Iceland-Standing on the edge of the world and a bit of background.

My first (outside the U.S.) country I ever went to was the Netherlands when I co-opted my husband's work trip and turned it into a mini-vacation. It was that trip to Amsterdam that made me look at the Netherlands as a possible grad. school location. We had a few days to explore the city and the surrounding area and highlights include Zaanse Schans, Muiderslot Castle, and the Red Light District, all places I highly recommend.

But that short trip to Amsterdam (of which I was sick for 1 day), was just the tip of my "I want to see the world" iceberg. When I was accepted to Wageningen, I decided I was going to experience as much as possible of the rest of the world (and especially Europe) as I could in those two years. My husband's response was "Explore now, because it may not be there in a few more years." Not exactly Bon Voyage, but a decent sentiment nonetheless.

Which is why, even when booking my initial flight, I was looking at possible ways to see the world. Icelandair offers a stopover option built into their standard flights, which I gleefully took advantage of when booking my flight. I wasn't able to get into Reykjavik, because I only had a nine hour layover and I was concerned about getting in and out of customs, but I did get a very comprehensive, mellow tour of the western half of the Peninsula. I used Travice and recommend it for low-key short tours. While the website gave a suggested time of 3-4 hours, there were only three of us on the tour so the guide kept going for almost 5 hours!

The tour starts by driving from Reykjanesbær/Keflavík through the town of Garður and stop by the Garðskagaviti - lighthouse and explore the area, continuing through the small fishing village of Sandgerði and on to Hvalsnes, short stop by the Church Hvalsneskirkja. It has a bit of a unique look and is one of the few churches in Iceland built of stones from the lava field nearby. Next stop is at the Stafnesviti-lighthouse where you can walk to the lighthouse and explore the area along the coastline. From there we head towards the bridge between the two continents. The tour then continues to the Reykjanes Lighthouse to walk around the area and on to the Reykjanestá breathtaking oceanic view. The famous geothermal area Gunnuhver where the hot steam and mud comes boiling up from the earth is our next stop and from there we drive by the coastal line towards Grindavík and quick stop by the Blue Lagoon and drive back to the Airport.

Something to note-customs when I went through barely looked at my passport, but dealing with my luggage was a nightmare because I had so much. Pay to have it left at the airport or check with your airline to see if they will hold it for you for free (KLM did for me) but it was a good thirty minute wait to find someone who worked the customer service desk to ask. It was also a bit difficult to find our tour guide. He was late and I was early so it made waiting even more annoying. When you leave the terminal, there is a major section right before the parking lot, inside, where all the tour guides stand with signs. Double check that this is where your guide will be waiting, and not at the other entrance where the coffee shops are. I didn't have a cell phone when I was in Iceland, so this was exceedingly stressful for me. Do yourself a favor and make sure you have a phone with a dual sim card before you leave the U.S. it saves on the hassle of trying to deal with foreign carriers.