Ten things I learned in Iceland!

Here it is, my usual top ten list of things I learned on our most recent trip. This time it’s Iceland, a country we’ve been wanting to visit together for a long time. I probably learned more than ten things on this trip, come to think of it. So here goes…

10. Be sure to bring waterproof clothing with you to Iceland!

Iceland is one of those places where you just never know what kind of weather you’re going to get. One thing is a sure bet, though, and that is that it’s likely to rain. We now know from personal experience that an umbrella is not likely to be that helpful, especially outside of the city. So, if you’re planning a trip to Iceland, you may want to invest in waterproof clothes. A raincoat is essential, and you’ll probably want waterproof pants, too. But if you need waterproof clothes, don’t worry. Icewear is a handy store with many outlets in Iceland. They can hook you up with clothes and footwear! Dress in layers!

9. Icelandic horses are just that… HORSES.

I grew up around horses and ponies in Virginia. Where I come from, a person would take one look at an Icelandic horse and think they were seeing a pony. Not so… Icelanders consider Icelandic equines to be HORSES, even though they are shorter and smaller than what a lot of us would consider horses.

8. Any Icelandic horse who leaves Iceland is not allowed to return.

Iceland is very strict about the import of animals. It’s possible to bring pets to Iceland, but there are exacting procedures and they have to be quarantined for at least three weeks. And when it comes to Icelandic horses, which are the only horses on the island, they can never return to Iceland if they ever leave.

7. There are evergreens in Iceland, but they were imported from Alaska!

Our guide, Ivar, pointed out evergreen forests during our tour and he said that the trees, along with Alaskan lupine, were imported to Iceland from the U.S. state of Alaska. Ivar said that prior to the import, most of the trees in Iceland were birches.

6. The only animal native to Iceland is the Arctic fox.

Other animals have been introduced, of course. At one point, Norway sent reindeer to Iceland. Most of them died, but enough survived that they exist on the island. Sometimes polar bears from Greenland show up near the coasts, but Ivar told us that the authorities usually shoot them because Greenland doesn’t usually want them back. It makes me kind of sad to think of polar bears being killed in such a way, but I’ve also read that many of them are starving, anyway, due to a lack of fish and other prey caused by global warming.

5. All physically capable schoolchildren in Iceland must learn how to swim.

Ivar told us that his wife works at a school teaching kids how to swim. It’s required of Icelandic children because there’s so much water in and around the island. I was reminded of how I had to prove I could swim before I could graduate Longwood College (now Longwood University). My college has since done away with that requirement, but I doubt Iceland ever will.

4. Tourism is a mixed bag in Iceland.

There are still parts of Iceland that are very remote and rugged. It wasn’t until very recently that Iceland became a hot tourist destination. Consequently, the locals are dealing with some mixed consequences of the trend. On one hand, places that used to be special and pristine are now teeming with tourists. On the other hand, tourism has brought in more workers from other places, increasing population. Tourism also brings in new facilities, such as public restrooms, and better restaurants, as well as lots of money!

3. Iceland is extremely welcoming to LGBTQI people. It’s also got a long history of promoting women’s rights.

There’s even a rainbow colored street in Reykjavik!

2. Icelandic is the language from which other Nordic languages, except Finnish, sprang.

Ivar told us that Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian used to be more like Icelandic, but due to business dealings with Germany, they changed some of their words to be more like German. I did notice when we were in Norway and Sweden last year that some of their words were like German words.

1. If you want to tour Iceland properly, you should definitely consider hiring a guide!

This was the first trip Bill and I have ever taken for which we’ve done a “bespoke” tour. I’m not sure why I realized hiring a guide would be a good idea, especially since I neglected to buy waterproof pants. However, it was absolutely the RIGHT decision for us. We saw parts of Iceland there’s no way we ever could have seen on our own. Moreover, we witnessed what can happen to people who try to drive in Iceland and aren’t wary of the pitfalls. Remember that picture of the half submerged rental car?

Yes, it was expensive for us to book Iceland Luxury Tours, but they did a fantastic job planning our vacation and looking after us. We would not hesitate to recommend them! But even if you don’t want to book luxury, I would definitely shop around for a qualified guide, preferably one who has access to a four wheel drive vehicle! The right vehicle with adequate insurance is an absolute MUST if you want to go to the rugged highlands.

If you decide to visit Iceland, be sure to save up for it. It’s an expensive place to visit. But don’t let that put you off, because as brutal as Iceland’s weather can be, the people are so warm hearted and kind. And the beauty of the country is unparalleled. It really is an incredible place with views you won’t get in many other places on Earth.

We are so glad we finally made it to Iceland. I do hope we can visit again, maybe at a different time of year. I can’t promise the weather will be better, but I’ll bet the views will be different!

adventure, beaches, Champagne Bucket trips, Iceland

Our first Icelandic adventure: Icebergs, sneaker waves, Star Wars, auto wrecks, and diamond beaches… (part six)

After several hours of rest, I decided to rise from my sick bed and do some more writing. I might as well, since no one is here to entertain me. 😉 Poor Bill also has COVID, but he’s on a business trip and is supposed to be working overnights. It sucks to be him. He’s going to need another vacation to recover from Iceland and his business trip!

Anyway… back to Iceland.

Ivar arrived promptly at nine o’clock to take us on our Sunday adventure. I was sorry to say goodbye to the horses, although I would see many more of them during our travels. Icelandic horses are all over the place, based on what I saw during our trip. I saw many more horses than dogs!

One thing I was very happy to see was that Ivar had borrowed a step stool from his father-in-law. That stool made a huge difference in easing the task of getting in and out of the Land Cruiser. Even Ivar, who is a bit taller and much fitter, said that as much as he loves driving the Land Cruiser, it’s not easy for him to get in and out of the vehicle. I was pretty glad that in spite of my leisurely lifestyle, my body is still fairly healthy. I have friends my age who would have had a lot of trouble getting in and out of the Land Cruiser, even with the stool. I even felt a flash of gratitude for my body, even though I usually hate it.

Our plans on Sunday involved visiting a couple of sites near the hotel, as well as the South Coast, the Jokusarlon Glacier Lagoon, and icebergs, courtesy of the Fjallsarlon Boat Tour. I’ll be honest. I really had very few expectations whatsoever, as I didn’t even know what most of the plans were. Bill handled booking the trip through Iceland Luxury Tours, and they sent him all of the information. I think I glanced at it once or twice before we left Germany, so I was blissfully unaware of what we would be seeing.

Bill did warn me about “sneaker waves”, which is a phenomenon involving giant waves that suddenly sweep unsuspecting people out to sea, often drowning them. We went to Reynisfjara, a “black beach”– black because the sand was mixed with volcanic ash– and there was a big sign warning of the sneaker waves. I made sure to stay well away from the water.

A short video showing how loud and powerful the surf was during our visit. I got quite a few of these snippets. The first part of the video was actually from Saturday.

Unfortunately, the weather on Sunday was as inclement as it was on Saturday, and I was destined to get pretty wet over the course of the day. But I did get some interesting photos, including some in a cave that had the look of Yoda, which we found at a place called Viking Park, near the town of Vik… I’ve never actually seen Star Wars, which astonished Ivar, but Bill saw it right away. He’s a big Star Wars fan.

*This was at Viking Park, which is near the Reynisfjara Beach.*

Our visit to Viking Park was short, although it was probably one of the nicer stops of the day, because the weather was relatively temperate in the sense that there was not much rain or wind. Like I said… I was blissfully unaware of the “cool” attractions awaiting us later.

We took advantage of convenience store in Vik to use the facilities, and then were on our way east, with a planned stop at the Instagram famous “Diamond Beach”. I do have an Instagram account, but I rarely use it, and I sure don’t hang out much on it. I had not heard of this beach or its icy black environs. Apparently, many people come to Iceland with cameras just to record a glimpse of its icy, glittery shore.

On our way to the famous beach, Bill and I chatted easily with Ivar, probably oversharing way too much. I later told him that I spend a lot of time alone, which means I have a tendency to run my mouth. Fortunately, he seemed to be a very patient and easy going man and took my constant yammering in stride. 😉

At one point, we were passing an unusually shaped mountain. I might have wanted to take a picture of it, but was distracted by some unlucky people who had pulled their rental car off the side of the road and parked too close to a river. Their car went into the river, and was about half submerged as we passed. I saw them looking forlorn in the rain, standing next to their suitcases, which they’d managed to rescue from the back of the car before it slid further into the water. Nobody was hurt. I did manage to capture a photo.

Then we stopped at another convenience store/restaurant for a potty break. The restaurant was positively overrun with a large bus group of Asian tourists who were all there for lunch. Ivar had suggested the place for lunch, but it looked like they really had their hands full, so we decided to wait and have lunch at the Frost Restaurant, a little place next to where we were having a “boat tour”. I had been picturing a somewhat civilized tour, maybe like one I’d seen on La Lido Loca, a YouTube channel I watch sometimes. Tony, the guy who runs that channel, recently went on an Iceland/Greenland cruise and he and his companion viewed icebergs. But their tour was NOT at all like the one Bill and I went on…

After a quick lunch at the no frills Frost Restaurant, we were booked on a private zodiac tour at Fjallsarlon Lake, where there are many small icebergs. However, unlike Tony and his buddy, for our tour, we had to put on heavy rain gear provided by the tour guide. I have to admit, I kind of dislike any attractions where I have to put on special clothes. It’s kind of mortifying for me. I was also already a bit wet, which I’ll admit is my fault. Ivar could see the doubt on my face, but he assured me I would enjoy the tour. He was right. It all turned out okay, and in the end, I was glad I did it, even though I did get cold, and walking to the zodiac was challenging in the heavy outerwear. I was sure glad I had the rain gear/outerwear, though… because Brrrrr.

Our guide was a very friendly and charming young Frenchman named Tomas, who insisted on taking photos of us. He took about twenty pictures on my iPhone! I got many more photos of the icebergs as I buried myself under the hood of the jacket. I wished I had worn a beanie, like Bill did.

This company does group tours, but it also has some more extensive offerings that probably would excite athletic, adventure seeking types. If I were younger, thinner, fitter, and less lazy, maybe I would have enjoyed one of the more involved tours. But, alas, I am just a fatass housewife whose sweet bird of youth has flown away. 🙂

After we did the boat tour, we visited another area where there were more icebergs, as well as a couple of seals. By the time we got there, the rain was coming down harder and there was more wind. I was pretty wet and my mood was starting to take a turn south. I did get some pictures, though, carefully avoiding the extremely excited people who were posing in front of the icebergs.

*No drones, and no swimming! You’d have to be nuts to swim!*

After we stopped to see the icebergs, we moved on to “Diamond Beach”, which was just beyond the bridge at the Jokusarlon Lagoon. Ivar told us that the beach actually has an official name, but thanks to Instagram, everyone calls it “Diamond Beach”. The rain was pretty much sideways by the time we got there, and I was getting a little grumpy. But, given that we were on vacation, I plucked up enough gumption to get out of the Land Cruiser again and head to the famous beach. I’m glad I did, because even in shitty weather, it was well worth seeing. One woman came there wearing boots and nothing else on her legs. That’s hardcore!

We then got back on the road heading west to our hotel, stopping once again at the convenience store/restaurant that had been crowded with bus tours on the way out. Bill took awhile in the bathroom and Ivar asked me if I thought maybe he’d fallen in, or something. I said, matter-of-factly, “I think he’s having some prostate issues.” Bill later confirmed it, and said there was other business he needed to attend to. I didn’t mind. It gave me time to take a couple of photos of Icelandic horses grazing near the parking lot. I took more photos on the way to the hotel, which included some very picturesque scenes.

*Ivar says this is the highest cliff in Iceland, and he’s climbed it.*

Finally, we arrived at our destination for Sunday night, Hotel Klaustur. I will continue the story with checking in there in my next post.

Champagne Bucket trips, horses, Iceland, videos

Our first Icelandic adventure: Meeting some Icelandic horses! (part five)

At the end of our first day with Ivar, we were taken to our first hotel on the road, Skálakot Manor Hotel. We went there, in part, because it was convenient to our route, but also because we requested to meet some Icelandic horses. As some of my regular readers might know, I grew up riding and showing horses, and even had a horse of my own for several years. I have really missed being around horses, but I gave them up for college and life hasn’t yet presented me with the opportunity to get back into that world. But, even though I don’t ride anymore, I still love horses. Just the smell of them takes me back to wonderful days spent hanging out with my Appaloosa, Rusty, dreaming about the future. So I was pretty excited to get to visit the Icelandic horses at Skálakot Manor, in spite of the inclement weather.

Skálakot Manor itself is a lovely property, and obviously the horses are a big selling point to their business. When we checked in, we received our room key, which was attached to a small horseshoe. The hotel was decorated with equine inspired art. Iceland Luxury Tours booked us in a Grand Double, which I think was one of the few rooms with a balcony. I might have enjoyed the balcony, if not for the rain, but it did give me a vantage point to watch the mares and foals in the front pasture.

As for the visit with the horses, that also went very well. We met a very young looking stable manager, along with a young lady who appeared to be in her teens. They gave us a demonstration with a lovely bay Icelandic horse named Naffy. I didn’t record the demonstration, but it was fun to watch the teenager put Naffy through his paces. Icelandic horses are gaited, meaning that they have at least one, and often two, “special” gaits that other horses don’t have. Below is a YouTube video I found demonstrating the gaits: walk, trot, canter/gallop, tölt, and flying pace. If you watch the video, you can see how the gaits differ in how the horse moves his legs.

A very useful video!

I think the stable manager quickly realized that I had some horse experience, as she asked me questions. Her first question was what made the horses different. I said that where I come from, they would be considered ponies, due to their height. But Icelandic horses are, in fact, horses, in spite of being short in stature. She also asked me what I noticed about the saddle. I said it looked like a dressage saddle. She agreed. I also mentioned that Naffy wasn’t wearing a saddle pad, which I always used on my horse. The manager showed me the simple bridle the horses wear, and said they don’t use other equipment, like martingales (a piece of tack that has a strap keeping the horse’s head down– I never needed to use it myself.)

I was impressed by the lovely seat the young lady riding Naffy had. She looked beautiful on him. My own equitation was never as graceful as hers was, but I think it helps to be very slender, which I have never been. I did win some equitation ribbons, back in the day, but I was never that good at it.

The stable manager also explained how the horses were marked. Icelandic horses can be any color. And she explained that the horses at the farm were marked, showing where they came from. If you look in my video, you might see a horse with an S on his back. That means he was born at Skalakot. The hotel has other horses that were born elsewhere and marked accordingly. I don’t know how many horses Skálakot Manor Hotel has. The manager said they had “fitter” horses for people who were regular riders, as well as gentle horses for beginners. I could see that the horses were all getting winter coats, even though it was still technically summer. But, of course, we were in Iceland, right?

After the demonstration, the two young ladies rounded up all of the horses in their muddy paddock and herded them to a pasture on the other side of the property for the evening. I got a video of that, although I’m sorry to say, it’s not quite perfect.

This was probably my favorite part of the trip.

I also got some photos of the barn and relived my many days shoveling manure as I breathed in the smell of horse pee and poop. The folks at hotel have done things right, though, as the stalls are built so the waste mostly goes under the barn. 😉 You can see that in the pictures.

The horses were all very calm and friendly… and they made me feel the same way. I was smiling as we went back into the hotel to prepare for dinner.

As we were sitting in the dining room, I could tell that a lot of the guests where there to ride horses. One very loud gentleman, clearly from the United States, was talking about the American Saddlebreds he owns. I don’t have much personal experience with Saddlebreds, except for when I used to judge them in 4H horse judging competitions. But the loud guy was going on and on, and the whole dining room could hear him. I found myself explaining Saddlebreds to Bill. Like Icelandic horses, they are also gaited, though they’re much larger and their gaits are different.

Below are some photos of our room, and from dinner… which was pretty good. The room was very cute and comfortable, although the bathroom was pretty tiny.

I sound a little drunk in this… Sorry!

Breakfast, which was included in the price of the room, was also very good. They had great coffee, and a buffet set up. Those who wanted to order something hot could also do so, although we were fine with what they had laid out for us. I was kind of sorry to leave, as the hotel had a spa area (extra charge) and I would have liked to visit the horses again. Oh well. Maybe we can go back someday. Below are a few more horse photos that I took on our way out.

Although there was a lot more that happened on Sunday, I’ll put that in the next post. This one is full enough, and I’ve got some major ground to cover with what happened on Sunday…

Stay tuned!

adventure, Champagne Bucket trips, Iceland, Nordic

Our first Icelandic adventure: How did we end up there? (part one)

Bill and I just got home from Iceland yesterday afternoon. I’ve been itching to write about our visit to the mysterious island nation for days now, but have held off on starting the series until we got home. Although I sometimes start writing before trips end, this time, this time I decided I needed to wait. I wanted to be near my desktop computer, where I have more tools to edit photos and make videos. I also find writing on the desktop much easier than writing on the laptop; that’s important, because I have a lot of ground to cover.

But, really, the main reason I waited was because we have been VERY busy. Seriously… it seems like we’ve been gone a month, even though our trip was only for about ten days. One of our drivers estimated we saw about 30 percent of Iceland on our trip. My guess is that we saw less than that, mainly because Bill and I are older and less willing to traipse through the wilderness. There’s a lot of wild country in Iceland, and the weather can be brutal, especially if you’re not adequately prepared.

I’m sorry to report, I was not quite ready for Iceland’s hostile climate. Bill had, at least, done some shopping on Bergfreunde.de for new shoes and a hat. Luckily, there are businesspeople in Iceland who anticipate tourists like me, and there are quite a few Icewear stores scattered about the more populated areas. When we stopped by Icewear, we saw many other people who were in the same situation we were… buying raincoats, shoes, beanies… and the smarter ones probably invested in waterproof pants. I sure wish I had!

Nevertheless, in spite of being somewhat underprepared, Bill and I managed to enjoy our visit unscathed. Neither of us got sick or injured. And… according to the pedometer app on my iPhone, we covered about 17 miles walking… which may not seem like a lot to younger, fitter people, but for a fatass housewife like me, it’s a pretty good deal. Especially when one considers the weather! It wasn’t super cold, but the rain and wind were incredible; I had never experienced anything like it before. I wasn’t prepared for that on this visit, but if we manage to go to Iceland again, I will definitely be more ready for it.

So how did we end up going to Iceland in the first place?

Bill and I have a ritual of choosing our vacations by luck. We used to be fans of Eurowings’ “blind booking” program, in which you book a flight somewhere, but don’t know where you’re going until after you’ve paid. We did that a few times when Eurowings was still called Germanwings. But then we later had more money, and less desire to fly places on the cheap. I’m sure my expanding ass had a lot to do with that. 😉

We also have two dogs who have to be accommodated by the local Hundpension, which makes it harder for us to be too spontaneous. When we still had our comparatively small beagles, Zane and Arran, it was sometimes easier to just take them with us when we went places. But now we have Noyzi, who takes up all the cargo space in the back of the Volvo. And we have Charlie, who is still kind of afraid of riding in the car. It’s better to board them when we go places.

We started planning trips with the same “surprise” idea of blind bookings, only instead of letting the airline decide, we let the champagne bucket choose. We put scraps of paper in the bucket and Bill picks one. If the selection is feasible for when we want to travel, we book it. At some point in the spring, he picked Iceland. We were delighted with that result, because Iceland was a place we both really wanted to visit before we shove off the mortal coil. Iceland isn’t cheap, so it’s good to go there when the cash flow is good… and it’s also potentially physically challenging, so it’s best to visit when one has the stamina and ability to get around somewhat easily.

I did have some worries about the weather, even though we were technically visiting in the summer… but then I saw memes like the one below…

*Don’t let that “green land” fool you… Bring a jacket!*

I got fooled into thinking Iceland is more temperate than it is. I mean, it is temperate, considering where it’s located, but it’s certainly not temperate like Germany is. When we left Germany, it was hot as the dickens! The funny thing is, when Bill went to Reykjavik in 2009, it was around the time of my June birthday. He brought me a wool scarf and a CD of Icelandic folk tunes sung acapella by people with very ordinary voices. I was confused by the wool scarf in June… until now. 😉

Finding Iceland Luxury Tours…

So anyway, Bill picked Iceland out of the bucket, and the responsibility came down to me to plan the trip. I don’t know why I was inspired to hire a guide for our visit to Iceland. We’ve never done a private tour before, although we have done at least one group tour together (which I’m not very good at). I guess, somewhere in my brain, I realized that visiting rugged Iceland, with its unpredictable weather and rough roads, might go better if we had a local doing the driving. I wasn’t as wise about the weather in terms of dressing, but I did at least have enough common sense to look into finding us a guide/driver. Somehow, in the process of planning, I came across Iceland Luxury Tours.

I’m a big believer in reading reviews, although I do realize that a lot of people tend to write them when they’re either pissed off or very happy. I found many positive reviews of Iceland Luxury Tours on multiple sources, including Trip Advisor, which in my experience, often turns out to be the most accurate source of all. I review most of our travel experiences, and I try to be as honest as possible, even if I’ve had a mediocre time. I was impressed that Iceland Luxury Tours had many five star reviews and glowing comments, and only three four star ratings. It had not been rated lower by anyone. On Google, there were far fewer reviews, but the ones they had were all raving. So I asked Bill to contact them to see what they could do for us.

Bill sent an inquiry to Iceland Luxury Tours, and the owner, Sveinn Sigurður Kjartansson, was quick to respond. After Bill offered a budget, Sveinn proposed some itineraries. Then we tweaked the trip to suit our interests. For example, I am a big time horse lover. Iceland is famous for its Icelandic horses (and they are horses– not ponies). Sveinn added a visit to a horse farm to our trip. We like spas, so he added a visit to the Sky Lagoon. We’re not super fit or thrill seeking, so those kinds of activities were omitted. Later, when I realized that flying home on Friday, as we’d planned, would be significantly more expensive, we added a day. Sveinn added activities for that extra day.

How much did it cost?

Well, folks… I’ll be honest. This was a very expensive trip. Iceland Luxury Tours planned everything for us, to include our luxury hotels, breakfasts, private tours/tickets to several attractions, transfers to and from the airport, transportation to the Sky Lagoon, and five full days with our guide, Ivar, and a very capable Toyota Land Cruiser. I think Bill said it all came to about $17,300 or so… And then I booked round trip Saga Class (business) tickets on Icelandair, which was well worth doing, but not a cheap endeavor. I think the tickets were about $2500 for the two of us, give or take $100. Fortunately, we had the money to cover it, and a new travel credit card from PenFed that offers generous travel benefits.

Now, I do realize we could have done this trip much more cheaply, even with a guide. We could have scaled down the budget significantly and still had a memorable experience. But these days, I like to travel in comfort. I’ve had my fill of traveling cheaply… and believe me, I’ve done plenty of that in my lifetime! Luckily, Bill doesn’t mind being more comfortable, and we currently have the means to travel that way.

Although we don’t usually spend that much on our trips, it did occur to me that last year, we spent a couple of weeks in Scandinavia and spent well over $20,000. That trip included about a week on our own in Norway, a week on the Regent Splendor, and then a couple of nights in Denmark. So, this trip to Iceland, which is probably going to be our one big vacation this year, isn’t that far out of line for us. But I do want to reiterate– you don’t have to spend that much yourself. You can do fewer days with a guide, concentrate in a smaller area, do group tours instead of private ones, eat cheaper food… and avoid drinking alcohol. 😉

I do recommend hiring a guide, though, especially if you want to go to any rugged parts of the country. There will be more on that in the coming posts. When I start sharing photos and videos, you’ll certainly see why!

So… now it’s time to write the story of our first trip to Iceland. I hope you’ll join me on this very bumpy but exhilarating ride!

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: Icelandic horses

Ten things I learned in Iceland!

Our first Icelandic adventure: Icebergs, sneaker waves, Star Wars, auto wrecks, and diamond beaches… (part six)

Our first Icelandic adventure: Meeting some Icelandic horses! (part five)

Our first Icelandic adventure: How did we end up there? (part one)