Iceland 2019
March 21-26, 2019
Day 1 – Reykjavík & Thermal Pool
Our plane landed in Iceland around 4AM this morning (midnight our time), after leaving our house at 5:45AM on Wednesday (a LONG travel day). We grabbed our bag, took a shuttle to the hotel (45 mins through about 20 roundabouts) and checked in early to grab a few hours of sleep (pro tip: book an extra night before – worth every penny). Once we were somewhat rested and coherent, we hit the town for a quick bite and a walking tour with a local comedian (where we learned about the Yule Cat – who eats kids who don’t get new clothes for Christmas – All of their Christmas characters are slightly terrifying). Once we got the lay of the land, we purchased a City card and went museum hopping, hit a trendy food court for dinner, and grabbed some ice cream (which is apparently popular here, even in the freezing cold). Sore feet led us to figure out the public bus system to get back to the hotel, where we learned that most of the hotel workers are on strike tomorrow (and our bus driver for the Northern Lights tour. Isn’t travel interesting? Gotta just roll with it.) Finally, we decided to act like locals and hit a public thermal pool, where we sat in a crowded hot tub outside in the snow (after a compulsory shower in your birthday suit with strangers). Once we figured out the pool etiquette, it was a great experience. Trying to adjust to the time change and get a full night’s sleep before tomorrow’s adventures!
Day 2 – Reykjavík Foodie Tour
The wind and snow today was pretty brutal, even for Icelandic standards. After a “sack lunch” breakfast (due to the hotel strike), we started our day at the iconic Hallgrímskirkja church (same architect as the pool yesterday). We rode the elevator to the lookout point on the top and then tried to go inside the church after, but they had just shut everything down for a funeral. Maybe another day! We made our way to the Harpa concert hall, with a stop at the Culture House museum on the way, to meet our Reykjavik Food Walk guide. We spent the next three (amazing) hours eating our way through the city. We had local beer, soups, fish, hot dogs (mine minus the dog), and much more. Highly recommend if you ever find yourself in Reykjavik.We hopped a shuttle to the Perlan – a natural history museum of sorts – for a planetarium show on the Northern Lights (which I may have napped through) and a trip through a glacier ice cave replica. The viewing platform on the roof had great views, but the brutal wind could knock you off your feet (and almost did!). Once we got dropped back off at the Harpa, we trekked down the shore to the Sun Voyager sculpture, another iconic local landmark, before heading back to the hotel in a blizzard. Happy to be tucked up in bed, warm and cozy.We’re getting up early in the AM for a tour on the Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon, so it’s time to get some rest. Another great day of adventure.
Day 3 – The Golden Circle Tour
We set out early for a tour of The Golden Circle on a minibus. I’m glad we didn’t rent a car and drive, because we saw several cars stranded along the way due to the storms. We hit several cool spots along the way (no pun intended). Thingvellir National Park, where there are two diverging techtonic plates that run down the island (most are at the bottom of the ocean). We had a slippery walk down the edge of the North American plate into the rift valley. Gullfoss Falls (Golden Falls), a gorgeous waterfall. This was the most North we have ventured, and was absolutely frigid due to the cold air coming down from the glacier.Icelandic horses (not a pony – though they are pony-sized). Peter got along great with them (they thought he had food).A visit to Geysir, which is the name of one of the geysers in the area. This was the first well known geyser – so people stole the name for every other erupting hot spring. The name Geysir is from the Icelandic language and Old Norse.A quick stop at Faxi Falls, a beautiful waterfall owned by a local farmer. The last stop on the tour was the (not so) Secret Lagoon, fed by hot springs right beside the pool (we’re pros at the Icelandic pool etiquette now, haha!). Now off on a Northern Lights tour. They’re predicting a good show if the clouds move out!
After standing outside for a very long hour with several hundred fellow watchers (before the freezing rain started), we got back on the warm bus without seeing any sign of the lights. We get some cool shots of the city lights while playing with camera settings though. Also, it’s midnight here (past my bedtime).
Next time I’m either watching from a bubble hotel or a hot tub….either works. Will probably not be this trip, sadly.
Day 4 – South Coast Tour
We headed out of the city early and took Route 1, the Ring Road, toward the southwest. This was some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen on the whole trip. I would love to come back in better weather and road trip the whole ring around the island.A little traffic (aka not going as fast as our driver wanted) led to an unscheduled first stop at the most voluminous waterfall in Iceland, Urriðafoss (there are 10k named waterfalls, so really no shortage of them here!). After discovering our driver’s secret weapon to driving in snow and ice (metal spiked tires) I gave the same boots the same treatment with slip on shoe spikes for extra traction. Best purchase here. These came in especially handy at the next stop at the Sólheimajökull glacier. We didn’t hike up to the glacier (that required real crampons, helmet, etc) but we did hike over to the glacier lagoon in blustery frigid wind (could literally blow you off your feet). We drove by volcano that erupted in 2010 and cancelled all flights in Europe – Eyjafjallajökull (Translation: Islandmountainglacier, creative right?). Stopped for lunch at the Black Sand Beach, which has been used in a lot of films and TV shows – notably Game of Thrones and Rogue One. You have to be careful here because of sneaker waves – every little while a huge wave will come and send people scrambling (or sweep them off their feet into the waves). Iceland is very wild still, with little guards and safety precautions outside of some small warning signs at all of our stops today. We would have gotten far too close if we hadn’t been warned! Hit a quick overlook at the town of Vik, and stopped at both Skógafoss & Seljalandsfoss waterfalls to round out the South Coast tour.After a dip in the hotel hot tub, we ended the day at Systir restaurant, with local beer and seafood, and then a walk along the harbor for one last check for the northern lights. Sadly, no luck again. Tomorrow morning is a super early rise for the Blue Lagoon and our flight back to Boston.
Day 5 – Blue Lagoon & Flight to Boston
Woke up, packed our luggage and headed to the Blue Lagoon. It’s definitely an expensive tourist trap, but one we wanted to cross off the list. We got there right when they opened, which was ideal because the locker room was chaos only an hour later (they have shower stalls though, yay!). The lagoon is very photogenic, with the blue looking silica water and the black lava rock landscape (it looks like another planet entirely). We spent a couple of hours walking around the lagoon, trying the silica mud mask (not a fan) and sipping on drinks from the walkup bar. (PSA, It’s not a natural lagoon, the water is runoff from the geothermal plant next door, still neat). It still shocks me how expensive everything is here. We spent $40 on two grab and go deli sandwiches and sodas for lunch! That’s pretty normal prices here.Since the Blue Lagoon is about 45 minutes from Reykjavik, we caught a shuttle that takes you there, and then 20 minutes on to the airport once you’re done. Very easy and we both feel refreshed for the flight. Keflavík is a very modern and efficient airport though, bright design and public art. We’re staying to Boston tonight and then on to ATL tomorrow.
Day 5/6 – Boston, Mass
The adventures don’t stop just because we’re back stateside! We spent one night in Boston in an old converted warehouse (now a Residence Inn, thank you Marriott points), in the Seaport/Fort Point area. A total coincidence, we’re just up the street from the new Trillium Brewing Co. location, so after dinner at Shake Shack, we popped over for a beer. It’s amazing to not be paying $10+ for a single beer like Iceland (also they make great beer)! This morning, we walked over to the nearby Boston Tea Party Museum and got a quick dose of history before heading to the airport for our flight back to Atlanta. It’s been a great trip all around!
Well, 2 days after we got back Wow Air went bankrupt. Glad we made it home!
