Iceland - part 2
Updated: Feb 15, 2023
hi everyone! I took a bit longer with this post because my husband and I were two different types of sick the past couple days. He's feeling better now, and I suspect I may actually just have seasonal allergies in this part of the world... wild how that works!
Anyway, here's photos and stuff about days 3 and 4 of our Iceland trip!
Day 3: exploring Reykjavik's coast
Now that everyone was together and well-rested, we enjoyed a free day in the city walking along the coast, checking out the assortment of sculptures spread throughout, and eventually headed to the local maritime museum.
There are a lot of sculptures along the shore in downtown Reykjavik - I do not remember anything about the one pictured to the left, but I'm sharing it anyway because I'm cute. In the collage below, you'll see the family headed toward the Sólfarið, The Sun Voyager. Another sculpture I liked was one that looks like a giant Imgur/Reddit upvote arrow, which hiticeland.com tells me is called the Partnership sculpture.
The maritime museum, Fiskur & Fólk, was the highlight of everyone's first full day in Reykjavik. We learned a lot about the city's (and country's) history and livelihood in the fishing industry, including their scuffle with England about how far Iceland's border extends into the ocean...
In the bottom photo on the collage above, you can see me and Ben in the museum's photo booth, "aboard" a fishing vessel, with our catch of the day in the upper right corner ;) The museum also had fishing games, a forklift simulator, and other interactive parts in their exhibits.
Outside of the exhibits, my favorite thing about the museum was that they had a room with sensory swings and comfortable furniture! The area where the bathrooms connected between the entryway and the end of the exhibits, also had a complimentary coffee bar, the comfy seating, and glass walls with a great view to the harbor. That room was a nice place to wait and curl up in a swing while those of us that got there first waited for everyone else to gather.
Day 4: Golden Circle Tour
Our tour guide, the inimitable Siggy, picked us up at 10am to embark on a private bus tour of several landmark areas known as the Golden Circle. We saw geysers, we admired mountains & waterfalls, we went to a national park, we saw snow on moss on lava, we fed treats to Icelandic horses that did not want to be petted. It was all fantastic.
Stop #1: Þingvellir National Park - a World Heritage sight, where the Vikings first assembled in ancient times, and a spot has been an important gathering place throughout Iceland's early history.
Stop #2: Geysir Spring - the geyser for which all other geysers came to be named after! It has not been very active recently, but it's nearby friend Stokkur spouts regularly and I saw it go off a few times while walking around the area.
Stop #3: Gullfoss Waterfall - it was hard to see in it's full grandeur that day, as it was rather foggy, but the surrounding scenery was still breathtaking. While I'm not a fan of freezing weather, I was properly bundled up for once (overpants are amazing!!) and could appreciate the icy, snow-topped view. My favorite thing to see was the snow layered on top of the moss that grows on the lava rocks. There are whole fields and mountains of lava, and the black rock is stunning with the white snow dusting it.
Bonus Stop: HORSES - our guide stopped at a horse ranch that has a bin of horse treats for tourists to offer the Icelandic horses. The horses were adorable with their long winter coats, and despite my best efforts, they were more interested in the treats than in being petted... I loved seeing them up close, as we had seen many from afar already! Our guide told us about their unique extra gaits, significance in Iceland's culture, and how if they leave the country they cannot re-enter it again later.
Autism/Sensory Friendly Considerations thus far:
-> Definitely a fan of the hammock room at the maritime museum. I have no idea if that was a conscious decision to accommodate visitors with sensory needs, or if it just fit the aesthetic but it was wonderful.
-> I got very overwhelmed in the visitor center where we stopped for lunch between the Geysir and the waterfall. It was loud, densely crowded, had three souvenir shops, and multiple unclear lines for different food services.
Though I had my Loops with me, I didn't think to put them in until it was too late. I ordered food I didn't even really want because I couldn't think straight so I just copied the order of the person ahead of me in line... After I ate the lamb chunks out of my soup (which was good, just full of vegetables I didn't really like), I wandered to a quiet part of the gift shop and looked at a Yule Lads picture book for a few minutes which helped me chill out.
All that to say, the next time we stopped at a visitor center, I put my earplugs in right away if it was crowded, and that helped a lot.
-> I was very easily mesmerized by the geyser, and by moving waters in general, so I loved being able to see Stokkur spout off several times. I think it's like a visual stim... If you're like me in that regard, I recommend making time to watch geysers and waterfalls where you can!
And that's that for the middle of my week in Iceland! Stay tuned for one more post about the adventure, and in the meantime, check out the new Tumblr tab at the top of the page for some foodie reviews from across the pond. Click the collage below to go straight to one about some of the food I had in Iceland!
take care of yourself <3
~Heather
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