ICELAND

I arrived at 5 am and was lucky to catch the sunrise over the Iceland capital, Reykjavik.

Spent 5 days exploring the beautiful, unspoiled Iceland and what an epic trip! The landscape is amazing. The vast open lands of green pastures, beautiful mountains and wonderful waterfalls with rainbows - makes Iceland one of the most beautiful places on earth to discover. I found Iceland's dichotomous topography most fascinating. On one end, you have these hot springs that shoot Geysir out of the ground while on the other, you'll find wonderful glacier topped volcanic mountains covered in ice. Of course, the "Northern Lights" or "Aurora Borealis" that blanket the sky with blue and green hues adds a special enchantment to this wonderful part of the world. For nature lovers and true outdoorsmen and women, Iceland has something spectacular to offer. I'll let the following pictures tell the story of my Iceland trip. It was beyond!

The Hallgrímskirkja Lutheran Cathedral is a spectacular structure at the center of Reykjavik.

This beautiful sculpture is at the Reykjavik waterfront and it sits in front of a beautiful mountain backdrop.

Taking in the views at the Reykjavik waterfront. It was early in the morning around 8 am when this picture was taken. The weather was great, cool air and temperature was around 50 degrees.

Reykjavik has beautiful streets and nordic style architecture.

The downtown harbor is home to many boats. I can imagine it's equally as beautiful in the winter months when the water freezes over.

I took two tours while I was in Iceland. One to the Golden Circle and then the South Coast Tour (check out www.geoiceland.com to book, a wonderful tour company with really knowledgeable guides). Both parts of Iceland are so beautiful. My favorite aspects of all the sites are the waterfalls and the Black Sand beach. 

Skogafoss waterfall.

p.s. these are all iPhone pictures, it's really that beautiful there.

Iceland Black Sand Beach.

The Iceland black sands are caused by lava from volcanic mountains around the ocean combining with salty sea water and forming the beautiful dark sands and rocks found here.

Standing under the rock formation with my travel buddy, Eniola. These amazing cliffs are from the mountains around the beach and they resemble a step pyramid that you can climb in different parts. It's quite spectacular.

Gullfoss Waterfalls

Iceland is the land of waterfalls and although we saw perhaps 5 or 6 waterfalls, they didn't get old and are all unique and beautiful. I love waterfalls so I have pictures of every single one I got to visit. 

Selfoss Waterfalls

It won't be Iceland without experiencing some cold and ice, right? (insert "ice, ice, baby" tune here). Well, I got to climb a glacier. Yes, large ice topped volcanic mountain that was also covered in ash. It was spectacular and a beautiful sight to behold. It wasn't freezing cold, although I didn't reach the summit. The valley below brews with hot springs that push steam into the air so it keeps things relatively warm. Although, the hot springs combined with global warming are making the glacier melt at rapid speeds. This is what makes Iceland unique though, the combination of cold and warm all colliding in this wonder of the world. 

Found a piece of ice at the glacier

On top of the beautiful Solheimajökull Glacier

Did I mention that I'm obsessed with Waterfalls? Yeah, I'm obsessed with waterfalls and went chasing them everywhere I could find one.  Iceland has a waterfall you can actually walk behind. Yes, I took the hike. 

Iceland has so many beautiful hilltops that give you a panoramic view of the country.  It's the most beautiful land I've ever seen.

Witnessing this Geysir eruption had to be the highlight of the trip. It was spectacular. The water sort of simmers for about 10 minutes then it begins to boil over and erupts into this amazing swell of hot water shooting out of the ground. All by mother nature herself. Magnificent!

There was so much to behold. I'm so happy I took the trip and got to visit this beautiful island. It's like something out of a fairy tale. Glad the Vikings protected the land and kept it for us to see today :)

Take a trip to Iceland, you won't regret it.

Until the next adventure,

XOXO

Moni