Iceland

it had been a long 2 years since our last trip, and as california reopened over the summer and things seemed to be going back to normal (so we thought), we finalized our plans to visit one of our bucket list destinations... iceland! the land of fire and ice did not disappoint, we feel so fortunate to have had the chance to visit this beautiful place. after a long flight, the first area we visitied was downtown reykjavik. we didnt spend too much time here, as there was so much nature to explore.

















i read everywhere that the blue lagoon is super touristy, and it was, but hey... when in rome right? regardless, it was still an awesome experience to dip in the warm, milky blue water.





















thingvellir national park is one of the main stops on icelands golden circle. the cliff on the left of this picture is the eastern edge of the north american tectonic plate!











gullfoss is another main stop on icelands golden circle. the power of this huge waterfall was really impressive







probably one of the kids favorite activities we did on the trip was horseback riding. riding through moss covered lava fields on these beaufitul icelandic horses was really fun. the kids got to spend time with the horses after our ride, they hung out with them for a few hours















random stop by a pretty view



whale watching, what can i say.... total fail! iceland is supposed to be known for great whale watching, but all we saw besides no whales was ava throwing up multiple times





driving along the southern coast of iceland towards our next hotel, we stopped by one of my favorite waterfalls... seljalandsfoss. this is the only waterfall in iceland that you can walk behind. got drenched, but so cool!







i think skogafoss was my favorite waterfall of the trip. you can walk right up to where these massive falls crash into the ground.



the kids in this pic for scaling purposes, so huge!







our next stay was in the small beach town of vik in southern iceland. we visited this church that overlooks the town, and hung out with more horses (horses everywhere in iceland... and sheep)











access to the lighthouse in dyrholaey was closed, but it is also known for cute puffins, which we saw plenty of (from afar). ava took these pics on my phone, which had some pretty good zoom!



visited part of icelands glaciers called solheimajokull. we were hoping to have time to go on a glacier walk, but didnt get the chance



first thing one morning we walked 2 miles one way to this dc-3 plane wreckage in the solheimasandur desert... worth it! we had the place to ourselves. so cool to visit this plane in the middle of the desert













reynisfjara is southern icelands famous black sand beach, with cool basalt columns along its shores











another black sand beach in vik









drove into vatnojokull national park and hiked to svartifoss, a waterfall famous because it falls over black basalt colmns





great beers at this brewery in vik





our next stay was in the southeast town of hofn. nearby is one of the busiest sites in southern iceland, jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. pieces of the vatnojokul glacier break off and float through this huge lagoon





we took a boat tour to get close to this piece of glacier, which was the largest in the lagoon at the time





after showing the crowd a piece of this glacier, she let the kids make a wish and toss the glacier chunks back into the lagoon. such clear ice!







just below the glacier lagoon is a black sand beach called diamond beach, where chunks of the glacier wash up onto the shore. really cool to see













explored some of the eastern parts of iceland. vestrahorn mountain overlooks this black sand beach, which we had all to ourselves







hofn is known as the lobster capital of iceland. these are actually longastinos at a great restaurant called pakkhus. people debate if these are actually small lobster or big shrimp. its pretty much right in the middle



hvalnes lighthouse in eastern iceland



cute fishing town called djupivogur



loved this waterfall called folaldafoss, mostly because we had it to ourselves since its in eastern iceland, as opposed to the much busier southern areas



stopped to shoot our next album cover in this lava field



locals built this tiny djupavogskorin geothermal hot tub for visitors to enjoy. the water is HOT! also this thing is tiny, so luckily there was only one other couple there. cool couple from ohio, really enjoyed hanging out with them while we soaked our tired bodies



on the way back to the west coast, we came across these super cool structures built into the sides of the mountains. one of them we were able to go all the way inside to see a huge cave inside





hiked up to raudfeldsgja canyon. we didnt have the right shoes on to hike through this tiny slot canyon with a river running through it, but got in far enough to see some of the beautiful moss covered interior



last area of our trip was the snaefelsnes peninsula, back on the west side of iceland. stopped by these cool cliffs called gerduberg cliffs





snaefelsnesjokul national park occupies a huge part of the snaefelsnes peninsula. visited budir church, this bold church contrasts the rugged natural terrain



the coastline of snaefelsnesjokul national park looks like another planet













kirkjufell falls/mountain is one of the most photographed locations in iceland. this definitely was one of the prettiest waterfalls we visited









skardsvik was one of the few golden sand beaches in iceland, which is considered rare amongs all of the predominantly black sand beaches





svortuloft lighthouse





our last stop in iceland was the djupalonsandur black sand beach. this was one of the most alien looking beaches we visited. past the remnants of a boat wreckage were amazing rock formations overlooking the black sands

















iceland was the perfect escape from the ensuing covid surge that los angeles was experiencing just as we left. so thankful for the opportunity to visit this beautiful place. not going to be traveling again anytime soon, so we will cherish these memories for now!