Greece Days 1-4

Day 1: Santorini

We spent a lot of time finding how to transit from Iceland to Greece.  Many countries still require COVID tests to transit.  

We arrived late in the afternoon in Santorini. Took bus to Fire and saw beautiful sunset close to hotel. 

We stayed at Hotel Thira: cute clean family run hotel with super nice lady at the front desk. View of the East coast. 

Day 2 Santorini: 

Hiked from Fira to Oia 10k, up and down mountains. It was so hot and tiring but beautiful views. 

We went to 3 blue domes viewpoint.  This location is on many magents and postcards.  The exact spot is hard to find.   

Castle of Oia: beautiful views of the entire city, would be nice for sunset but we had to go. 

Day 3 Greece: Epidaurus & Nafplion

Drive to Epidaurus 2 hours. Important center because of fertile land and harbor. Dorian city. Center of healing Asklepieion was the cradle of the art of medicine. Where we get the snake symbol for medicine (nonvenomous snakes used for healing in past). Purification with water and communal meal with the devine with animal sacrifices performed. Bath purifies and sleep is when the god approach in sleep/dream to heal. They also developed scientific healing (diet, exercise, surgery, etc). 

Document Asklepios' miraculous healing on stones. God of healing had daughters: Hygieia (goddess of cleanings, where we get "hygiene"), Panacea (goddess of universal healing). 

Temple of Asklepios (370BC): destroyed 4 century AD by fire. 

Myth: Asklepios struck by Zeus lightning banished him to Hades, but can still heal people. So sleep is imitation of going to Hades to meet Asklepios to be healed. 

Documented accounting of building projects on stones. 

The theater: can hold 12000 people. Excellent acoustics. Musical and dramatic contests took place here during festivals for Asklepios. Three parts: orchestra, caveat, stage building. 

Fortress of Palamidi in Nafplio: built during Venetian rule, conquered by Turks before completion. Greeks retook 1822, became prison for life sentences and executions. It's has 8 bastions.

Ancient Corinth:  Paul spoke to Corinthians in AD 52.

Drove to Delphi through Petras. Beautiful Mediterranean views, but didn't realize the toll for bridge was so expensive (13.5 euro!). Made it up with good Greek meal of exohiko.  

Day 4: Delphi 

Myth: Zeus released 2 eagles, which met at Delphi and Zeus threw a rock there. That's the naval of the earth. 

People travel all over the world to visit the oracle. They would get interviewed first so there is are a lot of records from different places. Also so the priestesses can give an educated response. Priestess breathed in underground gas and then babble some things that are taken as response from the gods. 

It was like psychotherapy for people who traveled there. City states dedicated their own buildings at the site.  Some are preserved/reconstructed.  

Treasury of the Athenians:

Motto at Delphi: everything in moderation. 

Myth: Apollo (god of music, harmony, light) defeated the Python that guarded the oracle of Ge (goddess of earth), and then established the Pythian games (athletics, theater) that occurred every 4 years (off years from Olympic games). Reenactment every 8 years at the Halos. 

Ruins of temple of Apollo at Delphi

Iceland Geldingadalir Volcano

Geldingadalir volcano: parking lot full of people. Hiked about 1 hour to a lava field and view of the volcano erupting every 10 minutes. It was beyond amazing!!! We hiked down to the lava field and saw lava flowing in front of our eyes. It was so close you could even touch it! 

Iceland Days 5-7

 Day 5: South Iceland

Fauskasandur beach: interesting rocks and black sand. Touched Arctic Ocean! 

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

Iceland's deepest lake 248m. Jökulsárlón first started forming in 1934, when Breiðamerkurjökull glacier started retreating, leaving the lagoon in its path. It's a mixture of glacial melt and seawater, giving it unique blue color. Icebergs made of ice over 1000 years old. Seals can be spotted here. 

Vatnajökull icecap in the back, but too cloudy! Large pockets of water formed from volcanoes underneath that cause floods during eruptions (last 1996).  

Diamond Beach: Icebergs float out to the ocean from Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, and then get washed up by waves. So the beach is covered with ice, making it look like diamonds.

 

Fjallsárlón Glacier and lagoon. 

Rain stopped and clouds parted enough for us to see the glacier so we walked as close as we can to it. Also lagoon with a ton of icebergs you can pickup!

Glacial water is usually brown because of the glacial "flour" from ground up rocks

We saw a seal here! 

Saw an Arctic fox! 🦊

Stayed at Skaftafell campground (part of Vatnajökull ntnl park)

Svartifoss: don't miss this waterfall with hexagonal basalt columns. Park at visitor center or campground and hike 1.7km. Pass Hundafoss and Madnúsarfoss (waterfalls). 

Day 6 - Southwest Iceland

Skaftafellsjökull glacier. Easy flat walk 30 min to glacier. Can obtain an online brochure that matches with number signs on the trail. It talks about where the glacier had been in the past, rock composition, etc. If you continue along the left, can touch pieces of glacier and be on blocks of glacier!

Touching glacier!

Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon: what's unusual about this canyon are the rocks that jut out from the sides and the lush green all around that give it a soft appearance. 1km to viewpoint. Palagnite from the Ice Age, 2 mill years old. 

Eldhraun Lava Field: one of the largest in the world. Took us a looong time to drive through. 

Reynisdrangar: black sand beach in Vic. Basalt sea stacks, very windy. 

Hálsanefshellir cave (basalt columns). Very cool beach!

Formed from rapidly cooling rock. Hexagon is largest polygon that still tessellates 

Forms perpendicular to cooling

Reynissfjara beach. 

Sólheimajökull glacier: originate from SW part of Myrdalsjökull glacier (4th largest in Iceland). Glacier here is so dark. 

Skógafoss: large waterfall, often with rainbow bc of the mist. 

Seljalandsfoss: elegant waterfall you can go to the back of. 

Walk 560m farther and there is another waterfall hidden in a cave: Gljufrabui.  

Day 7 - Golden Circle and Volcano

Gullfoss: name from golden evening hue or rainbow that often appears. Legend also that a farmer didn't want anyone else to have his gold so he threw it into the waterfall. 

Area of many geysers: 

Geysir: dormant. Erupts after earthquakes, last in 2000, higher than old faithful. Used to go up 80m.

Strokkur "a churn": Erupts every 5-10min.

Surface 80 to 100C.

Precipitation of silica forms the white deposits everywhere. 

Sódi "the slob" geyser only erupts if soap is added. 

Kerid Crater: lies in row of craters called Tjarnarhólar. It's a scoria crater: magma chamber underneath, empties and stone from top falls down into the now empty magma chamber. Not from eruption. 

Returned to Reykjavik and saw this church:

Day 8 - Blue Lagoon

Expensive, but totally worth it! Felt good to be in this body temperature water while it was cold and raining outside. The lowest package comes with a silica face mask and a drink. They have local story telling time around 1pm. We spent about 4 hours here enjoying ourselves. 

Food was really expensive here, so the entire trip we ate oatmeal + fruit for breakfast, PB&J sandwich for lunch. Some dinners were freeze dried camping food, and other days was ramen with hot dog and spinach.  Not the meals of champions. 

The only times we ate out: 

Baejarins bestu hotdog $5 yummy sauce with onion and crispy fish flakes. 

Diner near airport, Olsen Olsen: fish and chips and lamb hoagie: so good to eat something other than oatmeal, pbj sandwich and dried foods/instant noodle! 

...looking forward to the warmth of Greece and delicious food!