Ice Ice Baby — Little Miss Party

This June, we continued our crazy year of travels and took a trip with the kids, to Iceland! POW. It was AWESOME. We had the most unbelievable time. This trip was full of adventure, fun and BEAUTY. What an incredible country Iceland is. I cannot wait to go back! Here’s how the trip went down…

We took a direct flight from New York City. it was less than 5 hours to get there! I don’t know why but I thought Iceland was 24 hours away. HA! As always, we worked with Jonathan and his awesome team at Fly Smoother to craft this trip and maximize our time there because we only went for 5 days and that included travel time.

When we arrived, we were greeted by our guide Joi (pronounced JOEY). He was so friendly and knowledgeable and he had a van full of Icelandic snacks and water for us to enjoy all throughout the trip which was a small detail that we hugely appreciated. We hit it off immediately and he remained our guide for the entire trip which was so easy and great. He took us around everywhere and made sure we had everything we needed and of course gave us a plethora of information along the way.

Day 1: We arrived in the morning time so we had a full day ahead. Our first stop was to take in some of the sights of the Reykjanes Peninsula. The Reykjanes Peninsula is a fascinating geological area of Iceland, existing along a drift zone between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Here, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rises from the ocean, making it the only place in the world where this natural feature is noticeable above sea level! The landscape here comprises 100 different craters, caves, lava fields, towering cliffs, black sand beaches, and high geothermal activity. Most famously, you can find The Bridge Between Continents, a man-made bridge that connects the North American and European plates, allowing you to appear in two places at once! This was very cool and gave Luke the opportunity to run off some energy after the snooze we all took on the late night flight. Perfect!

Next stop and by far my favorite on the trip even though it was day one, was the BLUE LAGOON! The way they have it set up is like a spa. You enter, you get a locker, towel and a bathrobe. Now, in planning, the team at Fly Smoother did warn me about that the Blue Lagoon would be very harsh on my hair. I sorta disregarded this and immediately regreted it afterwards. I saw several people wearing swim caps and was kicking myself for not bringing one. My hair was a matted, rock hard mess after my time in there…but none the less, it was still worth it! In the future, if I were to go back, I would grab one of these swim caps to wear. Ok so now once you’re in the blue lagoon, there’s lots to do. First, go grab a cocktail!! There is a swim up bar. It is so cool. Then….make your over to the mud mask bar. There are different packages. We did the trio. So we started with one mask and were given directions for how long to keep it on and how to wash it off. Same went for the next two masks. Next up….Gavin and I went to the Blue Lagoon spa which was IN THE WATER! We each had a massage which was a super cool experience! They lay you down on a yoga mat, in the water, and they massage from underneath. I’m not sure I have ever been that relaxed in my whole life. After our massages, we got out of the water, showered and dried off. We all met in the Lava restaurant which felt like you were dining inside a volcano. The first thing they served me was salty, soft butter and bread and a glass of champagne. I was in heaven. It was the most wonderful first day!

Day 2: We started our day at the Gullfoss (Golden Waterfall). Here we saw thousands of tons of icy water thunder majestically down in a double-fall into a deep gorge from the glacier Langjökull. It was a nice little hike to see these falls but truth be told, aside from a gorgeous photo that we took, I didn’t see the appeal. We found out that they do white water rafting through these falls…now that’s what we’ll do next time we go!

Our second stop was extremely fascinating…we got to experience geothermal energy firsthand and learn how to make geothermal baked bread! We literally learned how to bake bread UNDER the sand of the hot springs. I had never heard of anything like this before! We had a full demonstration and then we got to sample the bread that was served with soft butter and smoked trout. Heavenly!

Lunch was next and I just about died from this place…Fridheimar farm. It is a GREENHOUSE (!!) that was a welcoming, friendly Icelandic family-run business. It’s primarily a working farm but is also a restaurant, an organic tomato producer, a horse-breeding stables, and a grocery store all in one. This may sound quirky, but in 1995 it was the dream of husband and wife team, Knútur Rafn Ármann, and his wife, Helena Hermundardóttir, to combine their passions for horticulture and horse-breeding into one place. Their five children all help out with the family business. It was so so delicious and so cool. I absolutely love tomatoes so this was the most perfect meal in my mind and we were surrounded by tomato plants, sunflowers and simply beautiful food everywhere you turned.

After lunch we took a trip over to the Haukadalur Valley to see the famous Geysir, the “geyser” which gave its name to all other erupting hot springs. While Geysir hasn’t been particularly active recently, one of the most active, and reliable, geysers in the area is just 50 meters away from Geysir. Strokkur is capable of shooting water 90 feet high and erupts every five minutes on average. There are also about 30 smaller geysers and hot pools in the area, including one named Litli Geysir ("Little Geysir"), making this area a thrilling hub of geothermal activity. We hiked all the way to the top of the mountain that overlooked the main hot spring and got to see it erupt several times.

After a fabulous day out and about, we had dinner back at the ranch that we stayed at and took a soak in the hot tub and rest. Later that night, we went out to play golf at midnight! It’s light 24/7 in Iceland during the time that we were there and we thought this would be really cool. It was BUT it was misty, cold and there were flies that felt like gnats that would not leave us alone. So truth be told, I would not suggest this unless the weather is clear and dry.

Day 3: Was the best! Who knew it could get better than the Blue Lagoon? But it did…

We started the day with a private ribsafari! This boat was driven SUPER fast and stopped into some sea caves that were mezmorizingly stunning. We learned stories about the islands, nature, and history and we also visited the “Elephant Rock” named that for the exact reason you would think - it looked like an Elephant’s trunk. During the ride, we got to see a lot of wildlife including seabirds such as fulmars, kitty- wakes, gannets, and puffins.

After the boat ride we had a wonderful lunch in the Westman islands. It was delicious. We walked around the town afterwards and got ice cream, fleece jackets (because we did not pack appropriately and could no longer take freezing HA!) and rode bikes through the mountains of the town!

This was pretty awesome because we got to see some really cool sites! First, we stumbled upon a rainbow bridge! I just loved this! The boys were able to rock climb and swing on a rope like Tarzan and we found an amazing park for Luke to run around in and then we biked over to a restaurant on the water for more to eat.

Day 4: So we started our day early to get to FlyOver Iceland. I am always worried that any down time will cause us boredom and this time I was wrong….I wish so badly that we had a morning or afternoon to just chill. If you have ever been to Epcot and took a ride on “Soarin” - this was the exact same ride except Iceland themed.
Lunch time however, was a different story…this was another favorite experience of mine because if you know me, you know i love to eat! We did a Reykjavik Food walk. It was so FUN! AND SO YUM! We sampled so many incredible Icelandic foods, truly different from the food we eat back at home. We had a wonderful guide and got to see all of Reykajavik which was the greatest way to tour the town!

As if our day wasn’t full enough…we added on a fishing trip that evening! I don’t regret it for one moment! It was FANTASTIC!! We got waders to get up into the water with and tried fly fishing! My boys caught 9+ fish! We brought them all back to the ranch and Luke learned how to filet a fish! Then we grilled, fried and made ceviche with these fresh fish for our dinner. Was pretty unbelievable!

Day 5: last day!…We were NOT happy to leave but most certainly plan to go back! After checking out of our lodge, we went to a Siberian Huskies park to meet the most beautiful (and famous!) dogs. We got to spend time with Siberian Huskies some of whom have starred in your favorite tv shows and films. These dogs were so cute…almost cute enough to make me want one!

Last but not least, we spent the afternoon inside the dormant Thrihnukagigur volcano. This was incredible! / We took a one hour hike to the volcano and then descended 120 meters/400 feet to the bottom of the crater in an open cable lift. This volcano last erupted over 4,000 years ago. There are no indications of it erupting again in the near future. The volcano’s name, mostly unpronounceable for anyone other than locals, would be directly translated as ‘Three Peaks Crater’. The name comes from Árni B. Stefánsson, who was the first to explore the vault and who has pleaded the case for making it accessible for years. The three craters (one of which we descended into) are prominent landmarks, standing against the sky on the highland edge, about 20 km (13 miles) southeast of the capital area, within the protected area of Bláfjöll Country Park. The beauty of the crater mostly consists of the various coloration found inside and its enormous (and to some extent intimidating) size. To put it in context, the ground space is equivalent to almost three full-sized basketball courts planted next to each other and the height is such that it would easily fit a full-sized Statue of Liberty into the chamber.

The Volcanic tour finished with a hot bowl of DELICIOUS soup and the one hour hike back to our van. We sadly said goodbye to Joi and promised to see him again soon!