Iceland...in stages

Well, we are back from our third trip to Iceland. Third in the last 3 years. Yes, it has become an annual event for us, somehow. It truly is a beautiful place. When I say 'I'm going to Iceland', the first question is always 'why Iceland!?' And my answer: it's beautiful, serene and other-worldly. It is the closest I can imagine it would be like to visit another planet.
We have been 3 times, as I mentioned, and each time we have visited a different area. The first year was the year we needed to get away and we had heard how cheap it was, as they were still struggling economically and just wanted to get some money into their country. We were happy to oblige, since we are often pretty scant. WOW airline was pretty new and very cheap...as in, ticket prices were low and you get nothing but a seat on the plane and a space for a single carry on weighing no more than 20 pounds. Extra, checked bags, were $50 each, one-way (40 pounds or less, I think).
I did some research for that trip, to see what exactly we would do for 5 days in Iceland. I saw that the Blue Lagoon was a pretty hot tourist spot. I also read that Icelanders are not big on breakfast out, but that there were a couple bakeries that opened at 6am. Flights on WOW usually arrive in Iceland at about 4 am (their time). Hubby likes to have hotels planned out, and we didn't want to spend the whole time in the city, so we had a couple towns we thought would be fun to visit and just went from there.
Reykjavik had a couple bars I needed to visit, as well.
But past that, our first trip was just a 'let's just go see what it's like' kind of trip and somehow we fell in love and immediately started planning the second trip.
Year two was a little less planned other than we wanted to hit the part of the country that was more icy and snowy. (The first two years we went in October, while this year we had to go in September as Hubby is travelling a lot this October.) We booked a glacier hike, which was the highlight for me. The rest of that trip was spent exploring what South Iceland had to offer. And it was nothing short of magical.

So here we are, just home from our visit to the Akureyri-Myvatn area trip. Our timing couldn't have been better, as the East Coast was getting rain and wind all week. We came home to 80 degrees in Boston, a late bus back to the Cape, and a broken fridge.
Welcome home.

But here's the beauty of it...Iceland...in pictures...
First day of travel (27 hours, from the moment I got up Monday morning to feed the dog to the moment we checked into our Icelandair Akureyri hotel on Tuesday and took a 2 hour nap):
Above the clouds

On the road from Keflavik Airport, through Reykjavik, and onto Akureyri

I don't know what this was but it was the first we stopped to stretch our legs. Travelling through Iceland offers plenty of pull offs with interesting things...but very few restrooms.

It rains pretty much every day in Iceland (at least from our experience), and we are always ready with our rain pants and coats. I get giddy each year when the sun is coming up on our first day and I get to see the mountains.

This one was a cool 'omg' moment as we rounded a corner on the road. So much of the scenery looks like it's from another planet or a movie set!

The city of Akureyri, second biggest in Iceland. Here we will spend 3 nights, travelling out of the city each morning to explore the area.

After our nap, we hit up the Botanical Gardens, which happened to basically be across the street, though we walked all the way around the city and stumbled upon it as it began to rain. There's a little coffee shop in the gardens so we stopped for coffee and enjoyed a little down time.

That evening we stayed in and had drinks and nibbles in the hotel lounge, then dinner in the hotel as well. It was a nice first day, though in fact it was TWO!
As these posts seem like they will be quite long, I'll leave you at the edge of your seat for how the rest of our 7 day trip unfolded.
And I will be getting back to the car restoration soon, as well, so do stay tuned for that!