Once we arrived in Reykjavik and saw the busy city, all the boys wished they were back in Borgarnes. The hotel rooms were very tight and busy as compared to the freedom we had in Borgarnes. We did manage to celebrate Lucky’s birthday on the 4th Floor lounge area with a yellow cake and 2 brownie cakes.
We ate at Subway instead of Quiznos because there was one across the street from the hotel. The game against the Iceland National team was very exciting. We lost in OT by 2 points. Kyrie scored a total of 52 points, but everyone contributed.
The Fungs and the Youngs stayed until Thursday. We went on a shorter version of the Golden Circle Tour. We rented a mini-van and Peter Young drove us around. KJ Fung was reading the map and Robin Young was our official tour guide. She read to us the history of each spot that we stopped and the significance of the place. We first stopped by a friend’s house (Gulla & Siggi) and had an authentic Icelandic brunch. We had sampling of smoked lamb, smoked salmon, lox, pizza sandwiches, egg sandwiches, boiled eggs, dips, chips, etc… They even packed us food for our time on the road.
Trying to get out of town was not as easy. The police blocked off the main road. Apparently, the truckers are on strike due to the high gas price. On the 2nd try, the police finally told us that we could take a detour to the main road. We said our goodbyes to Gulla & Siggi and we’re on our way to the Circle Tour. We saw a lot of farmland along with many Icelandic horses and some sheep.
After about 1:15 hours, we arrived at the Geyser. It was very windy. We saw puddles of water bubbling at 100 degC. We made our way to one of the Geysers that goes off every 8-10 minutes. We saw the geyser go off, took a few pictures and off we were to see the waterfalls. We arrived at the Gulfoss waterfalls in about 20 minutes. Again, it was very very windy but we managed to climb down to the edge of the waterfalls. What’s nice about going in April is that there is still some snow/ice left, I think it made the scenery look much more interesting. We of course took many photos and raced back to the van. We then stopped by the souvenir shop and purchased some gifts. Robin finally bought herself an Icelandic sweater.
We were then off to find the Phing-vallavatn National Park. After 45 minutes in the car, we found out Rt 365 was close (this was the most direct route). So, we had to go around the main roads to get to the Park. We finally arrived after another 30 minutes. There was no visitor’s center like the other stops. We saw a church and a hotel. We stopped and walked over to the church. The scenery was beautiful, so of course, we took a few more pictures.
Gulla & Siggi helped us make a dinner reservation at the Perlan Restaurant. This is on top of the dome that the team visited a day earlier. The restaurant turns ever so slightly so you can enjoy the view of the city and the mountains. We arrived back at the hotel at 6:45 pm and hooked up with Coach Joe and Coach Ken. They were joining us for dinner at the Perlan. We had a nice dinner. The view would have been better if it did not rain, but we were still able to enjoy the view of the city skyline. We talked about how much fun we all had over the trip. Even Stephen Fung, Matt’s younger brother said that he would return next year if he were given a renewal contract as a Mini-Assistant Coach. We discovered that it was Robin’s birthday, so we all wished her a happy birthday. On Wednesday evening, Robin and Peter went out to check out the nightlife. Joe & Ken also went out on separate tour of the night scene.
On Thursday morning, the Fungs and Youngs checked out of the hotel and headed onto the Blue Lagoon. We managed to fit ALL our luggage into the tiny mini-van. We stopped at a gas station and Peter and KJ filled the gas tank. The Blue Lagoon was only 20 minutes from the airport, so our plan was to stop there for 1-2 hours, then head straight to the airport. On our way to there, KJ noticed that the bridge, which is the border between the 2 continents of North America and Europe is not far from the Blue Lagoon. So, we all decided that it was a good idea to stop there first before going to the Blue Lagoon.
We stood on the bridge with one leg in North America and one in Europe and took some photos. The lava ash was warm to the touch. We got back in the van and when Peter tried starting the car, it would not start. At first, we thought he was kidding because Matt had previously made a comment that we’re going to get stuck out here in the middle of nowhere in Iceland. But it was no joke. A car drove by on the main road. We blew the horn, waved and screamed. The car stopped but seeing the kids, probably thought that we were fooling around, left!!!
What do we do now? Our flight is only 5 hours away and we are stuck here in a parking lot on the edge of the Continent of Europe!!! We said, let’s try pushing the van. So, KJ and the boys got out and started pushing. The engine made some strange noise. We got to the tee of the road and everyone got back in the car. Peter tried once again to start and it finally did!!!
What could have caused the van to behave like that? It was fine the last 1.5 days. KJ looked in the car manual and noticed that this mini-van requires DIESEL fuel, not unleaded gas. What do we do? We still want to the Blue Lagoon but we did not want to miss our flight. We decided to stop at a gas station and fill the remainder of the tank with diesel fuel. We’re all curious as to why there was no labeling on the car stating that it required DIESEL fuel. Well, as it turns out, the gas cap did say “DIESEL”. We Americans just did not catch it……. Robin and Anne picked up T-shirts that says “LOST IN ICELAND” for the men and boys.
For KJ Fung, this was strike two. On Tuesday when we all went souvenir shopping, he almost got left behind because he did not stay with the group. Another “teenager” we needed to chaperone….
We had a great time in Blue Lagoon. The car was fine after filling it with diesel the 2nd time. We arrived at the airport at 3:30 pm. Ate a quick bite and before you know it, it was time to board.
The flight back was very nice; we even had ice cream served to us because it was the 1st day of summer in Iceland. By the way, many people got the day off because it was the 1st day of summer. The flight landed at 6:20 pm safely at JFK and it was 80 deg F outside.
What a fun trip had by all!!!
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