This trip was pretty special to me because it was my first solo trip (sort of). My friend Christine was going to meet me for a couple days of the trip but I would be on my own for the other half of the trip…exciting and scary at the same time!After arriving at the Keflavik airport, it was really easy to locate where the FlyBus was waiting to pick me up for my hotel drop off. I was really impressed by how efficient and super organized the entire process was. It was one big bus (with free Wifi!) that dropped me off to a bus depot (a lot nicer than it sounds) where I then boarded a smaller bus to the hotel. It took about an hour to get from the airport to the hotel and after a smooth hotel check-in at City Center Hotel, I dropped my bags and headed back out.
It was a pretty short walk to the church (about 10 minutes) so I reached pretty quickly…but not before passing this nice couple on the way 🙂
After passing a statue of Leif Eriksson in front of the church (I definitely had to look that up after I went back to the hotel because I had no idea who the statue was when I first saw it!), I headed inside.
I took a quick walk inside the church but didn’t see anything of real interest on the main floor (just a couple of weird paintings and sculptures) so headed to the top.
For 800 kronas, I took the elevator up to the viewing deck and had a good view of Reykjavik…though my view was a bit hindered by the “window” bars.
My next stop was the Solfar (Sun Voyager) sculpture a few blocks away by the sea. While I wouldn’t really consider it a “must-see” while in the city, it is definitely a cool structure to see up close.
On my walk back to the hotel, I noticed a line at a food cart and couldn’t believe I ran into the famous hot dog stand Baejarins Beztu Pylsur! So of course I had to join the line and taste it for myself. The hot dog was about $3US/400 kronas which I charged to my credit card (they only take kronas or credit cards). I got one with everything (ketchup, sweet mustard, remoulade, fried onions, and raw onions) and I have to say it was good but not mindblowing as I was expecting.
After my Icelandic hot dog, I headed back to the hotel (which was only 2 blocks away) to catch up on some work and rest a bit before getting ready for dinner. When putting the itinerary together for the trip, I made reservations at Tapas Barinn (a tapas restaurant that had gotten great reviews) and it certainly lived up to all of the hype! I started off with a pomegranate sangria which was delicious and strong…and then had four different tapas: grilled octopus with mashed potatoes and lime-pistachio vinaigrette, lobster tails baked in garlic, kangaroo a la crocodile dundee, and bacon wrapped scallops and dates with sweet chili sauce. Everything was absolutely delicious! I was stuffed but finished everything because it was THAT good. After all those good eats, I decided to call it a night since I had a full schedule for the next day.
The first stop on today’s itinerary was the Blue Lagoon. Christine was coming in early that morning so we arranged to just meet at the Blue Lagoon. After checking the luggage at the front (in a small building before the main building), we headed into the main building to check in… where we were met by a pretty long line. We quickly figured out that since we had purchased the Premium Pass ahead of time, we could go on a much shorter line. After receiving our goodies (free skin care trial pack, robe, towel, and slippers), we headed to the locker room to change. Please note that you will have to shower before you go into the Blue Lagoon and some showers don’t have any doors… so if you are shy, I would advise waiting for a shower with a door. After showering and putting on our swimsuits, we finally got in to the lagoon. The hard part was getting from the building to the water because it was only 50 degrees outside (hence the bathrobe!). However, after we did make the mad dash for the water, the water was sooo hot but felt so good!
And, of course, no trip to the Blue Lagoon could be complete without making silica mud masks for ourselves!
After spending about two hours in the lagoon, it was time for lunch. We ate at Lava, the restaurant at the Blue Lagoon, and enjoyed it immensely. We both had the three course Icelandic gourmet menu which included slow cooked arctic char, rack of lamb, and chocolate mousse (well I substituted my dessert for crème brulèe since I am not a big chocolate fan). Everything was cooked perfectly and again, delicious.
We caught the 2:15pm bus back to Reykjavik (they have winter and summer bus schedules from the Blue Lagoon back to the city) and was back in the city a little after 3pm. We checked into Hotel Borg (which was actually just around the corner from the hotel at which I stayed the night before) and then got ready to head back out for our Express Golden Circle tour which we booked through Reykjavik Excursions. The first stop on that tour was Thingvellir National Park, where you can see the Great Atlantic rift that is slowly pulling Iceland apart.
We then headed to the hot spring geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, where we waited for the geyser Strokkur to “erupt.” Of course when we tried to get it on video, it took about 30 minutes to erupt again!
The last stop on the tour was the Gullfoss Waterfall which is Europe’s largest waterfall. By that time, it was getting a bit cool so we opted not to go too close to the waterfall because it was already soaking us from where we were!
Once we got back, we went straight to dinner because we were both starving. Our reservations were at a restaurant called Fiskmarkadurinn (Fish Market). We started out with some Icelandic bread that was presented in a bag with hot rocks (presumably to keep the bread warm). We each ordered the lobster soup with a coconut milk base which was refreshing and full of flavor. We decided to try a bunch of starters and ordered the grilled minke whale, the smoked puffin, the Icelandic mussles, and the arctic char (yes, again!). Everything was really good though we both weren’t big fans of the puffin or whale. Due to the wet, cloudy weather, our Northern Lights tour actually was cancelled for that evening so we headed back to the hotel to rest up for another long day ahead.
We were super excited for our “glaciers and waterfalls” tour (which we pre-booked through Extreme Iceland) since neither of us has been glacier hiking before. We left around 8am and there were three other solo travelers on the bus. On our way to the glacier, we saw a group of Icelandic horses (which was great because one of my “must do’s” while in Iceland was seeing an Icelandic horse up close!) and made a pit-stop to take pictures.
We were then on our way again to our first stop which was the black-sand beach of Reynisfjara. We saw tons of puffins there as well as the Reynisdrangar pillars, basalt rock stacks that rise from the sea.
Icelandic legend says they were trolls turned into rock by the rising sun when they came home late after a fishing trip. Since the day was a bit cloudy, we did not get to see the two famous volcanoes, Hekla and Eyjafjallajökull.
We then continued the 2 ½ hour journey to the Solheimajokull glacier which is a part of Mýrdalsjökull, Iceland’s fourth largest glacier that covers the infamous volcano Katla. After strapping on our crampons and grabbing our ice picks, we were ready to go. It was about a 30 minute hike to the glacier and then we were able to spend another hour on the glacier itself – both of which were pretty easy hikes. Although it was amazing to experience the glacier up close, it was heartbreaking to hear our guide explain that the glacier actually used to be a lot larger than it currently is but now melting rapidly because of global warming.
After we were finished with the hike, we went to our last stop to Skógafoss waterfall. By this time, we were a bit tired but decided to head to the top of the waterfall for the incredible view. After climbing what seemed like a million steps (almost worst than the Batu caves in Malaysia), we eventually made it to the top (only to come back down 5 minutes later!). We then walked behind the waterfalls (and got soaked from the spray) but it was totally worth it.
After a full day and long ride back to the city, we were starving so Christine and I had dinner at Grillmarkadurrin (Grill Market). We spent the first 30 minutes looking for the restaurant because it was not in an easy to find location! The food made up for it though and we feasted on shellfish soup with loads of Icelandic shrimp, mini scallops and lobster, tenderloin of horse, breast of duck with bbq glaze, grilled corn cob, and grilled mushrooms. The horse was so tender and flavorful. Christine also tried the Icelandic cheese platter for dessert (which really wasn’t anything special since it was cheeses that she was already familiar with like bleu cheese). Again, due to cloudy weather, our Northern Lights tour was cancelled (damn those clouds!) so we called it a night.
Christine left early this morning for her flight and I got ready for my river rafting tour which was about an hour drive from the city. Once we got to the base, we geared up (wetsuit, fleece, booties, jacket, helmet and oar – and yes, everything was wet and freezing even BEFORE we got in the water) and then headed on a school bus for about 20 minutes to the Hvita river. After a brief safety demonstration, we were ready to go. The rapids were about level 1 so nothing too scary but it was still fun.
At about the halfway point, we stopped at Brúarhlöð canyon where anyone who wanted to could jump from a cliff into the river had the opportunity to do so. After seeing a couple of rafters do it first, I almost chickened out but decided to just go for it…and was so glad I did (though the water was FREEZING!). After the jump, swimming against the current was a task in itself too since the force from the Gullfoss waterfall was pretty strong. But I made it back in one piece back to the base.
After a quick shower, there were sandwiches and fish soup available. We left shortly after and the bus dropped me back to the hotel. After some souvenir shopping along the famous Laugavegur street, I headed to Icelandic Bar for dinner and a drink. I ordered the fermented shark as an appetizer which I was told goes best with a shot of Brennivin vodka. While I wasn’t too crazy about the vodka, the shark (which I previously read wasn’t that great) was actually quite edible. I could only swallow two pieces of it (you get six in an order) but it certainly wasn’t as bad as I expected. I also had the reindeer burger which was really good (tasted a little like ostrich to me).
I then met up with Rachel and Paul (the two other solo travelers from the glaciers and waterfalls tour) for a couple of drinks. We met at a bar not too far called Lebowski that had really great edamame with chili flakes and then bar hopped to a whiskey bar next door called Dillon. It was a great end to another packed day!
After using the FlyBus to get back to the airport, I was a little sad to see my part solo trip come to a close. Little did I know that there was one last surprise in store for me. About an hour into the flight, I could see beautiful snowcapped landscape out of the window. My assumption is that it was Greenland (can’t think of any other country nearby) and of course now, that will be added to the list!
Toya's Travels 