Not-So City Mouse: The Parkers Do Iceland!! Part 4

The next morning we had some time before checking out of the hotel and after reading the reviews of this sculpture on Google maps, we knew we needed to find this magnificent piece of artwork. Read the reviews for yourself here: Reindeer Sculpture

This is quality work.

We were thrilled!

It was pouring rain but that didn't stop us from getting out and taking selfies with such an iconic piece of work. Then it was time to hit the road and head onto our next city, Akureyri. And of course, we had plenty of stops along the way. The first was a waterfall, Rjúkandafoss. We saw so many waterfalls on this trip but every single one was different, interesting, and beautiful! We hadn't planned on stopping to see this one, but it was just off the road and we only had to pull over and hike for a few minutes to get to it.

This sweet kitty lived around the hotel.

Icelandic cat!

So lovely!

Somehow we never got sick of seeing waterfalls!

Jordan, take a pic of me. :D

The informational sign.

As we drove further north, the landscape became more and more desolate. At one point, it felt like we were driving on the moon with nothing but flat, black, rocky terrain all around us. I was excited to drive through the Mývatn lake area because we had several places we wanted to check out.

First, we stopped at the Mývatn geothermal area. This place really felt other-worldly. The ground was a burnt orange color and steaming all around us. And the wind! It was incredibly intense, cold, and yeah, really stinky. We walked around for a bit, looking at the mud pools and I put my hands in front of one of the steam vents to feel the heat radiating from it. We couldn't stand to stay too long because the wind and smell were pretty overwhelming.

The fog made it feel extra spooky!

Who knows what lurks ahead!

What is this crazy place?!

It stinks!

This thing looks cool!

You know I gotta check it out.

Check out the bubbling mud pools!

Shit, that was cold and windy!

Next up was probably one of the things I was MOST looking forward to in Iceland: going to the Mývatn Nature Baths! Most people have heard of Blue Lagoon Iceland, which is the most well-known geothermal spa in Iceland just outside of Reykjavik. We weren't sure if we wanted to go there because it's such a large, tourist-y location. The Mývatn Nature Baths is the smaller, lesser-known spa in the north and I was excited to experience relaxing in the blue, mineral-rich waters.

When we got there, it was so easy to check in, head to the locker rooms, and get changed into our swimsuits (they even have suits and towels you can rent if you don't bring one!) Everyone must scrub down fully in the shower - if you don't know this already, it's standard in Iceland to take a fully nude shower before you get into a spa and we saw signs reminding swimmers about this at every spa we visited. When in Iceland, do as the Icelanders do! There were two very large warm pools to swim in, and a smaller hot tub. We spent about two hours just enjoying the heat and scenery, and we were lucky enough to do it under blue skies! My hair and skin felt so good when we left, I wish I could do this every day.

Despite the mean mug, he really loved it!

So happy!

We were lucky it wasn't too crowded this day!

I could have stayed here all day.

Getting ready to leave. So relaxed!

Loved this place.

Can you read the sign?!

After leaving the baths, we drove just a few miles down the road and visited Sigurgeir's Bird Museum. I'll be honest, this stop was entirely for Jordan. He would call himself a very amateur birder and used the Merlin app pretty often on our trip to identify all the different birds we were seeing and hearing. This was an adorable little museum located on a lake and there were tons of people around with super fancy DSLR cameras and giant telephoto lens, I assume to capture pictures of all the birds in the area.

After we left the museum, our next stop was Goðafoss. This is a huge waterfall and sort of reminded me of Niagara Falls. There were lots of walking paths around the area and the weather was beautiful so we ended up spending over an hour checking out the falls from both sides and Jordan even trekked down the cliffside to stand at the water's edge.

Another puffin friend!

Look how happy Jordan is!

I found a bird I recognize! Hello loon!

This building was so cool!

Jordan next to the museum sign

The building from the outside, I liked the grass on the roof.

Coming up to another awesome waterfall!

The selfie stick is back!

How cute are we??

I loved all the plants in the area!

This bridge needed a senior pic pose.

Another panorama. They never really capture the beauty of the area, but we try!

The rushing water was so intense and loud!

Jordan climbed down to be nearer the water!

It's like a little Niagara.

One more panorama.

This was our last long stop of the day before arriving at our Airbnb in Akureyri. We booked a great apartment that was centrally located, you can see it here: Akureyri Airbnb One adorable feature in Akureyri are the heart-shaped traffic lights. They were installed in 2008 and people liked them so much that they're still there. After such a busy and exciting day, we were happy to check into our apartment and just rest and relax. For some reason, I couldn't fall asleep so I ended up staying up to see the 'midnight sun' and took some pics! I never really got used to the lack of 'night' throughout our trip and found myself staying up late most days because without darkness, it just never felt like it was time for bed. But it was okay for me to sleep in the next day because we just had plans to explore the city!