So sad today is our second to last day in Iceland! Last full day! We are back on the southwest coast near Reykjavik and we have named today to be our tourist day. Honestly it was a little bit difficult to adapt back to these tourist swarmed areas after having been in the empty lands of nature for so long. We decided first to visit a little geothermal pool park in Hveragerði where we got to see more stinky steam vents, a "killer pool" named so because it's a dangerously hot spring pool, and the coolest attraction was a hot steam vent where Wei and Janae both boiled their eggs in! The eggs were only 100 ISK (less than $1) to buy with the little wooden sticks with nets at the bottom. We left it in the vent for exactly $8 and the eggs came out and apparently tasted surprisingly normal. We expected it to carry some of the sulfur steam vent taste but it didn't at all!
Next, we decided to hit the Golden Circle. First stop was the Þingvellir National Park where there were hundred of tourists gathered. We got to see some cool tall green moss covered rocks that created a really awesome walkway and the Öxarárfoss waterfall!
Then we drove over to see Geysir. It was a gorgeous blue color and constantly steaming, but unfortunately the sign stated that Geysir only erupts after earthquakes. The one named Strokkur did erupt every 8-10 minutes and had a huge crowd of tourists around it waiting for it to just burst and shoot up in the sky.
Then we visited Gullfoss which was super cool because it was basically two waterfalls in one. There is apparently a love story of two sheep tenders that tended their sheep on each side across the huge river right before the waterfall fell. The man apparently braved the dangerous river to cross to see her and then they proceeded to have "many respected descendants" haha. Unfortunately when we went the path that went down close to the waterfall was closed due to weather conditions so we had to watch it from a distance. Lastly, we tiredly trekked to Kerið Crater lake that was frozen over with a thin layer of ice and lined with red and green plants on the edges. The ticket booth guy was scarily cheerful, shouting "I AM IN SUCH GOOD MOOD. SO WARM OUTSIDE" and we all looked at each other buried in scarves, jackets, and beanies, while this guy was in a t-shirt. Haha his cheer definitely brought up our energy levels.
PC: Wei's Psick Pics
After a week of eating hot dogs, ramen, chips, and candy, we decided since we were back in the city that we wanted some real nutritious food. We splurged a bit and treated ourselves to some delicious bowls of soup noodles at Noodle Station downtown Reykjavik, and booooy it was a wonderous idea. It was exactly what our bodies were craving. For 1540 ISK (around $14.78), we got a fat bowl of noodles and a choice of chicken, beef, or veggie (cheaper). It was warm, flavorful, full of nutrients, and hit the spot perfectly. My stomach was the happiest it had been in a while. We felt more energy after this meal too after having fed our bodies well!
PC: Wei's Psick Pics
Since it was our last night in Iceland, we decided to go to this suave jazz performance at Bryggjan Brugghús Bistro & Bar. Since the entire crew (minus me) are musicians, I got to watch them talk jazz and music for a good while while sipping on my beer. I felt pretty high class and the music was indeed top notch.
PC: Wei's Psick Pics