We traveled to Meradalir Valley, outside the town of Grindavik and got to climb Fagradalsfjall Mountain ( to see the Geldingadalir eruption volcano and its dried lava.) This Geldingadalir volcano had just erupted less than a year before our visit in 2021 and happened to erupt less than a week after returning home in the States from our trip. After feeling accomplished from our climb and volcanic views, we visited a lighthouse and ship wreckage site, Lava Rock Beach & Crater, and ate dinner (egg Tai noodles and black beans) just outside our camper van with a beautiful view of the ocean, lighthouse, and hot springs in the distance. Our next stop, we got the pleasure of seeing rocks jetting out of the water at the gorgeous site of Valahnukur. It was also at the location that Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams filmed a scene singing and playing keyboards to their song, “Volcano Man” in the movie Eurovision. The keyboards continue to be stationed there, so we hammed it up and took some fun photos.

On our drive back to the campsite, we stopped near the lighthouse and saw a whale’s tail and the sunset. Again, we chose to sleep at our favorite campsite located at Strandarkirkja. We were amazed with how we had so much extra energy to see everything and stay up late in the mornings most days; we think it was due to the sunlight shining most all hours except for about an hour starting around 1:30 am, but it’s not even as dark during that hour as 9:00 pm on a summer evening in Ohio. Or, maybe it was all of that volcanic energy all around us?