Happy 17th of June!

Day 11 – 12

June 17 -18, 2025

This day was Iceland’s National Holiday!  It was on June 17, 1944 that Iceland officially severed ties with Denmark.  This occasion happened while Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany and Iceland asked the US to provide protection.  The Danish king was incarcerated by the Nazis and unable to rule, providing the incentive for Iceland to take the final step to independence. 

We had noticed a sign in a store window with a list of activities happening in Grundafjörður to commemorate the event, including a flag raising at 8:00am.  Dick and I thought it would be cool to be among the crowd watching the official kick-off for the day’s celebration.  Turns out we put way too much emphasis on patriotism and were a little off on our expectations of the flag raising!  Besides the gal who raised the flags, we were the only ones there. I bet there was a better turn out for the 5K later in the day.

Not a soul in sight!


With the flags raised and our bags packed, we headed back to Reykjavik, circling back to stay at Kvosin Downtown Hotel again.  We absolutely LOVED this place.  Its central location was key. Typical to all of Iceland, the staff went out of their way to be helpful and friendly.

Many of the cities and towns we visited had a rainbow road symbolizing hope, diversity, and inclusion.  My heart was full!

By the time we reached Reykjavik, the celebration was well underway!  This included the president of Iceland giving a speech in the park adjacent to our hotel!  Streets were closed for the president’s appearance, which made for a bit of a challenge to reach our hotel.  We settled for parking a few blocks down the street and rolling our baggage to the hotel.  

We spent the day taking an unofficial food tour of Reykjavik.  Obviously, we started out this tour with a stop back at Brauð and Co.  We simply could not resist!  Cinnamon rolls, vanilla rolls, and almond Danish were calling!

Next, we went in search of the unofficial National Food of Iceland – the Icelandic hot dog!  These hot dogs are topped with fried onions, raw onions, ketchup and brown mustard.  It’s now become the only way I will eat a hot dog!  So yummy!

Our search for the hotdogs was a little sidelined with the parade happening on the main drag of downtown.  This included an enormous gyrfalcon (Örn - the official national bird of Iceland), a giant (Bergtisi), a dragon (Dreki), and a bull (Gridungur).  Together these four symbols are Iceland's national guardians, each protecting a different region of the country.  There were also several bands, as you can't have a parade without marching bands!  Where were they when the flags were being raised?









Before heading back to the hotel, we did a little last-minute shopping and walked around the harbor area one last time. 

Emma found the perfect Puffin as a souvenir!

We left for the airport at 6:00 am to return the van, turn in duty free receipts to get our tax refunds (14%), check our luggage and get through security to catch our 9:30 am flight back to Minneapolis.

On the drive to the airport, we compiled a joint list our memories.

Favorites included:

• Whale watch tour – where we also saw puffins!

• Geothermal baths – all of them!!!!

• Pastries – Emma particularly loved the vanilla rolls!

• Waterfalls – again, all of them!

• Hiking amazing trails

• Seeing the Icelandic horses

• The waggly tails of lambs while nursing from their mamas in fields we passed by on “The 1”

• The canyon

• Fields and fields of vibrant lupines

• Moss covered lava fields


We also made our list of hmmms:

o Super Shower Surprise (you have to ask Adam)

o Spider Bites (again, ask Adam)

o Midges (any of us can tell you about this one!)

o Rental van issues (doors wouldn’t lock…)


And our list of unpleasantries:

• Arctic terns

• Tunnels (I’m a bit claustrophobic and not a fan!)

• Flat pillows (seldomly experienced but annoying when we did)

• Forgotten items in hotel rooms (electric toothbrush and stuffed puffin)

• Viral tummy bug

This has truly been a vacation of a lifetime!  Iceland and all of its diversity has provided us with memories and stories that will last a lifetime for every one of us! Although we are sorry the days have slipped through our fingers way too quickly, it’s time to head home.

Next up:  Glacier National Park






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