ICELAND

DAY THREE

The many waterfalls of Iceland seem to have different categories. Gulfoss has size, Bruarfoss has exclusivity, and with Seljalandfoss you can walk behind the waterfall. This is a great photo opportunity, but it comes with a timing issue. The spray gets the lenses wet. Take advantage of the light poking through the mist and get some of that glow, but don’t get too wet! The walk isn’t tough at all and there is plenty of space to hide behind the water. Obviously, there’s a secret passageway that leads up to the waterfall. It’s in this grotto thing. You can walk across the stones through a very tiny stream, pass through the cave entrance, and stare up the spout. It’s beautiful. There’s kind of an understanding shared among the visitors to this grotto. You play peek-a-boo behind the cave entrance while everyone else tries to get a photo. The real spot is right as you cross through the portal. As you are posing there are people trying to leave the cave. They poke their heads out to check and then hide behind the cave wall. Make sure you give them the all-clear when you’re done! Hopping from stone to stone was a nice touch as well. I only almost fell twice. From the inside, you can point up at the waterfall for photos. Seljalandfoss has a neighbor that you can see down through the top of the water if you do a bit of climbing. It’s called Gljúfrafoss. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to climb up a steel cable bolted to the side of a cliff, crawl across 2 unsecured 2x4s, and then look down through the opening without falling in. I moved as fast as I could. Anytime I paused I heard someone asking me to lean over cliff edges and 2x4s for good photos. The longer I took to reach the top the more chances she had to request that I risk my life for a photograph.

The Skogafoss waterfall has its own flavor as well. They really do all have their own charm. This one has what I like to call never-ending-steps. You can walk up the stairs straight to the top of the falls. It’s about 15 minutes up the stairs. I only took 3 breaks. I got passed by a few joggers and one over-eager old lady. How dare they. By the time I got there my fiance had already gotten all the pictures she needed. I grabbed a heavy-breathing selfie and then rolled down the stairs. The views of the water are great, and you can see for miles around. There was a field covered with sheep. I was really into the sheep all over the country because of the Icelandic wool items. It made them more significant. We spent the night at the hotel near this waterfall, so after the stairs, we didn't have much further to walk (exhales deeply). And I mean near. It was just across the field. Yes, there were sheep there. This was the only location that we could not get away from tourists (other tourists I guess). Since we were across the field at our hotel we had the advantage of waking up with the sun and taking photos during golden hour. But that’s not until tomorrow morning. Not only did the photos look good, but we were the only ones there. It was just us. I am not saying that you have to stay at this hotel, but I recommend you find at least one hotel directly outside of a waterfall. The 6 am photos really stick out within your album.

We head to Dyrholaey next. This spot overlooks our next stop but has a few good looks of its own. If you drive straight up the cliff at 1 mile per hour you can get to the very top of the pot-holey road safely. You can see a bunch of really interesting rock formations and swing by the lighthouse. The higher you go the more of a factor the wind becomes. We saw a wedding party struggle to take a few photos. The bridal veil was all over the place. The waves look threatening and cold, but I wasn’t tempted to go swimming anyway. The waves crashing over the rocks were fun to watch. It looked pretty post-apocalyptic, yet calming.

The Black Sand Beach is the most beautiful non-tropical beach in the world. The Icelandic name is Reynisfjara. The photo ops here are a bit tricky due to tourists running across the beach to get to a big pretty cave in the middle of it. There is also the problem of the waves reaching all of the way up the beach. Hence the running. They need to get all the way across before the waves hit. This is also where the Basalt Columns come into play. These are the geological formations on which the Church in Reykjavik is based. These are easy to climb on and are not blocked off, so have at it. We climbed up to a comfortable position but had to give up on our tripod since the waves would have taken it out to sea. We took turns sitting on the rocks with one of us taking the pictures from the beach, listening for the warning signal, and then racing the waves back to the rocks. The signal was basically, “AHHH”. 9 times out of 10 the waves didn’t actually touch the columns, but we had to make a few graceful dives to stay dry. To get a picture of the two of us together we had to rely on the kindness of strangers. We found one pretty quick. People traveling alone seem to love to help out with taking photos. Thank you solo adventurers!

After the adventuring, we went to Vic. Vic is a village in southern Iceland. It is not a city. Reykjavik is Iceland’s only city. This village is used as the last stop for tourists in this region. From what we could see it only has one restaurant in the whole village. When I think of a village with only one restaurant I don’t normally get my hopes up. This place exceeded my lowered expectations and then even my regular expectations! It was delicious. And they had quite the selection. The service was better than anything I have had locally in my hometown. But that’s a sore subject. Plus they had an ice-cold beer ready for me. The first beer of the day is a turning point. It's a checkpoint. A point of reference. It means it’s my turn to start choosing the activities! Annddddd...my fiance says we have to go to bed early...

This doesn't mean we can't take one more life-risking adventure. There’s a man-made pool. The Original. It was created to teach Icelandic people how to swim. The folklore of this place is amazing. No one in Iceland knew how to swim! I mentioned that there are two things in Iceland that I can’t explain to you with you believing me. The first was hot dogs. The second thing I can't explain to you with you believing me is the wind. The wind will knock you over. You (I) will fall down. The first day I almost lost a hat while giggling tourists photographed my struggle. I was bullied. There are no trees native to Iceland to help break it down. If you cut a tree down in Iceland by law you have to plant two more. The wind on the way to this pool was the worst we had. We were walking at about .05mph directly into the wind. The 15-minute walk took what seemed like a few hours. The rocky terrain and random streams didn't help either. We find the pool with the porta-potty-like changing rooms next to it. The water is fed by a hot spring so we should be good right? WRONG. It was still freezing. We dipped a toe in and changed back into our travel gear. The journey back was like walking on the moving walkways at the airport. I was almost weightless. I cracked a smile and then the wind decided to try to push me into the stream on the side of the cliff. Rocks started rolling around. We have to join forces to stay steady, so grab her arm. Lovingly. But also for safety. One of our more exhilarating near-death experiences. The car only seems further and further away. All this to dip a toe in some cold water. Worth it.

We went back to the hotel across from Skogafoss. With the idea of photos during golden hour on our mind, we only had a few drinks at the hotel bar, and retired to our room to enjoy the duty frees we picked up. We drank while watching a British dating show where a man goes to 3 different women's homes and they cook for him. He has to choose his favorite based on who was the best cook. Are we going to Americanize this anytime soon?