In honor of the significant snow hitting the East coast I thought I would give you a peak into my trip to Iceland. The plan was to see friends living in Norway. It was the end of June so no weather issues but I immediately asked myself if there was some place close that I could also visit. Iceland was too close to pass up but how much extra would that cost? Surprise to me and you may not know that Icelandair, and some other airlines, have a great option which allows a stop over for several nights, as part of one ticket. The ticket allowed me to stay up to three nights in Iceland on my way to Norway on the same ticket.

As I said, it was the end of June, so I saw no snow. The weather in fact was warm-ish. Think about it. It’s Iceland, 50 degrees was warm!

I did the Golden Circle tour which included a stop at Thingvellir National Park to see where the Eurasian Plate meets the North American plate.

Next stop was Kerid Crater. You can actually walk around the top of the crater. There is also a path where you can walk pretty far down into the crater. One of my favorite pictures from the trip!

So you know food is important to me. Correction, good food is important to me. I found the usual fish and chips along with excellent soups as part of a food tour in Reykjavik. As strange as it sounds, whale tastes like beef, which makes sense, given that whales are mammals. The shark was rubbery, no bueno.

Because it was a thing to do I went to the Blue Lagoon, but I will say I don’t get it. So prior to my trip I was told that it was definitely something to do. What I expected was a natural hot spring but the lagoon was actually formed from wastewater from a power plant. While the lagoon is said to contain no harmful chemicals, the natural minerals are supposed to be great for the skin. You will need a swimsuit and flip flops and will need to shower before entering and upon leaving the Lagoon. The water is very smooth and 102 degrees. There is little kiosk in the water where you can get mud scrubs for your face and another where you can get wine and soft drinks. My skin felt the same after, nothing special for me. A highlight of the visit to the Blue Lagoon is the restaurant on property. The food was amazing and you will need reservations far in advance. The view from the restaurant is of the lagoon and it is beautiful.

While it was a quick trip I am so glad I was able to go. The people were kind and very helpful to tourists. I would love to go see the Northern Lights in the winter despite temperatures plunging into the 40s. Oh did I tell you that there are 23 hours of sunlight In June and July? The winters alternatively have between 5 to 8 hours of daylight.