I landed in Reykjavik very late on Monday night and I had my first amazing experience of Iceland before I even touched down! As we were approaching Keflavik airport the cabin crew dimmed the lights so we could see a great display of northern lights outside the window, it easily was the best approach to a destination ever! Sadly the glare of the window and the difficulty anyway of taking photos of the northern lights with a smartphone made the moment hard to capture, check my Instagram page though as I did manage to get a picture but it doesn't tell how brightly the sky really was lit.
Below is the view from my window in the morning at approximately 9am, the sun rised later in Iceland which explains why there wasn't much light outside. The clouds you can see in the picture were moving through at quite a pace and occasionally the snow lashed against the window. This view of Iceland gave me a first early glimpse of how changeable the weather can be here, a little taste of the rocky landscape can be seen as well.
Below is a short video from my seat on the bus from Keflavik to Reykjavik. This is such a scenic drive which lasts about forty-five minutes and skirts along the western coast of Iceland. Every so often the road goes very close to the seas as can be seen here with the waves lashing against the many rocks on the shore. The landscape around is unsurprisingly coated in snow with mountains, big and small, on the horizon.
The bus stopped first at the main tour bus depot in Iceland where a lot of people got off and took smaller buses to their hotels. I stayed on the bus and headed right into the centre of Reykjavik and below was my first glimpse of the soon to be familiar view from the 'Sculpture and Shore Walk.'
The bus dropped me off shortly after this and right on the front right by Harpa Concert Hall. The below video captures the scene over the water and of the typically changeable Icelandic sky.
A short walk along the shore is the 'Sun Voyager' sculpture. It's quite a popular spot for tourists and the picture below was the quietist moment I managed to snap whilst I was there! The picture shows how the stainless steel casts itself very nicely against the sea and mountain backdrop, is a very apt sculpture to have on Reykjavik's shoreline with fishing and sailing such a big part of Icelandic life.
After this shoreline walk I started to make my way towards my hotel, stopping off on the way to visit Halgrimskirkja - the unmissable feature of Reykjavik's skyline. The design of this church is clearly quite unique and some might argue it's not attractive but there's no doubt that it holds a commanding position in the centre of the city. The building is minimalistic throughout but it did grow me on the more time I spent in and around it!
Before I got to my hotel there was just enough time for spot of dinner followed by a dessert which had lots of everything bad for you in it but who cares!
In the evening it began to snow and the following morning the already slippy and hard to negotiate pavements had become even more hazardous as they were covered in a blanket of snow. I love though how in the morning picture (on the right) how the local guy seems unperturbed by the cold weather in his shirt!
In the morning I was picked up at my hotel for the journey to the Blue Lagoon. I'm not normally a great fan of spas but it was safe to say that I was looking forward to this particular one! The journey there included some naturally spectacular scenery and changeable weather. Below shows how the weather en-route changed in the first thirty minutes, it started off bright and sunny and as you can eventually see in the video we were engulfed by a snow storm and couldn't see beyond the road.
The first indication that we were approaching the Blue Lagoon was the sight of the steam coming from the geothermal power station located next to the spa - on the picture below you can see this in the distance.
Getting off the bus the blue lagoon is naturally along a path through plenty of rocks and snow!
The Blue Lagoon spa building is a very impressive spa building and there is a great focus on keeping the facility and the water clean. The changing rooms are incredibly advanced and luxurious (naturally I didn't take pictures in here!) and is a great start to the experience.
Once changed and showered I had to step outside and brace the cold in my swimwear but it wasn't not long before I was in the 40C water and it's an incredible feeling. Instantly I forgot about the subzero temperature and enjoyed a fantastic three hours swimming around in the steamy water and enjoying the great swim-up bar. Below are my favourite pictures from my time here.
I made my way back to the Blue Lagoon in the afternoon and have to say I felt really amazing - I'm not sure what the water here does to you but it definitely works! When I got back to Reykjavik I stopped for dinner and enjoyed a fantastic combination of lobster and haddock in one dish which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially being a seafood lover anyway. As I made it back to my hotel, along my favourite shoreline walk, the snow began to fall again heavier than the previous night and I went to bed looking forward to a day of exploring Iceland's nature tomorrow.
My final full day in Iceland involved doing the famous 'Golden Circle' tour which took in some wonderful natural features and landscape.
The first destination was in þingvellir National Park and what a stunning location this was. The view over the landscape was breathtaking, especially with the way the sun casting itself over the snow and water. I enjoyed a great walk here by the location of Iceland's founding parliament which no longer exists but is marked by an Icelandic flag.
This walk also took me along the boundary between the American and Eurasian plates which is clearly visible on the surface and marked by the split collections of rocks and the pathway in-between.
After leaving here it was a shore drive to the next stop which was Geysir and as could be expected by the name there were a lot of geysers! Two things hit you about this place when you arrive - first is the sight of the steam coming from the ground and the regularly occurring spurt from the very active Strokkur geyser, the second thing to hit you when you get out of your vehicle is the smell of rotten eggs! The smell is naturally occurring from the volcanic activity but it certainly is something to behold.
Trying to film Strokkur's full display is a very difficult art to perfect. The geyser erupts in to life roughly every five minutes but that can be shorter and longer and I spent some time recording nothing in anticipation of that big moment. When the display finally happens it is magnificent but I do think I need to invest in smartphone friendly gloves as my hand was sooooo cold as I held my phone in place recording!
Before heading to the warmth of the indoor visitor centre here I stopped off round the other side of Strokkur which is where you got and wait to get a bit of splash from the geyser! I wasn't quite brave enough to stand right in line of the spray but got a little misting lets say...
The final visit of the day was to Gullfoss waterfall which was an incredible sight to see in its snowy and frozen state. What I will remember most about this visit though was how cold it was! During the drive here from Geysir it had clouded over and there was a phenomenal wind coming off the waterfall.
I can't put into words just how cold it was but the picture below gives you an idea. I had to cover nearly all of my face and it was so cold when I got off the bus that I couldn't bear messing around putting my hat on properly!
I've just shown you some of what I saw on this day but there were some great sights between the highlights of the Golden Circle. It's great to see the many wooly horses that roam the fields around here as well as the many small and picturesque settlements dotted on the landscape. (I've included a few pictures from the journey there and back below).
The next day was depature day and I walked from my hotel along my favourite path but this time was emersed in a phenomenal snowstorm! The visibility was incredibly poor and I was covered in so much snow I became a walking snowman.
Remarkably, as is symptomatic though of Iceland's changeable weather, by the time I got to the end of the shoreline walk it was as though it had never happened and it brightened up considerably, shown here at Harpa concert hall.
Before I headed to the airport there was one last thing I needed to buy. I'm a fan of trolls and have one from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland so couldn't leave Iceland without completing the Scandinavian set. A shop with a troll outside surely would be the place to go and it duly obliged.
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