Ry and Tonald Take Iceland

Sunday 6/29

Off to Iceland we go! We had planned to go volunteer in Israel for our honeymoon, but IYH we can make that happen another time soon. Our flights got cancelled due to the “12 Day War” with Iran, and we last minute decided to go to Iceland for our honeymoon. Ryan planned this trip super fast, I was so impressed! We are both so excited to explore Iceland even though it wasn’t our original plan. We didn’t want to do the basic honeymoon route, and this trip will be awesome! On our way, we stopped in JFK with a few hours to spare. We decided to uber to the Five Towns and get dinner in between our flights. While getting to the Five Towns with all of our luggage was a bit of a struggle, we made it work and had an amazing dinner at Graze. Ryan had never been to the Five Towns so it was also cool to show him Central Ave. I had the best pulled beef tacos and chicken flautas and we also bought beef jerky! After a quick dinner we rushed back to the airport for our flight to Iceland.   

Monday 6/30

After about 5.5 hours, we arrived in Iceland! We tried to sleep for most of the flight since it was overnight, but I was still exhausted. When we landed, we had a driver ready to pick us up! Part of Ryan’s amazing planning was coordinating drivers for us along every point, so we could just sit back and enjoy. Our driver had actually grown up in San Diego, and as he drove us to our first hotel, Torfhus, he gave us more of a Western-shaped perspective on Iceland. He was a bit more cynical of the lifestyle in Iceland and felt like there were more opportunities elsewhere such as in Norway (where he sent his middle school son to school). Along the way to our hotel, we stopped at a grocery called Kronan for water and a snack. It was fun to explore the grocery store and we bought an Icelandic pastry to try called a Kleiner. It’s basically a less sugary twisted donut in my opinion. 

Landed in Iceland!

After about an hour or two we arrived at Torfhus, on the southwestern part of Iceland. The property encompasses torfhus cottages, literally turf houses, which resemble the old Nordic homes that were made out of wood with turf-covered roofs. Most cottages share a geothermal pool with two other cottages, but the two cottages on either side of us were empty so we had the pool to ourselves! The property is located in the countryside, with not much civilization for a few miles. There is a lot of open fields, and the owner keeps his Icelandic horses on a field nearby. Other than the cottages and fields, there is a main building which houses the hotel reception and restaurant. 

When we arrived, we dropped off our bags and headed to the main building for lunch. Normally they only serve breakfast and dinner, but they had a gourmet lunch ready to serve us (thank you Ryan again for arranging that). We had amazing fresh salmon and veggies - the food we had was 10/10 the entire trip. After lunch I was tired!! I went to take a two-hour long nap while Ryan researched Vikings. After my nap, I was more energized and we checked out our personal geothermal pool. It was cool because even though the weather was chilly, the water was warm like a hot tub. After relaxing in the pool, we showered and decided to walk around the property. We walked down the main road a bit along the fields and then had one of my favorite moments from the trip - we played our wedding song and did our dance surrounded by the endless fields. 

After our walk, we headed to dinner, which was amazing again! Both Torfhus and Blue Lagoon (second hotel) were super prepared with our allergy restrictions and it was really nice not having to worry about mustard being hidden in a sauce (thank you Ryan for giving them advanced notice many times). Our dinner started with some homemade sourdough bread and then an appetizer, main (fish), and dessert. It was so beautiful being surrounded by fields and nature right outside the windows, and everything we ate tasted delicious and fresh. At Torfhus, both breakfast and dinner were included in our stay, and it was a pre-set meal everyday which made it fun to see what they would serve us! After dinner we went back in our geothermal pool for a bit and then headed to bed. 

Tuesday 7/1

Happy birthday Mom!! We woke up well-rested and headed to breakfast. The breakfast was a great buffet spread, with skyr (Icelandic yogurt), eggs, and lox. After breakfast, our driver met us outside, ready for our long day ahead of exploring the south coast. 

I forgot our driver’s name but he lives in Reykjavik, works as a school teacher for children with special needs, and owns two horses which he rides in the winter after school. He was a great tour guide and I’m really happy we had him drive us around. He answered my many questions along our long drive and taught us about the surrounding nature as we drove to our various stops. 

About 60% of Iceland’s population lives in Reykjavik so the remaining population is very spread out across the country. We passed long stretches of land with only a few houses, mostly farmland, and also drove along mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and the ocean. It was beautiful and in my opinion, the farmers have the best real estate in the country (that is unless a nearby volcano erupts). The farmland is used for horses and sheep (Icelanders are big into horse competitions and sheep is used for their wool and also for producing lamb chops 😢). However, the majority of the land is just fields of hay and grass for the horses and sheep to eat. In the warmer months, the animals spend their days outside, eating grass and napping, while in the winter, they stay in their barns and are fed hay and other food. 

Our first stop on the south coast tour was to a 360 waterfall hike called Seljalandsfoss (foss means waterfall). It was basically a 360 path around a giant waterfall. Good thing we bought new rain jackets before our trip, because there was no way to avoid getting splashed on the path! The coolest part was going behind the waterfall and seeing it up close as the water crashed before our eyes. 

Our next stop was another amazing waterfall called Skógafoss. While we couldn’t go behind this waterfall, it was even grander than the one before! My personal favorite part was walking up lots and lots of steps and then turning around and seeing the waterfall and expansive fields with sheep and flowers below. At the top of the stairs was another path that led to even more waterfalls. We walked the path a bit, but then headed down to continue our tour. If we had more time I would’ve loved to continue that hike. 

Next up we stopped at the site of a glacier called Sólheimajökull. Our driver told us that 60 years ago the glacier had extended all the way to the main road. Now, there was a parking lot and walkway to the glacier in between the glacier and the main road. There were several companies there offering glacier hiking tours, but neither of us were really interested in that, so we just walked along a path and saw the glacier and continued on our way.

Our farthest stop along the southern route was in a fishing town called Vik. Vik doesn’t really have any notable attractions, but it’s become a popular break spot for tourists due to its convenient location along the southern coast. Unless tourists are driving around the entire country, most people turn back around at this point as the eastern part of the country is a lot less commercialized. 

In Vik, we grabbed some lunch at a rest stop, and were surprised at how amazing the fish was! I also bought a pair of gloves because it was chilly out and my gloves were currently in a storage unit in Miami. 

After lunch, we headed to a famous black sand beach called Reynisfjara. We had never seen anything like it! There was a wall made of basalt columns, a massive cave, beautiful rock structures in the water, and black sand! The black sand was made from lava rocks, crushed by the waves into sand. The waves at the beach were very rough and it was extremely windy, but it was so fun exploring the area! Again, we were grateful to have our rain jackets, this time as very efficient wind breakers. 

After the beach, we headed to an area to see puffins! Puffins have such distinct orange beaks and facial features. They were a lot smaller than we had imagined. It was cool to see them, because they aren’t always around!

Once we saw the puffins, we headed back to Torfhus and I learned a bit more of Icelandic culture and history. According to the driver, Iceland was originally inhabited by Irish monks. However, in the 800s, Vikings from Norway settled in Iceland and killed all of the Irish monks. From then on, Iceland was shaped heavily by Nordic traditions. Icelandic and Norwegian languages are very similar, but Icelandic hasn’t evolved as much. In fact, Icelanders are able to read the Viking sagas in the original texts. 

Our driver also told us that during the Vikings era, the people were pagan. However, the country eventually became predominately Christian (mostly by force), and remains so to this day. Over the years, Iceland was independently run by clans, ruled by Norway, ruled by Denmark, and eventually became an independent state in 1944. Ryan pointed out that the people of Iceland are a bit self-deprecating and make an effort to distinguish themselves from Norway by embracing their unique natural surroundings and promoting their Viking sagas.

In more modern Iceland, our driver taught us that most people don’t have last names. Rather, they go by their first name followed by their father’s first name and either “son” or “daughter”. For example, Ryan would be Ryan Alanson and I would be Ilana Stuartdaughter. There are some cases of families with last names in Iceland, especially if they moved into the country with one from abroad, but this is the general trend for most Icelanders. 

I was a bit confused how they keep track of everyone, but no one I spoke with in Iceland seemed concerned about this due to the small population of the country. They utilize their social security numbers a lot more and they even have an app where they can look anyone in Iceland up and see how close of a relative they are with the other (because apparently they are all related). Again, I wasn’t fully sure how that worked with no last names, but the man I asked told me you type in their name and can see anyone with that name and their birthday and it’s pretty obvious who you are looking for based on their birth year 🤷‍♀️. 

A few more facts about names - before naming your child, you have to get it approved in Iceland (maybe just for Christians). The name must be an approved name which is Icelandic in nature, historic, and non-offensive. For example, “Apple” would not be approved. In addition, horses also follow naming requirements. Islanders take their horses very seriously due to their pure breed (all horses in Iceland are pure Icelandic horses, no other horses are allowed to enter the country). In addition, horses must reside with at least one other horse so they aren’t lonely. If someone only owns one horse, he must find someone else with a horse that can reside with his horse. 

Anyway, we learned a lot on our drive and got back to Torfhus just in time for dinner. Again, we had an amazing and fresh dinner of fish and dessert. We also had an asparagus soup with cod in it, but I was a bit weirded out so I gave mine to Ryan because he loved it. After dinner, we ended our day in our geothermal pool and headed to sleep.  

Wed 7/2

Today we woke up around 8ish (closer to 9 for me 😁) and made our way to breakfast before our leaving Torfhus. The breakfast was again very good and we had some skyr, lox, and scrambled eggs (and lots of coffee for Ryan). After breakfast our tour guide from yesterday picked us up and we had another full day of touring. Today we drove around the Golden Circle, which is a popular tourist route in southern Iceland. The three main stops include Gulfoss waterfall, the geothermal area in Haukadalur which contains geysers, and Thingvellir National Park. We stopped at all three of these before heading to the Blue Lagoon. The road also passes by some geothermal power plants. 

Gulfoss

Our first stop was about 15 minutes from the hotel at an incredible staircase waterfall called Gulfoss, meaning golden waterfall. In the early 1900s, the waterfall was owned by a farming family. The owners saw no practical use of the waterfall since it couldn’t sustain them and decided to rent the waterfall to some businessmen who planned to utilize the waterfall to build a hydroelectric dam. However, the farmer’s daughter, Sigríður Tómasdóttir, saw the aesthetic value to the waterfall and threatened to throw herself into the waterfall if her family sold it. She apparently walked barefoot, numerous times, all the way to Reykjavík to protest the sale with government officials. The lease of the waterfall was eventually cancelled, whether it was because of Sigríður’s efforts or not. Either way, Sigríður is credited with saving Gulfoss. Gulfoss was eventually sold to the Icelandic government in 1979 and now serves as a permantent conservation site. 

Haukadalur Geothermal Area

Our next stop was a few minutes away from Gulfoss in an area known for its geothermal activity. Haukadalur is home to several geysers including Strokkur, which we saw erupt twice (!) and Geysir, which erupts much more rarely. Geysir is actually where we got the name geyser for all other geysers. We walked around this area with our guide and saw several hot springs, mud pools (bubbling mud), and lots of Alaskan lupine (a purple flower all over the countryside in Island that was brought into the country to help with soil erosion). We were also surprised to see the area was surrounded by stretches of inactive farmland. There’s so much empty land here but some of that is due to certain location’s proximity to volcanoes, immense volcanic rock over certain areas, and glaciers. In addition, outside of Reykjavik, most people work as farmers or fishermen, so their land has to be conducive to their lifestyle. One side note- we did pass by several farms that were close to a a volcano called Hekla, which erupted in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000 but has since been dormant. We were told that these farmers have an evacuation plan from the government that is updated. While they are in a precarious location, they also benefit from the most beautiful landscape on the southern coast of Iceland, surrounded by waterfalls, the oceans, and mountains. 

Thingvellir National Park

Our last stop on the golden circle was to Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO heritage site. This was about an hour away from the geysers. This park is unique for several reasons. One reason is this is where all of the Viking clan leaders and eventually Iceland parliament would meet from around 930 CE to 1798. Another reason is due to the geology. At the park, one can see where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are actively diverging. Iceland is the only place in the world where this rift is above sea-level. As we walked around the park, it was surreal to be surrounded by tectonic plates. Before leaving the park, we also stopped to see another beautiful waterfall called Oxararfoss. 

Finally we headed toward our next hotel, the Retreat at Blue Lagoon. The ride was about an hour and we passed through Reykjavik on the way (there’s only one or two main roads so most long drives pass through Reykjavik even though it’s not always the most efficient way).  As we got closer to the Blue Lagoon, we suddenly noticed stretches and stretches of lava. Some of the lava was older with moss growing on top while other parts were as fresh as a few months ago. In fact, Blue Lagoon was most recently evacuated for a volcano in April, with the lava reaching the parking lot. There is a lot of volcanic activity near the Blue Lagoon, which is one of the reasons why the hot springs there are so unique. The hot springs are formed from geothermal seawater that is heated by volcanic activity and pumped from 6,500 feet underground to the surface. As the water comes up, it dissolves minerals like silica, which originates from lava rock. The silica reflects light to make it appear as unique creamy, light-blue hue. 

Once we arrived at the hotel, we unpacked our bags and walked around. The hotel is so unique. The architecture creates a warm and inviting space, with all of the lighting curated to provide a sense of relaxation. All of the rooms have a “bright” and “calm” lighting option for the bedrooms and bathrooms. Above the bed, the light is emitted to appear like a dimly lit sun, rather than a bright light bulb. We also didn’t really need much additional light considering the sun only set for a few hours each night in the summer. Most spectacular of all, was the view from the rooms. As we looked out our windows, we had views of lava expanding on for what seems like forever. People kept telling us before we came to Iceland, but it really looked like Mars! 

After exploring the hotel, we went to dinner at a on-site restaurant called Lava (of course) and then had a night swim in the Blue Lagoon (although it was still very bright out). The resort has a public area for visitors and then a variety of private pool explicitly for the guests staying at the hotel. We swam around the various pools, taking in all the beneficial minerals we could get (people say the minerals in the lagoon have healing powers). Finally, we went to sleep for the night. 

Thurs 7/3

Today we woke up and went straight to a yoga class. It was the first night here that actually felt like nighttime because we had blackout shades. The bed felt like a cloud it was so comfortable! 

Once we got up we made our way down the hall to a yoga class. It was more of a morning stretch and relaxing class and it felt nice to move our body first thing of the day. After yoga we made our way to the lobby are where there was a breakfast buffet and hot food we could order. There were too many options to choose from! We settled with fresh lox, chia pudding, islands skyr, and some scrambled eggs. I also had a green smoothie and Ryan had the herring 😯.   

Up next we put on our bathing suits and robes and headed to our in-water massage in the blue lagoon. This involved us each lying on a floatation mat with our head on a pillow and our legs covered by a blanket. The massage was more of a relaxation one than deep tissue and every so often the masseuse would dip our bodies into the water to warm us up. Oh and turned out my masseuse was also the yoga instructor - guess they wear many hats here (makes me think of Kirk from Gilmore Girls in times like these). Overall the massage was unique and relaxing, but we still prefer traditional deep-tissue ones. 

As we headed out of the in-water massage we passed through the spa. One of the spa attendants asked us if we wanted to do the spa rituals. Not knowing what that was, we said sure, and it ended up being really fun! The spa rituals consisted of four stages also using minerals from the lagoon. All of the minerals come from the reaction of the lava merging with the nearby hot springs. First we entered a sauna for five minutes. Ryan could’ve sat in there forever but I couldn’t even last five minutes. Then we took a quick rinse and exfoliated our bodies with mineral salt from the lagoon waters. Next we took another rinse and applied a silica mud mask to our bodies and faces. After another quick rinse we applied an algae paste. We actually felt the algae on our feet as we walked around the blue lagoon. We then rinsed of the mask and did a quick cold plunge to prepare us for the final stage. I just got to my knees but Ryan sat with his body in the cold plunge for a minute and even dipped his head into the water! Finally we dried off and went to the final stage of the rituals. This step involved a face oil, a body oil, and then a lip oil. They told us to put conditioner into our hair before getting into the lagoon for our spa and now I see why! My hair is so coarse at the moment from all the salt!  Anyway, after we completed the spa we sat in some hanging chairs and looked at the lagoon. The spa also has some relaxation rooms and a fireplace room. We had such a fun time! We weren’t allowed to bring our phones, so sorry for the lack of pics! 

After the spa we headed to the spa restaurant for a quick bite and then relaxed for a bit. Next we headed to the lobby for some free coffee and some small pastries and then went to the gym before dinner. For dinner we went to a restaurant called Moss. It’s a Michelin star restaurant and it was awesome. They served us a tasting menu with a wine pairing and it was truly a unique experience. We had amazing sourdough bread, two tops of cod, lots of veggies, and lots of wine and all of the food was presented in such a beautiful way. My favorite part was dessert. In addition to the regular dessert of a chocolate cream cake, ice cream, truffles, macarons, and cookies, they surprised us with a special honeymoon dessert. This dessert consisted of two red hearts with chocolate mouse inside and a freeze dried rose that they smashed  in the air on top of the dessert. We were stuffed! It was also interesting to speak to the waiter and learn a bit from him on his culture. He said waiters in Iceland don’t typically introduce themselves as that is seen as improper and Icelanders prefer to maintain some anonymity. He also said he went to waiter school for three years, which is shocking they have school for waiting tables.  And the waiter also told us he had seen about nine active volcanos. After our amazing and filling dinner we headed to sleep. 

Fri 7/4

Happy Fourth of July! Doesn’t really feel like a holiday here though. Today we woke up, went to yoga (was more of a breathing class today), and had breakfast in the lobby. Then we quickly changed into our bathing suits and headed to have one last swim in the Blue Lagoon. After a quick swim (and ice bath for Ryan) we showered and headed on our way to Reykjavík. 

Once we got to Reykjavik, we dropped off our bags at the Edition hotel and walked around town, stopping first for lunch at some vegan restaurant. After lunch, we walked about 20 minutes to the National Museum. It was interesting to learn a bit more about the history of Iceland and see some artifacts, but it was honestly kind of underwhelming. After the museum, we walked back around some shops in the city center and checked out where Chabad services would be tonight. We also stopped in the Chabad and checked out their kosher market (basically just some Israeli snacks). Chabad just moved into their new building and are currently undergoing a lot of renovations. After stopping at Chabad, we headed back to the hotel and chilled a bit (not really so chill though because I couldn’t find my rings 😳) and then we worked out. Ryan did a 4.5 mile run around the water and I checked out the gym in the hotel. It was crazy because after working out and showering it was around 930pm and still two hours before Shabbat officially started! Chabad brings in Shabbat a bit early, so we headed to Chabad for kabbalat Shabbat around 9:40pm and then had dinner nearby at the old Chabad building (next to the rabbi’s house). The sun was still out and we had dinner after 10pm! For dinner we ended up sitting across from the rabbi and rebbetzin - Avi and Mushky Feldman. Turns out Mushky was a few grades above my friend Mushka Dubrawsky (from Dallas) in high school! On our right was a friendly mother and her two daughters and on our left were two hesder yeshiva guys who had just finished yeshiva at Gush and their army service and were planning to go on some intense camping and hiking trips in Iceland. Ryan had a lot of fun talking to them at the meal. Rabbi Feldman is really nice, a little on the quieter side, but perfect for Iceland’s more reserved/introverted community. Mushky is a bit more outgoing and gave toasts both at dinner and lunch. Most people at the dinner were American, I don’t think we even heard any other languages spoken. The food was really good, we started with a bunch of appetizers and salmon and then had some beef, rice, and green beans. Normally Mushky would cook some of the food, but they had a chef named Mushka come help since Musky had just given birth a month ago. Dinner ended around midnight, and it was still light out! We headed back to our hotel and went to sleep. 

Sat 7/5

Today was the longest Shabbat we’ve ever had! In fact it didn’t end until 1:30am, so we didn’t end it until Sunday morning. We started the day with davening at Chabad. The chazan (Cantor David) was amazing, he is the chazan at a Chabad in Aventura and his father is the chief rabbi of Columbia.  The prayer for the IDF almost brought me to tears. Cantor David and his 10-year-old son harmonized together and it was beautiful. 

After davening, we went to the old Chabad building for lunch and sat with Cantor David. He was super friendly and said I could go through his LinkedIn and see if I wanted any introductions from his network for potential job leads. We also heard from a Jewish couple that lives in Reykjavik talk about their appreciation for the Chabad center. 

We had to leave lunch a bit early to make a walking tour we had pre-booked. There was another Jewish couple on our tour, from Englewood, and we spoke with them a bit as we walked around the city. The tour was interesting and we saw some sites we had missed yesterday. After our tour, we headed back to the hotel, checked out the spa a bit, and hung out. We started to get hungry so we grabbed a drink at the lobby bar and then had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Whether it was because we stayed at nice hotels or the food is just that good, all of our meals in Iceland have been incredible in terms of taste and also presentation. We didn’t finish eating until around 10pm but the sun was out and we decided to go on a walk. We walked along the water and down some other streets we hadn’t explored. The weather had been amazing today and lots of people were out and enjoying. We got back and went to sleep around midnight, with the sky still bright and Shabbat still going on. 

Sunday 7/6

Our last day in Iceland 😢. It was such an incredible trip and I’m really grateful we were able to have this week together so soon after our wedding. We had amazing quality time - exploring, relaxing, and learning, and we are looking forward to the rest of our trips this summer! 

Before heading to the airport, we both ran around Reykjavik. Ryan ran 9.5 miles! And I ran 2.5 (still impressive considering I never run outside). The weather was incredible today, the sun was out, and everyone was enjoying being outside. After running, we walked to some VR show called Flyover Iceland that lots of people had recommended. Ryan and I were not impressed and we felt nauseous afterwards. We didn’t really care to go, but we had the time so decided to check it out. While we weren’t impressed with the video, we loved our walk along some new scenery we hadn’t seen yet. 

After the show, we walked to an amazing fish restaurant called Messin. The fish is cooked in individual skillets and brought to the table in the skillets. It was incredible and so flavorful and fresh. We ate every last crumb. When we finished lunch, we headed to the hotel, grabbed our bags, and took a cab to the airport. 

We are now about halfway through our flight to NYC, where we will spend the night and return to Miami tomorrow. While this trip was very last minute, it was such an amazing experience and we would highly recommend people visiting Iceland. Just keep in mind, today was one of their warmest days of the year and it was a sunny 55-56 degrees. I even saw someone in a bikini sunbathing 😂.  So while the northern lights are in the colder seasons, the summer is still a great time to go if you want to hike and not be as bundled up. 

Hope you enjoyed our blog!! Until next time - Ry and Tonald 🌊🐧🌋🇮🇸