Archive for November, 2018

Fire and Ice

November 2nd, 2018 by Tierney Farrell
Iceland – the land of fire and ice.  A geological wonderland that is truly one of nature's masterpieces.  It's a literal hotspot just south of the arctic circle made up of volcanoes, lava fields covered in spongy moss, hot springs and glaciers, which certainly makes it one of the most unique and stunning places I've ever been. What other country can be defined by waterfalls, rainbows, tiny ponies and sheep?  I mean, how precious is that?  Just the kind of pure therapy I needed from the city. I went this October with my good friend from Sweden, Linnea. Our trip started off a little rocky when on the first day we got stuck in the snow on the top of a mountain for three hours.  There were no other people, cars, tire tracks, buildings etc, for miles.  Soon after we realized we could actually be screwed for real, Linnea walked out of sight over the mountain to find help while I tried to dig the car out of the snow with my bare hands, feet and tripod.  She returned with no luck, so together with as much determination and grit that we could muster, we finally freed our car hours later.  Pro tip: For God's sake avoid roads with three numbers and an F in the name. This was road "F550", which essentially means it's not well maintained and help will not be close by if at all. Every corner we turned, a brand new landscape and weather pattern awaited us.  There's a saying in Iceland, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes".  Every day, you're guaranteed to experience rain, sun, intense wind, moody fog and rainbows.   There was so much sky that we could see multiple weather patterns happen simultaneously on the horizon. With all of the changing weather, there was incredible light everywhere.  It falls around you like soft cinematic lighting with the purest and softest colors imaginable.   We covered about half of Iceland's coastline from the Snæfellsnes Peninsula all the way past Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon to Höfn, a quaint fishing town known for its tasty Langoustine.  Along the way, we saw many familiar sights that we realized were locations from Game of Thrones. Some highlights for me were Reynisfjara Beach, Skogafoss waterfall, Svartifoss waterfall and one of our Airbnbs on a farm with an adorable sheep dog, nice family and horses. One thing I love is that you really have to hike to get to a lot of these locations, so you have to earn it.  Not many lazy convenient parking lots.  I also really loved the Blue Lagoon Spa, which despite it possibly being a tourist trap, it was pretty epic. The water is pumped from over a mile below the earth's surface, where it's a piping 443 degrees, until it reaches the surface at just over 100 degrees. The water is amazing for your skin, but not your hair! I feel purified after being in this gorgeous place. Definitely hope to make it back some day and check out ice caves and whale watching!  Iceland-215Iceland-205Iceland-203 Iceland-204Iceland-198 Iceland-209Iceland-201 Iceland-200 Iceland-199Iceland-191 Iceland-197 Iceland-196 Iceland-194 Iceland-193 Iceland-192Iceland-189 Iceland-188 Iceland-187 Iceland-186Iceland-184 Iceland-185Iceland-183 Iceland-182 Iceland-181 Iceland-208Iceland-179Iceland-178 Iceland-177 Iceland-176 Iceland-175 Iceland-174 Iceland-173 Iceland-172Iceland-167 Iceland-171 Iceland-210 Iceland-211Iceland-169 Iceland-168Iceland-166 Iceland-165 Iceland-164 Iceland-163 Iceland-162 Iceland-161 Iceland-160 Iceland-159 Iceland-158Iceland-157Iceland-151 Iceland-156 Iceland-155 Iceland-154 Iceland-153 Iceland-152Iceland-150 Iceland-149 Iceland-148 Iceland-147 Iceland-146Iceland-145 Iceland-144 Iceland-143 Iceland-142 Iceland-141 Iceland-140 Iceland-139 Iceland-138 Iceland-137Iceland-136 Iceland-135 Iceland-134 Iceland-133 Iceland-132 Iceland-131 Iceland-130 Iceland-129 Iceland-128 Iceland-127 Iceland-126 Iceland-125 Iceland-124 Iceland-119 Iceland-118 Iceland-117 Iceland-116 Iceland-115 Iceland-114 Iceland-113 Iceland-112 Iceland-111 Iceland-110 Iceland-109 Iceland-108 Iceland-107 Iceland-106 Iceland-105 Iceland-104 Iceland-103 Iceland-102 Iceland-101 Iceland-100 Iceland-99 Iceland-98 Iceland-97 Iceland-96 Iceland-95 Iceland-94 Iceland-93 Iceland-92 Iceland-91 Iceland-90 Iceland-89Iceland-87 Iceland-86 Iceland-85 Iceland-84 Iceland-83 Iceland-82 Iceland-80 Iceland-79 Iceland-78 Iceland-77Iceland-215Iceland-216Iceland-74 Iceland-73 Iceland-72 Iceland-71 Iceland-70 Iceland-69 Iceland-68 Iceland-67 Iceland-66 Iceland-64 Iceland-39Iceland-37Iceland-63 Iceland-62 Iceland-61 Iceland-60 Iceland-59 Iceland-58Iceland-212 Iceland-57 Iceland-56 Iceland-55 Iceland-54 Iceland-53 Iceland-52 Iceland-51 Iceland-50 Iceland-49 Iceland-48 Iceland-47 Iceland-46 Iceland-45 Iceland-44 Iceland-43 Iceland-42Iceland-36 Iceland-35 Iceland-34 Iceland-33 Iceland-32 Iceland-31 Iceland-30 Iceland-29 Iceland-28 Iceland-26 Iceland-24 Iceland-23 Iceland-21 Iceland-20 Iceland-19 Iceland-18 Iceland-17 Iceland-16 Iceland-15 Iceland-14 Iceland-13 Iceland-12 Iceland-11 Iceland-10 Iceland-9 Iceland-8 Iceland-7 Iceland-6 Iceland-5 Iceland-4 Iceland-3 Iceland-2Iceland-1Iceland-207Iceland-206