Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Our Icelandic Adventure Begins

Photo by Nick Szpara
We left DC at about 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday and arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland at about 7 a.m. on Thursday.  Iceland Air will actually begin direct flights from DC to Iceland starting in May. 
Photos by Emily Clack
Once we landed, we met some fellow Washingtonians (Gus DeMillo, Jeff Buben, Jeff Tunks and David) and made our way to the Hilton Nordica for some Food and Fun.  The Hilton has absolutely breathtaking views.
Photo by Sigurjon Ragnar
Running on empty, but full of adrenaline, we were in for a long day.  We quickly checked in and boarded the bus to our fist destination in Iceland:  The Gullfoss.  

The Gullfoss (The Golden Waterfalls) are situated in the upper part of River Hvita.  The water cascades down into a canyon that was created at the end of the Ice Age by catastrophic flood waves and is lengthened each year by constant erosion.  Don't fall in!  While the waterfalls were beautiful, it was so cold and the winds were so strong that we couldn't stand outside for too long to enjoy.  I'd love to go back in the summer for more fun.
Photo by Sigurjon Ragnar
We hurried back to our bus and headed to the Geysir which is part of the Golden Circle.  Strokkur erupts about every 5 to 10 minutes.  The first eruption startled me because I didn't know what to expect.  The geyser erupts because the thermal water boils at some depth below the surface of the ground.  Pretty cool! 
Photo by Sigurjon Ragnar
By this time we were getting pretty sleepy and pretty hungry.  Food and Fun had an exciting lunch planned for us at a special cabin.  We pulled up to the Trophy Lodge that nestled in the mountains of the Langjokull glacier.  It is an exclusive private resort set in the Icelandic country side and owned by a hunter.  The cabin is decorated with elephant feet stools. rhinos, giraffes, lions and more.  Amazing to see, but also kind of creepy.  
Photo by Nick Szpara
 The Trophy Lodge's National Culinary Team prepared us a huge spread of food.  From horse meat tartar, arctic char, frozen skyr, salmon, cod soup, shrimp salad, rib-eye, lamb, macaroons, and more, our tummies were delighted.  I was only beginning my exploration into Nordic Cuisine and I liked what I tasted.
Photo by Sigurjon Ragnar
This was only the first half our our fun-filled day.  Special thank you to Iceland Air, Siggi Hall and Baldvin Jonsson for inviting Capital Cooking to film this great festival.  More to come tomorrow...
Photo by Sigurjon Ragnar

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