Land of fire and ice is a visual delight

I had to think twice about featuring the Chamber’s November trip to Iceland since this winter we seem to be experiencing our own Icelandic weather and travelers may not have wanted to read about a cold-weather destination. Since Iceland is such a special destination, I had to take a chance.

While we may have the snow and ice this year, we don’t have those famed northern lights — and never will. I had wished to see the lights when I was on my Norwegian Coastal Cruise last year, but you can only see them in the winter, that’s why we are traveling in November to be wowed by this famed light show. From my research, an Iceland winter is not much different from ours with a winter average of about 32 degrees in the southern section where we concentrate our tour.

I’ve seen some of the photos taken by photographers who have been to Iceland in the winter and they are stunning. The short November daylight is reputed to be perfect for photography and the landscape is said to be magical. It must be, since more than 20 movies have been filmed in Iceland: Batman, Game of Thrones, and James Bond producers loved Iceland so much, two films were shot there — “A View to Kill” (1985) and “Die Another Day” (2002).

On this Collette Tour, we’ll have some very interesting experiences. As the brochure reads, “This is a land and culture forged by fire and ice. Steaming lava fields and massive glaciers sculpt mountains and valleys, leaving thundering waterfalls and plunging fjords.” Add to that one of nature’s most dazzling light displays, and you’ve got a visually amazing trip ahead of you.

We start our tour in Reykjavik and then spend the next three nights based out of the charming small village of Vik, the southernmost village in Iceland. Some travelers have said Vik is the kind of village you would see in a fairy tale, and travel magazines have declared the black sand beach there one of the 10 most beautiful non-tropical beaches on Earth. My, that’s saying quite a bit!

We’ll see the amazing national parks, chase the aurora borealis on a cruise and perhaps dunk in the famous Blue Lagoon. From Reno, we fly to Seattle and then non-stop to Reykjavik, making this one of the easier journeys.

Iceland is becoming more popular and the Chamber always like to venture to those destinations not yet on top of everyone’s travel bucket list. There’s a $100 per person savings if you book before May 5th,. But, seats go fast, so don’t delay!

The 2018 Collette Chamber trips will be announced at the next Chamber Travel Club meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 9th. As always, you have two sessions to choose – 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. Be sure to call the Chamber staff to let them know. 882-1565

As they say in Iceland, góða ferð! Happy Journey!

At 88 years young, Marilyn is still traveling and enjoying the world.