Favourite 2012 travel photos. Þingvellir, Iceland. August 2012
Þingvellir
Iceland
Sólfar
Favourite 2012 travel photos – Sólfar. Reykjavik, Iceland. 9:00pm in early August.
Challenge completed. Reykjavik.
Favourite 2012 travel photos – Hákarl challenge completed. Reykjavik. August 2012.
A love letter to Iceland
Iceland deserves a last word.
Two weeks traveling throughout Denmark, Norway and Sweden ended with a couple of days in Iceland en route home. Looking back on those two days, they are packed with charged memories. Perhaps I’ve said too often here that I fell in love with the country. Is two days enough to know it’s love?
Hot springs. Glaciers. Waterfalls. Mountains. Geysers. Roads heading to the horizon with no other living creatures in sight, except for the sheep. Winds coming off the North Atlantic so pure and fresh that they filled your body with wonder. Stunning public art. Music so ethereal that the sounds gave me chills. Skyr (seriously, why can’t I get this in Halifax?). And the hotdogs, those glorious hotdogs.
As a traveler, I endeavour to see everything I need to see in a place because there’s so much more left to see in this world, that I assume I’ll never make it back to the same place again. Not so with Iceland. I need to see more of it, taste more of its food (except for the hákarl, once was enough for that), see more of its art and listen to more of its music.
Iceland, you had me at hello, warmed my heart throughout my visit, repeatedly took my breath away over two days and left me longing to see you again. Thanks for the indelible mark you have left on me.
Until we see each other again…
Last day in Reykjavik
All good things must come to an end. Waking in Reykjavik for the last day in a country I’ve fallen madly in love with, I don’t want to leave. I want more time in Iceland, and I don’t want our Scandinavian adventure to come to an end.
All wishing aside, we have a 6pm flight, so have almost a full day to explore Reykjavik. After a leisurely breakfast, we walk up a small hill from our hotel toward one of the iconic buildings in the town – Hallgrímskirkja:
Hákarl. Brennivín. Puffin. Delicious?
Arriving back in Reykjavik from a day trip of Iceland’s Golden Circle, there was no question as to the evening’s activities – this was my chance to sample a few Icelandic foods I couldn’t miss. One in particular was something I wouldn’t miss trying even if the thought of it caused more than a little bit of apprehension.
Hákarl. The shark.
A day trip for the ages – Iceland’s Golden Circle
Normally toward the end of a two week trip, my energy is starting to fade just a bit. Not so on the second to last day of this trip. I’m awake early, and among the first to grab breakfast in the dining room of our Reykjavik hotel. I can’t get to the car rental place fast enough. Today we’re doing a driving tour of Iceland’s “Golden Circle”
Leaving Reykjavik, there are clouds in the sky with a forecast promising a sunny day a few hours ahead. With no trouble at all, we find our way out of the city and onto highway 36 to make our way to Þingvellir National Park. We decided on the self-tour/rental car approach so we could do this trip at our own pace. About 10-15 minutes after turning onto highway 36, we’re glad we did. We pull off the highway for the first of what would be a few stops like this. There is an open vista and a field of balanced rock sculptures done by visitors:
The Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik hotdogs
A month and a half after returning home, I still get goosebumps thinking back on arriving in Reykjavik for the start of two days in Iceland. In planning our itinerary, we figured a good first taste of this country after a four hour flight was a stop at the Blue Lagoon. It was a perfect day for a visit here: sunny, 13°C. My slightly weary travel body melted as I entered the lagoon:
In no time, the hot water took out the kinks of four hours spent in economy class. Noticing a bar just off to one side of the lagoon, I had my first Gull beer which really put me at ease. It may have been the best tasting beer ever – the location definitely had something to do with that. Continue reading
Arriving in Iceland
Expectations can be a funny thing. Grounded in fear or excitement of something unknown or somewhat unpredictable, they can cloud or enhance the experience to which you’ve attached them. Getting on the plane from Bergen to Reykjavik, I’m terribly excited. Kid at Christmas excited. My expectations for this last leg of the trip are sky high. While the Scandinavian trip has been outstanding so far, for me, one of the things that sealed the choice for this year’s big trip was the two days we would be spending in Iceland.
When I was much younger, during the Christmas season you would see flocks of Icelanders wandering through Mic Mac Mall. They came to my hometown to do their Christmas shopping because of the purchasing power they had compared to the inflated costs at the time in their country. As a kid, I was struck by how different the people looked – so elegant, so well dressed – and how cool their accents sounded. At that time in my mind, Iceland was an almost mythical place.
Fast forward to me sitting on a plane to Reykjavik, and Iceland is still mythical to me. My Icelandair plane is named after one of their volcanoes (Katla). I have a bottle of Icelandic glacier water. I’m listening to the in flight Icelandic music channel and the ethereal quality to the music is igniting my excitement. I’m hours away from landing, and yet I feel like I’ve already arrived.
All of the reading I’ve done and photos I’ve seen can’t capture what I’ll experience in the two days that lay ahead of me. I’ll try to express in a few posts coming up the beauty and the magic that so deeply touched me in Iceland.
The expectations were high.
First reflections on Scandinavia
Fourteen days. Four countries. A multitude of trains, planes, subways, boats and buses. Having returned from an amazing tour of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, I’m reflecting on a trip I’ve wanted to make for many years. Sitting in the airport in Reykjavik yesterday afternoon, my love asked me what my favourite part of our trip was. It’s a question to which I’m not sure I can provide an answer. This is a trip that really felt like four smaller voyages wrapped into one. As I sit on my sofa this morning, having been awake for a few hours adjusting to the change in time, I know it was a great trip – my feet are sore, my camera’s memory cards are full, and my spirit is rested.
More reflection and stories coming on the trip over the next few weeks. For now, a picture of what was one of the deciding factors in making Scandinavia the destination this year over a whole host of places on our “must visit” list. Food is always an important part of our adventures and Scandinavia gave my love (who has Celiac disease) a chance to have something she hasn’t been able to have in years – a (gluten free) Big Mac in Stockholm:
Bluenose Traveler 