Flashback Friday - Iceland Ring Road 2019

The morning started on the gorgeous Diamond Beach.  While the sunrise was another overcast day, the spot was still amazing to see.  It earned its name due to the Jökulárlón Glacier that calves into a nearby lagoon. The smaller chunks of ice float down river into the ocean where the currents wash them back up onto the black sand beaches.  Normally the sand makes for an amazing backdrop for the ice, but it was also snowing while we were there. Still, I won’t complain! It was an amazing spot and I still got some phenomenal photos while there! 

After the beach and the lagoon, we doubled back to pick up our wayward companions.  Rejoined by my dad and stepmom, the tour continued on.  We went back to the glacier, stopping at an ice cave our guide had scouted for us.  At the leading tongue of the glacier, these caves can form and vanish again as the weather changes. Standing under layers of ice, that had been formed thousands of years ago, was just an incredible moment. 

We followed that by stopping at the glacier lagoon, to see the chunks of ice waiting their turn to head out to the ocean. That was supposed to be the sunset stop. A slight theme of the trip was overcast skies, but nothing detracts from the breathtaking views we were able to see. 

In the morning we continued along the southern side of the Ring Road, heading east.  Our first stop was the Vestrahorn Mountain.  The spot includes windswept black sand dunes with a dusting of snow and the mountains rising in the distance.  There was the remains of a Viking Village too, though less exciting as it was a movie set, not an actual historical landmark.

Next was to drive around the mountains to the east side, and we saw some reindeer along the side of the road. The mountains were just stunning, and then one night along this stage we stayed at the town of Hofn.  It was an adorable little fishing village, and I had some delicious langoustines for dinner at the little inn we stayed at. 

In the morning we turned north, continuing along the Ring Road and our quest for amazing pictures and the northern lights. 

Flashback Friday - Iceland 2019

I was incredibly lucky and got to go to Iceland in 2019 on a photographic tour of the island. The trip was planned with my dad and my stepmom using the awesome Arctic Exposure company.  We arrived in the morning of the first day in Reykjavik. The plan was to meet with the group for dinner and begin the tour in the morning.  Due to an unlucky incident my dad and stepmom had to miss the first few days of the tour.  I did have a lovely dinner with the guide and the other guest on the tour who was an artist from Australia.  

In the morning, the three of us set out for our first stop was Pingvellir, a spot where the European and the North American tectonic plates meet. It is an absolutely beautiful spot, we had an amazing sunrise over the steaming waters kept warmish from the geothermal energy in the area.  We also had a random moment when we stopped in a parking lot to find a couple of stranded tourists. They had stopped to take some pictures and locked their keys in the rental car. With their jackets. So we loaded them with handwarmers, our guide helped call the rental car company, and we dropped them off at a little cafe to wait for someone to bring spare keys. 

We drove around the area that is part of the Golden Circle, and stopped at a couple waterfalls to take more pictures. We also stopped in a field to meet some of the local Icelandic horses. It was wonderful to have a local guide who knows where one can go.  I do suspect that the farmer for these horses must have had a red coat as well, as one of the horse took a shine to me!

The tour we were on was to loop south by east around the ring road of Iceland. We spent the first night near Vik, and then in the morning photographed Dyrhólaey, the southern most tip of Iceland.  Apparently that had changed a couple times recently when some volcanic activity had added some landmass near by too. It was an amazing spot, though our sunrise was a little overcast that day.

Next we drove along to Reynisfjara Beach.  Sadly, this year I learned the gorgeous beach has been washed away by rough waves. This formerly iconic black sand beach featured basalt rock formations that made amazing backdrops for photos. It was always a bit of a dangerous spot, we were warned back in 2019 to be aware of the “sneaker waves” that would come along randomly and were known to sweep people into the ocean.  One of them caught me unawares, though as I was paying attention it only washed up to mid shin.  Luckily I had waterproof boots and gortex pants!

Our last stop for the morning was a little farm that was long abandoned.  It was a classic example of an old turf roofed farm. When the last farmer died, the government was negotiating to buy the land as a heritage site. Unfortunately the farmers son and current owner decided in the end not to sell.  The land was sitting vacant, so as we drove by our guide took us over for some photos. 

We spent two nights in the same hotel, which ended up working out as we got new that the delay affecting my family was being managed and they would be driven to join the group tomorrow for the rest of the tour.  We had plans to be up for sunrise again.  My favourite part of Iceland was that meant meeting for breakfast at 8:30, as sunrise was 9:30am!  

Alex’s Advice - Amsterdam City Card

My recent trip to Amsterdam was a busy one.  Planned last minute with only a few days to do the things I wanted to do, I had been researching the best ways to see the sites.  One thing that came up was the city card.  Many places have options like this, a pay one price card that gets you free or discounted access to various tourist sites in the area.  It’s not something I get very often, but I do the math of the costs of the spots I want to see and check out what is or isn’t on the list. 

I think the City Card in Amsterdam is very worth its while, for the average tourist.  There are tons of things included in the list, many of which are also outside of the city.  Even walking distance in Amsterdam had a lot of popular spots.  If you’ve read my blog post, most of what I did was included. The Rijksmuseum being the big one. 

You can choose how many days you want the card for, and the per day cost drops the more days you choose. We picked the three day option at €115 euros.  Though I am not sure it would be as worth it for one day unless you planned to really book it between sights.

Most of the places we went would have cost about €17 for entry, give or take a few euros.  The Heineken Experience offers 25% off with the city card.  We got a free canal tour as well.  So over the three days seeing everything we wanted to see, we came pretty close to breaking even.  Add in that the Amsterdam City Card includes the local tram and subway transit system for free, and I feel like we got our value, even if we did walk a lot of places. 

Not all the key sites are included or offer a discount.  The Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House are not included.  I had seen them before, and while I debated seeing the Anne Frank House again, we did skip it this time. 

A 24hr bike rental was included with the city pass.  It was a little tempting, but both time and ankle stability meant this wasn’t a great option for me.  It was definitely a consideration, and one that makes the city pass quite tempting too. 

The card is valid from the moment it’s activated for how ever long you bought for, so also consider when to activate it.  We used it to take the tram to the train station our last morning, and as we missed the one we meant to catch, the timing ended up being a little tight for me, I made it with literally a minute to spare before it expired. 

I say it’s good value, and I would get it again - but compare the list of locations to your itinerary. It may not be the best match everytime.