To quote a famous line by Nathan from Queer As Folk, “I’m doing it, I’m really doing it!”
It’s day 6 and I’m say having just had some breakfast in my hostel after my second night here. After a terrible first night’s sleep, the snoring warthog of a roomie was defeated last night by my purchase of earplugs – you learn quickly when you’re hosteling!
I arrived late on Sunday night having spent the previous few days in Iceland. I’ll share a few things with you now about how beautiful that country really is.
Arriving into Reykjavik you struggle initially to place the architecture, the vibe and the atmosphere, but very quickly you learn that everyone is super friendly and it’s a great place to be! They know that tourism is a major part of their economy so looking after visitors is a priority. That said, during our stay it never felt disingenuous in any way. After some discussion with my friend, we settled on the town being a mix of retro, French and hipster. I’m afraid I can’t articulate it much better than that! Creative graffiti seems to have been commissioned on almost every street corner and it really adds to the relaxed atmosphere of this great town.
My first few days were spent with a good friend. We stayed in the Skuggi hotel, which is about 5 minutes walk to downtown Reykjavik and serves a good breakfast – highly recommend! We spent our first day just orientating ourselves in the town itself before heading off to the famous Blue Lagoon – a geothermal outdoor spa!
The Blue Lagoon is situated about 35 minutes away from Reykjavik, back towards the airport. We arrived and both of us felt a little disappointed with what was on offer. Sure, the novelty of a warm, outdoor, ice blue lagoon was impressive, but only for about 20 minutes or so. It had a very commercial feel to it and I personally felt they’d missed a trick by not allowing for any vistas into the beautiful surroundings. Still, we had a relaxing time and I have to say that the food served there is really nice!
Saturday was our big day! We did something called the ‘Golden Circle’. It’s a well known tour around the island and consists of waterfalls, geysers and in our case, glaciers where you can go snowmobiling! The views as you drive around are literally breathtaking. A combination of the vastness of something you’d see in America, versus the beauty of Scotland, there are endless opportunities to take pictures, if that’s your thing. There’s a few pictures below of the scenery but honestly, they do the real deal no justice.
Snowmobiling was my ultimate highlight. I can’t remember the last time I just let go and had so much fun! I did get told off at one point, as apparently overtaking all 16 participants, full throttle and off-piste isn’t within the rule book! Still, it felt amazing to be so in the moment and just laugh and have fun. The views whilst you’re on the glacier are incredible and we parked up at one point (is that the right word?!) to take in a spectacular panorama of snow-capped mountains.
Returning to Reykjavik later that evening, we had some amazing food in a restaurant called ‘Grillmarkadurinn’. It’s tucked away on the main strip but the service and the food is sensational! My friend treated me to a tasting menu on the evening we arrived, which I’d highly recommend. It was so great we chose to have our last meal there too. Afterwards we met some friends I’d made earlier this year whilst on the South East Asia trip. They live right in the centre of Reykjavik and played the perfect hosts, getting us far too drunk before ending up in the only gay bart – Kiki. That was quite an experience in itself!
Sunday was departure day. So we had some brunch in a cute little harbour cafe called “Haiti’ and reflected on the trip. In summary, for me Iceland is an incredibly beautiful, friendly and safe place to visit. Some of the vistas took my breath away and I’d love to go back in the winter to experience the northern lights. Just need a small bank loan if I do that – be warned, Iceland is expensive!
Next update will be Toronto and Montreal, over and out for now!