via a non-stop flight from both NYC and Seattle where our kids were living, as they both had direct flights. We had no idea how much we would all fall in love with the raw beauty and amazing adventures we experienced there.

We stayed at an Airbnb just down the hill from the famous Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavik but we spent nearly every day of the trip traveling throughout the Western and Southern regions of Iceland taking in all the natural beauty. We would adventure about 2 hours away from Reykjavík each day in our rental car, with lots of stops on the way out. Although the 2+ hours back in the wind was a tough drive, we saw a lot of the unbelievable landscapes Iceland has to offer.

Iceland gave us the chance to do some truly crazy things! Maybe one of the craziest was ice climbing on the Solheimajokull glacier where we were given ice axes to help us climb out of a crevice in the glacier - but that was only after we'd rapelled down more than 100'! A few days later we all put on wet suits to snorkel in the Silfra fissure in which separates the tectonic plates. The water was crystal clear and ice cold at only 35 degrees! Both of these are days we still talk about!!!

On our adventures through Iceland, the waterfalls and beaches were some of the greatest sites. Iceland should be the land of landscape and waterfalls! One of the most amazing natural sites we've seen was the gorgeous black sand beach and basalt columns near Vik. The day we visited the wind was howling and the sand was driving huge waves onto the beach in a scene of amazing power and force. Another adventure on the peninsula had us climbing up a gorge filled with snow and birds letting us know we were not welcome!

The amazing natural and raw beauty of Iceland make it one our favorite places we've visited. If you ask us about our favorites, Iceland will always be on the list! The pictures from this trip will always be our favorites!!!