In Iceland and Germany without Joy - 14th update from Chrisandra’s Roadtrip

Aloha all,

we did not take Joy with us, but we found joy on our trip to Europe anyway. That might sound like a riddle, but if you are either a grammar nerd or if you know that our RV is called Joy, it should be pretty obvious. 

At the end of the last post, I had promised to do three things: 

1. Make up my mind whether Iceland is a barren wasteland or a mystical wonderland 

2. Do nothing in Germany but drinking beer and eating pretzels

3. Try to finally write a short update. 

Read on to see how we did:

Of course two days are way too short to really see Iceland. But we saw a lot for just a layover on a trip that I did not plan to take a few weeks ago. It took me a day in Iceland before I noticed the first tree. But I would still describe Iceland as a natural wonderland; with very spectacular waterfalls, very active geysers and a very blue Blue Lagoon.

As you can see, the Blue Lagoon looks and feels pretty cool

We did not get to swim at the Blue Lagoon, but it was still the highlight of our first day. We were not organized enough, by the time we found out that you need reservations for the Blue Lagoon, there were only tickets for 9pm available, an hour before they close. We decided not to spend the $140 to find out how the blue water feels. But we were determined enough to go there anyway and we were pleasantly surprised that we could walk around the lagoon and see what we missed. It’s called Blue Lagoon for a reason.

The Blue Lagoon in Iceland

The second day we did the Golden Circle tour. As far as we know, any first time visitor to Iceland is required by law to do this drive. When we did our research what we should do with our short time in Iceland, the guide books and websites only differed in which way we should do the Golden Circle Tour. Even if this drive were not mandatory, it’s probably the best way to see some of Iceland’s highlights in just one day: 

First the Pingvellir National Park with a beautiful gorge, created by the American and Eurasian tectonic plates drifting apart. This is also where the first Icelandic assembly was held. We did not get as deeply into the history of Iceland as we do in America, but apparently this is where this unique country was founded. Next we went to the original geyser, the one all other geysers in the world are named after, including Strokkur, just a few steps apart. While the Geyser geyser is currently resting on it’s laurels and is not erupting, the Strokkur geyser is picking up the slack. About every three minutes, this peaceful pool forms a big bubble and erupts about 60 feet high up in the air. 

The Strokkur geyser erupts every 3 minutes

Last, but certainly not least, we stopped at the Gullfoss waterfall. This is the second most impressive waterfall we have ever seen. And we enjoyed it thoroughly, even though we were at the most impressive falls only one short month ago.

The Gullfoss Waterfalls

From living on Maui, we are used to warm temperatures and high prices. Neither prepared us for Iceland. We were so cold that we did not even pick out our favorite apartment if we were to move here. We usually do this, even in places we never want to move to. We also did not look at real estate prices; but if restaurant prices are any indication, Iceland makes Maui look cheap. We had every intention to go out for a nice Icelandic dinner…until we saw the prices. The first night we found a somewhat affordable Thai restaurant, the second night we only decided between the Costco food court and the restaurant at IKEA. We ended up getting gas at Costco and food at IKEA. So at least we had Scandinavian food and the money we saved on gas (over $1/gallon less than at other stations!) almost paid for our dinner. 

Of course our time in Iceland was way too short, but we liked Iceland so much, that we will come back for sure….when it’s warmer and cheaper.

For the nine days in Germany, we pretty much stuck to the plan to “eat, drink and be merry” with our family. Most days we went seamlessly from breakfast to lunch, to ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ to dinner. We only made some small adjustments to the original plan: For example, instead of drinking beer, we opted mostly for wine. Over the last 20 years, America has come such a long way in regards to beer that I find beer more interesting in the US than in Germany by now. Of course I still had a few Hefeweissen, but I come to appreciate the dry German white wines more and more. 

At my parent's home

While we were staying in Stuttgart with Sandra’s sister, her aunt and uncle came to visit, which we appreciated very much. In Breisach we got to see my parents and also friends we had not seen in a decade. On the way through the Black Forest, I even got to meet cousins I had never met at all. We spent a very fun afternoon and evening with them. We walked to the dairy farm next door to get the freshest milk I’ve had in 30 years and they even arranged for some decent amount of snow as a special attraction for their visitors from Hawaii. 

The Black Forest in white

We got to meet more family & friends in Eigeltingen, but always made sure we had at least 30 minutes between meals to roll from one place to the next. 

One of the rare times we set at an empty table

We deviated from our original plan slightly when we took a few hours off from eating and drinking to visit Colmar in France. This was long overdue: I grew up right across the Rhine from here, but I had never been to the Bartholdi Museum. He’s the guy who built the Statue of Liberty, or so we thought. The first thing we learnt there was that he did NOT build the “Statue of Liberty”, but he built “Liberty Enlightening the World”. That’s what it was actually called, regardless of what people call it now. We also learnt that originally Lady Liberty was supposed to raise her other arm and guard the Port of Suez instead of New York Harbor. 

Bartholdi's original models

I also learnt where I got my museum stamina from: Even though they had been to the Bartholdi museum many times before, my mom and my dad were more than happy to go back there after lunch to go through the museum again with the audio guide. My French is a little rusty, so I did not get the whole story the first time around.

The other time we stopped eating and drinking for a short while was when my brother’s family came from Switzerland so we could play disc golf together. First we played a private course in Freiburg. The hosts who let us play on their course even joined us for the round. But that’s where their friendliness ended. They would have ‘left us in the dust’, but it rained, so I guess they ‘left us in the mud’. My niece Ronja was not much nicer. She beat her dad and her uncle, too. But I don’t mind loosing to her, as long as my brother doesn’t beat me. And Jan and I tied, so we were one big happy family…until the next round. 

The coolest round of disc golf we ever played

At first I thought Linnea was so scared after I beat her on the road trip in July that she pretended to have some ultimate tournament in Barcelona to avoid playing me. But it turns out she was playing the European Club Championships of Beach Ultimate. We were able to watch the bronze medal game, which was streamed online and which they won. Coincidentally, third place is also where Ronja and I think Linnea would have ended up if she had played disc golf with us.

The disc golf course in Freiburg was very cool…or to be more precise: Barely above freezing. But if you get to play with your brother only once a year, cold weather is no excuse not to play. Also: It made the sauna visit afterwards so much more enjoyable. 

Games are a great way to spend the time between meals

The next day we played “Scotland Yard” indoors until it finally stopped raining. Then we played another round of disc golf. This time, my brother, my niece and my nephew were all courteous enough to let the player who traveled the furthest win.  

So we had a very enjoyable time on this little side trip, even without Joy. We did not get to see all our friends, but we hope to catch up with all of them when we do our ‘real’ Germany trip next year. We might have to adjust our diet a little bit for a longer stay in Germany. While all the eating and drinking is a lot of fun, if we kept up this culinary pace for any longer, we would not fit in an airline seat to get back home anymore. And eventually, it gets too cold here and we want to go back to Maui.

Aloha,

Chris & Sandra