Q: What do you do if you get lost in an Icelandic forest?

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A: Stand up.

Ah Reykavik...the gateway to Iceland and the most Northern European capital city. We spent a total of 3 days in Reykjavik; 1 at the beginning of our trip and 2 at the end.

We got acquainted with the city by taking a "Reykjavic Excursions" bus tour when we first arrived. This is something we often do when travelling to new places. They are usually worth the investment and they help you get oriented. Reykjavik's was fantastic and it took us to all the major highlights and then some! The bus driver also got off at various stops to tell us more about what we were viewing.

Churches are often tourist hotspots and Reykjavik is no exception. Hallgrimskirka is the city's largest church (Luthereran), it took 40 years to build and the architect used Volcano themes in his design. The church was closed due weddings on our first visit but on our return trip we were treated to an organ player playing their massive pipe organ. The music he was playing was a little more creepy than ethereal but hey he seemed to know what he was doing. We were also able to go to the top of the steeple where we had a super (if windy) 360 view of the city. The organ player and the views made this an awesome stop.

When we started planning our trip to Iceland multiple people told us we had to have a hotdog from a specific vendor. Luckily, Reykjavik is a small city so finding things is relatively easy. Just look for the hut with the biggest line, you can't miss it, it's down by the harbour. It was a good hotdog, but we both agreed it was nothing to write home about. Yet here we are....writing... The burgers, on the other hand, are awesome. Chris had burgers in multiple areas and all were fantastic. They have a special mustard sauce that they use and they must put lamb meat into the patty or something because they tasted different but delicious. Any burger is good, but the burger at the Grill Market is a must! It definitely ranks among the best burgers Chris has ever had. Speaking of the food, Reykjavik is littered with restaurants and Cafes, we literally could not find a bad meal anywhere. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. We did cheat a little by listening to restaurant recommendations but everything from the Laundromat Cafe to The Fish Company were amazing... but bring your wallet...Iceland ain't cheap.

If you're in Reykjavic and you only have time for one thing then it has to be The Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is a natural, geothermal heated mineral bath located just outside the city limits. You may remember that we talked about a similar bath in an earlier post; and while the Myvatn Nature Baths were great, nothing compares to the Blue Lagoon. The "bath" is gigantic, it has a pool bar, an amazing massage waterfall, huge columns of geothermal steam, facial mineral scrubs available in vats at poolside and a setup that can't be beat. This has been ranked by National Geographic as one of the top 25 Natural Wonders of the world and we whole heartedly endorse their ranking. Make sure you add this one to your bucket list!

The city of Reykjavic is beautiful, modern, traditional and filled with things to see and do (well not until after 10AM as they seem to sleep in after their very late nights). The city might possibly be the safest capital in the world. We often walked the streets late in the evening and we never once worried about our safety. You'd often see bikes leaning against a wall completely unlocked and on one occasion we came across an empty and idling Mercedes with no owner in sight. There is no Icelandic military and their police seemed to do double duty as customs officials (they likely have lots of extra time due to the low crime rate).

There were many adventures we had in Iceland (and specifically in Reykjavic), too many to capture in a few short blogs; we'll end by saying this was yet another fantastic adventure that was way different than anything we've ever experienced in any of our other travels. If you ever have the opportunity to experience Iceland we highly recommend you take it and then share with us all the things you loved.

We hope you enjoyed our Icelandic adventures.

Sincerely,

Chris Williamson-Roseson and Andra Junedottir-Donalddottir

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Photos

The Blue Lagoon
or as the Icelanders call it, Bláa lónið

Bjork Lives Here
They call it the "Sugar Cube"

Reykjavik from above
Taken from inside the steeple of Hallgrimskirka

Street Art
Graffitti art at a skateboard park