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August 24, 2015 Iceland – Days 7&8 – South Iceland

Days 1&2 – Reykjavik
Days 3&4 – West Iceland
Days 5&6 – North Iceland

We’re finally coming to the end of our journey in Iceland! Writing this now almost a year later is making me very nostalgic…

On the morning of the 7th day, we woke up early and drove to Glacier Lagoon. The color of the lagoon and the giant blocks of ice in it makes for a spectacular view like nowhere else on earth.

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We then went to Vatnajökull National Park and hiked to Svartifoss, also known as the Black Waterfall. The basalt columns surrounding the waterfall were so cool!

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In the afternoon we went to Fjaðrárgljúfur, a majestic canyon. It was one of my favorite places we visited in Iceland. The green of the canyon against the blues and yellows of the late afternoon sky made the whole place seem magical. It was unreal.

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We stayed the night in Vik, and we asked the hotel to give us a wake-up call if there were any Northern Lights that night. And indeed there were! We ran outside in the middle of the night and caught a very brief glimpse of the lights, and I was fortunate enough to capture this photo!

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The next morning, we got up and drove a short distance to the black sand beach near Vik. More basalt columns!

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Our next destination took a while to find since it was kind of unusual. I read online about this plane wreckage on the beach and we thought it would be really cool to see it. The plane wreck against the backdrop of grey clouds of the gloomy sky made for some very dramatic photos.

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Next up is another unusual place: Seljavallalaug, an abandoned swimming pool filled with natural hot spring water. It took a short hike to get there and it started drizzling on our way there, but the water in the pool was nice and warm.

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Definitely the coolest swimming pool we’ve ever swam in!

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After that, another waterfall – Seljalandsfoss.

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And then it was onto Geysir, a park with lots of geothermal activity.

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Saw a geyser erupting!

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And then it was yet another waterfall, Gullfoss. Very big waterfall!

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As the sun was starting to set we did a quick drive through Thingvellir National Park, only having time to stop a couple of times.

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We drove back to Reykjavik, where this whole adventure started, and stayed the night at a small hotel near the airport. We were far away enough from the city that we were able to see some more Northern Lights on our last night in Iceland.

Then the next morning, we said a very reluctant goodbye to this amazing country. We had such an amazing time and it will forever remain one of my favorite trips!

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Tags: beach, canyons, glacier lagoon, hot spring, iceland, northern lights, parks, pools, travel, waterfalls

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January 31, 2015 Iceland – Days 3&4 – West Iceland

Days 1&2 – Reykjavik

On the morning of day 3, our rental car was dropped off at the Airbnb we were staying at and we were on our way! After we were out of the city, we were soon greeted with views like this:

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Our first stop was Deildartunguhver, a large hot spring that actually supplies energy to nearby areas. Lots of steam and bubbles!

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We then drove to Snæfellsjökull National Park. Unfortunately it was very cloudy the whole day and we couldn’t actually see the Snæfellsjökull volcano. Luckily, there were still plenty of gorgeous sites to be seen in the park! Like these majestic rock formations on a black sand beach:

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And these happy sheep:

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The sun did peak through for a bit:

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We stayed the night at the town of Stykkishólmur and got up early the next morning to head to the Westfjords. I miss driving in Iceland because the roads look like this:

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We stopped the car so many times when driving because right next to the road are things like this (Ugh, having intense nostalgia while writing this post):

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