Iceland Day 6 - January 1, 2009

Luckily, we didn't stay up too late last night celebrating the ringing in of the New Year because we were scheduled to go on the Golden Circle Tour with Reykjavik Excursions (RE). The bus forgot to come pick us up, so we had the front desk staff call RE to see if they would send another bus. A few minutes later we were on our way to the RE terminal to board our larger bus. We brought some snacks with us since we didn't know if they would stop by a store or restaurant.

After an hour or so ride, we stopped at a geothermal power plant. I wasn't feeling the best again...motion sickness added with the irritation from our New Jersey seat neighbors from behind; so I sat and took in the sites. Billy meandered through looking at the different elements of the power plant. Did you know that that the power plant tries to make the water output from the process smell more sulfuric? It definitely smelled like rotten eggs around the plant. As we boarded the bus, we were pelted with rain. Once we began our journey again on the bus, all we could see was snow.Our next stop was at Gulfoss. By this time the rain was really coming down and the wind was really strong. I really wanted to go in the gift shop and wait, but I didn't come to Iceland to just go to a store so we made our way to the waterfall. I quickly looked at the falls and then quickly made my way back to the gift shop and cafeteria. I left Billy to take the pictures. A word to the wise - bring a rain suit or some other type of protective clothing. Our jeans were wet after our time outside. There was food available at this stop, but Billy and I weren't quite hungry yet. Back on the bus to make our way to Geysir.
Billy and I decided to eat first once we got to the Geysir location while the hoards of people made their way to see Geysir. By the time, we finished our meal the cafeteria began to fill up with the people who opted to see Geysir first. Billy and I headed back out into the drizzly weather to see Geysir. After visiting Yellowstone, I was not that impressed with Geysir. I was amazed out how close they allowed people to stand to the geothermal runoff; it was quite the opposite at Yellowstone. As Geysir began to go off, it began to rain a little harder so we quickly walked back to the gift shop area. Included with our admission was a ticket to a museum located in the gift shop. The museum presented information about geothermal and geological activity. My favorite part was the metal plate that you could stand on, and it would make you feel the effects of a earthquake. Billy seemed more interested in the information than I was. I went to the gift shop only to find our seat neighbors in a frantic search for something to buy as they did at every gift shop. Crazy tourists!
We loaded back onto the bus to begin our journey to Thingvellier National Park (the same place where we snorkeled and caved). Our tour group stopped at an overlook that provided us with views of the lake and the large rift where the North American and Eurasian continents are pulling apart. We also got a chance to walk in between the rift. This was the highlight of the tour for as I was amazed by the geological formations. Make this a must-stop on your trip around Iceland.
We got back on the bus one last time. Our neighbors from behind were extremely disappointed that there was not a gift shop at our last stop. We rode for about an hour before we got back to Reykjavik.
Billy and I went back to the hotel to freshen up before we had dinner. Our search for dinner proved to be even more difficult than on New Year's Eve; fewer restaurants were open on New Year's Day. We ended up at a kabob restaurant. I ordered a chicken kabob only to be surprised when I received a pita filled with chicken and lettuce. I took my meal back up to the counter to ask if I received the correct meal, and I was assured that it was a chicken kabob. Billy ordered a wrap expecting to receive a pita similar to my dish. His order ended up being more of tortilla wrap. I guess Icelanders have different definitions of kabobs and wraps than we do.

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel to settle in for an evening of Weeds and Entourage on the laptop.

Reviews for the day
Reykjavik Excursions - The Golden Circle Tour - 2 stars
Pros: Able to see quite a bit of Iceland in one trip
Cons: tours for the masses

Kabob Restaurant - 2 stars
Pros: Actually open on New Year's Day
Cons: Meaning of kabobs lost in translation

Shaun's Restaurant - Atlanta

Image from www.shaunsrestaurant.com

Tonight Billy and I dined at Shaun's; it is in Inman Park and less than a mile from our loft. We ate from the regular menu at Shaun's about two years ago with Billy's grandparents, but have not been since. Earlier in the afternoon, we made reservations to eat at 6:30 p.m. via Opentable.com. We ended up driving because my ankles have been extremely sore for the past couple of days. Billy found a great parking spot only steps away from the restaurant.

We had one purpose in mind: to try the pasta specials that are featured on Sunday nights in March. For $12, you get salad, a choice of pasta and vanilla gelato. Tonight's salad was chopped salad with creamy garlic dressing. The choices for pasta were spaghetti with marinara & pork meatballs, lemon ricotta ravioli with tomato sauce, and penne with ham & peas in cream sauce. Billy chose the spaghetti, and I picked the ravioli.

We started with the salad which was served family style. Billy had a small bread plate's worth while I had about 3 bread plates of the salad. Billy didn't have much to say about the salad because he is not a big fan of salads in the first place. I enjoyed the salad; the dressing was tasty and I enjoyed the scallions and pieces of celery that were added. I would have enjoyed higher quality lettuce though.

Our pasta dishes (individual servings) were served promptly after we finished our salads. Both dishes were an adequate amount to eat in one setting. My dish has about 7 or 8 raviolis that were topped with basil leaves and very lightly with sauce. Billy's dish had spaghetti noodles that were topped very lightly with sauce and two large pork meatballs (about 2-2 1/2 inches in diameter). I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. Billy seemed to enjoy his dish even though I ate about 3/4 of one of the meatballs.

The gelato was served a few minutes after our tables was cleared of our pasta plates. It was wonderful ending to a great meal, but I just wish there was more of it.

All in all, we had a great evening at Shaun's. The food and service were both excellent. We were pleased that we made our reservations for 6:30 because a few minutes after we arrived the crowd began to arrive. I would like to see Shaun's continue with their Sunday night pasta dinners. I would definitely be there.

Iceland Day 5 - December 31, 2008

Lucky you! Two posts in one day.

Today was another adventurous day for us. We took advantage of our hotel's breakfast and then boarded the van to take us to the Reykjavik Excursions terminal, where we boarded a larger bus for our Walk on the Ice Slide tour. RE actually contracts Moutain Guides for this tour. The RE terminal is a bit chaotic because numerous small vans arrive from the various hotels, and then people are having to search for their larger bus for their given tour.

After a few minutes of riding on the bus, I started feeling nauseous. Luckily we made stop at a gas station to buy food for our lunch. I was able to walk around, and then I took some Bonine (motion sickness med). Billy and I picked up some cookies, pretzels, pepperoni, ginger ale and juice at a small grocery store across the street from the gas station. I felt somewhat better once we got back on the bus aside from the annoying French tour guide who kept pointing out random things. I guess this is why we usually don't do mass tour group outings on our trips.We arrived at the glacier, and then we were equipped with our ice ax and crampons. We began our trek up the glacier. Of course me being the scaredy cat that I am, I started getting nervous. Luckily, one of the tour guides walked beside me and reassured me that I would be safe. She even told me that all of the stories I read about adventures gone wrong are not true...yeah right, but thanks for making me feel better. In spite of me being scared, I was amazed about the beautiful surroundings. I couldn't even imagine the blue colors formed in the glacier. As we got higher, we have a wonderful view of the ocean along the southern shore of Iceland. Billy was a ice walking champ, but he made sure to keep me close by. Once I finally got the hang of walking up the glacier it was time to go down. This is where I got nervous again, but it quickly subsided as a I watched the view and sat into my walk. I would absolutely recommend this tour even if you are nervous about heights or other issues. The experience of walking on a glacier and the views definitely outweigh the apprehension. Once again, Billy had a great time!We headed back to the bus after taking off our gear and rinsing it in the glacial runoff. We ate some of our snacks while we waited for one of the other groups to come back to the bus. On our ride back to Reykjavik, we stopped at Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls. Both waterfalls are beautiful! It was beginning to get dark as we make our stops, so we quickly got on and off the bus to see these sights. I would like to have had more time at both locations, but it was great to see them nonetheless.We arrived back in Reykjavik looking forward to the New Year's Eve celebrations. Billy and I took showers and rested for a little bit. I went to the front desk of our hotel to book the Golden Circle tour for January 1. While I was there, I asked where to find a bonfire (many Icelanders have bonfires with family and friends, and supposedly people come up and join them). The person at the front desk was not helpful because she referred me to some apartment building down the street, but I did not get any directions better than that. So Billy and I began our journey to find a restaurant to eat at. Many restaurants are closed on NYE because most people spend it at home with their family and friends. We stopped in two restaurants and were told that they did not have any openings. They did not have waiting lists either.
We finally found a restaurant that was willing to take us, Tabasco's Mexican Restaurant. We got there just in time because soon after we arrived they started turning people away even though they had open tables. It took about 15 minutes before anybody came to our table. We placed our order and began the wait for our food. It was amusing to see the number of people they turned away. I guess I would turn people away too if I was still earning my paycheck and was not going to earn tips. Yay for socialist practices at restaurants! The food was subpar, but it was something to eat. We eventually paid and left to walk around town.

Billy and I walked around Reykjavik looking for the famous NYE bonfires. As we walked around, we began seeing fireworks shooting up at various locations. After not finding much action, we decided to head back tot he room. Luckily, we brought some DVDs with us. We watched a few episodes of Weeds. Around midnight, more and more fireworks began to go off. All of the fireworks are put off my individuals. We watched the show from our window. Then it was time to go to bed so we wouldn't miss our Golden Circle Tour. As we went to sleep, we heard fireworks continuing to go off.
Reviews for the Day
Reykjavik Excursions - Walk on the Ice Slide Tour - 3 stars for the actual tour, 5+ stars for the experience
Pros: priceless experience to walk on a glacier, views from the glacier, stops at the waterfalls
Cons: large tour group, annoying tour guide

Tabasco's - 1 star (this is being generous)
Pros: I'll get back to you when I think of some. Don't wait around
Cons: wait time, no chips & salsa even though there were some on a table just sitting there, food

Iceland Day 4 - December 30, 2008

I am bound and determined to finish this trip report for Iceland.

Day 4 - What a day! We actually got up on time today, so we were able to go on the Black & Blue trip with Arctic Adventures. Our tour guide, Teena, picked us up at the hotel. We joined two other girls from New York for our ride out to Thingvellir National Park. Once we got there, we put on the dry suits provided by the company. And then it was time to snorkel in glacial runoff. Things did not get off to a good start for me because I immediately dropped my snorkel as we entered the water. Teena was nice enough to go get another one. Then my goggles would not stop fogging up even after numerous times of spitting in them. Regardless of my equipment shortcomings, I still had a wonderful time snorkeling and getting to view the continental plates. Billy really enjoyed himself and did not have any problems with his equipment. The dry suits really did their job because I did not every feel extremely cold. Getting the suits off was an interesting experience because some of the layers are so tight.
After snorkeling, we ate lunch that was provided by Arctic Adventures. We enjoyed sandwiches, cookies and juice boxes. After lunch, it was time for the Black part of the trip...caving. It didn't take us as long to get ready to head into the caves; we only had to put on hard hats with headlamps attached. I have mixed feelings about the caving portion of the trip. I was fine until about 10 minutes inside the cave. As we got further away from the entrance, I began to get nervous. I have never experienced a cave with path ways, lights, etc. This was full on natural cave without any touristy embellishments. As we moved further through the cave, I became a tad bit more comfortable, but there was quite a bit of ice and you had to be able to scramble over some of the rocks. Luckily the crawling part of the trip was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We stopped in the middle of the cave to listen to some stories and drink hot chocolate. After about an hour total, we came to the other end of the cave; this cave was a lava tube. Getting out was the fun part because we had to use our upper body strength to pull ourselves out. I am a definite scaredy cat when it comes to adventurous activities, but I am extremely happy that I had this experience. Once again, Billy truly enjoyed his walk/crawl/scramble through the Icelandic cave. After completing the trip, I would definitely recommend it to anybody and would do it again myself.
We headed back to Reykjavik after our adventurous day. Teena dropped us off at our hotel, where we went to our room to rest and freshen up. Around 10:00 p.m., we decided we wanted to eat dinner so we ate Hlolla Batar (a sub shop). Supposedly this is the place people go after a night out. Billy got a sub sandwich and I ate a cheeseburger. Yum! We went back to the 4th Floor for the night.

Reviews for the Day
Arctic Adventures - Black & Blue Tour - 4 stars
Pros: friendly guide, food included with the tour, unique experience, small group
Cons: no discount for booking multiple tours

Hlolla Batar Sub Shop - 4 stars
Pros: tasty subs & hamburger
Cons: Not open on New Year's Eve or Day