Reykjavik - 12 February 2014

Our final morning in Iceland as we fly out at 3:30pm and are being picked up from the hotel at noon. We wanted to make the most of our time here so we left the hotel at 9am for a look down the shopping street and old town. We thought we would do the shops first as it was still dark (sunrise is about 9:30am at this time of year) but most of them didn't open until 10am so we mostly window shopped.

We then walked down to the old town but there wasn't much too see - we walked past their parliament building and along a pretty frozen lake before stopping for coffee, and then made our way back to the hotel to finish packing before our pick up.

Square in the old town

A very strange statue (and a strange man talking to it!)

People were walking on this lake!

We have really enjoyed our time in Iceland - we have found the people helpful and friendly, the food delicious and scenery amazing. Reykajvik is a small, compact city which you can walk around quite easily - it would have been nice to have had an extra half day to go to some of the museums but we pretty much did everything that we wanted to do.

 

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Reykjavik - 11 February 2014

Today we had a bit of a lie-in as we weren't getting picked up until 10:30 for our trip to the Blue Lagoon which is Iceland's most popular visitor attraction. The Blue Lagoon is like a giant bath that holds six million litres of geothermal seawater from 2000 metres beneath the earth's surface. By the time it reaches the lagoon, the mineral-rich milky, aqua blue waters simmers at temperatures between 37 and 39°C - oh lovely!

It was a 40 min drive from Reykjavik and, once we turned off the main road we drove through lava fields to get to the Blue Lagoon. From a distance we could see steam bellowing out of the geothermal power plant next door which feeds the water in to the lagoon so we knew we were nearly there.

The Blue Lagoon amongst the lava rocks

I had read that you had to shower naked before you got in because there is no chlorine in the water to keep it clean so you need to be as clean as possible going in - I was relieved to find that there were both individual and communal showers in the changing rooms so I didn't have to bare my bits in front of everyone! Once we had got changed we had to dash in the freezing cold from the changing rooms to the pool but it was so worth it when we got in - it was like a hot bath and the water had a silky feel to it because of the minerals. And believe it or not, there was a bar in the pool so we were supping sparkling wine whilst bathing. We were very lucky again with the weather and we were under blue skies again whilst relaxing in the pool. We spent about an hour in the pool and then had some lunch before coming back to Reykjavik.

Hot like a bath!

Peter doesn't want to get out!

Panoramic view of the Blue Lagoon

Peter and I just had our normal clothes on as we were not expecting to be outside much but the coach company told us that they were dropping us back at their offices and we would need to walk back! It is only about a 10 min walk but it felt pretty cold without our thermal layers, plus no scarf (me) and no gloves (Peter)!

We then had a walk up to the main church in Reykjavik called Hallgrimskirkja. It is quite unique looking and, at 73 meters tall, the largest church in Iceland. We went up to the top of the tower to admire the views, but it was so windy and cold - it took your breath away, so we took some photos and then made our way back down!

The main church in Reykjavik

View down to the Harbour

This evening we went to a rather swish restaurant called The Grill Market ( or Grillmarkadurinn in Icelandic). Although we like to eat what the locals eat we didn't fancy Horse, Puffin or Whale so I went for ribeye steak and Peter had the Meat Gourmet which was beef, duck and lamb - the food was delish and we really enjoyed our dinner, but we already had our eye on dessert as the couple next to us had it and we were literally saying to the waiter we will have what they had - it was a share plate of all their desserts and man alive it was soooo good!

Ribeye steak - with mushroom glaze and curly fries - delish!

Peter's meat gourmet

Yum - what a feast of desserts!

I promise he only had one beer!

 

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Reykjavik - 10 February 2014

Today we were up early to go on the Golden Circle Tour which is a sightseeing tour around Icelands natural phenomena. Click on the map below to view our route.

Golden Circle Route

Our first stop was a geothermal power plant where we learnt how they use Icelands geothermal energy to provide both water and electricity. There was a lot of steam bellowing out everywhere!

Next stop was Skalholt church, the ancient seat of the Icelandic Bishops. The church was lovely inside and had an unusual mosaic behind the alter. We were told a story that many years ago the people did not like the bishop so they put him in a bag and threw him in to the river! Obviously that is the Icelandic way so we had better not upset anyone whilst we are here!

Freezing outside the church!

Mosaic in the church

After the church we went on to Gulfoss (which means Golden waterfall in English). The waterfall is huge and we could hear it as soon as we got out of the coach even though it was quite a walk away. It was an amazing sight but my god it was windy there and really cold!

Gullfoss - partially frozen as it is so cold

I am cold!

We then travelled to the hot springs of Geysir and Strokkur. There were a number of hot springs that we could walk around and watch bubbling and steaming away, but one of them would spout water every 5 mins or so but we were lucky as it went off 3 times in a row - Peter went out on the ice to get some good photos but I was happy to watch from afar standing on a non-icey patch!

Don't stand too close!

Our final stop on the trip was the Pingvellir National Park where tectonic plate boundaries form breathtaking views. The coach dropped us off at one spot and then we walked through the lovely scenery for about a mile to the pick up point. Because we were sheltered by the wall of the tectonic plates it didn't feel as cold because the wind wasn't going right through you!

Beautiful scenery

Walking next to one of tectonic plates

We walked down in to a valley, over a wooden walk way with little bridges over a frozen lake. There were icy patches in some places but nothing I couldn't handle (which is not a lot when it comes to ice!). One poor chap slipped right over and to make matters worse the people all around him went 'ooooh' which of course made it even more obvious!

Walking over the frozen lake - you can see our bus in the distance

View over the frozen lake

It was a long day but was definitely worth it - we really enjoyed the day and the scenery has been amazing - like nothing we have seen anywhere else. We were very lucky with the weather - it has been sunny with blue skies. I must admit it would have been miserable if it had rained all day.

In the evening we went to a lovely Italian for dinner where I had seafood pasta and Peter had carbonara.

 

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Reykjavik - 9 February 2014

As you know, I do love a bargain and, if you combine that with a holiday, I'm in heaven so when we saw a good deal on Secret Escapes for a 3 night break in Reykjavik we were in! The package includes flights with WOW airlines (no we hadn't heard of them either!), Bed & Breakfast, a Northern Lights evening tour, a full day 'Golden Circle' sightseeing tour and a trip to the Blue lagoon.

After an uneventful flight, which took just under 3 hours, we arrived in Iceland, and jumped on a bus for the 40 min journey to Reykjavik. Our first impressions of the landscape was that it was quite barren with lots of stoney outcrops and very little foliage with snow covered mountains in the background.

View travelling from the airport

On arrival, weather wise, it was blue skies and sunny but apparently weather can change very rapidly here! It feels cold but not freezing so is bearable!

Our hotel seems nice, with a 'gentlemens club' type feel with leather sofas, wooden panelled walls and lots of art dotted about - Peter says he feels like he should be sitting down with a cigar and large whiskey! Our room is ok although the double bed is two single beds pushed together with single duvets!

Our room

After unpacking we went out to explore a little - we walked down to the harbour to admire the view. It was starting to get dark, and was getting colder, so we stopped off for an early dinner as we hadn't eaten since breakfast and we were going out in the evening for the Northern lights tour. We had a lovely meal - Peter had sesame fried chicken noodles, and I had slow baked cod with langoustines - delish!

Down at the harbour

In taking this photo peter dropped the camera in to his food!

We were picked up for our Northern Lights tour at 7:30pm to join several other coach loads of people also hoping to get a glimpse of the lights - there must have been about 5 coaches in all! We trundled out of Reykjavik in to the darkness of rural Iceland - after about 30 mins they stopped the coach at the side of the road as they could see some Northern lights but to be honest it wasn't much better than in Finland last year and I thought this must be as good as it gets! We then got back on the coach and carried on to our final stop which was quite literally in the middle of nowhere and it was freezing! We stood around looking at nothing and then decided to go in to the little cafe there to get a drink - we we supping our hot chocolate when one of the guides shouted 'it's happening'! Everyone dashed outside and we could see a green swirl in the sky....... Which got bigger and brighter and was amazing to see - it ended up as a huge ark right over our heads, dancing and swirling around - everyone was very excited. It lasted for about 20 mins - we tried to take some photos but they are quite blurred as you need certain camera exposure to get good photos but it gives you an idea of what we saw.

Swirls of northern lights

It looked a lot better in real life!

After all the excitement everyone was really buzzing when they got back on to the bus, but as we drove back to Reykajvik everyone fell asleep as it was late - we did not get back to 1am and they dropped us down the street, saying your hotel is just up that road! We weren't to sure where we were going but, sure enough, as we walked up the road our hotel appeared but we had to press the buzzer to be let in as it was locked! We fell in to bed tired but happy - although we won't get much sleep as we need to be up by 6:15 for our full day tour!

 

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