Winter is Coming....
Day One:
We arrived in Reykjavik at 6am; we were not able to check into our hotel, so not wanting to miss anything, we headed out to explor ethe city. We headed to the Sandholt Bakery where we enjoyed coffee, a danish, and a Skyr. Skyr yogurt is a type of yogurt made in Iceland that apparently has great health benefits.
Heading out to face the harsh cold, we were then on our way to Hallgrimskirkja church, which is the largest church in Iceland and one of the tallest buildings in Iceland. As well as a church, it is currently being used as an observation tower to overlook the city.
Next stop was the Iceland Parliament house, built in 1880, which today only holds a few meeting rooms. At that time, our stomachs were growling and we had to taste the infamous Icelandic hot dog, made out of lamb. You are suppose to order it with everything, which includes fried onions, raw onions, ketchup, mustard, and a homemade mayo. Honestly, I wasn't too impressed, but I'm also spoiled from Chicago dogs.
Continuing our exploration of the capital, we checked out Harpa, the concert hall, the sun voyager sculpture (suppose to resemble a viking ship), and even The Icelandic Phallolgical Museum. I will save you the pictures of the museum, but let's just say there was phallus' of every imaginable species.
On our way to check-in to our hotel, we grabbed a local beer at the Chuck Norris bar. As you can imagine, all that exploring on such little lack of sleep, made us an exhausted so a quick power nap was in order before heading back and grabbing another drink (the Northern lights) with Brennivir. Brennivir is an Icelandic schnapps nicknamed the black death, as it was the drink of choice after the prohibition. For dinner, we indulged in a traditional Icelandic four course meal with local beers included. One of the best meals I've ever had, especially in a very long time. Everything was so fresh, delicious and tasty! We were ready to check out some of the nightlife so we bar hopped to MicroBar and Kaffibarinn.
Day Two:
Golden Circle day! One of the must-dos in Iceland is a drive around the golden circle for some phenomenal natural beauties. First stop along the circle was the Kerid crater. It is changing every year due to geothermal activity, so pictures of the crater are always different throughout the year.
Faxi, smaller of the waterfalls in the Golden Circle, was next. It's is apparently full of salmon and popular for fishing.
Gullfoss waterfall, the unique steep stair step waterfall that is 66 feet wide and 1.6miles in length, and falls to 105 feet at the tallest point.
Strokkur is a geyser that erupts every 3 to 5 minutes. It was first noticed in 1789 and used to erupt to 190 feet, but now typically reaches 131 feet. Be sure to stand on the side where you will see the blue bubble before eruption!
We had to try some Icelandic ice cream when we came across it near the geysir and I'm so glad we did, it was almost as good as gelato! I can't remember the last time I had ice cream when it was 40 degrees outside.
Last stop in the Golden Circle was a quick stop in Thingvellir National Park at the silfra and site of the fissure. At this site two tectonic plates, between North America and Europe, can be seen and you can actually be in two places, better yet, two continents at once!
Before heading back to the hotel, our stomachs were growling, so another restaurant on our list was a pizza place with no name. It's actually just an address and called Pizza With No Name. Excitedly, we quickly packed our swimsuits in our backpacks and then headed out to the world wonder of the Blue Lagoon. We would have hoped to have had a reservation during the day to appreciate the blue of the water but we went in the evening, which had a spooky feel to it. Overall, it just felt like a giant hot tub with a bunch of random strangers in it. Although it's one of the world wonders, it was not the highlight of our trip.
While we drove back to our hotel, we got so lucky and spotted the northern lights! I could not have been more elated! Most people pay for a tour, drive around for hours, and may not even see the lights, and we saw them just by chance! Incredibly hard to photograph, I was only able to get one decent picture, but that will forever be a sight in my memory. Absolutely stunning!
Day Three:
We awoke with a chill in our bones to find out the temperature outside was 30 degrees, there was frost on the ground and ice on the roads. We quickly realized how insane we were for signing up for the activity that we had planned that day .... the ultimate polar bear plunge. We were going to snorkel in the silfra, better known as the glacier water between the two tectonic plates. The water temperature was 30 degrees ... the same temperature as outside! Luckily, we were dressed in dry suits, barely able to move, but you still felt that water as soon as you hit it. The water was incredibly clear and because it's glacier water that has been filtered through lava rock, you could drink it, and so of course I had to try it! The view was literally breath taking as well!
While waiting on our ride back, we took a short walk to a waterfall that was actually part of a scene in Game of Thrones.
After getting back into town, lunch consisted of a lamb wrap which tasted better than any lamb I've had before. A little bit of souvenir shopping and more around the city was okay before we had our own little taste of Iceland. We awoke in time for a hotel sampling of various cheeses and lamb, and beer. We were in the mood for sampling more of Iceland's finest, so I found a place that we could sample puffin (less tender than chicken but not as gamy as duck) and langoustine, which is a type of lobster, but smaller and sweeter.
I couldn't go to Iceland without trying their infamous Hakarl, or fermented shark, which is shark that has been cured with a fermented process and hung for 4-5 months. It has a strong ammonia-rich smell and taste with a fish texture. The shark is actually poisonous when fresh due to the high content of urea and trimethylamine oxide. Chef Anthony Bourdain claimed it was the "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" he ever had and Gordon Ramsay spit it out when he tasted it. I would have to agree with the repulsiveness and washed it down with a beer and some local dessert.
Day Four:
Moving outside of the city, we did a day tour of the Snaefellsness Peninsula. During the 2 hour drive to the peninsula, the scenery along the way was vastly unique. 80% of Iceland is uninhabited and driving around you can see why. There are so many lava fields that nothing can thrive. There are hardly any trees on the island - Vikings destroyed the forests years ago and it's so hard for anything to grow in that environment. Among the scenery, you can see smoke coming out of the ground from the geothermic activity underneath the ground. There is a geothermic power plant where they harness the steam to use as electricity and heat water. The pipes running from the plant to the city are above ground on wheels due to the small daily earthquakes on the island.
Our first stop along the west coast was at a beach....only I would happen to find a beach in Iceland in 40 degree weather and take my signature beach picture!
Arnarstapi is a small fishing village where we took a short coast walk. You can walk all the way to Hellnar, but our tour just took us about half way.
After a lunch stop (we made sandwiches from breakfast because Iceland is insanely expensive), it was time for a cave exploration! We headed to the Vatnshellir cave, which is an 8000 year old lava tube created by a volcanic eruption, that goes114 feet (12 story building) deep and expands for 650 feet wide. The structure was an interesting site to see, but I'm honestly not a big cave person as it is, so this was probably the most underwhelming part of my trip.
Djupalonssandur beach was another beach we visited, but you did not want to go in the water here! There was old rusted boat wreckage along the beach and incredibly powerful waves - you could easily get sucked out and drown.
Our last stop on the peninsula was at Kirkjufell mountain which was the stop I was looking forward to the most. It's another GOT stop and one of the most photographed places on the island. Every season it looks different and even more remarkable.
Day Five:
This ended up being a gorgeous day! We got incredibly lucky with the weather and our tour guide was able to read the sky and timed everything so well, that we got some phenomenal pictures. I highly recommend Troll Expeditions if you're looking for adventure tours in Iceland. The sky was so clear, that on the way down to the south coast, we were able to see some of the famous volcanoes such as Eyjafjallajökull(the name you can't pronounce) and Hekla volcano. Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes with the last eruption occurring in 2000; historically erupting every 10-15 years, the locals are awaiting her next eruption. Eyjafjallajökull is a smaller volcano, but most recently erupted in 2010 putting Iceland on the map for tourism. The ash blew in the direction of Europe and canceled many flights in Europe for 6 days, but Iceland flights were still running. Iceland was only effected by a large cloud of ash and darkness on the south coast. Volcanoes don't erupt like they do in Hollywood movies. Most just have some sort of crack or fissure somewhere along the mountain with lava flowing through it, not necessarily a cone volcano that explodes with lava and smoke from the top.
Hekla
Skogafoss is one of the beautiful waterfalls along the southern coast. We made it there just in time for the sun to be rising near it and there was a full rainbow!
Of course, you have to stop at the coast in order to appreciate the power of the sea.
Another GOT stop was at the black sand beach of Vic! Again, the waves were incredibly powerful here that it must have made for some difficult acting.
The adventure part of our tour was a glacier hike along Solheimajokull glacier, part of the 4th largest glacier in Iceland, Myrdalsjokull. I have never glacier hiked before so I didn't really know what to expect, but we had such a great time! Bucket list item! The black on the glacier is from all the ash from when Eyjafjallajökull erupted, but if you picked at the ice a bit, then it's clean enough to eat!
Making our way back, the last stop on our tour was Seljalandsfoss waterfall that you could walk around. Again, our tour guide timed it perfectly as we were there just in time for sunset. We may have gotten soaked taking these pictures, but it was well worth it!
Day six:
We awoke early for the bus to the airport for our early flight to the sunny, the beautiful, Copenhagen! (Pitch Perfect reference). We arrived in Copenhagen around 12:45pm, but ended up having to wait about an hour for our baggage. We were disappointed that we never got a stamp in our passport in Denmark. After checking into our hotel, we walked around the city for about 4 hours and saw the Christiansborg's Palace and the view of the city.
While talking along Stroget, the world's longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe, we bumped into the Round Tower, which now is just used as an observation tower.
I read that hot dogs in Copenhagen were a must-eat while there, so of course we had to try one for lunch. I preferred these over the Icelandic ones, but I must say that still nothing beats a Chicago dog.
That night we had dinner at a noodle place called Wagamama. I don't think I ever ate so much pasta, but I was so hungry after walking around all day that every last bite was delicious. We then tried out a local beer at a pub and then headed in for the night with wind-burnt cheeks.
Day Seven:
The last day of our trip started with a canal tour which included Nyhavn port, military bases, and the Copenhagen library. We learned that Denmark's flag is the world's oldest flag and Denmark has the oldest military.
We were disappointed to only see the back of The Little Mermaid statue on our tour, so decided that after the tour we would walk to see the front of her as well, even if it was a little out of the way. Along the way, we stopped into the Rosenborg Slot palace which was built to be a summerhouse for the royals in 1606. The palace was gorgeous; I tried imagining myself living during that era and roaming around those ballrooms. The jewelry, crown, and sword collection in the basement of the building was dazzling and beyond radiant.
Included in our canal tour was a ticket for the Tivoli gardens. It was originally opened in 1843
and is the second oldest amusement park in the world. We learned that Walt Disney modeled his parks after the Tivoli gardens and you can see it in a ride that's incredibly similar to the It's A Small World ride. The park is well known for the Rutschebanen, one of the world's oldest roller coasters, so of course we had to ride it!
Lakrids licorice is some of the most popular licorice in Denmark. Even those who don't typically like black licorice tend to like these. There are many different flavors, but you still get a hint of that licorice taste. There was a store in the park, so we sampled some of the different flavors while there. The park was also serving Glogg and being that Denmark is directly next to Sweden, I had to drink some to warm up.
For dinner, we ate at Host that serves new Nordic cuisine. It was a 3 course meal paired with 3 different wines and it was delicious. However, it still didn't compare to our meal in Iceland. Blagardsgade is a backpacker's street of bars that we checked-out after dinner. However, there wasn't too much going on that night, so we went to bed to prepare for our long 10 hour journey back home.
The big take away I got from this trip was the beauty of such a desolate location. The locals spoke with us about global warming and the proof is very real in Iceland, however, none of the locals are worried. Glaciers are constantly moving and changing, so the landscape of Iceland is constantly moving and changing. The Iceland I saw this past week, is a different Iceland than you saw a few years ago, and will be different if you go to see it in a few more years. That just makes this place that much more wondrous.
