Exploring Reykjavik and the Golden Circle

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, ready to check out the sights of Reykjavik. I think we may have woken up a bit too early, as the streets were almost deserted when we ventured out.

We walked from Austurstraeti to Laugavegur and of course, we had to pose with the standard tourist fare on offer.

A polar bear (one of many) adorning the shop fronts.

I found this a bit strange, since Icelanders shoot them on sight if one happens to make it on shore. Understandably, it's not considered a good thing to have a ravenous, powerful wild creature on the loose, but it did make me a bit glum since polar bears are my favourite.

A special mailbox to Icelandic Santa.

I also found this a bit odd since Icelanders have the Thirteen Trolls of Christmas instead of the typical Santa, which I find a lot more intriguing. Thirteen trolls visit your home, one at a time, on the thirteen days leading up to Christmas day, and they all cause trouble according to their wont. There's the sheep-worrier, spoon-licker, etc. Children leave their shoes on the window sills, and they get a little treat if they've been good, but they find either potatoes or salt if they've been bad. I think J wouldn't mind being bad - baked potatoes for brekkie!

We were really lucky with the weather - it was the first sunny day in Reykjavik! J and I alternated with taking our coats off and on throughout the day as we explored more of the main drag.

One thing we noticed about Icelanders - they're really helpful and dead honest.

It wasn't long before we hit the end of the street, and we decided to turn our way toward the most famous sight of Reykjavik, the Hallgrimskirkja. Believe it or not, we actually managed to learn to pronounce it while we were there - it only took a week!

It's a very modern church made entirely of concrete and built in the 1940's. Unfortunately, the church was closed due to rehearsals for a concert later that night. They have a massive organ with 5,000 pipes that I would've have loved to hear.

In any case, we snuck in upstairs and managed to get a look at the interior.

We had just about finished when we realised that it was time to meet up with our tour to check out the Golden Circle route. By this time, the city had really and truly come alive, and you could see all the locals out and about eating ice creams and in short sleeves while I was still bundled up in my many layers. I felt like such a wimp - what happened to my badass days surviving Michigan winters?!

The Golden Circle tour encompassed Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss. First up, Thingvellir, the place where the Vikings would meet in their thousands to hold their Parliament. They would hang out for a few weeks, party it up all night since the sun never set, and talk about everything. The key meeting points were marked with the Icelandic flag flying high.

You can also see the continental drift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which is happening at a pace of 2cm every year.

We didn't hang out for long but continued on our drive to the site of Geysir, the father of all geysers. Geysir is no longer active after a recent earthquake, but there are two other geysers that still attract the crowds, mainly Strokkur. It was a bit odd to see a smoking landscape!

We rolled up to Strokkur, taking care to stay upwind of the boiling water and waited for the geyser to go off.

It felt like we were waiting for a while, but it was definitely worth it when it went off.

We checked out some of the other inactive geysers, and I couldn't get over how clear the water was!

Our last sight of the day was Gullfoss, a beautiful waterfall not too far from the geysers. It was amazing, and the even more amazing part was how close we managed to get to the waterfall. If you can make them out at all, the tiny colourful dots in the picture are people!

We were thoroughly wet and cold from getting so close to the powerful waterfall, but it was worth it. The water was really clear and the sheer force of the water was wonderful to see. Definitely the highlight of the tour for me, and the pictures really couldn't do it justice.

The tour ended at 10pm, and the sun was finally starting to set as we started the long drive back to Reykjavik.

It literally was a long, long day!

The Big Getaway - Iceland!

Every August, most of Europe goes on holiday, which means that things slow down enough at the office enough for J to take a proper holiday. We had originally planned on going on safari, but with my recent trip to Namibia combined with sky-high prices, we decided on going to Iceland instead!

We landed in Reykjavik in the middle of the day on Friday and boarded the bus to take us to the Blue Lagoon, which are the go-to geothermal pools. I heard that it was quite touristy, but it seemed like something we should at least try once, and the prospect of playing in mud while soaking in hot water sounded pretty appealing. No pics since I didn't want to take my camera in the water, and no one wants to see us in our bathing suits!

Once we arrived, we stored our luggage in the baggage lockers and headed to our respective locker rooms to shower and change into our bathing suits. The Blue Lagoon doesn't use any anti-bacterial chemicals in their water so they require everyone to undergo a good scrub down before entering the water. 

The first thing that strikes you is the colour of the water. It's this other-worldy milky blue, and the water is extremely salty. I heard the mineral content does a number on your hair, so I made sure to coat every strand with conditioner before I went in. The second thing is the heat. That water is hot! Once J and I entered the water, we made our way to the swim up bar and ordered some cold drinks. I got a Krap slushie that gave me the giggles due to its name.

I was ready to play in some mud, so J and I found the wooden vats full of silica mud and proceeded to slather ourselves with it. J was a little squirmy, but he eventually gave in to me smearing mud all over his face. Then we soaked and soaked and soaked. Truth be told, there's not much else to do.

We stewed in the water for an hour and a half before we decided to finally head into Reykjavik. Our first impression of Reykjavik wasn't great - it looked a bit run-down and there was ugly graffiti everywhere. However, the city seemed to perk up as we got closer to the centre of town. Even the graffiti got prettier!

And although I had read about it in my guidebook, I wasn't prepared to see how many buildings were covered in corrugated iron. It must have been at least 75%! Apparently, the material withstands the weather quite well, and the Icelanders do paint it to make it look a bit nicer.

We were staying at the City Center Hotel for the first part of our trip, and it was a pretty chill hotel with everything we needed. I had been warned that hotels in Reykjavik weren't that great, so we really weren't expecting much. The best part was its location on Austurstraeti, which is right by the main shopping drag. It's also a short walk to the harbour, and we headed towards the water in search of Icelandic Fish and Chips where we had the best fried fish of our lives. The chips weren't great, but the fish alone is worth going for. 

We stopped by an IDA, a Icelandic book shop, for a quick coffee for J and a hot chocolate for me before heading back to the hotel. We were tired and full, and I think the sun was still up when we went to sleep!