The Kosher Travelers – a wonderfully integrated group of 35 guests included participants from age 17 up to 74 — fearlessly climbed to beautiful vistas and geological marvels of this unique country. We visited waterfalls, glaciers, hot springs, geysers, active volcanoes, and lava generated dreamscape rock formations.
Sailing out in a motorized rubber dinghy to see the largest glacier in Europe which Icelanders talk about as if it were an old friend or a venerable relative, we toasted our arrival with a shot of Floki – a local whisky, on the rocks – in this case a chunk of 500-year-old glacier ice.
Our fantastic knowledgeable guide, Yossi Ben Ami, was so enamored of the history and geology of everyplace we visited, that his enthusiasm became contagious. The waterfalls were lacy elegant streams falling from on high or thundering torrents rivaling the legendary Sambatyon River which rages six days a week and rests on Shabbos.
Our delicious meals were always beautifully presented usually in our own private dining room. For Shabbat we were treated to delicious meals at the Chabad house in Rejkavik, Iceland’s capital city. Rebbetzin Mushky and Rabbi Avi Feldman were most gracious hosts.
We flew up to Akureyri, known as the Northern capital of Iceland. A delightful small town, which boasts the northern most botanical garden in the world, traffic lights which feature a heart-shaped red light, and an airport runway in the middle of a fjord and a protected nature preserve know as the Black Castle where huge lava formations suggest birds, cathedrals, or whatever your imagination can conjure up.
On our last day we visited the Sky Lagoon – a heavenly Oceanside thermal spa. While there, after luxuriating in the relaxing warmth you can go in for the ‘Ritual’ treatment which starts with a dunk in rather cold water then continues with a salt/mineral scrub, a sauna and other delights.
The hotels were all well-located and comfortable. The other tour members from around the United States, Europe and Israel were a fun-loving, intelligent, cosmopolitan, amiable group.
Kosher Travelers has many other imaginative invigorating trips planned. Don’t leave home without them. Contact the company at koshertravelers.com.
Helen Weiss Pincus, New Jersey
Iceland August 2022