Change In Plans: Travel Day / Seljanlandsfoss
Today we were prepared to head out on an all day adventure on the "Golden Circle" excursion - which we'd done when we were here a few years ago. But right away this morning we were told that plans had changed. The road on part of that trip was closed and they THOUGHT that MAYBE the road would be open around 1 pm. Rather than waste the day we headed to the South Coast and flipped the Golden Circle to a few days from now. We left when it was dark - because the sunrise isn't until 11 am and the sunset is around 4 pm - it's a short day, so you have to utilize the minimum amount of time to see things! We had to go over a mountain and the wind was gusting something fierce and there was snow blowing, but our driver was great. Once on the other side the sun began to creep up and I got some pretty good shots through the front windshield (because the side windows were covered with spray).
The first stop of the day was the "Lava Center" because there are some THIRTY ACTIVE VOLCANOES in Iceland at this time....what???? It was an interesting exhibit, but the best part - I thought was climbing up to the 2nd floor observation deck and taking some photos of the breath taking scenery.
We left the Lava Center and within five minutes stopped a little gas station/diner for lunch. We'd been told that hot dogs are like a "national food" so we had one. Then we went about fifteen minutes up the road to see Seljanlandsfoss - a magnificent waterfall. Now we'd been off the bus twice at this point, and while it was "cold" (we weren't cold because we were dressed appropriately), our guide Cynthia told us as the bus parked that the wind was gusting and we should be careful. Let me tell you - that was an enormous understatement. It was blowing (we found out later) at a steady 35mph and on the already somewhat slippery surface it was very difficult to walk. When the the wind would gust not only was it like a slap in the face of cold, but it would blow you off balance. In fact, one very petite Asian woman was blown off balance, fell and we're pretty sure that she broke her wrist (had to return to the gas station to meet an ambulance so she could be treated.....she later met us at the hotel for dinner with it wrapped up, in good spirits). But we walked most of the way up and got some great photos. Pretty cool - be sure to watch the short video highlights below!
The final stop was a brief one but had, again, some amazing scenery to capture on film. This farm house is RIGHT at the base of a glacier.....WHICH, wait for it.....HAS AN ACTIVE VOLCANO BELOW IT - what????? Yes. And studies show that volcanos are typically active every decade - this one has not been active in over 100 years so there is "concern" - but apparently there are sophisticated warning systems to alert the family. Still......I don't know about that! When I turned around to get back on the bus the sun was setting over the snow-covered field, had to get a photo!
After we left the glacier/farm we continued on to the new hotel where we'll set up shop for three nights before heading back to Reykjavik. This hotel/resort was originally a sheep farm! And they started by renting out one room, then two....then serving breakfast....and now it's a full-fledged hotel. Check out the view out our window when we walked in :) The snow two weeks ago, our guide Cynthia said, was to the top of the roofs. Now "only" 1/3 up our window :)
While we were at dinner our guide told us that there was "a chance" we could see the Northern Lights tonight, so we all piled back on the bus at 8:45pm and drove down to the coast by the lighthouse (about 20 minutes) and stood outside for about an hour and a half. No luck. We'll try again tomorrow. But the star gazing was amazing.....and I know you'll find this hard to believe but it WAS NOT COLD. No wind, which makes a H-U-G-E difference! Kim has often gone star gazing with our grandson and she has an app on her phone. In the second photo below, the picture on the right is what my camera captured.....on the left what came up on Kim's phone. Cool, eh? Identifies the constellation (and as you see in the last photo the planets) for you. We get to "sleep in" tomorrow, on the bus for another full day at 9:45 am. It was a GREAT DAY today.
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