mom and dad go to iceland

we took a trip to london sans kids!!! and the cheapest way to get there was going through iceland … so mom and dad went to iceland! we had just a couple days on this fascinating, gorgeous island and filled them up with lots of beauty. i am a big fan of ice – i’m just enamored by snow, frost, icebergs, glaciers, etc – so this stop-over was very exciting for me … and although it was so much work to leave the kids, it was so great to be one-on-one with my true love!

ian taught a 5-week class at the university of chicago on thursdays, so i met him in the windy city and we took off from there to iceland (and then on to london). i really like chicago and it was so fun to have a few hours to explore before going to the airport together. we rented bikes and went to the beach at the lake and then cycled along the river for a while. it was lovely!

we flew overnight to reykjavik, and after we got some food and our rental car at the airport, our first stop was the blue lagoon. this place is so cool! we got there before it was really crowded and had such a peaceful, relaxing time wading around in the incredibly teal water. our admission came with a mud mask, so that was fun 🙂 there are also steam rooms and waterfalls and a silent area and a swim-up bar.

after we got showered and changed, we hit the ring road that goes around the perimeter of the island of iceland. we knew the scenery would be pretty brown compared to most pictures we’ve seen of iceland (taken later in the year), but it was still pretty stunning. we stopped at a huge waterfall right off the road and hiked up to the top of it and along the plateau there for a while, taking in the unique beauty in the sunshine.

we were kind of flying by the seat of our pants, seeing how far we could get before it started to get dark, and then booking a last-minute hotel – and that was kinda fun! we stopped at this huge glacier, and then headed for the glacier lagoon i was so looking forward to seeing. it did not disappoint! just so amazing to see all those chunks of ice that have broken off the glacier floating in the blue.

we went across the ring road to “diamond beach” where those big hunks of ice sometimes end up beached on the black sand. it was spitting rain and chilly, but just fascinating to see all the different shapes of ice that had landed in this spot.

we found a hotel with a little on-site restaurant and enjoyed fresh fish and other delicious things for dinner. we tried to sleep off the jet-lag and got up the next morning and headed straight back for the glacier lagoon and diamond beach – we wanted to see them in sunnier weather and just again because they were so cool! it was all even more arrestingly gorgeous the second time around!

as we drove toward a hike we wanted to do that was back towards the airport, we saw a tag on google maps for another glacier down a short dirt road and we decided to go for it. total serendipity – this spot got us so much closer to a big glacier than we had been at other spots and there wasn’t a soul but us taking in the grandeur of the floating mini icebergs in the lagoon. (one other human did eventually come along, and offered to take a photo of us together!)

i was so excited to hike up mulagljufur canyon – i had seen amazing photos. and my high expectations were exceeded! it’s hard to capture the majesty of this place with a camera – this is easily one of the top five most beautiful hikes i’ve ever been on in my life. it felt otherworldly! looking up the canyon toward the peak and waterfalls, and then also down the canyon toward the glacier and lagoon that we were just at, and the snowcapped mountains beyond – just incredible. we only saw a couple other people on the trail and felt absolutely wrapped up in soothing, singing mother nature.

after returning to our car, we continued our journey back towards the airport. we stopped at another interesting canyon and then at one last waterfall – this one we could walk right under!