{"id":1226,"date":"2023-08-18T18:29:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T22:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leavingwithlaura.blog\/?p=64"},"modified":"2024-10-19T15:31:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-19T15:31:06","slug":"iceland-first-15-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/?p=1226","title":{"rendered":"Iceland: First 15 hours"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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We\u2019re back in Iceland, finally!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This trip was scheduled for summer of 2020, and as huge fans of this country, we kept the faith and took a airline credit instead of a refund during the shut down, counting on being able to return here once things settled down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And so they did. While it\u2019s a new normal, we\u2019re finding our first very <\/em>full day here to be comfortingly familiar even while I see things we didn\u2019t see in 2019, our last visit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is Mark\u2019s fifth visit to Iceland, a number that surprises many of those here who ask. He is an especially big fan of this country.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

After arriving at the gracious Keflavik airport, we inventoried the scratches and dings on our rental car so we wouldn\u2019t be responsible for those when returning the car, and set off for the Blue Lagoon.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

One of the most iconic sites in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon is human-made but heated by effluent water from a geothermal power plant. Years ago people just stopped by the roadside to take a dip in warm water, and then the brilliant idea was born. It\u2019s an elegant and efficiently run operation now.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

After being awake for twenty hours minus a little dozing on the five hour flight from Boston, the warm water felt wonderful. The minerals, especially silica, give the water a creamy feel. At the mask bar, you can wade up and get some face masks to apply and rinse in a series, The photo above is after our ninety minutes or so. I guess I look the same age, but my skim really was softer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Brunch: smoked fish on flatbread, fruit. Notice the compostable cutlery. Icelandair also used this sort when serving our meal en route.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Our final destination for the day was Hellar, by way of Selfoss. Selfoss was a delight. We made a spontaneous stop here because I hadn\u2019t packed an appropriate charging cable to use a phone in the car. We passed a Vodaphone store and stopped in.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It was their lucky day. We bought a cable and a wall charger with European plugs too. After ripping the cable open with the finesse of a Viking on a pillage, I realized it was the wrong kind. Back into the store. After locating the right kind, the clerks kindly asked, \u201cDid you already open the other one?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cOf course I did,\u201d I replied, a bit sheepishly and without the aforementioned analogy to their ancient forbearers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWill you be able to use it?\u201d Their concern was genuine.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cYes!\u201d To everyone\u2019s relief.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The men working the counter at this Vodaphone were just what I remember being impressed by during my last visit. Serious and helpful\u2014 and with a good sense of humor. They also told us where to get some coffee.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty new place,\u201d one said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWell is it good coffee? Or are you just trying it out on the tourists first?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cNo, no! It\u2019s really good, actually,\u201d was the reply.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Selfoss has a new shopping area great for strolling tourists.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This stop actually did give us a chance for some good coffee. Cortados- right on the menu. And Mark got really excited to see happy marriage cake in the bakery case.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Happy Marriage Cake: cake, jam (traditionally rhubarb) and an oat crumb topping. A little like a linzer torte.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Finally to Hellar where we could unpack a bit before setting out for a couple of miles of easy hiking. We were looking for a waterfall but never actually found it. We did find two species of Angelica\u2014 sometimes still flowering but also in fruit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Angelica atropurpurea : Purple stemmed Angelica<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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One of the absolutely best things about traveling in Iceland, in the summer at least, is that the sun sets really, really late. We can see so much without worrying about losing light on the path.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We had a lovely meal in our hotel- cod, salad and skyr cake, making a nice ending to a 33 hour \u201cday.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Angelica in flower and fruit. This is related to the Northeasern USA\u2019s Queen Anne\u2019s lace. Members of the carrot & parsley family, it is Mark\u2019s specialty in botany, so members of this plant family are always noted wherever we go.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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We\u2019re back in Iceland, finally! This trip was scheduled for summer of 2020, and as huge fans of this country, we kept the faith and took a airline credit instead of a refund during the shut down, counting on being able to return here once things settled down. And so they did. While it\u2019s a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[23,24],"class_list":["post-1226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-28","tag-23","tag-iceland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1322,"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions\/1322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceffa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}