Monday, June 9, 2014
Yesterday and today are national holidays. Besides Christmas and Easter, Pentecost is a huge holiday here. That's when the Holy Spirit descended into the disciples.
Today we found an excursion that fit PERFECTLY with our itinerary. After breakfast we took our rental car back to the company (total driven - 2460 km), and the excursion bus picked us up right there at 9 am. After 2 more pickups, we were on our way.
The shuttle driver gave us some interesting information about the vast fields of lupins around Iceland. They will bloom for most of the month of June, so we came at a great time. They were originally imported from Canada to help the soil erosion problem that Iceland was facing. They have spread like weeds. Some of the local people don't like them because they are not native plants. How could you not like them???? The plan is for the lupins to make the soil stronger so it can support native plants again.
Our excursion was to the Leidarendi Cave, which is 900 meters long and situated in a lava field near a volcanic crater outside of Reykjavik. It wasn't mapped until 1992. This one is open to the public, but there is NO WAY we would go into this one without a guide! This was a completely different experience from yesterday's cave! We started at the entrance, 2 small pits that led downwards.
Our guide said that usually he goes the easy way and saves the difficult part for the end. Today he switched them. It should be stated right now that THERE WAS NO EASY WAY!!! We started by climbing over some huge lava rocks, and then all of a sudden there was the ceiling! We had to climb on all fours for quite a distance, it was literally a 2 foot clearing! And that was over rough rocks. The info on the tour had said, "You might have to crawl for a short distance". I guess a short distance for these billy goats is 15 - 20 minutes! We lost count of how many times our helmets hit the ceiling. It became a regular sound.
There were also lots of times when we had to walk all hunched over, so our body was at a 45 degree angle. Definitely the most strenuous activity we've done all trip. Plus we noticed that everyone else seemed to be in their 20's and 30's, I think we were the old folks. We were actually thankful when it was just loose gravel we had to tread, ha ha.
The cave was not nearly as deep as Vatnshellir so it was much warmer, especially with all the working out we were doing. The cave ran in two directions and connected in two parts, so we entered one cave and came out the other an hour later.
A few times there were spots where he had all of us turn off our flashlights and just stand in the dark listening to the cave (it was very drippy). A few times we all sat around him and he told stories. He REALLY liked to tell ghost stories. And he told of elves and the yule lads and the invisible people. He also told us traditions of Icelandic Christmas. For example, the Icelandic Christmas Cat is a giant cat that will come and eat you if you don't receive at least one item of clothing at Christmas. Even a pair of socks will do. That's a good way of getting children to be thankful to receive clothing, if you ask me!
There was a lava formation inside the cave that they call "The Crown" because it hangs from the ceiling and you can stick your head inside. There was a spot where you could view the skeleton of a lamb that wandered inside and couldn't find its way out. Sort of like the arctic fox but this one this had its skull. And there was a spot where some locals had started a bonfire and danced around it naked. No one knows why. Not a smart idea because fires suck oxygen.
After the cave tour, they took us to a field where they had acres and acres of hanging fish drying from racks. It takes about 2 months for it to dry completely. Boy, did it smell fishy! I'm sure we will be a lovely treat for the passengers around us in the airplane!
Then I think he was killing time because he took us to a guy's farm so we could see the horses.
One of the reasons we picked this tour is because there was an option of being delivered to the airport at 2:00, which worked perfectly for us since we had a 5 pm flight. We expected him to drive us in the shuttle, but we pulled over on the road and waited a few minutes, then we got picked up by a full-size "Airport Express" bus. Not so express for the people already aboard when they had to stop and pick us up!
Check-in was the absolute EASIEST we've EVER had. EVER! No lines. And security was just as fast. NICE! There was a spot where you could rate your security experience (back home they wouldn't care). There were 4 happy to sad faces that you could punch. We gave them a big happy face.
That gave us lots of time to sit and have lunch. Frankie finally got to try the Icelandic meat soup, yummy but salty. Anton enjoyed his bacon and banana pizza. Yes, bacon and banana. It was a nice spot to sit and finish our last blog.
And the last blog it is. Till our next trip!
Yesterday and today are national holidays. Besides Christmas and Easter, Pentecost is a huge holiday here. That's when the Holy Spirit descended into the disciples.
Today we found an excursion that fit PERFECTLY with our itinerary. After breakfast we took our rental car back to the company (total driven - 2460 km), and the excursion bus picked us up right there at 9 am. After 2 more pickups, we were on our way.
The shuttle driver gave us some interesting information about the vast fields of lupins around Iceland. They will bloom for most of the month of June, so we came at a great time. They were originally imported from Canada to help the soil erosion problem that Iceland was facing. They have spread like weeds. Some of the local people don't like them because they are not native plants. How could you not like them???? The plan is for the lupins to make the soil stronger so it can support native plants again.
Our excursion was to the Leidarendi Cave, which is 900 meters long and situated in a lava field near a volcanic crater outside of Reykjavik. It wasn't mapped until 1992. This one is open to the public, but there is NO WAY we would go into this one without a guide! This was a completely different experience from yesterday's cave! We started at the entrance, 2 small pits that led downwards.
Our guide said that usually he goes the easy way and saves the difficult part for the end. Today he switched them. It should be stated right now that THERE WAS NO EASY WAY!!! We started by climbing over some huge lava rocks, and then all of a sudden there was the ceiling! We had to climb on all fours for quite a distance, it was literally a 2 foot clearing! And that was over rough rocks. The info on the tour had said, "You might have to crawl for a short distance". I guess a short distance for these billy goats is 15 - 20 minutes! We lost count of how many times our helmets hit the ceiling. It became a regular sound.
There were also lots of times when we had to walk all hunched over, so our body was at a 45 degree angle. Definitely the most strenuous activity we've done all trip. Plus we noticed that everyone else seemed to be in their 20's and 30's, I think we were the old folks. We were actually thankful when it was just loose gravel we had to tread, ha ha.
The cave was not nearly as deep as Vatnshellir so it was much warmer, especially with all the working out we were doing. The cave ran in two directions and connected in two parts, so we entered one cave and came out the other an hour later.
A few times there were spots where he had all of us turn off our flashlights and just stand in the dark listening to the cave (it was very drippy). A few times we all sat around him and he told stories. He REALLY liked to tell ghost stories. And he told of elves and the yule lads and the invisible people. He also told us traditions of Icelandic Christmas. For example, the Icelandic Christmas Cat is a giant cat that will come and eat you if you don't receive at least one item of clothing at Christmas. Even a pair of socks will do. That's a good way of getting children to be thankful to receive clothing, if you ask me!
There was a lava formation inside the cave that they call "The Crown" because it hangs from the ceiling and you can stick your head inside. There was a spot where you could view the skeleton of a lamb that wandered inside and couldn't find its way out. Sort of like the arctic fox but this one this had its skull. And there was a spot where some locals had started a bonfire and danced around it naked. No one knows why. Not a smart idea because fires suck oxygen.
After the cave tour, they took us to a field where they had acres and acres of hanging fish drying from racks. It takes about 2 months for it to dry completely. Boy, did it smell fishy! I'm sure we will be a lovely treat for the passengers around us in the airplane!
Then I think he was killing time because he took us to a guy's farm so we could see the horses.
One of the reasons we picked this tour is because there was an option of being delivered to the airport at 2:00, which worked perfectly for us since we had a 5 pm flight. We expected him to drive us in the shuttle, but we pulled over on the road and waited a few minutes, then we got picked up by a full-size "Airport Express" bus. Not so express for the people already aboard when they had to stop and pick us up!
Check-in was the absolute EASIEST we've EVER had. EVER! No lines. And security was just as fast. NICE! There was a spot where you could rate your security experience (back home they wouldn't care). There were 4 happy to sad faces that you could punch. We gave them a big happy face.
That gave us lots of time to sit and have lunch. Frankie finally got to try the Icelandic meat soup, yummy but salty. Anton enjoyed his bacon and banana pizza. Yes, bacon and banana. It was a nice spot to sit and finish our last blog.
And the last blog it is. Till our next trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment