We moved on to “Reykjavik’s The Pearl” (Perlan Interactive Nature Museum) next. I’m going to get this out of the way right now…It was quite expensive, like everything in Iceland, Norway, Netherlands and Germany. I will try and refrain from whining about any cost of any food or attraction from now on…You can call me out on it if I do!

It is an impressive architectural building containing a well done museum/nature center with exhibits such as a massive “bird cliff,” erupting geyser in the large atrium, observation deck that looks over the city, some impressive large-screen movies on volcano irruptions, and a real ice cave that they somehow keep frozen and intact. All interesting but not mind-blowing like the land itself. I would suggest this museum if you want an introduction to the country, or need something to do on a rainy day. But if you only have a few days in the country, better to hit the road to the hinterlands!

We still had hours to burn and our exhaustion was becoming harder to fight so we found a city natural area around a lake and let the kids nap in the car. Bridget and I hiked through the hillsides of blooming Lupines, though I got sidetracked by several birds including Redwing. I made the not-so-hard decision to leave my “good” camera at home. It is far too large and heavy to haul around all day while exploring. Plus, this was a family trip, not a photography trip. Instead I brought my very small Sony A6500 and three lenses: a Rokinon 12mm super wide, a Tamron 18-300mm zoom and a Sigma 85mm f1.4 that I rented from lensrentals.com (I could have left the 85mm f1.4 at home since I hardly used it). All this fit into a Lowepro Trekker Lite SLX 120 that I could sling over my shoulder.

Interesting fact about the Lupines is that they are not native to Iceland but now have spread across many lower elevation parts of the island, especially along roads and in towns. There is a real controversy among the locals and government on whether to eliminate them or not. Many photo tour groups come from all over the world to photograph them in June/early July. We did not see many once we got away from civilization.

We headed out of town along the Ring Road towards our cabin, but still had lots of time to explore. But we were still fighting crabbiness and exhaustion as we made our way east.

So naturally I decided we should go spelunking; a great thing to do when you can barely keep your eyes open! Actually it was a roadside tour. The tour takes you down into the old Raufarhólshellir lava tube which was the result of the Leitahraun eruption, which occurred east of the Bláfjöll mountains about 5200 years ago.

You put on a hardhat and a headlamp and follow the guide (and about 30 other tourists) down into the lava tube. It is very cold down there. In fact, it is too cold for any insects so there are no bats or other critters living in the lava tube. It is also not a cave in the sense that there are no stalactites and stalagmites. It is also not claustrophobic; the diameter of the tunnel is maybe 30 to 50 feet wide. Our guide was good, but like lots of tour guides, it sometimes seemed like he was just reciting very quickly his rote routine, including his not-so-great jokes. He was also hard to hear at times. Semi-interesting I guess but probably very interesting for folks who really dig geology.

Finally we made it to our “farm stay” AirBnB cabin. It was about 5 miles inland, the last few miles on very rough, “wash-boardy” road. Bonus were the Viking ponies and little sheep we passed on the way. Well, I had to stop and take some photos of these cool animals (future post). Did you know that no horses are allowed into Iceland. This is to insure that the genetic lineage of these Viking-era descendants stays pure. The boys had their own cabin, and like ours, it was tiny and brand new. The listing made it sound like you were actually going to be surrounded by farm animals, which Bridget would have liked, but really you just drive through their farmstead to get to the cabins. But an orange cat and a couple dogs did come visit us.

NEXT: A waterfall you can walk behind AND the world’s most dangerous beach!

[This is part 1 of our Stensaas Family vacation to Europe. I like to post on social media for family and friends, but mainly because it will help me, Bridget and the boys remember this trip far into the future.]

Icelandair offers a wonderful perk that Bridget and I took advantage of 19 years ago on our Honeymoon to Iceland (Norway, Sweden, Finland). You can buy your ticket to anywhere in Europe that Icelandair flies, and get a free layover in Iceland! And they still offer this today.

We arrived in Keflavik, Iceland at 6am local time…but our bodies really felt like it was 1am…and we were exhausted. But it was a 2 ½ hour drive to our cabin and we couldn’t check in to 3pm so exploring Reykjavik was the sensible way to start the day. Coffee latte and cake at a little inner-city café started the “morning.”

I might as well warn you right now…I love church architecture! From ultra-modern design to mideival cathedrals to rural white-steepled chapels to the ancient post-Viking stave “kyrkke” in Norway.

So we headed over to the immensely impressive Hallgrímskirkja, a Lutheran church dedicated to Icelandic poet and clergyman  Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674). Over 240-feet tall and designed by Icelandic architect Guðjón Samúelsson‘ in 1937 to mirror the mountains, glaciers, and especially the cooled lava rock formations called columnar joining such as those found at Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach.

It took FOUR decades to complete. Begun in 1945, the church wasn’t completed until 1986. It is a mesmerizing design, not to mention picturesque. I have never been able to go inside, and today was no different. A scheduled church event was going on so no general admittance. Some day!

Leif Erikkson steadfastly gazes west toward his destiny of Greenland and North America from the church’s courtyard. Sculpted by Alexander Calder (father of Sandy Calder the “mobile artist”) this iconic bronze was a gift from the United States in 1932 to commemorate the 1,000 year anniversary of the “Althing,” the world’s longest running  parliamentary gathering that began in about 930AD. This was still in the Viking era and villagers, farmers, and townspeople would all gather in spring at Þingvellir (28 miles from the future Reykjavik) to air their grievences and legal issues before a “lawspeaker” and 39 district Chieftans. It was a Supreme Court of sorts and peacefully solved many serious (and probably not so serious) issues of the times.

NEXT: “The Pearl” and the Lave tube.