Icelandic Adventures - Northern Lights, Blue Lagoon and Reykjavík

I wrote the prelude (read my earlier blogpost here) to my Icelandic adventures almost a year ago and have since then helped plan trips to Iceland for several friends but never got around to the follow up blog posts. Clearly my writing has not caught up with my yapping. Well, it’s time to fix just that. I have not explored enough of this beautiful country to legitimize any authority on it but I can definitely claim to have the ability to pique your interest.

View of Reykjavík from top (Courtesy Closed Shutters)

Sometimes, it’s hard to instantly shake the grime and hustle of city life by just geographically transporting yourself to a new place. During every trip, there usually is a distinct moment or inflection point, when and where you become aware of being in a different paradigm. It could happen at the destination airport but with McDonalds, Burger King and Starbucks mushrooming the way they have been; it’s getting harder and harder to get that feeling right away. 

Even though the crunchy, cold and clean air threatened to burst our lungs and miles of nothingness tried to drive home the change of scenery, the light bulb did not go off till we sighted the faint visage of the northern lights right from the Reykjavík harbor on our first day. Faint green bands reminding us of the tricks up nature’s sleeves and at that glorious moment I became aware. Jumping like little kids, the boy and I hugged each other and ran to score the best seats on the tour bus that was to drive us into darkness and magic.

As mentioned in my earlier blog post, seeing Aurora Borealis aka Northern Lights was the raison d'être for our trip to Iceland in February 2014. The bus ride was spent in acute anticipation and once it stopped outside the city in what seemed to be the middle of a frigid no-where, we scuttled down like rabbits to stretch our legs and pupils. And there they were! Dancing, prancing, teasing, and putting up a show like a coquettish performer with green, red and pink plumage! They swayed and marched and jumped in and out of the dark curtains of the night. My favourite part was when it’d appear that the night's curtain has parted and the lights would spread out as laser beams into a semi-circle of red or green. 

Their majesty - The Northern Lights 

While most folks scrambled back into the bus at some point due to the cold, sweet sips of captain and coke (packed in a moment of puerile genius) helped our behinds stay perched longer while we soaked in the brilliant display.If you are in Iceland for a short time, I’d recommend booking the tour earlier in the trip as the tour operators allow you to go a second night for free if the lights flake out on you the first time. There are more luxurious ways to see Northern lights including watching them from the lounge/ hot tub of ION hotel. You would think that my trip was successful, but I came back wanting to go see the southern sister concern, Aurora Australis!

Blue Lagoon: Most people think of a naked Brooke Shields when they hear the term Blue lagoon. Imagine having to compete with that and yet, Iceland’s geothermal spa ‘Blue Lagoon’ is able to establish its own mind space. Amidst the freezing temperatures, a periwinkle blue lagoon of warm water with mystical vapors is set against the backdrop of black rocks and a panoply of white and light blue sky; the imagery is startlingly unique. You can chill in the warm lagoon, apply freely available silica mud pack for a self-induced beauty treatment, frolic in the hot showers and fountains or disappear into multiple steam baths or sauna rooms. Add to that a whimsical floating massage wrapped in a warm blanket and a glass of wine or ice cool smoothie in the lagoon bar and one starts thinking that this must be how it’d be like to bathe in heaven; hopefully with fewer and better looking folks around.

Blue Lagoon (Courtesy Closed Shutters)

Blue lagoon in Grindavik is 24 kms. from the Keflavik airport (Iceland’s main airport) and about 50 kms. from the city of Reykjavík. You can either drive or buy one of the bus tours (Reykjavík excursions, Iceland excursions, flybus) which will pick you up from hotel and drop you back or to the airport. There are several packages to choose from but I’d recommend booking in advance if you want to avoid the lines and carrying a towel or slipper if you just want to do an entry package. If relaxing so hard makes you hungry or bored, you can try out the delicacies at their Lava restaurant or shot at their souvenir shop.

Reykjavík: First things first, I had to unlearn pronouncing Reykjavík as (Rik-ja-vik) and say it the right way(Rey-e-ka-vik). For a capital city, Reykjavík is pretty understated but then one can blame it on the Danish influence. It’s about 50 kms from Keflavik airport and again you can either book a bus tour or rent a car (recommended) to get to the city. Car rentals can get pricey to book when you land so better book online or use some of the cheaper ones (Budget, SixT) located about 300 mts. outside the airport.

Colorful Reykjavík (Courtesy Closed Shutters) 

Reykjavík’s city center is its lifeline and that’s where I’d recommend people to stay if you want to be in the middle of action. Most of the sightseeing spots as well as restaurants, boutique shops and bars are within walking distance. Best way to explore Reykjavík is on foot and you can plan to cover most of the city in a day. The Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavík is the most well-known landmark with its simplistic yet unique architecture and a very large pipe organ (15 metres tall and 25 tons in weight).

Hallgrímskirkja church, Reykjavík (Courtesy Closed Shutters) 

While driving around the city, we came across the frozen lake Tjornin and the childlike joy of sliding down and running over a frozen lake has stayed with me as one of the other moments where travel transports you not only to a different place but to a difference plane in the time space continuum. 

Frozen Lake Tjornin (see if you can spot the skater) 

Despite not being in city center, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Icelandair Marina hotel with the beautiful view of the marina and the ice capped mountains. The hotel with its quirky décor and theme based rooms was kind of a treasure hunt the daily breakfast spread of fresh salmon and heavenly pesto dip sealed the deal for us. The close proximity to Harpa (the business/community center close to Harbour) was an added bonus.

View from outside and inside of Harpa

Harpa has won several architecture award but for us it was more special as were able to catch the chef's battle finale of the ‘Food and fun’ festival as well as explore the farmer’s market with local vendors offering everything from rye bread (one cannot escape it in Iceland), wine, sea salt, fresh produce, sausages, soaps, scrubs, to kleinas (Icelandic donuts) and other delicacies including horse meat (don't ask why!) 

In my usual tradition, I had made reservations at supposedly one of the best restaurants 'Laekjarbrekka' in Reykjavík. The restaurant had excellent service and I tried the Icelandic platter (whale, fermented shark, puffins and dried fish). Whale tasted a bit like beef, shark more like stinky sticky cheese and I have no recollection of any distinct flavor for the putin and the fried fish was well fried fish. Apart from that and a good glass of wine, there was nothing notable to remember about the restaurant. Later our concierge recommended the Icelandic platter at Seafood grill but I had enough of rare meats for one trip. Le bistro for French and Icelandic influenced French food was a nice yet rushed meal. No matter where you eat, do not forget to try the rye bread ice cream at Café Loki in front of the church or world’s most famous hot dog Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur when in Reykjavík.

Icelandic treasures (fresh salmon, rye bread ice cream,world famous hot dogs and hlölla bátar)  

Although 70% of Iceland’s population lives in Reykjavík, you would not see too many souls waddling on weekdays. Weekends are a different story when Iceland comes out of hibernation and comes out to party. This was evident at the 'Slippbarin' in our hotel which transformed from a hotel guests only bar to a buzzing cocktail lounge full of hip crowd in a matter of few hours on Friday. I really liked Loftið club for it’s cool lounge vibe despite a little bit of Icelandic snootiness and dress code but was not a big fan of being in line at Austur for spotting celebs whom I could not even recognize even if I bumped into them. We ended up at B-5 which was full of drunk and belligerent college crowd; this went just fine with the boy’s idea of a great night out. The happy hour and movie trivia night at “Lebowski bar” was a great way to blend in with the locals and yes, Big Lebowski is big across the world! After downing several rounds of Katla (Icelandic vodka and Brennivin (schnapps and Iceland’s national drink), we found the perfect 4 AM food in ‘hlölla bátar’ (chicken sandwiches).

Glimpses of Reykjavík's nightlife 

I have used unique to describe Iceland for very many reasons, one of them being the Icelandic Phallological Museum dedicated to phallus. It houses specimens from land and sea mammals including homo-sapiens for scientific research and enquiry if one is so inclined. For a country, that’s looking at tourism as its poster child to come out of its economic slump, the prices are a little prohibitive. However, once you consider the natural wonders, unique experiences, breathtaking landscape, friendly locals and a buzzing nightlife; you'll start looking at flight tickets. In my next blog post, I will cover our tour of the Golden circle and an adventurous South shore trip. I guess, it’s time to take out that bottle of Katla and have a shot! Skál!