SCENIC DRIVE HIGHLIGHTS from THE RING ROAD
ICELAND
Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers & the people they enslaved from the east, particularly Norway & the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited long after the rest of Western Europe had been settled. (Wikipedia).
March 29, 2023 - April 08, 2023
While taking tours is your easiest way to see the highlights of Iceland, I prefer the freedom to explore on my own so we rented a car with Blue Car Rental and started our journey to Reykjavic from the airport at The Blue House B&B. A quaint but very small guesthouse. The first evening we drove into town to see the famous Hallgrimskirkja Church and find a proper meal.
Reykjavic is the "home base" for many tourists.
It is a great city to walk around and tour the "Golden Circle" and Westfjords area.
I was on a mission to get an overview of the entire country and I had mapped out a plan to drive the entire "Ring Road" moving counter-clockwise.
We used the road.is website to check for road conditions and it was recommended that we have at least 14-days to do the full Route 1 drive. We only had our first two nights of hotels booked and we would use the weather to decide if we go to the North and the unpredictable East Coast. April is not "high season" so we could find rooms fairly easy but I would not recommend this plan in the summer when the majority of adventurers visit.
We were extremely lucky since we visited at the tail end of winter (which in Iceland means "winter") and managed to have clear roads for most of the trip. I chose an All-Wheel Drive Toyota for those times when we turned off the Ring Road.
We assisted two separate drivers get "unstuck" on side roads. We met another couple that was driving into snowy weather and they slid sideways off the road. They ended up in "white out" conditions and had to call the emergency number to get towed out of their predicament. I believe it is wise to play it safe and we were ready to alter our course in the case of bad weather and road closures. There is plenty to see and do in the calmer "South" although we experienced high winds, rain and snow our last couple of days in the Reykjavic area.. Iceland is unpredictable.
Back to our first night in Reykjavic and finding a good meal!
Right across the street from the church is Cafe Loki which had a very tasty "Meat Soup" made with Icelandic Lamb. I enjoyed the hearty soup along with Luke.
(Luke enjoying his "Meat Soup" feauring Icelandic lamb).
We enjoyed Cafe Loki so much that we returned and Matt, Susan and I enjoyed an excellent lamb shank.
Our Iceland journey continues with our
SCENIC DRIVE HIGHLIGHTS from THE RING ROAD
Travel has made me realize that the majority of people around the world want to share good times with family, friends and travelers and learn about our different cultures, religions and experiences. Here's a song I wrote which combines the basic tenets of major religions which all agree that we should "wish for your brother, what you wish for you":