After what seemed like an eternity spent in airports, we finally got on the plane. There wasn't too much to report. It was a 6 hour flight, and we slept off and on for 4 of them. We got an exit row which was nice for the leg room, but it meant Aaron had to store his bag in the overhead bin. As we were about to land, the pilot announced that we could see a volcano on the left side of the plane. Everyone stood up and walked to the one side. The flight attendants looked helpless.
We arrived at around 5:45 am Iceland time, and spent the next hour or so working our way through lines and customs. We're fully vaccinated, but everyone has to get a "screening" when they arrive in Iceland. It turns out the screening is just a PCR test, but take it from us, they go hard with their PCR tests. We're pretty sure they swabbed our brains through our nostrils.
We said bye to Marc. It turns out we've been spelling his name wrong, but instead of correcting it, we'll just include a sentence about it here. Mark with a 'c'... Come on. After picking up our luggage and our Kia Rio, we had officially made it to Iceland! Aaron drove the hour to our first hotel. He loves roundabouts.
We got to the hotel around 8:30. They let us check in super early, but then had us to wait in our rooms until our test results came in. Iceland's travel website said the results could take anywhere from a few hours to 24 hours. The hotel staff did bring breakfast to our room, so that was nice. We were pretty tired as it was, so we slept.
We woke up around 3pm just a few minutes before our results came in. We both tested negative, and so we were finally free! We spent a few minutes trying to decide what we should do on our 5th wedding anniversary. There were some fancy restaurants within walking distance. There was a nice bar right across the street. There was a Domino's Pizza about a block away. AND THERE WAS AN ACTIVE VOLCANO AN HOUR AWAY. We went with the volcano.
We found one website that said it was an hour and a half hike, so we packed up some hiking gear, and drove. On the way there, we could see a mushroom cloud forming on the horizon every 10 minutes or so. We started calling friends and family to try to show them, but on the phone it really just looked like clouds.
The hike was pretty easy. It was mostly gravel, and it got a little windy as we started getting closer to the top, but it wasn't too bad. There were elderly people and children walking it too. As we were going up, we could see the clouds from the eruptions, but we still couldn't see the volcano. After about 45 minutes, we finally saw it. It was maybe a 1,000 yards away, and there was a giant lava field between us. It was awesome. Not awesome in the sense that we all use that word today, but truly awesome. When it erupted for the first time, it sounded like thunder. The lava inside the volcano looked like waves in the ocean crashing, and you could feel the heat. It was slightly terrifying and wonderful all at the same time.
As we made our way to the peak of this hiking trail, we got to get up close and personal with the field of lava. I know there are volcanoes in Hawaii, but I don't think people in the states would let you get that close. People were cooking smores on the lava. It was hot from 10 feet away, and it was uncomfortably hot from 5. They had to use their hiking poles to get their smores back. We got some selfies, and we kept on treking.
The peak of the hiking trail got hard. It was a lot of loose gravel, and really high wind. It was difficult to stay standing, but from there you could see the volcano in all of it's glory. We stayed there a while. We tried duo calling people so they could see the eruption, but it was difficult to hear anything with all the wind. By 8:00, we had seen 4 or 5 eruptions, so we started making our way back down. There were a lot of people headed up as we were coming down. They may have been trying to make it to the volcano at sunset. It was a pretty good idea, but we were hungry. Luckily, at the bottom of the hike they had started selling hot dogs and hot chocolate. The hot-dogs were awesome. Not like a volcano, but you know... Like a hot-dog.
On the way home, we stopped by a small geothermal park. We didn't see it on a map. We were just driving by, and said "let's pull over!" Again, I don't think people in the states would let you get this close. It was a wooden walking trail, with boiling water on either side. Other than the signs that said "Danger", there was nothing to keep us safe from any unexpected spewing hot water. Also, of course, it stank of sulfur.
We made it back to the hotel, and discovered all kitchens in Reykjavik close at 9. It was some covid rule. Kitchens had to close at 9pm, or they would be fined. Bars were still open, but the kitchen in the bars were closed. Except, Domino's Pizza could still deliver. I guess the place where they make pizza doesn't actually count as a kitchen. Anyway, everything was closed except Domino's Pizza. So that was our dinner on our 5th anniversary. Happy anniversary!
Tomorrow is sight seeing and caving, and Kaylea's super anxious about it.
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