Iceland – Day One Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Oh Welcome Day…

Upon beginning our descent, there was no notice land was about to pop into the picture but suddenly the endless ocean gave way to a moonscape of a scene. Varying shades of brown with craters dotting the landscape here and there; fissures with steam wafting out; and a treeless scene was passing by below me and I was so excited that it was a beautiful day!

I landed at 6:00 AM after maybe getting two hours of semi sleep, breezed through immigration and shleppeed all my stuff, plus the couple bottles of wine I had picked up in the duty free shop, the five minute walk to the car rental agency. Checking the car out from here was also a breeze and before I knew it I was hitting my first roundabout on the five minute drive to the hotel I had booked for my evening arrival last night, that did not happen. I was feeling the lack of sleep so I immediately drew the blackout shades and passed out – not the soundest sleep but enough so that I felt like I could function a few hours later.

My first stop was the grocery store, which I always love doing in a foreign country. Everything was pretty self explanatory except for the dairy products, the choice was endless – I am praying I am not going to be pouring kefir into my coffee tomorrow morning.

I walked around the outskirts of Keflavík town and absolutely relished the magnificent day it was. I couldn’t get over the lupine, it is everywhere – clearly invasive but boy was it beautiful.

Jenny’s flight ended up being 45 minutes delayed and after stopping at the car rental office to add her name to the rental contract as an additional driver, we finally set off some hour and a half behind schedule with a 3 hour drive to our first stop.

It was strange setting out for an adventure in a foreign country without Billy. Jenny and I have done lots of trips, just the two of us, without him but all have been domestic so this time it was a little bittersweet. We wish he could have come but with all the other trips we have taken and will take this year, he just couldn’t swing it…

Just outside of Reykjavik, we missed the exit – which as you all know – it is never a road trip for us until the first u-turn is made. However, this was more of a cloverleaf we had to make but we were able to quickly get ourselves back on track until all the turns had Jenny feeling carsick so a stop at KFC, of all places, was made. If it wasn’t for the picture board menu, Lord only knows what we would have ended up ordering.

Back on the road, and feeling less queasy we made our way out to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, a remote area with not much but sheep farms and drop dead gorgeous scenery. Jenny and I chatted a lot about her life in the Netherlands, where she is at; the things that are important and how she has recently found a lot of peace (some in unexpected ways). In between every few sentences was one of our reactions to the landscape we were passing through. It continually changed, unlike the Texas panhandle, and led us to audible gasps on quite a few occasions. The unexpected and a tad bit unnerving part was driving through a 6 kilometer long tunnel that dropped down so deep it made my ears pop!

The further we got out on to the peninsula, the more wilder it became – the mountains got more rugged; the glaciers got bigger and the waterfalls got taller.

Our first planned stop was Budir Black Church, mainly for its setting and the photo op I knew it would give, especially considering the weather. I had tried to book us into the one and only inn located here but they were full for tonight but we still enjoyed the stop and knew for sure it was a place we could easily spend a few days wandering.

From here we turned inland to cut across the peninsula over a mountain pass, instead of taking the time to round it. As we dropped down to the other side, we both gasped simultaneously at the scenery we were passing through. As if on cue, we commented that it felt like we had just driven into another world. Of course, the lack of guardrails kept my focus on the road more than the scenery and I kept wishing we would come upon a pull out so I could actually stop and take it all in but there were none.

The next stop was at Kirkjufell mountain and waterfalls, if you ever watch Game of Thrones, apparently some scened were filmed here. The setting was stunning and of course, the clarity of the day was a huge bonus.

The last stop was a short walk to Grundarfoss waterfall. A classic looking waterfall that pours from the glaciers straight down over a cliff.

It was 9:30 by the time we got to the guesthouse but still total daylight. Sunset is at 11:10 PM and sunrise at 3:30 AM so there is very little darkness we will have. Dinner was a cup o’noodles for Jenny and peanut butter crackers and a bit of red wine for me. No complaints, especially not when we were sitting staring at the stunning view out of our windows.

Our first hours in Iceland have been fabulous. Jenny is besides herself with all the lambs running through the fields as am I with all the Icelandic ponies. Jenny said she wanted nature, there is no doubt that she is getting just what she asked for. We can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings us.