Wednesday, along with Tuesday (waterfall day), has been our favorite. I guess you could call Thursday glacier day. Of all the photos of the glacier lagoon and ice caves we saw online before our trip, none compared to what we saw. I always thought that those photos were touched up to make the ice look more blue, but it really is that blue! We just can't get over the glacier and how it looks like a giant wave that's crashing down from the valleys between the mountains. It's so strange to us but so very beautiful.

Jökulsárlón & Breiðamerkurjökull
I can't explain to you the feeling we had when we came around the turn and saw the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón. I actually gasped in surprise. The funny part was I saw the top of one from far away and thought, "what a funny-shaped building!" I had no idea how big they could be or how bright blue they are! The water up here is beautiful. The sea is a dark slate blue, the mineral water a beautiful baby blue. Much of the ice floating in the lagoon was also baby blue.
Vatnajökull, or the Vatna Glacier (jökull = glacier) is the largest and most voluminous glacier in Iceland, covering 8% of Iceland's total area. It is also the largest glacier in volume in Europe and the second largest in area (after Austfonna in Norway) in Europe. The area is 8,100 sq km (3127 sq mi), with an average thickness of 400 m (1312 ft) and a maximum thickness of 1000 m (3300 ft).
Vatnajökull has about 30 outlet glaciers, which are like fingers extending from the periphery. Breiðamerkurjökull outlet feeds Jökulsárlón, or Glacier Lagoon, which is what we saw. Breiðamerkurjökull is retreating rapidly, and pieces of the glacier break off and float to the ocean. Before entering the ocean, they typically float in the lagoon for around 5 years. The lagoon is now the deepest lake in Iceland at around 250 m (820 ft), which absolutely boggles my mind.
But enough with the science talk. Here are the sexy pictures. I'm so glad it was overcast because it made for some incredibly dramatic photos.

Fjallsárlón & Fjallsjökull
Fjallsárlón is a glacier lake west of Jökulsárlón. Fjallsjökull is an outlet of the Vatnajökull glacier. Above the Fjallsárlón is the volcano Öræfajökull. Fjallsárlón is right off the Ring Road, so we stopped quickly for some photos.

Fagurhólsmýri
We met up with Local Guide of Vatnajökull at the N1 in Fagurhólsmýri for our Ice Cave DX Tour. They had just began giving the tours since winter has finally gotten into full swing. They're still renovated their office, but the employees are very nice. They even let us borrow rain coats. Below are some photos of Breiðamerkurjökull where the ice cave is located. The black on the glacier is volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 that is slowly being washed away by rain. Our tour guide Aaron said that the particular cave we were in will be gone next year due to the receding glacier.