Zuiderdam MegaVoyage 2018-2019, Reykjavik, Iceland, Part 1 of 3

The day started out very foggy but cleared up nicely for our Iceland South Coast tour from Reykjavik. We rented a car for our self-guided tour of the main attractions of the South Coast. I have been to Iceland on a number of occasions and its sheer beauty captures my heart every time. We picked up our car and from Reykjavik we headed across the Hellisheioi plateau through the towns of Hvvergeroi, Selfiss, Hella and Hvolsvolur...we crossed the Markarfljot River and entered the most striking part of the drive...the stop along this stretch was captivatingly Icelandic; we stopped at the thundering Seljalandsfoss waterfall, then we passed the Eyjafjoll Mountain volcano that erupted in 2010, for one week stopping all air traffic to and from Europe. On our walk towards the mountain, we could see spilling down the Eyjafjnallajokull, Myrdalsjokull and Solheimajokull glaciers...a grand sight...from there, we drove to Skogafoss Waterfall...draining from the mountain was this powerful waterfall, the rain started so I did not climb to the top of the falls. We made our way to the black sand beaches of Reynisfjara and the dramatic basalt formations, splintered columns of volcanic rocks. Next we drove through the village of Vik headed for Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon...we came upon some interesting scenery and decided to do some off-road touring for a few miles down the black sand lava roads amongst the purple fields of Nootka Lupines. Returning to the main Highway #1, the weather was starting to turn nasty so we decided to make our way back to Reykjavik...we made a stop in Vik at the village church, from the parking lot we had fine views of the village, adjacent cliffs, the jagged dragons teeth sea stacks just offshore and long stretches of the south shore. The reverse trip back to Reykjavik gave us spectacular and different views of the exquisite scenery. On our return to Reykjavik we stopped at the Hallgrímskirkja, a Lutheran modern design church with a sleek interior and 250-foot-tall tower that gave us commanding views of the city. From the church, we meandered Skolavoroustigur Street checking out the souvenir shops...Iceland is as expensive as it is beautiful. We are really looking forward to our other upcoming stops in Iceland.