Iceland's Gullfoss and Skogafoss

I'm wrapping up my Icelandic waterfall posts today by showing you two more of my favorites that we came across on our trek across the lower region of Iceland. I didn't take too many pictures of either of these stops, but that doesn't mean that they aren't incredibly impressive in person. I was just really tired and ready to head home by the time we reached these stops on our itinerary.

Skogafoss is one of the largest waterfalls in Iceland, and arguably one of the most beautiful that I had seen there. It measures at 82 feet with a 200 foot drop. On clear, sunny days you can usually find a rainbow (or even a double) because of its consistent spray.

A fun tidbit about this waterfall. It's said that the first Viking settler buried a treasure in a cave behind the waterfall. The story has it that the locals found the chest, but were only able to hold on to its ring before the chest vanished back into the water. The ring was donated to the church, and now that church door ring sits in the Skogar museum.

If Skogafoss looks familiar to you, it's been in several hit television shows and movies, such as Game of Thrones and Thor.

When we arrived, we noticed that this is a popular spot for camping. Even though it was really cold, there were tons of tents lined up where the gravel meets the grass. I imagine you can get an amazing night's sleep listening to the rush of this waterfall. If we get back to Iceland some day, I am totally camping overnight here!

I also wanted to give you a glimpse of Gullfoss waterfall.

This waterfall is located on the Golden Circle route, so it's one of the most visited waterfalls in Iceland. It was definitely crowded when we arrived, but it was our last stop of our trip, so that was to be expected.

The way the waterfall is spread out, it appears to drop into an abyss, but in reality it's only a modest 105 foot drop. To me though, it felt massive standing there looking at it in person! If you can see the silhouettes of the other visitors we encountered that day, they got to the viewing platform by following a nicely paved pathway, making that viewing spot easily accessible. We didn't go that far ourselves, but I calculated that it's only a 5 to 10 minute walk to get to that point of the falls. I felt we saw enough of what Gullfoss had to offer by standing at the top of the lookout, but if you have the time, I'm sure it will be worth your while to make the trek down that way.

We saw 4 absolutely incredible waterfalls in under 18 hours in Iceland, and that barely scratches the surface of how many you'll see there. If you're thinking of going on a waterfall hunting adventure, I'm convinced there's no better place to do that than in Iceland!

Camping outside near a waterfall, yay or nay?

Blue Lagoon Take Me Away

We initially didn't have plans to visit Iceland on our European vacation, but when we found out we had an 8 hour layover, we decided to extend our trip by a day so we could see a little of the country before returning home. We knew we were going to be tired and sore from 9 days of sightseeing Paris, London and Ireland, so what better way to end our travels than with a soak in Iceland's Blue Lagoon?

You remember those old commercials talking about "Calgon, Take Me Away?" The same can be said for a dip in the Blue Lagoon. The geothermal spa is something that I've seen featured on travel channels and websites for years and it was something that I really wanted to experience for myself. It's one of Iceland's most popular tourist attractions, often visited by celebrities too. You can reach it in under an hour from the Reykjavik airport, so if you have a long layover, it's a nice spot to unwind while you're waiting for your connecting flight.

My girls were a bit nervous as you do have to shower before entering the water (there are attendants in the dressing room making sure you are showered before heading to the spa) and they were not wanting to strip down in front of a bunch of strangers to do so. Thankfully, there were individual stalls that offered privacy for bathing so their fears were quickly squashed.

The water is very rich in salts, so it is recommended that you smother your hair in the conditioner provided in the shower before getting in the water. Even with the conditioner, I would not encourage dipping your head into the lagoon water because it will zap it of all of its moisture. My hair felt dry and brittle for a month after our visit and I regretted making that mistake every day until it got back to its normal healthy state.

With your admission, you do get 1 mud mask for your face and 1 drink from the concession stand. They'll give you a wristband that you'll have scanned as you get your mask and drink, and anything extra you purchase will be tracked through the band. You'll settle your bill upon checkout, so you do not have to take cash/credit cards with you into the spa.

Be very careful washing the mask off because of the high salt content in the water. I can tell you, it burns like crazy when it gets in your eyes! And most likely you will have the saltwater on your hands, so rubbing them will only make the burn worse.

Us girls opted for a Skyr smoothie as our drink choice. Honestly, we thought they were horrible. Very bland and not sweet at all. We ended up tossing them in the trash before we were halfway through drinking them. However, Jason was pretty damn excited over his beer! (don't mind the water spots on the pic. I was still learning how to use the GoPro)

They say the water is around 99 to 102° F, but it didn't feel very warm to me. Jason thought it was the perfect temp as he tends to run hot, but I was a little chilly until we got out and headed for the sauna. The girls didn't seem to mind the water temp either way.

Before we even entered the Blue Lagoon, I saw a little stream outside with the beautiful milky blue water. While lovely to look at, don't dip your toes in because it is ice cold!

Admission was a little over $60 each, and you do have to schedule your check in time in advance. We ended up staying for 2 hours, but for me, I was growing bored after only 1 hour. The lagoon isn't huge, and there's only so many laps you can walk around it before you're dying to get out. My honest opinion is the Blue Lagoon does not live up to the hype. I felt a little let down with our experience with the chilly water, the icky smoothies, and dried out skin, hair and salty burning eyes. Don't let that deter you from planning a stop in though if you're going to be in Iceland. I still think it's an experience that everyone should have once in their life. Once being the key word. I won't go back on our next trip to Iceland, but I'm glad that I did have the opportunity to visit once to see for myself what the fuss is all about and I think you should too.

Have you ever wanted to visit the Blue Lagoon in Iceland?

The Wonderful Barn in Ireland

Since we were going to be heading south after our initial stop in Dublin, I started researching places that might be neat to visit on our road trip through the bottom half of Ireland. I came across a pretty little photo on Pinterest that suggested that The Wonderful Barn would be a worthwhile visit. Not only did it pique my interest because the building did in fact look unique, but it was also one that was right on our route and was free to see.

Finding the barn was a bit of a scavenger hunt for us. Our navigation took us to a modern subdivision and told us we had arrived, yet we didn't see the barn anywhere. We exited the subdivision to get back on the main road and I spotted a gated off dirt road right around the corner. There wasn't anywhere to park, but I had a feeling we'd find the barn in the field behind the gate. I didn't want to ruffle any feathers by trespassing onto the property and figured this stop was a bust. But, as luck would have it, just as we decided to call it a loss and drive on, the groundskeeper pulled up, unlocked the gate, and told us to feel free to park our car on the sidewalk and walk on back. I seriously freakin' love Irish hospitality!

The Wonderful Barn dates back all the way to 1743. It was originally used for grain storing, and is said to have later been used to keep the local poor employed during the Year of the Slaughter. As we walked up, I was immediately enchanted by stone entrance way, as it had a Secret Garden vibe going on.

I am a sucker for odd architecture, so I was definitely mesmerized by the corkscrew shaped barn with its 94 steps circling the outside of the structure. It's no longer a functioning barn and has sadly fallen into dilapidation so we weren't able to go in for a tour, but I did enjoy walking the grounds imagining how lovely it must have been during the height of its use. Now, the grounds are overgrown and you'll find some parts marked with graffiti, but I could still see the beauty in this old place.

While I loved the visit, my family wasn't really impressed and didn't much trust my judgement on the other stops I had earmarked on our road trip. "Are we going to a wonderful church next? What about a wonderful castle?" Even though they weren't amused, I'm still happy we plotted it on our travel map and would recommend checking it out if you're in the area.

There's a lovely little garden that was being tended to on the grounds still, and I truly got a kick out of this gate sign. It's so Irish, don't you think?

The Wonderful Barn is located in Celbridge Rd, Barnhall, Leixlip, Co. Kildare. If you venture out that way, snap a pic and tag me on Instagram (marison459). I'd love to hear what you thought about it!

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Yay or Nay on The Wonderful Barn design? 

Montmartre Is Always A Good Idea

When doing my research on what to do in Paris when you have limited time, I kept reading that you you should skip Montmartre. As luck would have it, our Eiffel Tower tickets got cancelled a few days before we left, so I had about 2 hours to fill back up into the itinerary. At the time, I was super pissed because who wants to go to Paris and not visit the Eiffle Tower? That cancellation turned out to be one of the better things that happened on our vacation because I was able to revisit things to do in Paris, and it seemed that Montmartre had so many cool things to check out. The district is definitely not overrated as some websites tend to suggest, and I think if you skip it on your travels, you'll be missing some of the best spots in Paris.

If you have time, take in a show at Moulin Rouge. If not, at least walk by to check out the iconic building.

We weren't sure if we wanted to go to Sacre Coeur, but our ultra cool Uber driver insisted on driving us over the night we arrived so we could see it all lit up in the dark, it piqued our interest to make the trek over the next day. It's true, you have to climb a massive staircase to reach the top if you are on foot, but if you have a ride, you can get dropped off at the top, right at the bottom of Sacre Coeur. If you are there in July like we were, I would suggest getting an Uber to take you over because those stairs are brutal in the summer heat.

We didn't go in, but it was definitely worth the trek up because it is such a beautiful structure. Plus, you get some spectacular views of Paris from the top too!

I happened upon another blogger talking about her visit to le mur des je t'aime (the wall of love) about a week before we were scheduled to arrive. I had never heard of it before, so I made sure we penciled a stop in also. Here you will find "I Love You" written in every language.

Wander the streets and admire the Parisian architecture. It is lovely! You'll also notice how the old streets are really narrow, but that doesn't stop the cars from flying down at full speed.

There's no shortages of carousels in Paris, but my favorite was the one at the base of Sacre Coeur painted with all of the famous landmarks in Montmartre.

Other iconic landmarks we visited in Montmartre were The Louvre:

Notre Dame Cathedral

And the Arc de Triomphe

While I may not have gotten Eiffel Tower views, I think we managed to make the most of the cancellation, getting to see some of the best Paris had to offer in the Montmartre district. I definitely encourage you to put it on your Paris travel itinerary!

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Would you brave climbing those stairs to Sacre Coeur in the summer, or would you take an Uber?

Visiting the Tower of London

On our second day in London, we only had a few items to check off of our itinerary. Short of seeing Big Ben, The London Eye, and Tower Bridge, after we ticked those stops off of our list we thought we'd just kind of walk around and see what was what. As we were walking around, we were approached outside of the Tower of London by one of those off-site ticket sellers offering discounts on the regular gate admission. We kind of went back and forth, debating if we wanted to waste time going though as we really aren't fans of the royal family, and at first agreed we'd move along to something else. About 10 minutes later, we figured what the hell, and went back to the ticket guy and bought admission.

Since Mariah had her school i.d., she was able to get the student rate, and Allison qualified for the child rate, so we paid right around $80 for the 4 of us to tour the grounds.

Even though it seemed like there were tons of tourists going in, the grounds are fairly large so everyone is spread out and you can move through the towers quite quickly. However, in the smaller tower rooms it can get a bit crowded if people choose to take up space reading the plaques and looking at the artifacts for prolonged periods of time, but we found that to be minimal.

There are usually a group of 6 captive ravens that live at The Tower of London, and their presence is traditionally believed that they protect the crown and tower. Superstition says that should they fly away or get lost, the crown will fall and Brittan will fall with it. This raven was so chill, people were getting their phones up real close for photos and he didn't budge a bit.

Since the changing of the guard happened earlier that day at Buckingham Palace and we missed it, the girls were quite pleased to see some of the Queen's Guards outside of the tower that guards the Crown Jewels.

There was quite a long line to get in to see the Crown Jewels, but it actually moved fairly quickly for how long it was. I believe we waited about 30 minutes in line before we were able get in.

Any kind of photography or video is strictly prohibited where they house the crown jewels, so I wasn't able to snap any pics of those. There are signs everywhere stating this, but it didn't stop the lady in front of me from trying to snap photos, though she was quickly reprimanded by the employees there.

In The Crown Jewels Tower, you will see 600 years worth of royal robes, staffs, dinnerware, and other ceremonial regalia. You can take your time looking at these artifacts, but once you get to the actual royal crowns, you step on a conveyor belt to view them as you are constantly moving at a slow pace to keep the line down. You can go back on the belt as many times as you wish, or if you choose, you can view the crowns from a small distance away on a carpeted platform.

All in all, we spent about 2 hours at the Tower of London, which was well worth our $80 entrance fee. Even if you aren't into exploring the royal atifacts, you get some pretty spectacular views of Tower Bridge from the towers that almost make the entrance fee worth it in itself. If you're headed to London and are on the fence about making a stop, I say go for it. We had a great time there and highly recommend!

Would you be more interested in exploring the grounds or seeing the royal artifacts at Tower of London?