Good morning Eyjafjallajökull!

Skógafoss

We woke up early to head to Skógafoss, a popular waterfall nearby. I don't like waking up early, especially when the sun isn't up yet. Why? Because I always get up with the sun, even if it's like 6am... So the longer I can sleep without the sun, the better. I know the solution is sleep earlier, but shhhh.

Anyway, we get to the waterfall and there is no one there! It was misty and mysterious morning, and there were only one or two other people. As soon as they left, the sky released a cool, sweet, rain... And it was just meditative and magical. Standing next to a waterfall in the early morning is brutal and awesome at the same time. We took a few more pictures before the first tour bus showed up.

I will say though, I'm disgusted by the amount of trash. People treat natural sights and wonders like amusement parks. One of the criticisms of Iceland is that there aren't a lot of tourist facilities like bathrooms and stuff. That, plus the increased tourism is the perfect storm for people treating their surrounds poorly.

Why do I know this?

There was trash on the ground. Seriously, what the heck? (I'd use a strong word, but I don't know who's reading this). It disgusts me that people treat another person's home like this. Where is the reverence for the earth and nature? It's upsetting because Icelandic people as a whole really love and respect their country and the earth's gifts... And here you people are trashing it. What a classless act.

Anyway, rant over. Skógafoss is beautiful, as is many other parts of Iceland.

Fjaðrárgljúfur

We ended up backtracking from Vík to a canyon that I had put on my map previously. We had missed it the day before, but figured that since we were only an hour away... Why not?

So we drove back for an hour and went to this beautiful canyon. Most of it is uphill, and it may have been the first time we were able to see an F-Road. F-Roads in Iceland are closed off in the winter because they're just unpaved, gravel paths that go through the Icelandic mountains. We didn't have to drive on one, but we saw one as an alternate route to our destination.

This place was also gorgeous, albeit a bit windy. There were some kids being loud and carelessly disrespecting the nature and people around them. They were college kids, one of the many groups of them we saw. I wondered how some of them afforded it, Iceland isn't a cheap place, and we saved for months. We ended up witnessing a lovely French tourist scolding them for being disrespectful and unaware of their surroundings. Perfect. Justice served.

We walked to the top of the canyon, took some pictures, and had time to fly Tam's drone. It was windy, and I cautioned him against flying it through the canyon... But he did and it went well! I keep dropping that he will make a video, but we'll see...

Drive to Reykjavík

I took some more pictures of the scenery... And then fell asleep. Sorry Tam. I did wake up when we were close to Reykjavík though. When we were driving, we took a turn on the mountain in the outermost lane... I just want you to know that the lane didn't have guardrails at that section... But it did later, when the drop was much smaller. It was almost as if they were rewarding you with safety by driving safely.

I was able to get a picture of a troll house though!

Anyway, we got to our Airbnb, which was lovely. We showered, got dressed, and headed out to dinner!

Steikhúsið

Sometimes the suggested restaurants in airport magazines aren't that great. This one was pretty delicious! I called a week ago to make reservations, but it didn't seem very necessary. When we went in, it was pretty empty but we got a nice corner table with the view.

Call us cruel, but we tried a few things.

Appetizer Taster Set included:

Langoustine fritter and lobster scampi, tartar mayonnaise and pickled cucumber
Grilled minke whale tataki, chili marmelade and tamarind-jalapeno sauce
Crispy solft-shell crab, unagi and chilli mayonnaise
Duck confit in brick pastry, orange glaze and pearl onions

The whale was really soft, like the fatty part of pork or a prime rib... But it tasted like beef jerky. It was a really weird experience. It's weird how no one talks about Iceland and Norway openly admitting to commercial whaling, but get up in arms about Japanese people doing it. There's a lot of pride and history around it, making the whole issue a little complex. Check it out here. I wouldn't eat it again, but considering the history, can understand why some people are keen on serving it.

Main Course

Black Angus Ribeye
Porkchop
Side of foie gras
Garlic Marinated Mushroom

The meat was bomb! It was very flavorful and filling. The restaurant dry ages their meat in house. Also, did you know that the country bans the breeding of domestic sheep with imported sheep. Apparently, the domestic sheep are descendants of the same ones brought here by the Vikings.

Random note, hús or húsið means house. I don't know what the -ið ending means.

Valdís

I love dessert and dessert loves me. Even if 40 degree weather, I could still want ice cream. We took a 5 minute walk over to this cute ice cream parlor to try some ice cream.

We got Cookies n' Cream and Snickers ice cream. We liked it! It was super creamy, but really sweet. I didn't end up finishing it... And I do have a second stomach for desserts. The dessert was super creamy otherwise. Milk products here are awesome!

Anyway, we headed home for the night and knocked out. We had a walking tour the next day!