We're hoping to replace this photo above with one of our own on this trip! The whole purpose of visiting Iceland in January is to see the Northern Lights (and, of course, miss a few days of school!). Unfortunately, the northern lights are one of the most elusive and unpredictable attractions this country has to offer. There are several variables to consider for seeing them: season, weather, length of stay, location, and luck! Geesh! We were just in Las Vegas two months ago, and our luck stinks! Let's hope our luck improves in Iceland.
Well....I'm going to start this Iceland blog off with a weather forecast fit for Donald Trump! He's not afraid to tell-it-like-it-is and neither am I. The weather here is %&#@ cold! Kinda obvious why they call this place Iceland. They do not factor the wind chill into their temperature....so I'd have to guess it's minus-something to the Fahrenheit degree. The air just cuts through you like a knife....and we've never experienced weather anything quite like this before. So.....what do you do when it's this cold?
Sign up for a brewery tour!
The Olgerdin Egill Skallagrimsson Brewery is in the east part of Reykjavik. The brewery is Iceland's oldest, but the renovated site is stylishly modern. We sampled classic Icelandic beers (and Brennivin schnapps) such as Gull and Malt & Appelsin, and our expert guide shared stories about Icelandic drinking culture through the ages while keeping our table overflowing with brew. Check it out!
Cheers! After 90-minutes at the brewery.....our bodies were definitely warm enough to partake in a Northern Lights tour. At this point (8pm) Jenesa and I have been awake for nearly 31 consecutive hours! Still going strong....and hoping to see the lights on our first night in Iceland. Fingers crossed!
The Northern Lights are the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in the color of the lights are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding.
Oh, and by the way....another little Northern Lights fact.....if you don't have a fancy, high-powered, expensive camera and tripod to use to capture the lights.....you ain't getting a picture for your silly Iceland blog. I was kinda out of my league when it came to being prepared for this photography adventure. Just comprehending the camera settings was beyond me! I did practice a moon shot.....but it was doubtful my camera was going to capture the lights when they finally appeared.
Our bus tour took us far away from the city lights to several different spots to await the lights. How do they determine where to go? They constantly monitor the Aurora Forecast to find areas with less cloud coverage and dark skies. It sure was dark....but no lights after three different locations. At this point it was approaching midnight, and the bus began its return to the city.
Wait just a minute! The bus came to a stop and it seems they spotted a faint streak of light across the dark skies. Could it be? Is it? Maybe? Well, it sure wasn't the bright green dancing lights you see in pictures. It was barely green at all. It honestly looked like a white hazy rainbow in the distance. Needless to say.....whatever it was.....It was now time to move out of the way for all the Chinese tourists to setup their fancy electronics! They threw down their tripods, mounted their high-tech cameras, and customized their camera settings faster than a herd of speeding turtles.
POOOOF!!!!! In the next instant.....up flashed a digital photo of the green Northern Lights across the sky on their camera screens. What???? Jenesa and I looked at each other speechless! These cameras literally turned a faint white light across the sky into a beautiful green streak. There is quite a difference in what the naked eye can see and what can be captured with a camera. We just got proof of that tonight. So we spent the next 15-20 minutes watching the screens of nearby cameras to see what different colors and light waves showed up.
I stole this photo from Google Images. This is basically what we saw. A very faint light stretching across the sky in the far distance. A white-cloudy-looking image that turned a tint of green throughout the night. The green color really popped at different times when photographed on the cameras around us. We weren't overly impressed with what we saw tonight. Luckily we have another Northern Lights excursion tomorrow night.
We did have some time on our first day in the city to walk around and find us some food! Our hotel is located near the Old Harbor.....thus, it was time to enjoy some seafood. We scouted out some different restaurants and agreed on eating at a tiny hole-in-the-wall place that claimed to have world-famous lobster soup!
Absolutely world-class! That big piece of lobster Jenesa is showcasing just melts in your mouth. This place also had huge kebabs of fish, scallops, and shrimp. We needed the soup to warm us up....but we'll surely be back for more another day! Off to church! We could see the Hallgrimskirkja Church from all the way across the city (and it can be seen from 20km away). This is Reykjavik's main landmark which rises 73 meters in the city center and can also be seen on thousands of post cards around town. In contrast to the high drama of the architecture outside, the inside of the church is quite plain with nothing spectacular to offer except the gargantuan 5275 pipe organ.
I took the elevator all the way up to the top of the clock tower to peek out over the city. The one thing I wanted to spot was the famous Hofdi House. This is where President Reagan met with Mikhail Gorbachev in a 1986 summit that effectively led to the end of the Cold War. I couldn't spot it from high atop the church.....so we're gonna have to get out the map!
The Hofdi House sits overlooking the waterfront and is not open to the public, but I wanted to officially stand in the footsteps of The Gipper. Hello, Mr. President....I am a big fan of yours. Go Leonard!
Wondering back to our hotel....we managed to check out the Harpa Concert Hall located right across the street from our waterfront pad. It houses the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and Opera. This building was half-constructed when the 2008 financial crash halted its completion. The government finally decided to fully fund the project and the first concert was performed in May, 2011.
If you look through the geometric panes of the concert hall.....you'll notice the awesome snow-capped mountains across the water.
The Golden Circle is a popular tourist route in South Iceland, covering about 300 km looping from Reykjavík into central Iceland and back. Let me point out that "morning" doesn't begin in Iceland until roughly 11am every day. My definition of "morning" means the sun rises. The sun does not rise until almost noon in Iceland! Crazy, right? So we are picked up at our hotel at 9am (still dark!). Our first stop on the tour is the Gullfoss (Golden Falls) waterfall, created by the river Hvítá, which tumbles and plunges into a crevice some 32 m (105 ft.) deep. The sun is just starting to peek out over the distant mountains when we arrive. Ever see a huge frozen waterfall?
Next we headed back to the Geysir geothermal area where the Strokkur geyser shoots a column of water up to 30 metres (98 ft.) into the air every 4-8 minutes in a thrilling display of nature’s forces. I stood patiently waiting for several blasts from the crater. Then, a slight rumble before a whooooooooooooooooooooooooosh!!!!
The entire geothermal area was pretty awesome. The fields were a haze of steam rising up from different spots all around you. Signs were posted everywhere that warned you not to touch the nearby streams of water. Water bubbled in several pools near the footpath.
The last stop on our Golden Circle tour included a historical and geological wonder where the American and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart at a rate of a few centimeters each year. Nowhere on Earth is the continental drift more visible than in Iceland's Thingvellir National Park. It was quite a unique experience to walk across the valley that separates the two continents. AND....this park was filmed as a backdrop in season 4 of HBO's Game of Thrones!
One of the things you are supposed to do while visiting Iceland is ride a horse. Not today! But driving past one horse farm after the next on the way back to our hotel....we just couldn't resist at least stopping by to get a close-up with one of them. The Icelandic horse is basically the size of a pony....but has a very sturdy build, a heavy coat to withstand the freezing temperatures, and two unique gaits. The horses are usually not ridden until four years of age, and structural development is not finished until age seven. Icelandic law prevents horses from being imported into the country and exported animals are not allowed to return. The population of Iceland is 365,000 people.....and 100,000 horses. Who doesn't love a pony? Or is it a horse? Check out my wife.....the Icelandic Horse Whisperer!
The Northern Lights are like a woman's chest. Each one is different. But they're all nice!
- Arnie (our Superjeep tour guide)
The SuperJeeps are just badass! How can you drive a Jeep Wrangler back in York, PA and not want to ride around in one of these when visiting Iceland? This tour company has great reviews on TripAdvisor and we planned this excursion when we initially booked our trip. And, they definitely will get another great review from us!
8:00pm.....pickup from the hotel.
Our tour guide Arnie was not only a philosopher (see quote above), but an absolute riot all night long. We met up with 5 other SuperJeeps and took off high up into the mountains to search for the lights. If your tires aren't huge....you weren't going to be able to hang with us tonight. We busted through deep snow, rocks, and hilly terrain where other vehicles wouldn't dream of going.
Once we made it to the top of the mountain our entire group of SuperJeeps partied like rock stars (even before we saw the lights)! My wife is caught here taste-testing the infamous Northern Lights cocktail.....hot chocolate and vodka! And, even after a little evening booze.....my toes were still screaming for wool socks after 30 minutes outside.
11:15pm.....still no lights. After 90 minutes on the mountain, SuperJeeps decided to leave the mountain and head to a new location.
Unfortunately, I could not cross the lights off my bucket list after what we saw last night on our bus tour. Yes....we saw some lights, but they were not bucket list worthy. And to make matters worse, I didnt' get a single picture of anything. Luckily, tonight the SuperJeeps tour company provides a photographer to snap photos of any and all action we may see. Let the show begin!
11:25pm.....Showtime!
Our caravan of Jeeps didn't make it 10 minutes down the mountain before we slowed for what appeared to be light action. Everyone got out and prepared for the lights. Within minutes the green lights appeared. First a faint green funnel in the distance.
Then dancing green lights over our head. And waves. And swirls. And AWESOME!!!!!
Another item finally checked off the bucket list! This is what we came to Iceland to see! Arnie said he would rate tonight's northern light show a 7 out of 10. This is the best he's seen them in 6-8 weeks. Remember how crappy our luck was in Vegas? We just hit the jackpot in Iceland!
We heard this song for the first time last night coming home from our Lights tour. Our tour guide Arnie said this is the newest group from Iceland to hit it big with their music. So he turned up the volume and we fell in love with this song from Kaleo. Check out their other music on YouTube.
Since arriving early Sunday morning, we have been sleep-deprived and constantly on the go! Today we are scheduled for a short Reykjavik city tour with our Gate 1 travel group and another Northern Lights tour later tonight with the same group. The rest of the day will be devoted to our favorite travel activity.....tasting all the different foods around town!
The only thing we still haven't seen in the city was The Pearl! This fantastic dome-shaped, glass building sits high above the city. The dome is supported by six massive hot water tanks (4 million liters per tank) that supply the city with all of its heated water. Inside the dome you will find a very upper class restaurant which revolves one full rotation every 90 minutes while you eat your meal.
We couldn't afford to eat at this joint....and getting dizzy while we eat doesn't appeal to us either. So as soon as the short city tour ended we headed for the famous Reykjavik hot dog stand! Icelanders swear the city's best hot dogs are at this truck near the harbor (patronized by Bill Clinton and late-night bar hoppers). Use the vital sentence Eina með öllu (‘One with everything’) to get the quintessential favorite with ketchup, a sweet brown mustard, raw onions, fried onions, and remoulade (a sauce made with mayonnaise and relish). Good for the heart!
Sorry, folks! No matter how popular this hot dog is to Icelanders.....it ain't got nothin' on The Famous Hot Weiner back home. Leonard gives it a C+. I've never tasted a lamb hot dog before, but it was actually the condiments that kinda ruined it for me (I still ate 2 dogs!). Anyone that knows us realizes that hot dogs aren't going to fill us up! Time to find us more food! This time we headed further down to the harbor to try some fresh seafood. Our hotel recommended the Icelandic Fish & Chips restaurant for a casual lunch. It was kinda obvious from the name of the place that we would have to order the fish and chips, right? Fresh cod. Delicious garlic roasted potato fries. And......we ordered a huge bowl of the fisherman's stew that was simply divine (veggies, seafood, and cheese!).
Both Leonard's gave this meal an A+. We decided to walk off that meal around town before searching for more grub. This is the first travel destination that we've been to that we haven't seen a McDonald's or Starbucks! We've spotted a Subway, KFC, Domino's, and a Dunkin' Donuts. Very few franchises popping up around Iceland!
Before heading out on our Northern Lights tour tonight.....we decided to grab a quick bite at the Burgerjoint (or Hamborgarbúllan). Many would argue that this place offers the best burger in all of Reykjavik. Don’t expect to get a menu or service to the table. Hamborgarabúllan is a burger joint – you will have a burger and you will order at the till. We got the most popular deal which is the Offer of the Century - consisting of a burger, fries, and drink for 1.600 ISK. The cozy atmosphere of this small burger joint was great. We sat at the bar and watched as they threw our burgers onto a charcoal/gas cooking grill and flipped them to perfection.
I've had good burgers before.....and this place only gets a B+. Oh, and by the way.....Jenesa and I are finally finished eating today. :)
No need to waste time posting anything about the Northern Lights tonight. We saw nothing! The lights forecast was actually quite good for tonight (Tuesday 1/19).....but our tour group failed to find them. This Northern Lights tour was included in our Iceland travel package through Gate 1. We had our fingers crossed, but we knew we were spoiled on our SuperJeeps tour last night. The good news is we have the option to go out again later this week with the tour group since we didn't see them tonight.
I do want to throw this picture into the blog (above). This is what they call the Carpet of Diamonds around Iceland. Click on the picture to enlarge the view. You can actually see the snow sparkle everywhere you look. All around us in the pitch black darkness of night.....you can see the ground sparkling. No lights, but lots of diamonds tonight in Iceland. After 3 straight nights searching for the Northern Lights.....Jenesa and I are absolutely pooped! We have been averaging roughly 4 hours of sleep for the past few nights before we're off and running for another full day of adventure. No worries! We have another long travel day tomorrow to the South Coast of Iceland, and then plan to relax on Thursday to eat more food (and maybe sleep in!).
Good morning! Early skies ahead of us on our way to Iceland's South Coast. This would be our longest tour of Iceland's beautiful winter landscapes (11-12 hours). The tour today includes the Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls, Reynisfjara's coastal scenery, Eyjafjallajökull volcano, and the Sólheimajökull glacier.
Unbeknownst to us....you can watch Justin Beiber dance around Iceland's South Coast in one of his new music videos. Of course, all his video clips are shot during the summer when the landscape is green. Just imagine a white landscape to get a sense of what we're seeing today.....and ignore Justin Beiber!
First stop was one of the best known waterfalls in Iceland -Seljalandsfoss. It drops 60m (180ft) and produces a mesmerizing mist all around the base of the waterfall. During the summer months you are able to actually walk behind the waterfall along the mountain pathway. Unfortunately, the path is closed during winter due to icy conditions.
Next we headed for the black sand beaches of Reynisfjara. It was here that we got our first introduction to the history of Icelandic trolls (and elves). As weird as it may sound, the majority of Icelanders honestly believe in elves, trolls and hidden people. Locals tell you stories about jinxed buildings in Reykjavik, or ghosts living in their homes and factories, and even the media often reports encounters with spirit beings. And just so you know, whenever a wallet is lost, trolls are to blame.
The troll stories all follow the same basic plot — night trolls (who can only be out in darkness) are too busy stalking prey to notice the sunrise (or simply stray too far from their caves to get back before sunrise), and are turned to stone in the first rays of daylight. If you look at the photo below you'll see 2 trolls that did not return to their caves before sunrise at Reynisfjara beach.
The story of the elves or "hidden people" dates back to the days of Adam and Eve. Yes, that Adam and Eve. In this version of the story, God would come visit Adam and Eve every once in a while to check up on them and their many children. Before one particular visit, however, Eve wasn’t able to find enough time to tidy up all of her children — a couple of them were still dirty and unpresentable when God arrived. So Eve told the children to hide, figuring God wouldn’t notice their absence among so many other children. But, of course, God did take notice and asked Eve multiple times “Are these all your children?” She told him yes each time, but her lies did not fool God. God got very angry with Eve and told her, “What you have hidden from me, I shall now keep hidden from you.” And so the "hidden people" were born. God gave them the ability to show themselves occasionally — but only to those who they chose. Which explains why many Icelanders tell stories of seeing elves and other hidden folk all over Iceland.
After leaving the beach we visited the town of Vik and then headed up higher on the Cape to view the amazing pillars and caves down below. During the summer months this is the ideal spot to view the puffins which nest in the seaside cliffs. Unfortunately, during the winter the puffins are nowhere to be found. Anyone want to come back to Iceland with us over the summer to see the puffins?
On the return to Reykjavik, we stopped off to visit the Sólheimajökull glacier. This glacier is located just past the Eyjafjallajökull volcano which caused major problems for air travel between the North America and Europe in 2010 when it erupted and spewed 500 tons of ash into the air per day. Our tour bus guided us out to the glacier to enjoy an hour of photography and breath-taking surroundings. Check out the last pic of the blue ice cave.
Jenesa and I are pretty much up for trying anything on the menu at least once. Each place we travel has its very own delicacies and must-eat foods. Argentina steaks. Weiner schnitzel in Austria. Kangaroo in Australia. Dumplings in China. Soused herring in Holland. Pizza in Italy. French Fries in France (right?). Beer in Germany. Ceviche in Peru. Shaved Ice in Hawaii. BBQ ribs in Memphis and St. Louis. Welcome to Iceland. Home of the fermented shark (jar 1), puffin (2), and minke whale (3)!
Two blocks up the street from our hotel was the Icelandic Bar. This restaurant served all three delicacies for locals and tourists to sample. Here I shall review each "jar" and describe for you exactly how each of these menu items taste (or disgust!). JAR #1 - Fermented Shark This delicacy is by far one-and-done! We are both in agreement that it is something to sample, not eat.....and only if forced! This is not for the faint of stomach. The meat itself smells like ammonia....and must be fermented for 6-12 weeks, otherwise it would be poisonous. It is customary to order a shot of Brennivin ("Black Death" or licorice schnapps) to help wash away the taste. The stench of the ammonia is actually worse than the taste of the shark. We had six square bites of shark and that was enough!
JAR #2 - Puffin As cute as these birds may be....they are on the menu! Puffin meat is usually smoked to taste almost pastrami-esque, or broiled in liver like lumps. Our meat was a bit chewy. I didn't think it had much of a taste. Jenesa thought it was delicious. Again, something to try.....not to eat regularly. Ours looked like strands of liver.....purple and gooey.
JAR #3 - Minke Whale Don't get your panties in a bunch! Some people may have an issue with us eating whale, but it is by no means an endangered species. And....it was the best of the three samplers we had tonight! The taste is somewhere between tuna and beef. Very tender. Very juicy. If prepared like ours....it will have a reddish-purplish rare center to the meat. I certainly believe I would go back and order me a whole whale steak the next time I'm hungry. It was that good!
Along with the meats above we also sampled some harðfiskur which is basically fish jerky. Icelanders eat this stuff as a snack (with butter). The wind-dried haddock comes in various forms: as thin chips, feathery-soft strips, and brittle crunchy pieces. It was stuck in Jenesa's teeth all night long!
We are just two 30-something teachers from Pennsylvania looking to explore the world. No kids. No money. And, no worries! There is always something new to experience and see every year. Whether by plane, train, or Harley Davidson...we want to experience and see everything we can! So, we're off again....
