We booked our flights back in March 2019 and looked forward to the middle of July! I have only ever flown to the Dominican Republic with my dad (he was the airline pilot) when I was in 4th grade and then to Puerto Rico. I did fly to Canada with Jared for a job interview before he graduated. The job was actually in upstate New York, but flying into Quebec was closer. However, as far as flying to another country for the sake of touring the sights...this would be my first time! And I was SO excited. Our dear friends, Richard and Natassia Scoresby, talked about wanting to go to Iceland when they found out my parents were going on a mission there. We joked that maybe we could go up there together. After we bought our tickets, I contacted Natassia to tell her our plans and it turns out, they were going to be visiting Iceland in May for a conference that Richard was attending. Wow! While they were there, they made about a 90 minute drive to church, just to see my parents that Sunday. Richard and Natassia had a wonderful trip and beautiful weather. In June, my brother, his wife and daughter also went to visit. They had incredible weather, as well. My mom told us to start praying for good weather because as soon as my brother left, the rains came. I had to roll my eyes in irony. Of course it would rain for us. But I didn't want to complain about my blessings. I suspect this trip was a big sacrifice for my brother, Mike, and his family and I'm really happy they enjoyed the sun and blue skies. As the day of our departure drew near, I kept an eye on the 10-day forecast. Rain every.single.day. Highs 58. *sigh* Part of me was also worried that my life in south-eastern Texas might cause me to FREEZE. But I was going to have fun no matter what and not going let a little rain ruin anything. After living in Alaska, you can't let the weather stop you from fulfilling your plans, or you may end up doing nothing. Ever.
Our first flight was Friday, July 19th, out of Austin, which is about a 90 minute country drive from College Station. The plane departed at 6pm. Since it was just the two of us, we felt confident in our 3:00pm departure from home. Except that when we arrived at the airport, we discovered the long term parking was FULL! How can that be?? Our flight to Dallas would be boarding in about an hour. And we still had to park, take a shuttle to the terminal, check in for an international flight and go through security. I comforted myself in the fact that it was just me and Jared and we could hustle our buns if we needed to. Fortunately, by the loving tender mercy of God, we went through an open gate into the last parking lot behind a shuttle and right-away found a spot in the 3rd row. Not only that, we were able to jump on that same shuttle that we followed into the terminal. Can we say "miraculous"?
We made it to Dallas without any problems and prepared ourselves to haul our fannies across the massive sprawl that is the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport, utilizing the tram, in order to get to our next gate. Imagine our surprise when it was only five gates away!! For some reason, I thought we'd have more time before our second flight departed so I could grab something to eat because I had missed lunch. Having never been on a long international flight before, I couldn't trust that they would really feed us. And we were going to be on that plane for 8 hours! But I learned that overseas flights board a lot sooner than domestic ones and we only had about 15 minutes before we were getting back in line!
Jared sat in the aisle seat, I was in the middle and we had a young woman, not much older than Jake sitting by the window. Her parents were in front of us and her younger brother was behind us. They were going on a family trip. Fortunately, for my stomach, less than an hour after we took off, I smelled dinner. It was served around 9pm, but I was so grateful! And it was delicious!! I had the pasta. Jared had the chicken.
Trying to sleep on a plane...when your body is used to sleeping in a bed...was an experience. I managed to nod off for an hour here, maybe two hours there at the most. My lower back hurt, my knees ached. How do people DO this all the time? Honestly, if we just had something to rest our feet on in front of us, it would have helped my back and my knees. And then our bums went numb and no amount of shifting in our super tiny seats would make it feel any better. Jared slept less than I did.
SATURDAY, July 20th
We were thrilled to finally touch down around 9:15am!
And just look at that beautiful morning sky! I could not believe it! We were expecting rain!
We made it through customs without any problem. I have found that a kind smile and cheerful greeting can get you places. :) Waiting for our bags, however, took a looooooooong time. We were afraid that the quick connection from Austin to Dallas caused them to get left behind. I swear we stood at that baggage carousel for 30 minutes. All the while, I kept an eye out for Mom, but didn't see her.
At last we FINALLY found our luggage! Hooray!! And then we headed out to try and find Dad. I was looking everywhere except right in front of me, which is where he was. Haha!
Dad informed us that Mom's flight got delayed by about an hour, so in the meantime, he was going to take us for a drive to see the Blue Lagoon in Grindavik. We didn't plan to go to that specific mineral bath as part of our itinerary. For one, it's super expensive and two, it's very commercialized. But we wouldn't be going in that direction at all, so he took us there to see it while we waited for Mom's plane to arrive from Minneapolis.
I was bracing myself to be blasted with cold, frigid air. Oh my goodness, the 58 degrees was so pleasant! I was shocked! Granted, I wasn't wearing College Station attire. I had on pants and two thin shirts. But it was amazingly glorious!! The air was so clean and fresh.
This is the outside of the Keflavik International Airport about 20-30 minutes outside of Reykjavik.
Iceland is one big island built on volcanic rock. They have volcanic eruptions on average every four to five years.
I was happy to learn that they drive on the right side of the road in Iceland.
When we arrived before 10am, there were several charter buses already in the parking lot. This is a popular tourist spot to experience as people head either to or from the airport.
Stacked rocks, more commonly known as Cairns, placed along a trail signify that you are on the right track.
This is the car that my parents are renting while they are in the country.
Yay! We found Mom! Poor thing. She did some heavy traveling and all while mourning the loss of her brother and offering comfort to his family. She's amazing!
Heading back to Reykjavik.
The familiar stores and eateries they have are IKEA, KFC, Taco Bell, Reebox, CrossFit, and TGIFridays. But no Burger King or McDonalds.
This is the extent of the big game wildlife in Iceland. Haha! Bunnies, Icelandic horses, cows, swans, and lots of birds.
The ocean view from my parents' flat. They can see the cruise ships when they come in.
And that snow peaked mountain in the middle left of the picture is part of the Westfjords.
To the right of their kitchen window, they can see the local park.
Inside the flat: The one and only bathroom. The towels are hanging on a heated rack. If you look closely, there is a clear shower partition (with seagulls on it) that covers half of the shower tub. But the water doesn't spray beyond that panel anyway. The incline on the tub is so steep, I put my foot down expecting it to not be there and almost fell forward into the wall!
The apartment is made from all things IKEA because they don't have things like Lowes or Target. Dad in the kitchen making lunch. White sleek cabinets and black counter tops. It's really nice. The water is ice cold and delicious from the tap. At the other extreme, it is scalding hot water laced with a slight, but noticeable sulfur aroma.
The super small refrigerator. They have a tiny freezer next to it and a microwave that sits on top of that.
Mom's laundry room is bigger and nicer than mine. Though, my machines are bigger. :)
This is standing in the kitchen looking at the front door on the left (there are closets/cabinets where the clock is) and their bedroom is the open door straight ahead. Our "bedroom" (where we kept our things) is the far door to the right. The closest door to the right is the bathroom.
Our "bedroom" where we kept our suitcases and stuff. There was a closet we could hang things in. We actually slept on an air mattress in the living room.
Standing at the front door looking into the kitchen. The living room is on the right.
The living room. Lots of space.
Pictures of kids I recognized. :)
View on their outside balcony. An absolutely gorgeous day. A blessed and wonderful welcome!
After we grabbed some lunch, we headed back out to see Reykjavik. I spotted this beautiful field of fireweed, which grew everywhere in Alaska. And it took me right back there.
Part of downtown Reykjavik on the city harbor.
This is the National Icelandic Archives where my parents work. They got permission to go inside to show us around since it was a Saturday. When we walked in, however, we set off the alarm! We didn't know what to do. So we left and tried to talk to a neighbor my parents know, but they weren't home. So they called their supervisor, Benedict. He said he'd take care of it and call off the police dogs. (Oops!!) We skipped the archives, feeling a bit sheepish, and went to see some other parts of the city.
You'll notice very colorful buildings. Many years ago, the suicide rate was so high, that the city said that the buildings needed to be painted with color (since it was all gray and drab). Once the residents did that, suicide rates dropped.
A mile or so down the road from the archives, is this "gem" of a museum. Um, just google it. You wouldn't believe me if I told you!!!
It's a tight fit driving on the roads downtown! My suburban would not make it.
Not long after we left the archives, my parents got a call from Benedict. He thought my parents were going to bring us to the archives during the week, not on Saturday. Which is why the alarm was on. But he said he got it taken care of and we were free to return if we wanted. Which was so gracious of him. So we decided we'd stop by there once we were done at the big church.
And then we saw this bride waiting for someone. Hopefully her groom!
Meet Hallgrimskirkja--the largest Lutheran church right in the center of Reykjavik. The architecture is designed to resemble the lava flows, mountains and glaciers of Iceland. At 244 feet tall, it's the largest church (still functioning) in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country. It's beautiful.
The landscape in Iceland is mostly tundra. What little wood the country once had has since been used up for building purposes. Consequently, most the buildings, apartments, and in this case, churches, are made out of cement.
This is the large pipe organ housed inside of Hallgrimskirkja. A man was playing the organ shortly after we went inside. It was very impressive.
The Leif Eriksson statue that is displayed in the front of the large church was a gift from the United States in 1930 in honor of their 1000 anniversary of Althing (the Icelandic parliment which was founded in 930). Son of Erik the Red, Leif has been credited with being the first European to have set foot on the North American continent prior to Christopher Columbus. According to Iceland Magazine, the statue was erected in 1932 and then construction on Hallgrimskirkja began in 1945.
We tried visiting the archives again and blew out a breath of relief when no alarm sounded at our entrance. This is one of the rooms filled with records.
My parents were working on probate records from the 1770s!
A last will and testament with official seals at the bottom. From 1773.
This is the room where my parents sit and work.
Mom at the scanner.
Dad at the camera.
This is one of the record books Dad was working his way through. He can go a lot faster with the camera than Mom can with the scanner. She has to carefully place documents on the glass, then lower the lid, then scan, then lift the lid, etc. Dad can click, flip a page with his rubber finger, click, flip a page, etc.
Mom doesn't know who this is a statue of. But always wanted to sit on his lap. Haha!!
Like mother, like daughter!
My parents, Elder and Sister Lee, work so hard and efficiently at digitizing these records, that the people at the archives have a hard time keeping up with their progress. They were probably happy to see my parents take a week off, so they could try and catch up! My parents are only the 3rd missionary couple from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to do this work in Iceland.
After that, we hit the gift shops downtown.
This is a public "water closet" which, unlike most in the country, happened to be free. However, my mom told me that my sister-in-law got stuck in it when they were visiting the month before us. So I decided I could wait. Haha!
If you are ever in Reykjavik, you have to eat at this cafe. It is AMAZING. Not only that, we got 2 dinners for $25. You can't get that kind of quality food in the states for that price. They also offered two gourmet hamburgers as a 2 for $25. But we wanted to try the fish and it did NOT disappoint!
It was the most incredible fish and chips EVER. And my parents have been around the world trying their fair share. The tarter sauce was to die for! We were eating it with our spoons. The fish was so fresh it was falling apart. Just amazing and a wonderful way to end our first day in Iceland!
Goodnight (even though it's light!) from another Land of the Midnight Sun.
7:10pm
7:59pm
10:01pm
11:44pm
SUNDAY, July 21st
This is the Icelandic word for Joy. Kind of fun to see a box of Cheerios in two different languages.
Glutenlaust means "gluten free." :)
We were up at 7am and left at 10:05 to head east to the town of Selfoss, the branch that my parents have been assigned to attend while they are in Iceland. It's about a 45 minute drive from their flat and a beautiful one at that. Though Dad told us that many of the purple lupine flowers were no longer in bloom and those were quite a sight along the countryside.
We also got a bit of a history lesson on our trip to church. There are about 128,000 people in Reykjavik and 357,000 people in the entire country. Which is known to them as "Island" pronounced "EECE-land" not "EYE-land" the way we're used to. Iceland is created from rift volcanoes. Everything above the water line is volcanic. In order to use the natural steam, they drill wells then let those vent for six months to get rid of all the debris.
Then they harness the steam power and heat through the insulated pipes.
Residents don't pay for hot water. They have steam radiators. 95-98% of the buildings in the country are heated from steam in the ground. All the electricity is generated by steam turbines.
We don't live in an area of Texas that is overpopulated or suffering from smog or air pollution. But you don't have to be in order to appreciate the CLEAN air in Iceland. It's amazing! Absolutely refreshing and invigorating.
These are some of the buildings as we came into Selfoss.
The outside sign on the church building.
The hymnbook which says "Hymns."
I'm sorry, but this language looks like elvish to me!
The members of the branch were so welcoming. The two young missionaries would be going home in two days. There are only four Icelandic missionaries (part of the Denmark Copenhagen mission) left in the country. Even though everyone in the branch speaks English, the entire Sacrament meeting was held in Icelandic so we wore the headphones with the translating devices while one of the elders translated into English for us.
Two members of the branch are employed as translators for the Church and one sister there even translated 90% of the Book of Mormon into the Icelandic language.
Yohan, a counselor in the branch presidency was baptized at the end of 1978. Eighteen months later he was asked if he would serve a mission. He said yes having never read the Book of Mormon because it wasn't available in his native language. He went to the MTC but they weren't teaching him English, but the language for where he'd be serving. Talk about remarkable!! I love hearing the stories of pioneering faith from members in other countries.
A picture with my parents in the foyer area. Proof that we were all there together!
The steps that lead up to the part of the building used for church services and meetings.
We left after Sacrament meeting and headed back to the flat to change and grab lunch. There's a tree on that rock island! Some other fun facts about the Icelandic people: they have an endless love of black licorice, cakes, ice cream, yogurt and candy bars. There are baby carriages (not strollers) everywhere. The police don't carry guns, they are friendly. The crime rate has dropped in Reykjavik and organized crime is rare. Trolls are a big part of Icelandic legends.
My mom's missionary tag up close!
After lunch, we headed to the southern peninsula region in southwest Iceland--Reykjanes Peninsula. It's the home to the Keflavik International Airport where arrived the day before. Most people just drive from the airport to the Blue Lagoon, which is also in the peninsula. But we saw so much more than that.
How can this view not make you want to shout for joy when you were expecting rain?
The Reykjanes peninsula is highly volcanic due to the fact that the mid-Atlantic rift runs right through it. This leads to many hot springs all over the place.
First stop on the western side of the peninsula near Sandvik--The Bridge Between Continents. This bridge lies across a canyon that was formed due to movements of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The Reykjanes peninsula lies on the boundary between these two plates, which are continuously drifting apart.
On the bridge! I was standing on the Eurasian plate side. My mom was standing on the North American plate side. :) Notice the canyon in the background where the tectonic plates have drifted apart.
Then we visited the Reykjanes (geothermal) Power Station or Reykjanesvirkjun as it is known by the locals. According to Wikipedia: As of 2012, the power plant generates 100MWe from two 50MWe turbines, using steam and brine from a reservoir at 290 °C to 320 °C, which is extracted from 12 wells that are 2700m deep. This is the first time that geothermal steam of such high temperature has been used for electrical generation.
These pipes are ginormous.
While in the area, we went to see Gunnuhver--Iceland's largest hot spring or mud pool. It measures 65 feet across and constantly spews out thick steam at an impressive 570 degrees F. It's also unique from Iceland's other hot springs because it's salt water, due to it's proximity to the ocean.
Gunnuhver is named after an angry female ghost, Gudrun (Gunna for short), that was laid there. She had caused great disturbance until a priest set a trap for her and she fell into the spring. This happened about 400 years ago. Legend says that the constant bubbling and hissing from the hot spring is the eternal agony of Gudrun.
No ghost sightings for us! But it was a bit eerie to be surrounded by such a large plume of steam clouds that shifted at any time across the walkway with the wind and the constant gurgling noises of the bubbling water.
The Reykjanesviti Lighthouse. "The first lighthouse in Iceland was built in Reykjanes in 1878. By 1905, numerous earthquakes and rough surf had damaged the area so much that there was the risk of the lighthouse falling into the sea. Therefore, a new lighthouse was built in 1907 on Bæjarfell hill and the old one was demolished. The light signal height is 69 metres above sea level but the actual height of the lighthouse is 31 metres. The Reykjanes lighthouse also has a radio beacon with a correction signal."
As much as I love lighthouses, that view was good enough for me. I wanted to see other things! As we made our way to the other side of the lighthouse to get to the cliffs, my dad pointed out the swarm of Arctic Terns all over the hill. He stopped the car to hop out and see if they'd fly over. They flew over alright. Right towards Dad. Haha!! I have since learned that though the area is beautiful, it is recommended that you don't get out of your car during the nesting season of the Arctic Tern. The birds are very territorial and very effective at defending their nests. These birds have a circumpolar breeding distribution as they migrate from pole to pole. For birds nesting in Iceland, studies have shown their annual average round trip to be about 44,000 miles!
The southwestern-most tip of the peninsula is called Reykjanesta which is home to incredible cliffs and sea stacks where waves repeatedly crash. Nearby is the hill Valahnjukur which looked fairly easy to climb.
We decided to give the hill a try. Mom and Jared headed up first. He's the second figure, in the white. In the foreground is a large statue of the Great Auk which stands on the cliffs of Reykjanesta near the location where the last mating pair was killed in 1844. :(
That's Jared up front, pretending to fall and pretending to be funny.
Atop the hill Valahnjukur we had quite the vantage point of the stunning views of the sea and cliffs.
Mom with the binoculars, always bird watching. The sea stacks are home to numerous colonies of sea birds.
Dad from the other direction.
Another view of the lighthouse as we passed by.
Working our way around the peninsula, back to the flat.
It looks as though we landed on the moon or something.
Next stop was Graenavatn (Green) Lake.
It was a bit overcast and the water was choppy, so the vibrant color was hard to capture.
Graenavatn Lake is a volcanic crater and got its name from the unusual green color due to high levels of sulfur and its depth of 45 meters (147 feet). It only takes about 20 minutes to walk around. But it's pretty deep for such a small lake. You can see how the color changes from the shoreline as it gets deeper.
Only 40 minutes from Reykjavik and in the middle of the fissure on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on the southern part of Reykjanes is the geothermal area Krysuvik. The rainbow of minerals in the earth are truly remarkable. This is a really large concentration of geothermal energy where steam dominates the area and warms the surface water, resulting in steam vents, sulfur mounds (no kidding) and boiling hot springs.
These plants looked like cotton, on a stick.
The view from one of the platforms up the hill at Krysuvik.
Continuing on our way...
The only green on this side of the mountain. Incredible!
This is Kleifarvatn--the largest lake on the Reykjanes Peninsula located on the fissue zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The lake has no visible water coming in or going out because most of its water comes and leaves underground.
An excerpt from Guide to Iceland states: "An earthquake in 2000 occurred beneath Kleifarvatn, and drained it of over twenty percent of its surface area. It has since recovered, but not quite the same; the seismic event created hot springs in one corner of the lake.The draining of Kleifarvatn inspired the Icelandic author Arnaldur Indriðason to write a novel, titled after the lake. In the crime-fiction, the receding waters uncover a body long hidden beneath the surface, and the story follows how she died, and at whose hand. The name of the translation is ‘the Draining Lake.' Kleifarvatn is not fed by any rivers; all the water coming in and out of it comes from the porous lava rock around it. In spite of this, it still has a high fish population, and is popular amongst anglers."
Getting closer to Reykjavik.
There was one last place my parents wanted to take us. As we approached from the road, I had no idea what I was looking at. As we drove closer, I still didn't know what I was looking at, but the stomach-turning stench smacked me right across the face. There were rows and rows and rows and rows and still more rows of fish drying racks. I rolled my window down to get a picture, but it was the fastest movement I've ever made. My parents said it took them a week to get the smell out of the car after the first time they were there. The horrible smell seriously made you retch. Yowzers. How can anyone stand to be within a mile of that place?
Sunset at 11:00pm.
And later...11:25pm.
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