This past weekend was spent in Berlin, home of Liebling, currywurst, and impressive historic sites. But I’m going to tell you about Iceland.
When I was planning my summer adventures, I came across a cheap one-way Toronto-Reykjavik-London on Icelandair that was just too good to pass up. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I had the opportunity, at no charge, to extend my mandatory layover in Rekjavik, thus giving me the chance to explore a bit of Iceland, a place I probably would have never gone to otherwise.
With some careful planning, I negotiated a two-day stopover (though, on Icelandair, it is possible to arrange up to a 7-day stopover at no extra charge). Realizing that two days is a really short time in a new city, I booked two tours that would allow me to see two of Icelands most impressive natural wonders: the Golden Circle and the Blue Lagoon.
The six-hour night flight on Icelandair was uneventful, if uncomfortable. An extra hour on the Reykjavik airstrip, waiting for a gate was annoying, but only mildly so. Despite the delay, by the time I collected my luggage and went through immigration it was still only 8:00am. As I had researched, once in the airport I promptly purchased a ticket for a coach into the city. On the 50 minute ride, I was regaled by the exquisite Reykjavik landscape, whose rolling green hills reminded me of my trip to Edinburgh last year. The weather, which had been on of my major worries when booking the trip, was crisp (not cold, as I had feared) and gorgeous.
The coach service dropped me off in front of the hostel I had booked, the Reyjakvik Downtown Hostel. The hostel, one of the newest and most centrally located in Reyjavik, was very very clean and modernly decorated. The staff, a Greek guy and two girls (one German, and one Icelandic) were very nice and helpful and let me leave my luggage beside the reception since check-in wasn’t until 2pm. It was 9:00 am.
I freshened up and left the hostel to do a little sightseeing on my own before the tour bus for the Golden Circle tour came to pick me up at noon. The sky was an awesome shade of robin’s egg blue and the bright sun enhanced the vivid colours that all the buildings seemed to be painted in. I turned down a street next to the hostel and found myself at the Reykjavik harbour, the imposing but colourful boats casting their long shadows on the dock. Stunning. I saw signs for whale watching tours and looked out over the body of water (the name of which is still unknown to me) which was dotted with boats, ships, and dinghys and seemed to stretch for miles. A Spanish girl, travelling on her own, like me, took my picture by the harbour and excitedly told me about her week long adventures in the country, where she had gone to the north and seen glaciers face to face. Cool!
I then continued to stroll around the city. Reykjavik is tiny (only 100,000 inhabitants- Iceland only has about 300,000 total), but vibrant and quaint. The cheeriness of the buildings and surroundings had me dumbfounded. So bright! So cute! So beautiful! In my wanderings, I met an American sailor who was on a sailing mission in Scandanavia.
I then went back to the hostel and got picked up by the bus for what is known as the “Golden Circle” tour. This particular tour consists of visiting three areas of Reykjavik that are home to some of Iceland’s many geological wonders. This tour took me and about twenty other passengers to Pingvellir (site where Iceland’s first ancient parliament was established…
…to see Gullfoss (one of Iceland’s largest waterfalls)… 
…and the site of the Strokkur and Geysir geysers (as you can see below, America’s “Old Faithful” geyser falls somewhere in between the two with regards to water spray height).
After that action packed tour (it was nearly 7 hours long from start to finish due to travel times), I retreated back to my very clean hostel and hung out in the common room where the staff, strangely enough, opted to screen the movie “Julie and Julia”. However strange, I somehow became tranfixed by the film and watch it til its end at midnight. I then looked outside and was shocked by how bright it was outside- I had forgotten that in the summer, Iceland has twenty four hours of daylight. 
At midnight this is the darkest it ever gets. By 3 a.m. it was totally bright outside again, as if it were really noon. I know this because the sun piercing the thick blinds of my hostel room’s window woke me up in the middle of the night. Just wild.
The following morning, after a filling and tasty hostel breakfast, I repacked my bags and headed out to the Blue Lagoon for an afternoon of relaxation and enjoyment before my early evening flight to London. The Blue Lagoon, though a natural geological wonder, has been converted into a spa of sorts. The milky aqua coloured waters are naturally hot and supposedly the silica that is in the water is supposed to work wonders for your skin (and wreak havoc on your hair). I was awestruck by the surroundings and the vivid colours.
I jetted off to the airport after an amazing, though extremely short, visit to Reykjavik and its surroundings. Iceland definitely gets two thumbs up from me.
46 Comments
very beautiful scenery, hope you had a blast thanks for sharing
Ah, I love when cheap flights turn into cheap flights on obscure airlines turn into long layovers somewhere fantastic 🙂
Was it still ridiculously expensive in Iceland, or has that all changed since their economy collapsed?
@kimvan- thanks!! the pictures don't even capture how beautiful it was there. while iceland is a pretty random destination, if you can somehow find your way there a short stay is definitely worth it 🙂
@Naomi- I know! Such are the joys of travelling- you never can be exactly sure of how things will pan out (this obviously worked out for the best)! You know, I actually meant to write about the prices in Iceland- things are still really expensive there! While prices have been cut by 1/3 to 1/2, things are still stupid expensive… The Golden Circle tour I took was a whopping $70 USD (Crazy since they didn't provide food and all they really did was drive us to each site and give an explanation while on the bus)! Entry to the Blue Lagoon was 28 Euro (about 40 USD) and the hostel I stayed in was $30 USD a night but a dorm with 10 beds… Iceland definitely ain't cheap!
I’m going to Icleand this Friday and I am so excited!
I just got back from my second trip to Iceland and I’m still obsessed with it. I’d wanted to visit for ages, and then in 2010 my bf and I did a quick jaunt from London. From the minute I landed I wanted to go back! The first time we just did Reykjavik and the Blue Lagoon, but this time my friend and I rented a car and drove into South Iceland, all the way to Vik (and a bit further one day for exploration’s sake!). It was epic. Hopefully you’ll get a chance to go for longer next time! We only did five nights, but it was a great amount of time to see everything in that area. Problem is, I want to go back in the summer to hike to places that are inaccessible in the winter!
Right on my man!
I was just telling my friend about that.
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.
I don’t know who you are but certainly you are
going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
Link exchange is nothing else except it is only placing the other person’s blog link on your page at suitable place
and other person will also do similar for you.
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something that
helped me. Cheers!
Keep on working, great job!
Hello there! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was
wondering which blog platform are you using
for this site? I’m getting fed up of WordPress because
I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives
for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
This is a really good tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere.
Brief but very accurate information… Thanks for sharing
this one. A must read article!
Excellent post. I was checking continuously
this blog and I’m inspired! Extremely useful information specifically the closing
section 🙂 I handle such info a lot. I used to be looking for this certain information for a
very long time. Thank you and good luck.
I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up!
I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later.
All the best
Greetings I am so happy I found your web site, I really found you
by accident, while I was searching on Bing for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just
like to say thanks for a marvelous post and a all round exciting blog (I also love
the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the minute but I have saved
it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time
I will be back to read a great deal more, Please do
keep up the awesome job.
Fine way of explaining, and good paragraph to obtain information regarding my presentation topic, which
i am going to present in school.
Why people still make use of to read news papers when in this technological globe everything is presented on web?
I’ve read several just right stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting.
I wonder how much attempt you put to create this type of magnificent informative site.
I didn’t know that.
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!|
Hi there everyone, it’s my first pay a quick visit at this website, and piece of writing
is genuinely fruitful for me, keep up posting such content.
Link exchange is nothing else except it is just placing the other person’s web
site link on your page at suitable place and other
person will also do same for you.
Asking questions are genuinely pleasant thing if you are not understanding anything totally, except this paragraph presents nice understanding
even.
Thanks for the good writeup. It in reality used to be a enjoyment account it.
Look complicated to more introduced agreeable
from you! By the way, how can we be in contact?
I must thank you for the efforts you have put in writing
this site. I’m hoping to view the same high-grade blog posts by you later
on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has motivated me to get my own, personal blog now 😉
Hello, i believe that i noticed you visited my web site thus i got here to return the favor?.I’m trying to in finding
issues to enhance my web site!I guess its good enough to
use a few of your ideas!!
My brother recommended I might like this blog.
He was totally right. This post actually made my day.
You can not imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
great put up, very informative. I wonder why the opposite specialists of this sector do not
notice this. You should continue your writing.
I am confident, you have a huge readers’ base already!
I was recommended this blog by my cousin. I am not sure
whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my trouble.
You are amazing! Thanks!
This is my first time pay a visit at here and i am in fact pleassant to read all at
alone place.
Hmm it looks like your blog ate my first comment (it was extremely
long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted
and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything.
Do you have any helpful hints for newbie blog writers?
I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a very well written article.
I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read
more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I will certainly
comeback.
When someone writes an article he/she keeps the idea of
a user in his/her brain that how a user can be aware of it.
Thus that’s why this piece of writing is perfect.
Thanks!
After going over a handful of the blog articles on your web site,
I truly like your technique of blogging. I added it
to my bookmark site list and will be checking back in the near future.
Please check out my website as well and let me know your
opinion.
Excellent website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any forums that cover
the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part of online community where I can get advice from other experienced
individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let
me know. Thanks a lot!
First of all I would like to say wonderful blog! I had a quick question which I’d
like to ask if you don’t mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear your
head before writing. I’ve had trouble clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there.
I truly do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or tips?
Kudos!
Hey this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding skills so I
wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
It is appropriate time to make some plans for the future and
it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you some interesting things or advice.
Maybe you could write next articles referring to this article.
I want to read more things about it!
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts.
Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently fast.
Quality posts is the main to be a focus for the users to visit
the site, that’s what this web page is providing.
Yes! Finally something about health supplement.
Everything is very open with a clear description of
the issues. It was truly informative. Your website is
very helpful. Thank you for sharing!
If you would like to improve your know-how only keep visiting this web site and be updated with the hottest news
posted here.
Why is it I always really feel like you do?
Comments are closed.