Day 2-South Iceland

The first part of Iceland I had wanted to explore outside of Reykjavik was South Iceland. It is very popular with tourists of course because of the waterfalls and mild weather. We headed out early to make the most of the day, and were blessed with bright sunshine. The first stop would be the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. I find this waterfall to be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, so much that I have a wide panaramic photo framed in my living room. To see this natural wonder with my own eyes, and to hear the water thundering down was something I was greatly looking forward to. Driving on the Route 1, we could see just how tall it was from a few miles away. At first we thought it was a tall tower, and as we got closer, it became clear it was the waterfall. It was as beautiful as I had imagined.

Onward, we saw more waterfalls from Route 1.

Our next stop was at the famous volcano you can't pronounce Eyjafjallajökull . I had not planned on stopping here, but we parked at the museum and snapped some photos anyway.

Our next stop along Route 1 was Skogafoss, and I was suprised at how majestic and wide this waterfall was. By the time we reached this part of our trip, the sun was shining brightly, and the temperature had warmed comfortably. My daughter and I climbed the very tall stairs to the top getting a great workout. Rainbows were everywhere!

After soaking in the sun and colors of this magical place, we headed to Vik where I wanted to see the church. I painted this church in gouache paint and this is one of those places in Iceland I wanted to see for myself. I found Vik to be a beautiful village, but there was quite a bit of tourists there at the time we arrived. 

The final stop on our South Iceland tour was the region of Reynisdrangar, where the black sand beach and basalt columns are not too far from Vik. Again, Iceland's beauty surprised me even though I had seen countless photos of this beach.

After this long day of driving, we ate out at Icelandic Fish and Chips. Our meal cost roughly $65 USD, and it was pretty good for the price. The portions were large, although I wasn't crazy about the fried broccoli and cauliflower.

Today was one of the best days of my life because I saw a part of the world I had yearned to see for many years. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, the sky put on a little show of Aurora Borealis:

These were faint lights, but definitely there. I wasn't sure if we would have the opportunity to witness this, but we got very lucky.