Day 2: Rachael’s Version

I've been pretty exhausted and got behind on blog posts, but here's the first in a series of updates about what we've been up to these days.

We got on the road after a long sleep in Reykjavík. Our first Icelandic breakfast was at our hotel, a really lovely buffet. The staff at our Viking-themed hotel all wore Viking-style uniforms. Anything to sell rooms, I suppose.

Coming out of Reykjavík we were immediately impressed by the landscape. Iceland is very mountainous, and on a cloudy day the peaks are hidden from view.

Our first step was The Cave Viðgelmir. It is one of the best-preserved lava caves in Iceland, formed after a huge eruption sent a flow of lava into the area around 900 A.D. After several years the lava settled and left behind many lava caves underground. Or it was formed when  giant worm burrowed into the ground. Or it was formed when the giant Surtr lost a battle with Thor and sent out waves of fire to cover the earth. You're free to believe what you wish. In any case, following the Settlement Era many Icelanders began avoiding the caves believing there were trolls living there, and the caves became the temporary habitation of outlaws. This was before the cave had cooled to its present temperature of around 2°C (35.6°F). I don't think anyone, outlaw or not, would want to live in the freezing cold, pitch black tunnel that exists today.

We learned a lot on our tour. I love exploring caves, but I'd never been in a lava cave before. The landscape outside looked almost Martian, and indeed it is the Mars training grounds for the Icelandic Space Agency.

While in the area we stopped by Barnafoss and Hraunfossar. "Barnafoss" means "Waterfall of Children," and the story goes that two children died falling from an arch that used to be over the falls. Their mother, hoping to avoid a repeat tragedy, had the arch destroyed. "Hraunfossar" simply means "Lava Falls." It's made of innumerable falls that emerge from the surrounding lava field with no identifiable source.

After a quick check in at the home of Snorri Sturluson, author of the Edda and Heimskringla, which I read in school, we set out for the Westfjords. This rural, rarely-visited area of Iceland is absolutely stunning, but the roads can sometimes be a trial. Later, the owner of our apartment for the night would tell me that many people have suffered flat tires on the roads we traveled. Fortunately, we were spared.

As well as enjoying the general surrounding beauty, our goal was to visit Dynjandi, "Thundering," which some Icelandic tourism sites have called "the Jewel of the Westfjords." The path to Dynjandi from the parking lot features a good five or six other, smaller waterfalls, but Dynjandi really is the most impressive of the lot. Tall and wide, it certainly lives up to its name.

We stopped for dinner in Ísafjörður, the largest town in the Westfjords and home one of the largest fisheries in Iceland. I had a delicious cod and shrimp soup and mom tried the cod by itself. After, we found our accommodation, an apartment in the neighboring village of Suðavík, and settled in for a well-deserved rest.