Iceland Archives

Iceland waterfalls

Brittany

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July 16, 2012

And three months later our Iceland trip is finally being wrapped up in photos. Goodness, I’m constantly reminded how surreal this place is. You can’t go to Iceland and not see waterfalls, so I’ve dedicated this last post to all things waterfalls. A little tip, “foss” in Icelandic means “falls” in English, which might help break down the names. Here we go! We started our waterfalls exploration by taking a little day trip out to Barnafoss with our gracious hosts.

Then Paul and I rented a car for a few days and hit some of the major highlights around the southern rim of the island including Seljalandsfoss, Skógarfoss and Svartifoss. The beauty of Seljalandsfoss is the trip BEHIND the waterfall. Pretty wild. And cold. And loud.

Svartifoss is insane. Look at these rock formations! It has the feel of cathedral organ pipes you know what I mean?

Ok, these little rock pile ups below are a sweet story. Visitors are supposed to add a rock to the top.

Moody!

I’ve been enamored with pictures from other people’s trips to Iceland including Jenna’s super detailed write-ups. Mackenzie of Secret Pocket has beautiful photos of their trip to Iceland/Denmark for the holidays last year. Elaina from Fint og Deilig and her husbandMark spent their honeymoon camping in Iceland last summer. Brave souls! I’ve been following the Instagram of Andrew and Carissa as they explore Iceland right now. This shot at the Blue Lagoon is gorgeous! Elena also did an Iceland falls post. BTW, we did go to the Blue Lagoon, Iceland’s biggest tourist destination, but we didn’t take a single photo! Crime! Needless to say, the place is otherworldly (and expensive! especially when we went here for free!)

Check out some more Iceland photos here

Golden Circle

Brittany

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June 19, 2012

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Just two more Iceland posts to go. Isn’t this place unreal?! When you come to Iceland, the main tourist route is the Golden Circle, which consists of three main stops in a 300km loop. The first is the national park Þingvellir, which is important for two reasons. 1) it’s the site of the original parliament of Iceland established in 930 and 2) it’s also the site of a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The second is the geothermal geysers consisting of Geysir and Strokkur, which are absolutely phenomenal, erupting every 10 minutes or so.

The last is the waterfall, Gulfoss, which, too, is pretty phenomenal.

More Iceland photos here.

Glacier Lagoon Part Deux

Brittany

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June 5, 2012

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Remember when we went to the Glacier Lagoon? Well, right after we boated through the glaciers we hopped across this bridge

and traversed the black sands

then came across the beach.

But this is no normal beach. This is an ice block beach where instead of throwing a frisbee around…

…you throw chunks of ice.

…and rest on an ice berg

and find true love written in nature (see it?)

The End. Only a couple more Iceland sessions I promise!

Guide to Reykjavik vintage shopping

Brittany

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May 29, 2012

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My wardrobe consists of what I like to call “story clothes” or, in other words, clothes that tell stories of where I’ve been. Thus, vintage/thrift stores are a must when we travel. Our friend, Unnur, a Reykjavik native and savvy second hand shopper, was kind enough to take me out on a second hand shop tour in Reykjavik when we visited Iceland last month. I asked her if she’d be interested in creating a guide for all of you because somehow it seems like a lot of you have been to Iceland, are planning on going or would like to go. She did such a thorough job and I’m so grateful for her research. I’ve gone ahead and added the locations into a map which you can access on Everplaces.com Thank you! Take it away Unnur!

Hlemmur is where it all begins. It is just about the easiest place to find in Iceland because all the main busses go there and every single Icelander in the whole wide world knows where it is. The Grand Central station of Reykjavík if you will.

The first, and my personal favorite, vintage shop is right across the street from Hlemmur and chock-full of goodies at the lowest prices. It may not look like much from the outside but venture in and you won’t be disappointed. Fatamarkaðurinn(The Clothing Market) is a sort of side project for another vintage shop, Spúútnik, selling similar clothes at a lower price.

Kassetta (cassette tape) is only a couple of blocks down Laugavegur, the main shopping street in downtown Reykjavík. It is a small but ohh so cute half&half, selling new jeans, lomo cameras and vintage clothing among other things.

Nostalgía (Nostalgia) is as cute on the inside as it is on the outside. A truly joyful place to visit. The prices are a bit higher than the previous two places, but it is worth the visit. FIY they sell Vintage Kimonos. Something everyone should know.

Spúútnik (Sputnik) is the mother of vintage in Iceland. They have an outlet in Kringlan mall as well as a side project vintage shop, mentioned earlier in this post. The shop on Laugavegur has a great selection of women’s clothing as well as the biggest selection of men’s vintage clothes.

Rokk og Rósir (Rock and Roses) has the most gorgeous dresses along with other beautiful and girly vintage things. Even though their prices are generally a little bit higher than most other vintage shops they have sales and special offers every once in a while that totally make up for it. So keep your eyes open and your wallets stocked and ready because when they offer 7 items for only 55 dollars you are going to be able to find at least 14 vintage things you can’t live without.

To some “second hand” does not sound as exciting as “vintage”. But let me assure you, the Red Cross second hand store on Laugavegur has an incredible selection of beautiful vintage clothing. It is one of many Red Cross stores in Reykjavík, but I am pretty sure they hand pick the clothes for this little shop. You can always find something exciting in there, and the best thing is it’s generally cheaper than the other places in the area and you can usually get a discount, that is if you are a bit flirty and good at negotiating …I highly recommend paying the full price though, because its the Red Cross for Pete’s sake!

Dótturflélagið (The Daugther Company) is a cute little half&half with a lot of character. The shop might not have an overload of vintage clothing, but it has wonderful employees who are more than willing to help, inform and make you feel right at home. There is even a little wall for poloroids of mothers and daughters who visit the store together and a little kiddie corner so the kids can play while mom tries on that awesome looking vintage jacket.

Gyllti kötturinn (The Golden Cat) is an interesting, medium sized half&half. Even thought it is a couple of blocks from the majority of the vintage shops its worth the walk. They have a mixture of new and interesting designs and vintage that fits ohh so well together. And the shoes, all those lovely shoes.

Kolaporið (The Flea Market) deserves a post of its own. In fact thats exactly what I am going to do. Some come back to my blog for a look at the one and only Icelandic flea market.

Thank you so so much Unnur!

Edit: I’ve since added these into a map for you using Everplaces. Check it out here.

Iceland: off the Golden Circle

Brittany

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May 24, 2012

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The Golden Circle consists of a three major tourist sites: the waterfall Gullfoss, the geothermal geysers including Geysir, and the national park and site of the first parliament, Pingvellir. These are all awesome, but you know what’s even more awesome? Going off the beaten track. Well, most things in Iceland are of the beaten track so that’s not very hard. Paul had remembered a crater he had visited the last time he was there so we went on a crater hunt. First, we ran into this red rock mine, which was located next to a mountain. After climbing the mountain we found out that the it was in fact a crater.

THEN, we drove to another site where Bjork had what I think must be the best music venue of all time. She performed on a raft on the water of this crater:

Darn that automatic timer.

Are you getting the sense that Iceland is just amazing? (As if I haven’t talked about it enough) I do have to thank a few people for giving me some really awesome travel tips. Jenna was an absolute sweetheart for giving a huge itinerary including a Google map that we used. She wrote about her adventures in several parts starting here. Michelle, Marlou, Linda, Kurt, Brenda, Gnomie and Anne also gave me some really awesome advice. Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know!

Reykjavik

Brittany

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May 16, 2012

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So far I’ve covered our Iceland trip without mentioning the capital, Reykjavik, once. For shame! It’s the largest city in Iceland though it feels like a town compared with other cities. I was struck by its mountainous yet Scandinavian feel. A lot of homes are built out of corrugated iron so it feels like temporary housing, but I’ve been told it’s very sturdy–did you know the country lies on a huge fault?! Doesn’t scare me much being from California, but add volcanoes to their list of natural disasters you realize they really must love where they live in order to stay. Yikes. The Hallgrimskirkja, above, is awesome. You must go up the tower to see the view of the city with all the colorful roofs. That’s one thing about Icelanders, they love color. Like this wall, below, and the roofs.

There are several of these waterfall installations throughout the city. I can’t seem to find the name of the artist…anyone?

Iceland Part 2: Look Pa, I’m outdoorsy!

Brittany

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May 1, 2012

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Sadly, words like “an hour and a half hike to hot springs” aren’t super tempting. Had they never said it would take only 35 minutes I probably wouldn’t have gone. BUT, I’m SO glad we went. Really, this was one of the most terrific things I’ve ever done. Let me tell you how it all started. You’re going to want to read it all, I promise, so click at the bottom for the rest of the story and an overabundance of pictures. I’ll be putting the rest of the pics on Facebook soon.

Our plan for the day was to go to the Vestmannaeyjar Islands (after seeing this picture, we just HAD to go, you know?) So we drove to the ferry only to find out that we could get there, but we probably couldn’t get a ferry ride back due to the weather. Rats! So, we drove around a bit and then our host thought we might like to visit the hot springs. Hmmm, sure. I’m not an enthused swimwear user in the freezing cold, you see. Well, we drove out only to find that the road was blocked by ice and rocks like this:

Not good. So, the Icelanders explain the infamous 35 min. hike and we get going. We set off with these adorable little one. (Notice the use of Icelandic sweaters–they really do wear them!)

We pass scenes like this, which keeps me a happy camper.

Then I feel like we’re going through that scene in Elf when he explains his magical trip Candy Cane forest. We keep going and going and going when and hour and half later…

…we land on THIS. Wha?!?! Are you kidding me?

I shed my coat because we’d worked up some heat and it was surprisingly mild outside and reveal that I, too, had become Icelandic and was sporting a newly purchased sweater. Surprise!

We see a whole valley of steaming hot water, much too hot to actually touch so we keep on traveling down the valley to hopefully tamer temperatures when…

…when we spot this…you know, a sheep’s skeleton. Cuz that’s what happens in Iceland.

Oh, hey Paul!

We traverse the waters. Everyone does it with ease, but I’m a little frightened at the thought that this could potentially be boiling water and I could die. But, I do it without a hitch and I feel like I could conquer the world.

We finally find a moderate temperature and take a dip and soak for a bit. It was heavenly.

Afterwards we must document our moment with the waters. We get out the automatic timer because the only thing around here are us the sheep’s skeletons.

Now we must decide to go back up the way we came or head down the valley to the nearby village and call someone they know to take us back up to our car. We opt for the later. But we have a very tired boy on our hands who’s missed his nap time so people take turns carrying him. Minus me, I guess my only duty was taking pictures. Muhahaha.

Heading down the valley

We finally make it down to the base of the mountain a couple of hours later and have some friends save us. Was it worth it? You better believe it. It was nuts! So surreal.

Now, if this doesn’t make you want to schedule a trip, I don’t know what else will.

Iceland Part 1: Glacier Lagoon

Brittany

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April 26, 2012

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Remember learning about glaciers in 4th grade and thinking, “cool” but you never really gave a second thought that you could actually see one because they ACTUALLY EXIST? Glacier Lagoon, or as the Icelanders call it, Jökulsárlón, is such glacier and the lagoon is oh so furreal. Yes, there are seals swimming around. Sometimes the icebergs turn upside down and then you can see the smooth ice patterns like the second pic from the bottom. The patterns Mother Earth creates are really out of this world. Ha. Punny. The boat rental handed us some really sexy onesy jumpsuits to wear, which really made my day because it made me a cozy happy camper.

You liking Iceland so far? Yeah, this is only the first of my batch of pictures so you’ve got to to bear with me.

I’ll be posting more to Facebook so I don’t overwhelm you with 300+ pics of each stop. You’re welcome.