I probably mentioned that I’m doing an Arctic cruise in about a month, and the last stop is Reykjavik, Iceland. (Since I’ve been to Antarctica four times, this trip will make me officially bipolar.)
Rather than fly home immediately, I decided to spend an extra five days in Iceland because the country sounds so interesting and beautiful. I will be free there from the morning of July 19 until the afternoon of the 24th, and I have my guidebook. If you’re a reader (or learn about this somehow) and want to say hello, I’d be glad to meet you. If you want to say hi, have a beer, or give me advice, please either contact me by email or leave a note in the comments. I find that my travels are vastly enriched when I spend some time with the locals.
You will thoroughly enjoy Iceland!
Wow, intriguing pick – looking forward to this!
Congrats on your diagnosis!
Have a great time there, it’s a wonderful place. Two aspects of it intrigued/delighted me when we stayed with friends there several years ago. One is that the hot water in private homes smells strongly of sulphur, and the locals don’t even notice it anymore. (Iceland is full of geothermal activity, ergo hot water is free to all. I’ve heard the hotels do something about the smell so as to not put off tourists, but I’m not sure.) The other is that virtually every community has its own free pool, with lap lanes, slides & such for kids, and several different jacuzzis of differing temperatures. We’d go swimming every morning with our friends, and there’d be several businessmen sitting in the jacuzzis every day, chatting away. Wonderful people, wonderful food, and wonderful scenery – we loved it. Enjoy!
Swimming pools are the best place to meet the locals. Be sure to visit Thingviller where you can stand on two tectonic plates at once.
You may already know, but Rick Stevens has a new (as of this year) video about traveling in Iceland.
Iceland is really beautiful and strange. Do not miss the windy cliffs where the puffins nest, I was enchanted. More than Hawaii or Indonesia, in so many places you really feel and hear the magma breathing under your feet
Sounds like a great trip!
Have a great time. We loved Iceland, we visited in Winter, and want to go back in the summer at some point to see what it’s like then.
I’m looking forward to seeing your photographs. Iceland is on my bucket list. I have several trips books already for this year, so it will have to wait a while.
Have fun in Iceland! Hope you see the Northern Lights on your trip. I recommend the Brennivín (at least once).
Make sure to go to the famous hot dog stand in Rejkavik https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g189970-d1852122-Reviews-Baejarins_Beztu_Pylsur-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html
Highlights for a trip to Iceland for me is
1) Swimming in the arctic ocean on Grimsey Island-and seeing nesting puffins and dodging arctic terns.
2) Scuba diving at the Silfra crack and touching two continental plates.
3) seeing Bobby Fisher’s famous chess board.
4) Visiting the first parliament and the original ‘Geysir’
Have fun!