A Total Katastrophe: Spring Break in Iceland: Part I

I decided to spend Spring Break in Iceland this year, because... c'mon! Iceland!! So I gathered the UK troops and headed off across the pond.

CAMBRIDGE

I started the trip in Cambridge, getting ready and doing some last-minute shopping. Since I was there, we took a tour of Pembroke College - where Anil is now a jolly good Fellow.

I'm a big fan of the libraries, and I love the architecture and the gardens...

but more than that, I love those Cambridge nerds...:

ICELAND
On Monday, Anil, Gemma, Mat, Lizzie and I set off to Reykjavik. We rented a sturdy 4x4 (after reading about how the roads could potentially be icy) and drove South to our home for the week, just outside Selfoss.

We weren't in a remote area by any means, but it was still isolated enough that it was easy to relax and find some peace and quiet.

The house we were in was gorgeous and comfortable, and best of all it was toasty warm! Iceland is known for its pioneering use of geothermal energy for heat - we saw lots of hot springs and steam vents during our drive - and all the floors in the house were heated. It was heaven!!

The view from our porch

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE

The next day, we went to see the famous Golden Triangle. Iceland has amazing scenery - it's starkly beautiful with tons of hidden surprises. We met these strange Huldufolk,

(who got along nicely with these strange folk):

and said hello to the famed Icelandic ponies:

Our first stop was Gullfoss waterfall. It's amazing in that it isn't in the mountains and you don't see it as you drive up. Instead, the Hvita River falls downwards into a crevice, so it almost seems as though the water disappears.

Strokkur, a dependable geyser that erupts every 5-10 minutes

From there, we drove to Haukadalur, a geothermal area where there were geysers and hot springs. In fact, the term 'geyser' comes from the most famous one here, called Geysir.

The final stop was Thingvellir National Park, the location of Iceland's first parliament and also the site of two divergent continental plates.

At the Law Rock, the hub of the Icelandic Commonwealth, anyone could step up and give speeches. Near the Law Rock is a fissure zone, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are slowly drifting apart.

TO JOKULSARLON AND BACK

What I realllllly wanted to experience in Iceland was glacier hiking and ice climbing, but it was raining on Wednesday, when we had our reservations. We rescheduled for Friday, and instead we decided to get up early and drive east, along the Ring Road.

Our main destination was Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon near Hofn. It was close to 5 hours away, but Gemma and I split driving duties and there was plenty to see along the way.

Iceland is not very populated, and as yet there aren't too many tourists, so we often had the roads to ourselves.

There aren't many homes either, but there were plenty of waterfalls along the way.

Because of the pyroclastic activity throughout the ages, the landscape changes in the blink of an eye. Luckily, our resident geologist Lizzie had a book explaining each type of lava flow and could point out the different geologic features.

The moss fields of Laki

Laufskalar lava mound, from the Katla volcano

Along the way, we had to stop for the ubiquitous Icelandic gas station hot dog. For whatever reason, these are immensely popular... they tasted just like hot dogs. But I must say, the bacon wrapped hot dog was wonderful...!

We made it to Jökulsárlón in the early afternoon. The lake was created by the retreating Vatnajökull glacier, which used to be at the edge of the Atlantic but is drifting inland, leaving gorges that fill with water. The ice comes from the melting Breiðamerkurjökull glacier.