Reykjavik – Friendly People, Charming Old Town

On March 4, 2016March 4, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Iceland14 Comments

We made Reykjavik our home base while we were in Iceland and it certainly offered everything that we needed. When we visit Iceland again in the future, and we expect that we will, we’ll probably stay in smaller towns in different parts of Iceland, but for our first trip, we’re glad that we were able to spend time in Reykjavik. We hadn’t been in Iceland for a full day before we had already vowed that we’d be returning and that a week was not enough time to see everything that we wanted to see in this beautiful country. From the very first person that we talked to upon our arrival in Reykjavik (not the airport, that was a different story) to the very last person, every interaction was genuinely friendly. The people were as helpful as in any city that we’ve ever visited and we never once worried about crime while we were there.

We drove into Reykjavik before the sun had started to rise, which was about 8:00 a.m. After one wrong turn, we quickly found our hotel and were fortunate enough that our room was available. We had requested an early check-in in advance, but were surprised to find that it was available that early. Additionally, our room included access to the executive lounge where we could get a cooked breakfast until 11:00 a.m. After grabbing a quick bite at the hotel, we walked into Old Town, which was about a fifteen minute walk from the hotel, a walk that we would make about eight or nine times over the course of our visit. Reykjavik has a great bus system that will allow you to get around pretty easily, but we chose to walk so that we could see more of the town as well as get some exercise.

The main street of Old Town, Laugavegur, is lined with shops and restaurants. Towering over it all is Hallgrimskirkja, the largest church in Iceland. You can pay to go to the top of it and apparently on a clear day, something we didn’t have, you can see the Snæfellsjökull glacier, but we got much better views when we drove up to the peninsula. Outside of the church is a statue of Leifur Eiriksson (Leif Erikson) who is the Icelandic explorer that first discovered America. Inside the church, there is an enormous pipe organ that is impressive and beautiful. The church is definitely worth visiting while you’re in Reykjavik.

Street with Church Tower in the Distance

One of the interesting things that we learned is that the people of Iceland are proud of their beliefs in elves and trolls. The most common things to find in stores are the hand-made wool sweaters, stuffed animal puffins, and figurines of elves and trolls. We even bought a plate that has the images of the thirteen Yuletide Lads, who are supposed to be descended from trolls and are boogeymen that are used to scare the children into behaving at Christmastime. Considering their Viking heritage and the harsh environment that they endure, surrounded by volcanos and harsh winters, who can blame them for believing that there might be mythical creatures hidden in the mountains.

Another feature of Reykjavik are the colorful homes and buildings that line the streets. When seen from above, it is a tapestry of color throughout the town and brings some warmth to the cold winter days. Walking through the streets of Old Town down towards the old harbor, you will enjoy seeing a variety of historic buildings, each housing different businesses all owned by locals. You won’t find any chain restaurants or stores in Old Town Reykjavik. You’ll be greeted by the store owners and restaurant owners, all extremely proud of the goods, services, or food that they offer. Take the time to talk to them, they will be happy to tell you the history of their store, of Iceland, or just to chat with you for a few minutes.

We really enjoyed our time in Reykjavik, it is truly a charming little city. The people are incredibly friendly, the shops are filled with interesting goods, and the restaurants are incredible. We also enjoyed the hotel where we stayed, which was the Hilton in Reykjavik. Every evening we enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine in the lounge with other guests, many of whom were from a film production crew. We knew this because they would quietly talk about directors, screenwriters, actors/actresses, all hushed, but loud enough that we couldn’t help but overhear. We never asked them what they were there to film, we knew that Game of Thrones was filmed in Iceland, but after we got home we found out that Star Wars Episode VIII was being filmed there during the same time as our trip, so perhaps that is what they were there to film. Reykjavik was just one of the reasons that we had an incredible trip travelling to Iceland.

The Food of Iceland

On March 2, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes22 Comments

We actually ate more on this trip than we usually do. Perhaps it was because we love seafood or just because every day was a long day of exploring the beautiful landscapes. We definitely wanted to try authentic Icelandic fare, but there were also a few things that we knew that we wouldn’t eat. When reading about the food of Iceland before we travelled, there was quite a bit out there about the restaurants serving whale and puffin. We’d also heard about the fermented shark, which was featured on a couple of shows, including Bizarre Foods. We mostly ate in Reykjavik, but we did enjoy a couple of meals while we were travelling around the countryside.

Seafood and lamb were on every menu in one shape or form and the most traditional dishes seemed to be the soups, fish soup, meat soup, and lamb soup, of which we tried each. We had fish soup several times and each time the broth was a little different, but they were all delicious. Langoustine, which are small lobsters, were also very common on most menus. Some of the best that we had were actually at the restaurant at the Settlement Center in Borganese. They had a wonderful buffet, but we chose to order a la carte, having lamb and fish soup and then entrees. In addition to the langoustine on tagliatelle, we also had Ling, which is a white fish in the cod family, but it was lighter than traditional cod and very delicious.

When we went out to the Snæfellsnes peninsula, the Hotel Búðir was highly recommended to us as the place to stop for lunch and we weren’t disappointed. They are a wonderful hotel and would probably be a great place to stay and get out of Reykjavik, but we had to settle for just having lunch there. Again, we had fish soup as well as a lamb sandwich, with the meat being very mild in flavor.

On one of our nights out, we decided to do the chef’s menu at the Seafood Grill, something also offered at many restaurants, where you get several courses all chosen by the chef to represent the food of Iceland. We told them that we did not want puffin or whale, ordered a couple of glasses of wine, and then the food started coming, all nine courses. Unfortunately they still brought us puffin, but we asked them to replace it with a second order of goose, but otherwise every course, all meat except for dessert, were delicious. We had goose, grouper, salmon, lobster, ocean pearch, and lamb. It was way more food than we could eat, but each course was incredible.

Cured Goose and Puffin (before we returned it)

In addition to the food, Iceland is quite proud of its beer. The most common is Gull beer, which is brewed in Reykjavik and can be found just about everywhere. We tried Boli Premium that is a premium lager that is also brewed in Reykjavik. There is no wine produced in Iceland, for obvious reasons, but we did hear that they were going to attempt it in the near future. The other thing that they produce in Iceland is vodka as well as Brennivín, which is an unsweetened schnapps that is the most popular distilled alcohol in Iceland and is usually taken as a shot.

We chose not to eat any puffin or whale during our trip because of the environmental impact. From what we heard, the puffin population has decreased by 38% since it became a popular dish on the island and some whales are still on the endangered species list. We don’t judge anyone else who chooses to eat puffin or whale, it is just something that we didn’t want have while we were there. Fermented shark is a shark head that has been left out for a month to rot and is then served. We didn’t see that on any menu, but it just sounds disgusting, so we were glad not to see it. The one other thing that we saw on a menu, but didn’t try, was reindeer. We probably would have tried that had we had the chance, but the restaurant that served it was so busy that we ended up walking out without eating there.

Overall, the food that we had was terrific, especially the seafood. Because we wanted to try as many different things as possible, we ended up eating way more than we usually would. Normally we split a meal or just eat small bites, but on this trip we ordered appetizers and full meals for each of us so that we could share and order different things. Reykjavik definitely has a wonderful variety of restaurants to choose from, both Icelandic as well as traditional restaurants such as Italian, Thai, American, etc. The food was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

Iceland – The Golden Circle

On February 29, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Iceland16 Comments

One of the most popular tours to take from Reykjavik is the Golden Circle. There are plenty of reasons why the Golden Circle is so popular and we were amazed by the impressive sights at each of the stops. Actual driving time is about four hours, but it takes at least six to eight hours with stops and hiking around to see everything that each destination has to offer. Assuming that you take the circle in the traditional direction, the first stop is Þingvellir National Park (pronounced Thingvellir in English), the second stop is Geysir, and the third stop is the Gullfoss waterfall. There are definitely some other stops that are worthwhile, but these three are “can’t miss” locations, each for their own reasons.

Þingvellir National Park is interesting for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is its natural beauty, which we’re sure is spectacular in any season, but since we were there during the tail end of the winter season, we enjoyed the snow-covered scenery. It is also home to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is where the tectonic plates of North America and Europe slowly separate away from each other. Iceland offers several opportunities to stand in both the North American Continent and the European Continent, but obviously Iceland is a European country. From a historical perspective, it is also the site of the first Icelandic Parliament, called Alþingi (Althing in English), in 930 AD, which we learned even more about during our visit to Borganese (more about that later). It is just north of the largest lake in Iceland, Þingvallavatn, which was mostly frozen while we were there, but still quite spectacular.

Having rented a car, we were doing a self-guided tour as opposed to riding one of the busses filled with other tourists. We’re not a big fan of crowds, so we preferred to do it ourselves and do our best to avoid the throngs of tourists that were there at the same time as us. Despite the fact that we were in Iceland in what is considered to be their off-season, we found that there were plenty of tours running everyday, so we can only imagine how busy the summer season must be. The good thing for us was that we could wait a few minutes and the tour guides would cattle call their group back to the bus and at least for a few minutes, we would have relatively quiet access to each of the sites. But if you do rent your own car and do the tour yourself, be careful because the environment can be very harsh and one mistake could lead to disaster. This didn’t lead to disaster, but a tourist plowed their car into a snowdrift and we tried to help them get the car out of the drift, but were unsuccessful. Fortunately they were able to call for help, but in these conditions it could have been disastrous.

Geysir, also known as The Great Geysir, is a spectacular geyser and is what all other geysers are named after. Obviously, Iceland is known as the “Island of Fire and Ice” due to all of the volcanos and thermal activity that occur throughout the island. Hot springs and geysers can be found throughout the island, but The Great Geysir is the most famous, having been active for 10,000 years, although it can go dormant due to earthquake activity for long periods at a time. While we were there, it was quite active, erupting several times in a twenty to thirty minute stretch. Having been to Yellowstone National Park and seeing Old Faithful as often as we have, it was interesting to see as the water in the mouth of the geyser ebbs up and down until it reaches its crescendo.

We had missed the hotel where we were hoping to have lunch, so we grabbed some fries from the cafeteria. Since Geysir was obviously the lunch stop for the tour busses, we had no desire to sit in the cafeteria surrounded by the large crowds, so we figured we would just save our appetite for a delicious Icelandic dinner that evening. One thing that we did learn is that finding restaurants outside of Reykjavik is not as easy as it has been in other places we’ve visited. The countryside is dotted with wonderful little farms and small villages, but very few cafes and diners where you can grab a bite to eat, so planning ahead as to where you want to stop is a definite must.

Another View of Geysir Starting to Erupt

The final stop was the waterfall at Gullfoss. This was truly the most spectacular site that we saw during the day and one that will last with us for years to come. Despite being cold from being sprayed with the mist from the falls, it was as beautiful as anything that we’ve ever seen. The combination of ice and rushing water made for a fascinating contrast that was mesmerizing to watch. If we weren’t so cold, we could have hiked around the falls and captured them from every angle possible for hours. Even if you don’t have time to do the full circle, a trip to Gullfoss is an absolute must.

We continued around the circle, surrounded by incredible beauty, with only one other site that we wanted to see along the way. Despite the crowds that were at each of the stops, the roads were mostly empty and most of the time that we spent driving, there wasn’t another soul around, which felt a little ominous at times. It gave us a sense of how harsh it must be to live there during the winter and how hard it must have been for the earliest settlers of the island. Another stop worth seeing is a volcano caldera called Kerið (pronounced Kerith in English) that is along the circle, which isn’t nearly as busy as other stops. Also, no matter where you go in Iceland you will find plenty of Icelandic horses, which are furrier than those that we find here in North America.

All in all, the Golden Circle was amazing, but it was only our second day in Iceland (we’ll talk about our first day a little later), so there were plenty more amazing sights to see before our trip would be over. We know that we’ve said that we don’t get pictures of sunrises because we’re just not up that early, but Iceland changed that for us since the sun rises so late. We couldn’t have been happier with our decision to visit Iceland, it was one of those experiences that will stay with you forever.