My
love for Iceland started in a grade school science class. Now I’ve always been a nerd about nature and
geography, but when I learned that in certain special Northern places at night
the sky lights up and morphs into a wave of colors, I became forever
intrigued. It became my first bucket
list item before I even had a bucket list to put it on or a travel bug to
satiate the desire. I’ve also always
loved Scandinavia, being part Danish (in the American-heritage-proud sense) and
having discovered all sorts of glorious music and fashion that comes out of
Scandinavia while I was in high school.
Then during one frigid Wisconsin winter break in college I decided to
give the band Sigur Rós a try (what’s a blog about Iceland without a mention of
these guys anyway?). It didn’t catch on
at first, but after many long, solitary and pensive drives through wintry back
roads and suburban streets it clicked.
It all made sense, it was the perfect not-so “I need to get through this
awful winter” type of music but the “we can do this together” kind that makes
you reanalyze the bad things in life and find the beauty in the struggles. And having to drive to and from the suburbs
everyday so I can get out and see my friends is always quite a struggle in
winter; the roads are awful, there are
mounds and mounds of snow, and everyone’s afraid to drive fast. With the music, though, I could just picture
myself driving in Iceland rather than Wisconsin, as it felt and looked (in my
mind) pretty close to it. I even started
looking forward to the long drives to my friend’s place in farmland so I could
have those moments. Seriously. I became so attached that they were really
all I listened to for the next three or so months. I even started learning Icelandic, a language
that’s now on the top of my language bucket list to learn more of.
Once
I broke away from my engineering studies and went to French and philosophy and
knew I’d be studying abroad, I was determined to visit Iceland. During my first study abroad experience in
Lille, time and money both flew by too quickly to make the trip happen. Then while I was in London last year the same
thing happened; I was too busy with schoolwork (and visiting friends in France, Austria and Germany) during the short Fall semester
and then before I knew it I was on my post-semester Christmas and New Year’s
celebratory travels through Edinburgh and Paris with two of my best friends. When I returned to Marquette University last
January to finish out my final semester I only had one mandatory philosophy
class left to take in order to get my philosophy degree, leaving me with a lot
of free space in my schedule. I added a
French phonetics class, skipped ahead into another German class, and happened
to find a spot in a specialty course on “The History and Literature of the
Vikings.” This was just what I needed to
get my motivation back, and it was the perfect precursor to visiting the
country because I learned all about the history and culture ahead of time
without just showing up and trying to uselessly absorb museum plaques. Finally, knowing I’d be returning to France
for an entire year, I decided I had to make it happen this time, even if it
meant going on my own. Somehow though,
perhaps due to years of talking and nerding-out about it, I was able to
convince my friends Anna and Deanie to go on the adventure with me. These are our tales.
Getting to Iceland was not a quick trip. Since I'd done previous research on how to get there the cheapest from various places in Europe like London or Paris, coming from Belley via Lyon was not easy. Just getting the heck out of Belley every week is a feat in itself. Since Deanie, living in Cambridge, and Anna, visiting Deanie, would be in England, we figured it'd be best for us all to meet up in London and go to Reykjavík from there. This was also probably our cheapest option, although one small slip along the way for me would mean no London and ultimately no Iceland. This was my journey on Wednesday the 20th of February to the 21st: Belley- early bus to train station - train to Lyon - metro to my place - *packing packing packing*- metro to airport tram - airport tram to Lyon St. Exupery Airport - plane to London Stansted Airport - bus to Victoria Station - tube to my friends' place for the night - up at 3:30 am for a taxi to Heathrow - plane to Copenhagen - plane to Reykjavík!
I was mostly worried that Belley would fail me somehow, especially with the unreliable bus system, but thankfully everything went smoothly.
At Copenhagen Airport, trying to find some lunch, I was rudely reminded of how expensive Scandinavia is, but rather than brood over it too much I just bought some of my favorite Anthon Berg chocolate and relaxed knowing my final destination was so close, being in the comfort of SAS and Icelandair's care.
Aboard an Icelandair flight they do not hesitate at all to inform you of all sorts of interesting Icelandic cultural or linguistic facts, or to immerse you in Icelandic music to get you pumped for your destination. Naturally, there was a playlist dedicated entirely to Sigur Rós which they didn't turn off during takeoff, making for the most epic takeoff I've had so far.
They also had an album full of tales about the Norse gods, taken from the old manuscripts of the Eddas and read by a very bellowing, Gandalf-esque viking voice.
Some of the fun facts on board the plane:
Flights to/from Copenhagen Airport are always fun on landing or takeoff because you get an awesome view of Malmö and Copenhagen.
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| The Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden; Calatrava's Turning Torso in Malmö in the upper left corner. |
Upon our long-awaited arrival to Reykjavík, we were greeted with this:
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| So reassuring. |
Our plan for the first night was to pick up some food from a local grocery store in order to save some money and then catch one of the Northern Lights tours that evening. We managed to get some food (including some cheap and delicious rye bread!) but due to poor weather conditions the Northern Lights tour was canceled for the night (a misfortune that turned into a trend on this trip). Seeing as we were all really exhausted from getting up at 3:30am and traveling all day, it wasn't such a bad alternative to recuperate and get some sleep so we could be recharged for our first full day.
Friday, February 22nd
Friday was our big tour of Reykjavík. We quickly discovered that the biggest problem of visiting Iceland or Reykjavík in winter is that stores and museums are only open for a short period of time (around 10/11 am to 4/5 pm), making it difficult to see a lot of places in one day if you take into consideration travel time and the time it takes to have lunch. Since Reykjavík is so small and the main hot spots are within reasonable walking distance (max. 2 miles) that's how we got from place to place. We really had to prioritize our sightseeing destinations in order to not miss out on the important stops. Our first stop was The Culture House (Þjóðmenningarhúsið) which was the most essential stop for me in Reykjavík as it houses the original manuscripts of the most important Sagas and Eddas in Iceland's history which I was required to read for my course on the Vikings. Having spent months reading and immersing myself in these works prior to my trip, I definitely spent a lot of time standing in front of the glass case in awe of how ancient the works were and how incredible it was to see the originals in real life, knowing the impact they've still had after such a long time.
A short walk away, the next stop on our list was Hallgrímskirkja, a famous Lutheran church offering the best vantage point of the city itself from above.
A quick elevator ride to the top, and we were presented with this magnificent view of the renowned colorful rooftops of Reykjavík.
For lunch we stopped at a place called Café Loki, serving traditional Icelandic food and located on Lokastígur named after the famous mischievous Norse god Loki.
Icelanders, like many other Scandinavians, love rye bread just as much as they love their black licorice, so much so that they even made an ice cream out of it here. Traditional Scandinavian rye bread is nothing at all like American rye bread, which is pathetically lightyears away from being anything like the real stuff. It's so much sweeter and thicker than anything you can get in America, and basically everything tastes good on it, especially Havarti cheese.
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| Þjóðmenningarhúsið |
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| My favorite of the sagas: Egil's Saga, c. 1240 AD |
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| The Codex Regius (Konungsbók) which includes the Poetic Edda about Norse mythology c. 1270. I bought a copy of this in Icelandic while I was there in hopes of reading it in a version close to the original one day. |
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| There was a workshop area where you could learn how manuscripts were made and learn about old viking runes. |
A short walk away, the next stop on our list was Hallgrímskirkja, a famous Lutheran church offering the best vantage point of the city itself from above.
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| Hallgrímskirkja with a statue of Leif Eriksson donated by the USA as a gift for the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's parliament at Þingvellir from 930AD. |
A quick elevator ride to the top, and we were presented with this magnificent view of the renowned colorful rooftops of Reykjavík.
For lunch we stopped at a place called Café Loki, serving traditional Icelandic food and located on Lokastígur named after the famous mischievous Norse god Loki.
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| I ordered an Icelandic taster dish which came with mashed fish on rye bread, pickled herring and egg on rye bread, and finished with a serving of their famous rye bread ice cream |
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| The famous rye bread ice cream which was honestly some of the best ice cream I've ever tasted. |
Another fun fact about Reykjavík is that many of the streets in the city center are named after significant Viking explorers, characters from the Sagas, and Norse gods, an example of which is Lokastígur, named so after Loki. There were tourist pamphlets naming this area "The Neighborhood of the Gods."
Another nerdy fact about me is that my good friend Adam and I have the same Nordic-looking scarf (inspired by our love of Viking and Nordic culture) which we appropriately named Freyr and Freyja after two Norse sibling gods (very very nerdy, we know). So naturally it was essential that they were taken on our trip to Iceland. Deanie took Freyja (Adam's scarf) and I had Freyr (for some reason I had the guy and Adam had the girl) and I got a picture with mine at Freyjugata, named after Freyja, for Adam who unfortunately couldn't be there himself.
After some wandering around the shops and streets for a bit, we returned to our apartment to relax with some Viking beers before the (cancelled, again) Northern Lights tour.
Here are some photos of the city from throughout the day:
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| Ingólfstorg, one of the main squares |
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| Austurstræti, one of the main roads |
Although Reykjavík is the most Northern capital city in Europe, what I loved most about it was its mélange of North American and European culture, which makes sense as Iceland itself is situated where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet. The people have the cool and modern Scandinavian fashion sense as well as the looks, but the culture itself definitely has more North American influence than the rest of Europe with its 24 hour corner shops, big SUV's and giant pick-up trucks, its love of peanut butter and random American candies as well as its love of comfort food like hotdogs, burgers and pizza. There's something incredibly unique about Reykjavík that gives you a sense of being in a small town, but with a very active, city feel to it; everyone is so nice and welcoming to tourists and they're very open to interacting with anyone in the streets, especially on nights out.
Saturday, February 23rd
If I ever make it to Iceland, I always told myself, I have to get a traditional Icelandic sweater (a lopapeysa) which I will wear to see the Northern Lights. Although the weather wasn't looking promising for half of this goal, the other part was still necessary and accomplishable..right? Not so much. This is not as easy as it may seem, especially when they cost about $130-$200 a pop and there are wool stores that look like this inside...
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| How do you decide?!?! |
There were vintage clothes, stacks of old Icelandic books, piles of records and CD's, and second-hand lopapeysas everywhere, but none of them seemed right. Another big problem was the fact that, although Iceland loves using credit/debit cards rather than cash usually, these little wool-goods booths were often run by old Icelandic folk who don't speak a word of English and who do not have fancy card-accepting machines. It wasn't meant to be that day. I did, however, find a lovely pair of wool mittens that I got for 500 króna less than the marked price because of a mix-up and my lack of understanding Icelandic (although, to be fair, I did realize after-the-fact what happened and my knowledge of Swedish numbers made me realize the poor old lady was trying to tell me I owed 500 more króna.. oops!). It was my lucky day though, because I didn't even have the extra 500 anyway and she was a sweet old lady who let me have my beloved souvenir.
After an hour or so wandering the flea market we headed along one of the shorelines towards a famous outdoor sculpture called The Sun Voyager (Sólfar) which closely resembles a boat sitting on the shores of Reykjavík.
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| HARPA: concert hall and performing arts center |
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| The shoreline with Mt. Esja in the background |
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| The Sun Voyager |
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| Yes, it's been filtered.. but it looks so much cooler. |
The short bus trip outside of the city gave us some lovely views of Iceland's natural moss covered lava rock landscapes.
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| The first signs of the Blue Lagoon waters, with some of the power plant in the background. |
No trip to Iceland is complete without a visit to a geothermal spa or pool. The Blue Lagoon isn't exactly a natural occurring pool, however. Its gorgeous blue waters are the mineral-enriched byproduct of a nearby geothermal power plant which pumps out new hot water into the lava field every 2 days. Although you don't realize it while you're in the pool, the average temperature is 37–39 °C (98–102 °F) and it's usually advised you don't stay in for extended periods of time.
We could tell we were approaching the Lagoon because all of a sudden it smelt like sulfur, one of the main minerals in the water.
These pictures were taken just outside the spa itself. Where you can actually go swimming is just on the other side of some lava patch and it's in a restricted, closed-off area.
The protocol for getting into the lagoon, like most other pools in Iceland, is pretty strict. Everyone is required to shower before getting into the water in order to keep the bacteria levels at a minimum.
The temperature outside was pretty chilly that day, maybe 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 C) so once we exited the building we were rather eager to finally get into the water. Luckily for me since I don't know how to swim, the deepest level in the pool was only about 5 feet, so although in pictures it may look like it's deep because most people's heads are just out of the water, everyone is really just crouching to keep warm. Visiting the Blue Lagoon in winter was actually quite a refreshing experience. It's an interesting sensation having your head outside in cold air while the rest of you is geothermally heated. The best part though, surprisingly, was when it started to drizzle towards the end of our visit. I can't imagine how hot and uncomfortable it'd be to be there in the summer heat.
Another really nice feature of the Lagoon is the swim-up bar where you can order yourself a nice cold Egils Gull (Egil's Gold) beer, glass of wine, or ice cream without having to leave the comforts of the warm water. Another plus is that you don't need to have your wallet on you because once you arrive, you're given a fancy high-tech bracelet that you use to access your locker but you also use it as a sort of credit system to charge your snacks or other indulgences to which you pay for as you leave the spa. There were also free lava mud facials, made from the lava/mineral goo that collects in parts of the pool, especially at the bottom where we were able to nicely exfoliate our feet.
This experience was probably the best, or at least second-best part of the entire trip. We stayed for about 2-2.5 hours and we couldn't just leave without taking pictures of us swimming in the glory that is the Blue Lagoon, which everyone seemed to be doing regardless of the risk of water damage to their expensive devices. So at one point the three of us left the pool to fetch one of our cameras and a plastic bag to keep it safe in. The biggest scare in this adventure was the fact that once we left the warm water, our towels seemed to have been moved or stolen..we were immediately furious and freezing, about to hurt someone, when luckily we happened to find our towels (which we borrowed from our apartment) bundled up on top of different shelves.. we're still unsure as to what someone was doing with them. But we survived!
These are some of the pictures Anna was able to snap before we left:
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| Deanie, me and Anna |
and finally, here is a picture of us that a nice Icelandic Blue Lagoon workerman took of us on his iPad.
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| yeah, no one really knows what's going on in the background.. |
Sunday, February 24th
Deanie left early Sunday morning to go back to her studies in Cambridge (sad face) but Anna and I continued to have exciting Icelandic adventures by ourselves. Our first step was to get out the door by 11am to move to our next airbnb home, about 2 miles away on the other end of the city. Once we arrived we weren't greeted by a person at a desk, but a voice from a box telling us to leave our bags in the creepy basement launderette, and come back later in the day when we'd find our room key in the safe on the table in the main lobby. Where was this mysterious person's voice coming from?? Such strange events..
Trying to ignore the potential horror-movie scenes that could follow, we left the OK Hotel to get some sightseeing in before the day was over. To see some more Icelandic culture and history, we went back 1 mile towards where we started from and went to the National Museum of Iceland (Þjóðminjasafn Íslands). We passed by a scenic area of Reykjavík, along Tjörnin (meaning The Pond), a small lake in the center of the city. What's cute is that this lake usually freezes over in winter, but since many different species of birds like to hang out around it, there's a system that pumps geothermal water into a certain area to keep it melted for them.
Meanwhile at the National Museum of Iceland, we were hit with another stroke of luck. This weekend happened to be the 150th anniversary of the museum, and not only were all the workers dressed in traditional garb, but there was free entry and free Thor cake!
This was exactly the Icelandic experience that made me think small-town togetherness and I was immediately reminded of scenes from Sigur Ros's film Heima when they toured small towns all over Iceland and everyone came out to support them, wearing their adorable lopapeysas and flying kites. Everyone had probably been there a million times, but they came together on this occasion to celebrate their heritage and enjoy each other's company.
Being the national museum, meant to represent an entire country's history, one may have expected more, but afterall, this was Iceland, and the two floors still managed to cover a lot of important history.
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| A small statue from viking times representing the Norse god Thor. |
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| Thor's hammer/a Christian cross |
There were also, of course, sweet viking drinking horns..
After the museum we popped around some shops to see if I could find my lopapeysa and Anna some souvenirs. Luckily there was one store that was open one hour later than the rest, because I found it!!
After the shops we were pretty exhausted from all the walking so we went back to the OK Hotel to see if it really was O.K. to stay there that night. To our surprise, there was a key in the safe which let us into a nice little French/Mona Lisa themed room that looked like this...
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| This was the door: I literally cannot escape the French. |
The best part about this place, however, was the complimentary Icelandic cat friend who showed up at our "balcony" door every evening for a nice purr and leg cuddle. I named him Thorcat.
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| He pawed and purred at our door. <3 |
Knowing we had an early day the next day with a bus tour starting at 8 am, we headed to bed with the tv on. To our surprise, they were showing the American series Man Vs. Food which just happened to be on the episode where they visit Milwaukee. As if that weren't strange enough, at the end of the show they took questions from the audience and all of a sudden as we were about to turn the tv off our friend's face showed up asking a question to the host! Quite a night indeed.
Monday, February 25th
This was our last full day in Iceland and Anna and I decided to get further out of the city in order to see some more of the beautifully bizarre landscapes and features Iceland has to offer. We went on a tour called the Golden Circle Tour which lasted about 8 hours and covered some very important sites, one of which I absolutely had to see because of their significance in Icelandic history and my viking course.
The first stop was Þingvellir National Park, known first and foremost as the site of Iceland's and the world's first parliament, the Alþingi from 930 AD. Back in viking times when there was no real head government in Iceland, the country's districts were overseen by goðar, or chieftains, who would meet once a year at this assembly to discuss laws and to carry out judicial processes. It was basically the most important event of the year for quite some time for people of the law and any freeman who could make it to Southwestern Iceland. The people who would camp out there slept and did business in booths, the remains of which can still be seen today. Factual and fictional events that happened at the Althing were recorded in many of the Sagas of Icelanders, displaying the various cultural and political conflicts in Iceland at the time. This is also a significant area in Iceland because it's where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet, giving the area a very Jurassic Park feel to it, as the Earth is literally being pulled apart in the middle of the country.
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| Walking between North America and Europe |
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| Some of the remains of Snorri Sturluson's booth, who wrote some of the sagas and parts of the eddas himself |
The second stop on our day tour was Gullfoss waterfall, or the Golden Falls. By the time we got there the rain and wind had kicked up so much so that our umbrellas were hardly any help. The walk from where the bus was parked to a viewing platform of the falls was essentially like taking a shower. Not only was the rain soaking our exposed clothing, but the wind was blowing waterfall water all over the place, reaching us where the umbrellas couldn't protect. On probably any other day the waterfalls would have been quite impressive, considering their given name, but the mixture of muddy shoes, soaked pants and overall discomfort meant that we only had enough tolerance to snap a few pictures before running inside to get some lunch.
After a crowded cafeteria lunch break we went about 2 miles to our next destination: Geysir and Strokkur, two famous geysers. Geysir is famous because it is supposedly the first known geyser to Europeans, which is why we call them all "geysers" now. Unfortunately, Geysir very rarely erupts anymore, but we were still able to see Strokkur, a smaller geyser, which erupts every couple minutes.
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| Geysir |
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| Strokkur |
Since it was difficult to get a decent picture, I took a video...
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| Little Geysir |
Before heading to our next destination, we took a very quick pit stop to see another waterfall on the way.
The next stop was a small town called Skálholt whose cathedral was a significant site during the religious reformation in Iceland in the 1500's.
Our final stop was a visit to a geothermal power plant which cost extra to tour, so we hung out in the lobby with a coffee and cookie to warm up again.
Arriving back at the hotel, we were greeted by a familiar face...
Then, as it was our last night, we decided to treat ourselves to some Icelandic fish and chips, with peanut butter Skyr for dessert (pronounced "skeer"). Skyr is a type of yoghurt (technically a cheese) that people in Iceland have been making since Viking times (it was even mentioned in my favorite saga, Egil's Saga). It's everywhere and closely resembles Greek or natural yoghurt in taste. The fact that they had the option of Skyr with peanut butter cups meant that we obviously had to try it. Our waiter was also a young French lad who nicely wished us a "bon appetit" to which I automatically replied "merci." #cultureconfusion.
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| Icelandic fish with rosemary potatoes with garlic basil sauce. Amazing! |
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| Peanut butter cup Skyr |
Tuesday, February 26th
The next day was quite a melancholic day. The sun was finally out, which meant that there was a possibility that there'd be a Northern Lights tour which we completely missed out on, but at least we got to see the city in a nice light finally. After a quick breakfast of berry Skyr, coffee and cookies, we got on our airport express bus and headed to Keflavík Airport from where we flew back to London via Copenhagen.
I left Iceland a bit bittersweet; I was happy that I'd finally made it to my dream destination, but also sad to be leaving so much behind, knowing there was so much beauty I didn't get to see yet. There's no doubt I'll be back though, even if I have no idea when life's crazy nuances will align just right for that to happen. This experience is one I'll cherish forever, getting to see an amazingly unique place with two of my best friends while we're all still young and able. I really am lucky sometimes.
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| So long Iceland |
Luckily I was headed to a comforting place full of familiar faces to keep my spirits up. Next post: my return to London after almost a year after having lived there.
Bonus reads:
There's this thing that Anna, Deanie and I do when we're traveling or on a camping trip together. To remember all the little moments or quotes from a trip we're likely to forget, we write haikus. Deanie was a sweetheart and bought us each an appropriately themed notebook (Deanie: London, Anna: New York, me: Paris). Although I was pretty lazy and didn't write mine down right away.. here's what I've come up with. They're usually more hilarious and inside-joke-y, but these are more literal and likely not as interesting to you as they are for me. The best part about our haikus is the fact that we're completely silly and never serious.. only exaggerated-emo if we must. Enjoy!
Icelandair
Icelandair’s
the best.
There’s
a Sigur Ros playlist.
Epic
flight commenced.
The Blue Lagoon
At
the Blue Lagoon
Don’t
let them steal your towels
It
will be quite cold.
Neighborhood of the Gods
Thor,
Freyr and Odinn
Gave
their names for these street signs.
What
a bad-ass town.
Rye bread
The
best kind of bread
Must
be Icelandic rye bread.
It
makes good ice cream.
Thingvellir
Thingvellir
is cool
It
looks like Jurassic Park
Minus
the dinos.
The deluge
Umbrellas
are dumb.
When
a deluge comes for you
There
is no escape.
There
was so much rain.
The
wind blew Gullfoss water
All
over my pants.
Lopapeysa
I
went to Iceland.
I
found a lopapeysa.
I
went home happy.
Dean
bought a sweater,
It’s
not a lopapeysa.
But
it does the job.
Viking beer
Vikings
love their beer.
They
name them after sagas.
That
makes the best beer.
The hobo of Reykjavik
Only
one hobo
Exists
there in Reykjavik
What
a real Viking.
Black licorice
Licorice
was gross
Until
there was chocolate
Poured
all over it.
Aurora Borealis
Where’s
the aurora?
Maybe
it’s behind the clouds,
Forever
hidden.
We
tried to see you.
Five
nights we waited for you.
Those
clouds beguiled us.
Babies
Babies
left outside?
Oh,
just kidding, it’s Iceland,
People
do that here.
Thorcat
Thorcat
came to me.
I
tried to send him back home.
He
wanted to stay.
Thorcat
came back here.
I
thought he was gone for good,
But
love brought him back.
OMG I LOVE you haikus. Sooo funny! And it was lovely reading your post (way more detailed than mine) and reminiscing. I can't wait to have more adventures with you and Anne!
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