Libby Henderson Photography & Travel Blog

Iceland

15 days in September

Iceland:

The land of ice and fire

My first view of Iceland from the air happened to be at sunrise. I thought I heard Cercei yelling at Jon Snow.

Ice - doesn't necessarily mean snow, in Iceland. There are areas of the country that haven't seen snow in 5+ years. Ice means glaciers and icebergs to me, now that I've seen quite a bit of the island.

Fire - means both volcanoes and the 'fire in the sky' of the Aurora Borealis. The island has a plethora of volcanoes, both active and dormant. And the sky dances with the Aurora, even now at a solar minimum, a few times a week.

September 5/6 DAY 1 - FLIGHT:

My flight on Icelandair was delayed an hour to no fault of theirs.... weather in Chicago was pretty stormy and I felt lucky that we took off after an hour instead of getting a cancelled flight notification! I upgraded to first class before the flight and WOW I totally recommend that! It's a 5 and a half hour flight and on a 757 that means the 'up front' cabin has only 2 x 2 seats across. And to make it even better, the seat next to me was empty! Free noise-cancelling headphones, a pillow and blanket, and free entertainment on the tv right in front of you. They treat you like royalty. Check out the food and adult beverages!

A couple glasses of prosecco to start...

fancy-schmancy!

I tried a Transatlantic IPA developed for Icelandair's new 737 fleet...

...and I ordered the salad with chicken. Delich!

Then the fight to try and sleep was on. I can't sleep on airplanes, and I guess, even in first class. UGH maybe eeeked out an our of sleep. They served a breakfast treat (orange juice and a cruller doughnut thingy) which I declined. Then we descended at sunrise! Such beauty. As the Keflavik airport is on the south west coast of this stunning island country, we flew low between decks of clouds then almost on top of the water. There be whales, captain! WOW I could see blowspouts but couldn't see if they were dolphins/porpoises or whales. One though was distinctly HUGE and had the shape under water of a blue whale. JUST wow.

Sunrise over the water

This is about where I saw that giant whale

The rugged coastline of Iceland

There's a lighthouse out there, see it?!

ON THE GROUND

The stuff I was concerned about (bus connections, etc.) turned out fine and I believe this country has tourism down to a science. Got through security/immigration just fine, no wait. Baggage was so fast! Found the bus terminal and walked out and hopped on. They helped with luggage. It was about an hour drive from the Keflavik airport to Reykjavik. The countryside was barren. No trees except in more urban areas that were planted there. The tundra was a sight to see, with volcanoes and huge mountains in front of us. A brief transfer to a smaller bus and they took me right to my hotel - the Radisson Blu Saga which is right downtown. I had made contact via email with the front desk manager a couple weeks before and she had noted on my reservation that I'd be coming in super early but didn't guarantee I'd get into my room right away....but I did! Check in was amazing too and I dropped off my stuff in my room, (nice but small and needing updating) had to figure out how to make the electricity work, (you use your keycard) and headed down to the free breakfast buffet in the hotel. Then I slept for 4 hours!

Light years better than Holiday Inn free breakfasts at home!

Very European/British choices available.

The bread and cheese - yum- and tea of course.

The view of the bay from my 6th floor hotel room

Not sure what the bay is called yet.... stay tuned!

Next stop - meeting my fellow Aurora Borealis hunters! Funny story - I met Kelly already...by accident at the bus stop! I was amazed that out of those hundreds of people we started chatting. Maybe that's proof that like-minded people gravitate naturally!

DINNER & THE EVENING

First, we went out to shoot the famous Viking Ship statue called the Sun Voyager. This giant steel statue is representative of the Viking spirit of adventure. Then we went to dinner. I have no idea the name of the restaurant but it was lovely, quaint, and very popular! I had a lobster salad on toast.

Sun Voyager

Statue in the harbor at Reykjavik

Dinner at Kaffihus

So "icelandic!"

My plate...

Lobster salad on toast

NIGHTTIME

We stopped by a little grocery store to see what they had, and stock up some goodies for the trip. Some interesting items! Lots of whole grain bread, fish, lamb, and licorice.

We went out exploring about an hour from Rekyjavik to a dark place! The night was incredibly cold and blustery winds....and unfortunately way too many clouds. Mike made us hot chocolate and tea on his little portable stove. Got a few moody pictures though and a few with a visible green auroral band behind the clouds.

Unedited moody river w/clouds

Mike's cooker

Hot chocolate

See the tiny sliver of bright green? That's all of the aurora display we could actually see.

Friday, September 7 - DAY 2: Kirkjfoss & etc.

We left late morning from our home base at the Radisson Blu Saga in Reykjavik- destination Kirkjufell. It was almost three hours to our destination and along the way we saw so many absolutely beautiful Icelandic horses. They are friendly, a bit on the small side, solid, and beautiful.

Upon arrival in Kirkjufell, we hung out a bit at the harbor to take pictures and rest.

Then we found the waterfall and the famous Kirkjufell volcanic mountain and set up camp for some good photo sessions of the waterfall, sunset, and (hopefully) the northern lights.

Lenticular Clouds

I've never seen these clouds before! Evidently they're common in Iceland; they can indicate rain or snow coming, and are often seen on or near mountains.

At about 1:00 am it started to rain, and it was super clouded in. We walked down from the waterfall area to the parking area and took one last look at the sky. Low and behold, the lights were out! Another hour photographing in the parking lot was the most amazing sight of my life! Looks like there are pillars point up to the Big Dipper.

Tired beyond reason, Mike drove us back the almost three hours to Reykjavik while I stressed and worried because James was fighting during that drive! As soon as I walked into my hotel room, Allyssa called me with the good news. A win in the first round! Thank goodness....but then of course, I'm keyed up and couldn't sleep! I finally got a few hours before waking up again for Saturday's amazing journey!

Saturday September 8: Hnappavellir, Iceland (Glaciers, mountains, and Game of Thrones-like landscapes)

This drive (apx. 6 hours from Reykjavik) was so unique. Mostly stark, flat, wet, rainy lava fields with mountains to the north. Then the REAL mountains came into view. Glaciers everywhere! We arrived at the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon for the night. Not much photography on this travel day. These were all snapped with my cell phone. We did a bit of work post-processing, then sleep! Fosshotel is a great place to stay!

Sunday, September 9: Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, Diamond Beach, glaciers & waterfalls

Finally a good night sleep! Woke up to this amazing sunrise view.....

This show was from my room at the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon. Unbelievable beauty surrounded us each and every day. The landscape in many areas of Iceland are positively lunar....no trees, just rocks and mountains and valleys. And moss.

We started out the day at Diamond Beach with the icebergs. This is the three of us on the beach as we arrived. The sun was just up and filtered behind clouds. What a startling and delicious way to start a day of photography. We did some practicing with macro (close-ups) and the photos of the glacier up close were great! The whole landscape there was ethereal.

A Selfie and an Iceberg

This beach is called "Diamond Beach" because icebergs float in and out with the tide and often come ashore. They litter the black beach and sparkle like diamonds.

Jack on Ice-berg

There was an older American man with a white beard on the beach who was taking photos with his bottle. We asked to borrow it and he was more than happy to lend us his bottle!

Seals

The seals are plentiful in this inlet of the North Atlantic. They play and frolic, catch fish, and pose for the camera.

Learning

Learning how to take close-up shots of icebergs.

Inside an Iceberg

Inside most icebergs are amazing tiny formations, holes, and ice caves.

Diamond

Another diamond on the beach.

Tasting a Glacier

This (and all the other diamonds on the beach) are icebergs that have come from the Vatnajökull glacier, the largest glacier in Iceland, is apx. 2,500 years old.

Portrait

This is me, taken through a natural hole in an iceberg.

Crazy Formations

Basically, this large hunk of ice broke from the glacier, floated around in the glacier lagoon for a while... (a day or two) ... calved and calved again, then floated out the inlet as the tide went out. In the ocean now, it either melts completely or beaches itself until it melts.

Breakfast back at the Fosshotel, and a ride to....everything! Glaciers, waterfalls, mountains. Lots of learning, hiking, and shooting.

Kelly struck up a friendly conversation with this lovely Icelandic woman working at the hotel restaurant. She lives in the nearby farm, and explained a lot about the sheep (she calls lambs) in Iceland. They are free-free-free-range. They can go anywhere. In the fall (September) the round them up, (called Réttir) and take them inside for winter. Spring is when they shore them and sell the wool.

This is the girl's farm nearby.

Typical glacier 'finger' behind us.

A late lunch in Skaftárhreppur - complete with "live" music. At a gas station.

This guy played drums to a recording. He asks only for smiles but has his case open for donations.

Svínafellsjökull, Glacier Lagoon

This place! Down a long, super-bumpy, dirt road we found Svínafellsjökull. This glacial tongue is one of the places used in the filming of Game of Thrones at the north wall. Just incredible!

The weather here is super changeable. You can have rain, sleet, warm, sunny, cloudy, fog, wind, and everything else imaginable. It was pretty warm up near this glacier; I had my jacket, but didn't need it very much.

Climbing up to this perch was a bit precarious... but I overcame the fear and got my inner mountain goat on. With a little help from my friends of course!

Hvannadalshnúkur

Then we went exploring, stopping at several stops along the way to photograph. Hvannadalshnukur is a glacier on the edge of the Öræfajökull volcano and is the highest in Iceland. We stopped at the base of it to find this ancient settlement ruins...a home, a church, a graveyard.

Monday, September 10: Diamond Beach, Stjórnarfoss Falls, and more

Early morning sunrise on Diamond Beach - we learned about super close up photography, using the f-stop properly, and other setting confusion! It's starting to come into focus for me now though, finally. After spending the morning learning EVERYTHING from Mike, we drove back to Jökulsárlón to the Glacier Lagoon. We shot at 3 locations for the afternoon and into the evening, hoping for a nice sunset. The lighting was great, but not a sunset. In fact, we got drizzled on quite a bit. I learned so much about glaciers and icebergs just by observing them over an extended length of time. Amazing, such a sight to see!

DISCLAIMER: I may have gotten some of the days and the order of events wrong here, due to total sleep deprivation. Also coffee/tea at odd hours, staying out most of the night some nights, then trying to edit... just some advice, sleep when you can!

Stjórnarfoss waterfall was spectacular. We spent several hours in this playground! Several stops along the way included horses (again!) and a magnificent waterfall.

We played around with some blending photos and learned how to do this smoothly.

We scooted back to the hotel just as it became dark; it had clouded over so no sunset tonight.

Time to say something about the lighting in Iceland. This is the land of the midnight sun.... which means in the summer months it doesn't really get dark overnight. Late August is the first true dark night times. Because of the curve & tilt of the earth, in September the sun never rises to what we in the midwest think of as "noon" - directly overhead. It rises slowly and sets slowly (at an angle) and never gets terribly high. The sun seems, at any time during the day, to have a "golden hour" hue. This makes some photography incredible, and other times, just look super dark. In addition, the perpetual clouds and overcast we had up to this point contributed to the gray look.

Tuesday, September 11: Jökulsárlón, Vik, Black Sand Beach and basalt columns/caves, Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss & Geysir

Hoping to catch some sunshine low on the horizon, we went out early to the Diamond Beach. The sun cooperated and we got these great shots of the black sand beach, huge crashing waves, and icebergs. A study in black & white.

These textures tho!

More texture.

Selfie through a hole.

I'm sure this spot has a name....but I dubbed it the fairy pools. I should have called them the troll pools instead! Trolls are the legend here. Fairies are in Scotland! It is said that all Icelanders believe in the existence of little people ...trolls, elves, and the like. They build little houses for them. The can be seen in the mountains craggy tops. I bought a book of legends and myths of Iceland to read on the plane ride home.

Vik is a very cool little town with the best lamb stew on the planet! It also has basalt columns and caves (again, think Game of Thrones) and the famous black sand beach. So many churches in Iceland are white with red roofs. They are mostly Evangelical Lutheran churches and don't usually have signs outside.

A little fun.... the photo on the right is of the stunningly beautiful black sand beach and basalt columns. The picture on the right is from a gift shop (they're in every gift shop in Iceland!) Look closely. Beside the obvious use of the middle column, the packaging of this condom is genius. Take a real close look. Hahaha!

Black sand beach and basalt columns.

I have no words. :)

Lupins and another beautiful church in Vik

Reynisfjara

A different type of basalt columns.

The inside of this cave looks like dragon scales.

Skógafoss

On the Ring Road, is one of the tallest waterfalls in Iceland. With a drop of 60 meters and a width of 25 meters, it is stunning. You can climb up to a viewing platform (top right). Or, you can walk right up to it, but you will get wet! Beautiful rainbow, too.

Seljalandsfoss

This stunning waterfall is located just west of Skogafoss on the Ring Road/Route 1. This waterfall also drops 60 m and is part of the Seljalands River that begins in the volcano glacier Eyjafjallajökull. You can walk underneath this waterfall.

We arrived in Geysir and had dinner at The Geysir Restaurant; then night shooting with aurora behind clouds. Great green sky with many clouds behind the geysir. They geysir's name is Strokkur. We stayed in very nice little cottages at Geysir.

These are our cottages at Geysir.

These little homemade rock trolls are found in lots of places in Iceland.

This is what the Aurora looks like behind a bunch of annoying clouds.

Strokkur, the geysir, erupts about every 10 minutes. Other geysirs are also active in this field.

Clouds were the bane of our existence this first week in Iceland.

Wednesday, September 12: Geysir to Reykjavik

We did some techy work in the morning at the cafe in Geysir. Mike is an amazing teacher.

All four of us are former teachers so we totally understood each other. I feel like I've known Rose and Kelly for a long time.

Can't wait to meet up again at the Aurora Summit in Two Harbors, MN in November!

Yummy treats at the cafe! The breads and pastries in country - everywhere - are amazing. Yogurt/Skyr cakes are my personal favorite. Also LICORICE everything! Icelanders have a long tradition of licorice. First brought to this island as something sweet that is also good for digestion, Iceland has a complete obsession with black licorice!

At the end of this class trip, I can safely say I've learned so much more than ever. I can't wait to go home and try my new skills!

Just before we left, Rose and I went on a caper and Kelly kept Mike busy. We bought a little Troll at the gift shop, and used gaffer's tape to attach it to the rear-view camera of Mike's rental car. The hope was that when Mike put the car in reverse, a troll's face would appear in the rear-view camera. We were poised to photograph the whole surprise. It didn't work well, but it was fun nonetheless!

Gullfoss

This waterfall is the most photographed waterfall in Iceland. Gull means "golden" and Foss means "falls". These golden falls are spectacular.

After a morning stop at Gullfoss, we drove the afternoon through the center of the island to Reykjavik. We drove past Þingvellir - which is a National Park of great beauty and geological interest. We didn't have time to stop, but I will be back!

I said goodbye to new friends Kelly and Rose, and Professor Mike!

I checked into Radisson Blu Saga and awaited Ruth's arrival. She rented a car so we've got another week of traveling this beautiful country in front of us! We had dinner at Kaffihus.

What a great week! Onward....

Thursday, September 13: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE Geysir, Gullfoss, and Thingvellin

East of the capital city - Ruth drove us to Geysir and Gullfoss. This is a repeat trip for me, but well worth seeing it again. Ruth brought good weather luck and the sun was out most of the time.

Geysir was smelly and Gullfoss was wet! Both are beautiful and absolutely something you don't see every day.

On the way back to Reykjavik we stopped in Þingvellir National Park - where you walk between two continents. Iceland was first settled around AD 870 by Vikings from Norway. Þingvellir was once the capital area of the island, where ruling men from many clans came together. Interestingly, it is a site of the island actually coming apart! The two tectonic places under Iceland, the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate, are divided by the Mid-Atlantic Rift. This rift is pulling apart the continent 2.5 centimeters a year and have done for millennia. Several of the country's dormant volcanoes are located in this area. Earthquakes happen at Þingvellir several times a day, but most of the time can't be felt.

Then the Aurora event of my life happened! It was around 10 pm, we were tired from the day trip. It was time to sleep, but I was watching the aurora data....and if the clouds gave way, we'd see it. Ruth, sensing my unease, asked what was up and once I explained, we made a bee-line for the spot Mike had mapped for me. And WOW just WOW~~~ there she was. As the hour went on, it got stronger and she danced in beautiful curtains all around us. She even showed us the corona. We were on the side of a very dark road positively SCREAMING!

Friday, September 14: Kirkjufellsfoss, Kirkjufell, Grundarfjordur - on the Snafellsnes Penninsula

The roads up to the northern peninsula of Snafellsnes are great - as they are everywhere around Iceland. They are narrow however- and there is no shoulder in many places. One wrong move and your car could lose ground and tumble off the side of the road and flip several times. Night driving is well lit, ecologically in such a smart way. Every few feel there are 3 foot tall reflectors along the side of the road. This virtually lights the road like a runway. Excellent use of reflectors!

Sun Voyager

Just before returning to our hotel in Reykjavik, we took a detour to see the Viking ship statue called Sun Voyager in the Reykjavik harbor. The sun was hitting it just right, and there weren't many people milling around to get in the way of the shot! Blue skies, too. What a difference a couple days makes!

Then out again for some more aurora displays! This night wasn't as strong, and was only there early in the evening, before astronomical twilight. But still...

Saturday, September 15: City Tour of Reykjavik

Found a park nearby named Ellidoardalur Valley & River. Black bunnies everywhere! Pretty park, but it was raining most of the time so we didn't stay long.

A river runs through it!

Perlan Museum & Observatory

This is a wonderful museum, observatory, and restaurant! It sits atop a hill and can be seen from far and wide. The view from the top is excellent, as is the food at the restaurant. Ice cave exhibits, and more - all about the wonders of Iceland. If you visit Iceland, I would recommend you stop here first.

Hallgrímskirkja - this humongus church stands guard over all of Reykjavik and can be seen from almost everywhere in the city.

Einar Jonsson Museum, stately apartments, and gardens. Jonsson was Iceland's first sculptor and he build this house before much else was here in Reykjavik. He and his wife, who was also an artist, lived in the penthouse upstairs, which is also available to visit. He studied in Copenhagen in the late 1800s, His sculptures mostly represent Icelandic folklore and mythology, combined with his Christian faith. The sculptures are exquisite...but many looked like whitewalkers to me. I had serious nightmares after seeing this exhibit...ask Ruth, I was screaming in my sleep! His attention to detail and huge scale make the exhibits very memorable.

Sunday, September 16: Vik & 2 waterfalls

We drove out to Vik to see the town, the pillars of basalt, the basalt caves, and the black sand beach. We stopped for lamb stew! Delich. On the way back we stopped at the two waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss.

Monday, September 17: Keflavik & exploring the Reykjanes Penninsula - plus the Blue Lagoon

This is a very geothermal-rich peninsula. Very stark, few to no trees, and sparse population. The international airport, Keflavik (KEF) is here. We drove the whole peninsula exploring tiny towns, fishing villages, lighthouses, graveyards, churches, and an abundance of horses.

Legends are everywhere in Iceland. We found the "Pool of Oddny" - also known as Brimketill (surf cauldron). The basaltic rock formations around this area resemble a hot tub on a sunny day. A night troll called Oddny, lived nearby in Haleyjabunga - a small lava shield - with her husband Hroar and son Solvi. One night she went out to catch a whale - and on the way back she rested and had a bath at Brimketill. Because night trolls can't be caught out in sunlight, she was late and was turned to stone at this site. Oddny's Pool was carved out by the powerful ocean's waves here and this is a great place to experience the North Atlantic's power.

The Blue Lagoon is probably the most famous site to see in Iceland...but I'm really not sure why. It is man-made, and to be brutally honest, like a really hot swimming pool. Many people really love it, and it is relaxing. To me though, the best part were the images I got after our soak in the lagoon, at sunset. Oh....and dinner. The best food on the whole trip!

On the way home, we went by way of our hidden dark spot for some aurora viewing! It was a mild display, but it was there nonetheless. And a pretty moonset.

Tuesday, September 18: Reykjavik museums

The Settlement Museum:

A museum built around the excavated ruins of a hall, the oldest known building in Iceland, from around AD 900. Scientists were able to date the excavation based on the known eruption of a nearby volcano in 871. The museum shows the excavated site, and has lots of great info around the excavation, including what each of the rooms were probably used for, as well as other history from that time period. Very interesting stuff.

Just down the street from the Settlement Museum is this old black house that was included in the price of admission. It's from the 1700s, and inside we saw items imported from England, Scotland, and the Nordic countries. People were short....I had to duck to get in the door!

Árbær Open Air Museum

Naperville has Naper Settlement, Iceland has the Arbaer Open Air Museum. They are very similar, in that they exhibit homes and business from a bygone era - in this case the 1800s. The workers dress in period costumes and the exhibits are well marked and very interesting.

One of the exhibits/buildings was an old photography studio. There was a portrait studio, which Ruth and I both tried out, and an exhibit of all kinds of old cameras....from pinhole to Polaroid. Fascinating!

Wednesday, September 19: Reykjavik

My last full day in Iceland and no car....so I took a walk. The city is sprawling, and the Icelandic people are friendly. It occurs to me that visitors and travelers like me are much less friendly. That may be because tourists here are from all over the world and nobody speaks the same language. Icelanders however, are super friendly and excited to share their country's heritage and history with tourists.

Some interesting facts about Iceland:

Entire island of Iceland's population as of 2018: 334,252
Reykjavik - the capital of Iceland's greater population 2018: 216,940
So - outside of the capital, there are only about 117,000 residents in the rest of the country
Number of tourists to Iceland per year has risen in these past 20 years from 595,000 in 2000, to over 2,100,000 in 2018.

Thursday, September 20: Reykjavik to Chicago

Breakfast buffet at the hotel is amazing. Here are just a few pics of the myriad of choices! And a macaron. WOW

THIS...is a licorice macaron. OMG heaven.

Contrails at sunrise....

Double ribbon contrails...

Reading material for the flight home.

Greenland.....

From 35,000 feet. -70 degrees F

I will note that things in Iceland are expensive. Flights? Not so bad. But food, lodging, souvenirs, etc. are pretty pricey. Every place takes your credit cards, however. Even for a bottle of water...no minimum limit. Kronas are not difficult to get used to. 1,000.00 krona (ISK) = aprox. $10.00 (US dollars).

This concludes my 15-day stay in the beautiful Iceland. There is so much more to tell that I can't possibly tell in this small blog! Go visit for yourself. It's worth it!

Google Sites

Report abuse