Leslie and I jumped on a WOW Air flight to Iceland to meet up with living legend Nico Norlinger, a friend, a groomsmen, and human being voted most likely to lose his passport (he lost his passport), for a few days before our leg in Denmark.
Travel
Our 5 hour 50 minute direct flight departed BWI at 7:00PM meaning we arrived in Iceland at around 5:00 in the morning local time. We took a quick nap and waited for Nico to make the 10K walk from the bus station he got off at too early.
Even the air above Iceland is stunning
Our Airbnb in Iceland
Nico calling the airline to locate his passport. Classic Nico!
With the tank already on E, the plan was to get the lay of the land in Reykjavik on Saturday and grab some food. If you are ever in Iceland, go to Grillmarkadurinn (Grillmarket), which serves authentic Icelandic farm to table cuisine. We opted for the tasting menu to get the full experience. It was quite possibly the best meal I've ever had. They may have earned the first ever 6 crabs out of 5. Not pictured, but we also had whale for the first time which tasted like ultra-tender teriyaki chicken.
Bread and butter with lava salt. LAVA SALT Y'ALL!
The Great Dane imbibing with a chili cocktail
Leslie's basil gin cocktail
Sliders made with cute cuddly Puffin, the national bird of Iceland. Leslie devoured those poor Puffins!
Free round of cocktails since they had us move tables... Deal!
Some kind of grouper or flounder or something
Steak and Mushrooms!
Best course of the night goes to this lamb and the three different sauces to dip in.
No tasting menu is complete without a tasting dessert plate.
Leslie's weapon of choice: a knife made of dark chocolate
We also spent time walking the streets of Reykjavik: very touristy, but beautiful. The seemingly most famous point in the city is Hallgrímskirkja, a church and the sixth largest man made structure in all of Iceland (pictured below).
The Golden Circle spans hundreds of miles around Iceland and is home to many famous natural landmarks. A 45 minute drive in any direction results in vastly different landscapes and attractions. Some tourists jump on a bus and go from site to site, but we opted to rent a car! First stop on the Golden Circle was Þingvellir (Thingvellir).
Sick Citroen Berlingo bro, does it come in orange?! Nico, don't you hate it when Citroen asks you to be a model for them every time you go to rent a car? I hate that too.
Into the wild we go
Þingvellir is a rift valley in Southwestern Iceland. Fun fact - this national park as well as may other areas are very common movie filming locations. Þingvellir was the backdrop for Arya and The Hound's storyline as well as other "beyond the wall" scenes.
Probably not the last time I'll have to save this guys life
A few miles away, we found another national landmark: Geysir, an active hot spring. Every few minutes, boiling water would shoot in the air. Surrounding Geysir were several other smaller hotsprings oozing steam into the air from the Icelandic ground.
Everyone lined up to get the shot.
A football field's length away was a nice rocky hill to peer down into the valley and at Geysir
Another short drive and another stunning landmark; Iceland's most famous waterfall called Gullfoss. Pictures and video don't really do this one justice, so you're kind of out of luck on this one.
Team Iceland
This guy climbed through the fences to get the shot. TEACH ME!
After a day of driving the Golden Circle and with the weariness of travel still with us, we decided to relieve our aches and pains in the Blue Lagoon. This geothermal heated spa is rich in minerals like silica and sulfur, which apparently are good for skin. The experience was soothing and interesting, but probably not the most memorable part of the trip.
The highlight probably came right after, however, when we began our hunt for The Northern Lights. Nico had learned of a few spots where we'd have a good chance of seeing them, so we drove up the western coast of Iceland trying to escape all man-made light. Don't tell Sandy Hanlin, but we took some gravel backroads up a mountain and found a very dark location to see the dance of charged particles.
They looked a faint grey color to the natural eye, but even a short 5 second exposure on a tripod revealed the brilliant green colors. These pictures were based on a projected intensity of 4 out of 9, so we are really interested to one day see a 9 out of 9!
This one was totally not staged. Just a natural organic picture.
The following morning, we got right back to it, jumping in the Berlingo and this time heading North. The first stop was Hnappadalur, a valley shaped by glacial movements and volcanic eruptions. The scene really did look and feel like the surface of Mars for those of you who have been there.
#Berlingo...
Next up was Ytri Tunga Beach, the destination for seal watching! They were too far away for our cameras, but our eyes witnessed a small group of seals playing (or mating) in the warm summer sun. Warm for Iceland anyway.
And this one could be yet another planet.
I don't have any fun facts about this one. We stumbled upon this site on our way home from site seeing and couldn't help but stop to take in the beauty and the magic. The water itself was a hypnotizing deep dark blue. We also met some locals: local Icelandic goats.
A lot of GOATs in this picture
This GOAT jumped the fence to see us... I'm sure he got back to his family though...
And finally.... if the pictures weren't enough, here is a video to capture the beauty of Iceland set to the theme of Interstellar. It is meant to be enjoyed with the volume on high! Stay tuned for a full recap of Denmark next week.
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