Arrived in Iceland yesterday after essentially no sleep on the plane. It left almost 1 1/2 hours late due to mechanical problems - not very reassuring! The space seemed more cramped than usual, the seats wouldn't recline and we couldn't seem to get comfortable. We had visited with family and friends, and attended our nephew's wedding in Mississauga just prior to our flight, and so had to fly Icelandair from Toronto. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but we did miss being on West Jet!
After getting the rental car we drove out to the lighthouses at Garður on the NW coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula. The area has lots of lava rock and small run-down communities. Even the Lonely Planet guide says that this first view of Iceland would make us wonder why we chose it as a destination. However things got more interesting after we left the area around the Keflavík airport and drove to the 100 Crater Park. This park has 13th century lava fields, striking cliffs and rocks jutting out of the water. Close by is Valahnúkur, a geothermal area where the ground surface is pretty colours and lots of steam rose from the earth. The lava rock and steam vents brought back memories of Hawaii. We crossed the bridge between two continents - North America and Europe. This is where the two tectonic plates are separating.
From there we saw the Viking Museum at Njarðvík which houses a 23m long exact replica of a ship from the Viking age. In 2000 a crew sailed the ship from Iceland to New York to commemorate the 1000 anniversary of Leif Erikson's journey to America.
After a sleep in the car we drove along the southern part of the peninsula and up to Reykjavík, the capital city and the largest on the island. We got some groceries for breakfast and lunch, and Michael tried horse meat at the restaurant, which was very good. There was also puffin and shark on the menu! We walked around town for a bit, and I tried on some Icelandic wool sweaters, which are seen everywhere here. I think I'm going to regret not bringing a heavier coat! We retired early, as we were both very tired. We brought sleep masks, as it doesn't get dark at this time of year. Somehow mine ended up on the floor when I awoke, however.
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