We split last week between camping in Iceland and celebrating some friends’ birthdays in London. We explored some really breathtaking places, and it was fun mixing a rugged adventure with an urban vacation. Bonus relaxation points for this trip because we got first class upgrades on our two longest flights!
Iceland
We rented a camper van in Iceland because the places we visited were spread out, and we didn't want to have to deal with checking in/out of motels every day. This was our first time doing the van thing, so we didn't know what to expect. After lots of research we decided to rent from
Happy Campers, and for the most part we're satisfied with our choice. The fan was cozy for sleeping, and we made good use of the kitchen. Our only snag was that they charged us almost $400 for some damage we didn't do, but they agreed to refund it after I showed them our inspection photos.
Day 1 was rough because we drank wine instead of sleeping on our red-eye flight. I blame the midnight sun for that. After straightening out with some coffee at the airport, we picked up the van and drove across the southern coast to Skaftafell National Park. The roads were desolate once we got away from Reykjavik, which made sleep-deprived driving difficult, so we took a few breaks to walk around and get our blood pumping. It was still too early for bed once we got to the campsite, so we hiked around the park and discovered the first of many magical waterfalls. I respect TLC too much to go
chasing waterfalls, but in Iceland you can't avoid them.
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We started the next day with a visit to
Jökulsárlón and Diamond Beach. It's unlike any other place I've ever been to. There's an ocean on one end, a glacier on the other, and a lagoon between them - all in the foothills of a volcano. You can watch chunks of ice fall into the lagoon and join the other icebergs being swept out to sea. After their brief nautical voyage, many of the smaller icebergs get washed up on the black sand beach, where they form a fun maze. We took a chilly zodiac boat tour on the lagoon and then had a picnic with the beached ice before it was time to hit the road.
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| draw me like one of your French girls |
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Our next stop was at Skógafoss, a few hours back to the West. This is an absolute unit of a waterfall that you can see from the main road. Most folks just take the short trek to the observation deck, but I thought the real gem here was the hike that begins just above the falls and takes you up the Skógar river. We also visited Skógafoss' lesser known neighbor Kvernafoss, which is hidden in a narrow canyon just a short walk away. We setup camp under some more waterfalls at
Hamragarðar, which was my favorite campsite of the trip.
The next day we we stopped for lunch at this place called
Friðheimar. It's a giant indoor farm that grows about 20% of the tomatoes in Iceland, but they also serve a variety of upscale tomato-based foods right in the greenhouse. We had the bottomless tomato soup and bread buffet (with pick-your-own basil on every table) and a green tomato & apple pie for dessert. We skipped on the tomato beers, but the table next to us seemed to enjoy theirs. I really dug this place because it's a concept that I've tossed around for my own career - a family of businesses to grow and prepare fresh food. I would also try to leverage my tech skills, and sell the infrastructure that I develop as a service to other growers. I don't know much about entrepreneurship, but I'm pretty sure it's a good idea to start several businesses at the same time ;)
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We spent the rest of that day on the beaten path in the Golden Circle. It's hard to describe how massive Gulfoss is. Geysir feels like it belongs on another planet. At Þingvellir National Park we walked between the North American and European tectonic plates. You can also
scuba/snorkel in the volcano-filtered waters between them, if you can brave the 2 degree (C) temperature. We totally would have done it but we forgot to bring a towel.
On our last day we packed a picnic and hiked up Mt. Esja. We ate lunch with a beautiful view overlooking Reykjavik. Then we headed into the city to try some of the famous Icelandic hot dogs that we heard so much about. They were alright but they don't belong in the same conversation as
Sonoran dogs. Finally, after a few long days of getting dirty, we headed to the
Blue Lagoon to clean up and unwind.
The southern coast of Iceland has an awesome mix of intense and peaceful scenery. In some places the forces of nature are at war with one another, but in other places there's nothing but green pastures and sheep as far as the eye can see. It's an especially great place to explore in the middle of summer because you have literally all day to get wherever you're going, but I'd make a return visit in the fall or spring in order to see the northern lights.
London
We spent all of our planning energy on Iceland, so we just showed up in London with a license to chill. We stayed in a homey airbnb near Earl's Court and Kensington. Our host was super nice and the bed felt amazing after 4 nights in the van, but sleep was still rough because of the heatwave.
In 3 days we toured Westminster Abbey, the Churchill war rooms, London Tower, The Eye, and Globe Theatre. We also checked out Borough Market on a Saturday, visited platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross station, rode a double decker bus, walked through some parks, and stopped at lots of pubs. I was pretty excited to find out that ginger beer cocktails are a big thing there. My favorite meal was at an Indian restaurant called
Dishoom, recommended by my buddy Chris. Most importantly, though, we got to celebrate Nik and Marlene's birthdays! Honestly I feel like we didn't even scratch the surface of the London experience, but it was a kick-ass weekend anyway.
