Norway pt 1

Day 1: We arrived in Oslo and the drive in from the airport was unbelievable. So vastly different from Iceland. There were trees and grass and the drive into town was more beautiful than most of the drive around Iceland. (And airport to Oslo isn’t anything exquisite, believe me!) 

We walked around Oslo in the afternoon. There was nothing in particular that gained our interest so wandered around and saw some famous buildings. We saw the palace, parliament, and Nobel Peace Prize center. 

Parliament

Nobel Peace Prize center 

While we were eating dinner that night a motorcade drove past, but we have no idea who it was. Still kind of cool though!

Day 2: We got up early and took a train from Oslo to Mydral. It was about 5 hours by train and relatively scenic. We sat across from a Canadian couple and had a nice conversation. The train also had a little cafe on board so we could get food and drinks. 

At the train station

View from the train

One of the most scenic train rides in the world!

Once we arrived in Mydral we transferred to another train- this one going to Flam. 

View from the train

Flam

Flam

Flam was a cute little town and we hopped off here for an excursion. We took a minibus to the Stegastein viewpoint which was super lovely!

Stegastein

Stegastein

We made it back to Flam just in time to catch a cruise from Flam to Gudvangen.  (Also super lovely!) 

Cruise views

Cruise views- so many waterfalls 

Cruise views

Cruise views

It was a little cloudy, but cloudy Norway is still beautiful. I would also say cloudy Norway is more beautiful than cloudy Iceland. 

More to come … 

Iceland pt 3

There wasn’t going to be a part 3, but I still have some things to say so here we go…

First, check out these cute little guys that were right outside our hotel! 

On our final day in Iceland we re-visited Seljalandsfoss because we had blue skies and sunshine! While we were there we also found the secret waterfall, Gljufrabui. 

After that the plan was to just drive back to Reykjavik for our flight early the next morning.

On the way, we stopped at Caves of Hella. These are man-made caves and are Iceland’s oldest still standing archaeological remains.  Some think the caves even date back to before the settlement of the Nordic Vikings. I personally did not care for the tour and found it a bit boring. There’s a lava cave somewhere in Iceland that definitely seemed more interesting, but we didn’t get around to it.

Since we were back in Reykjavik we stopped in for a Lava Show!  It recreates a volcanic eruption by superheating real lava to 2,000 Fahrenheit and pouring it into a custom designed showroom. It gives people the chance to safely see lava. It was very informative and pretty neat! 

Some thoughts on Iceland…

1. It’s so expensive it’s annoying. Most restaurants cost us around $100 usd per meal. Gas prices were also high as well. 

2. Almost everywhere (every site) you have to pay to park and that can get ridiculous as well.
3. You see beautiful pictures of Iceland online, but you have to keep in mind that the weather changes constantly. Thankfully, I knew that coming in, but the first two days were cloudy and blah. The last two days we at least had blue skies and sunshine! Makes for much better pictures! 
4. Everything is a bit of a drive from each other and there’s a lot of “nothing” in between the sites. Don’t get me wrong,  the sites are beautiful, but the driving in between was not. I think I just expected every inch of Iceland to be pretty and scenic. We were only in the south so maybe there are more scenic drives in other places. A lot of what we saw was volcanic rock and sometimes it was covered in moss. Not very pretty. 
5. Sadly, Iceland did not make my top 5 countries, but it might be in the top 10. Reasons being: the price, the unpredictable weather, the nothingness between drives. And, oh yeah, they don’t have a single McDonald’s. (Kidding, kind of)  ;)
A lot of people really enjoy Iceland, but it’s not a country I would come back to. There’s definitely a lot of beauty in Iceland and the people have all been nice. I am glad we came, for sure, but it just didn’t quite make the cut for me. 

Iceland pt 2

Day 3:  Started off by visiting Seljalandsfoss. This was cool because you can actually walk behind the waterfall! The pictures online are stunning - especially those taken during the midnight sun. Of course Iceland is Iceland and the weather is unpredictable. There are usually more cloudy days than not, which is unfortunate. (But the waterfalls are still beautiful!) 

Next we stopped at Skogafoss. Here you can walk right up to the base. There were also steps leading to the top so you could see it from a different angle as well as seeing the cascade.

 Reynisfjara black sand beach  was next on our list. The sand is black due to the country’s  intense volcanic activity and cooling of lava.  It was only fitting that we ate dinner at Black Crust Pizzeria. Thankfully black crust didn’t mean burnt. It’s just a coloring they use to fit in with the black sand beach. 

Day 4: 

We woke up and drove to Yoda cave. It’s real name is Gigjagja and is a lava cave that resembles Yoda. Apparently Rogue one also had some filming in the area.

This was the first day that we’ve seen blue skies which was very much appreciated!  

We stopped at Diamond Beach before doing our kayak tour. 

Diamond Beach is really cool because the icebergs from Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon wash ashore. It looks like glistening ice (diamonds) scattered across volcanic sand.

Across the way was where we met for our kayak tour through Ice Guide. We took our kayaks onto the waters of Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon where we were able to see floating icebergs and view beautiful mountains and glaciers.

Adventure Hotel Geirland was our hotel for the evening. 

Stay tuned for Norway blogs! 

Iceland pt1

Day 1: We arrived in Iceland around 9am, got our rental car, and drove to our hotel in Reykjavik. Our hotel, Leifur Eiriksson, was right across from the famous church, Hallgrimskirkja. 

Hallgrimskirkja

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Vikinga Pylsur because we were told that we had to try Icelandic hotdogs. I just got a classic hotdog and it was fine. I’m not a big hot dog person to begin with. 

After that, we had a Puffin tour scheduled through Puffin Express. The tour was only an hour long and they got us as close to the island as possible, but it was hard to get good pictures or see them up close. They had binoculars, but I wish I could have seen them closer with my naked eye. 

Once we finished with the puffins, we went to our reservation at Sky Lagoon.  There’s a whole 7 step ritual which I took a picture of below. Essentially it takes you through alternating hot and cold temperatures to boost circulation, exfoliate, and refresh your skin- all while overlooking the North Atlantic Ocean. 

The 7 step ritual 

Infinity edge lagoon

Sauna time

Lagoon

By the time we were finished it was probably close to 4:00pm so we found a bite to eat at a place called Old Harbour House. I got a cheeseburger and fries and they were delicious! (I am a very picky burger and fries person so this a high compliment!) 

The only problem was that the meal was about $100 usd. We knew Iceland (especially eating out) was going to be expensive, but dangggg! 

Around 6:00pm we made it back to our hotel and fell asleep almost right away. (Yes, even the night owl, Mike!!). After having been up 30 some hours, we were zonked. 

Day 2: After having slept 12 hours we had breakfast at the hotel and then drove to Oxararfoss in Thingvellir National Park. The waterfall itself is 44ft high and we walked about a mile to get to it. Apparently it was a filming location for Game of Thrones, but I’ve never seen it so I don’t care about that bit.  I liked the waterfall though! Öxarárfoss sits within the Almannagja gorge, a dramatic rift which marks that boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.   

Hike to Oxararfoss 

Oxararfoss

We drove a bit more and stopped at Gullfoss. This is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. It’s a two-tiered cascade which plunges into a narrow canyon. The double cascade is really amazing to see! 

Love the cascades

Gullfoss

Not far from Gullfoss is the Haukadular Geothermal valley. So many geysers!! The Great Geysir is well known and it erupts very regularly. (It was about every 5 minutes)

The great geysir

On our way to our hotel for the evening we stopped at Sunnumörk which is a shop built over the mid Atlantic ridge. I was very entertained by this.

Hotel for the evening was Hotel Selfoss

We also ate dinner at Froken Selfoss and got gelato at Ísbúð Huppu

Ps. Mike wanted me to mention he got lamb soup. 

Stay tuned for part 2!