Reykjavik

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9th Mar: Holiday time again! Since the Icelandic banks had recently collapsed, now was supposed to be the best time to visit Iceland. So I found some flights on the internet with the budget airline Iceland Express leaving form Stanstead, got fairly priced (for England!) train tickets. My mate, Michelle was coming a long, too. The hostels I found online was expensive, over twenty quid for a dorm room and very far from the centre of Reykjavik. I then found a complete steal on some random website, a twin room in a hotel, still not city centre, but closer than the hostel, for about 25 quid a night between us, including breakfast. A complete bargain, though I was dubious about the website as it seemed too good to be true, but I still booked it.

Train to Stanstead was fine changed somewhere along the line. Met up with Michelle at the airport. She lives not far from Stanstead, so took her no time to get here. Got checked in and through security and went and had a bite to eat in Wetherspoons. Was rank, they're rushing to get everything out fast for people to eat before their flight leaves. Flight to Iceland was fine, not eventful, which I like. We landed pretty late in the evening. It was dark and freezing. It was really windy outside of the airport. Luckily there was a cashpoint, so I could get some cash to pay for our bus tickets to the city centre. The exchange place was shut, so Michelle would have to wait until tomorrow to get some cash. Also she found it very funny that all the Icelandic people could understand my 'dodgy' English, her definition and not her 'proper' English.

The bus took about an hour to get us to the hotel, dropping various people at their hotels along the way. We arrived at our hotel, got checked -in, and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was for the price we had paid.

10th Mar: Up fairly early. When I think of Iceland I think of the sun shining all night in the summer and complete darkness in winter, so when I opened the hotel curtains that morning I wasn't expecting lots of sunlight to come flooding in. Breakfast at the hotel was nice. Although we have found the downsie of the hotel there is a German party of school children staying. Well you can't have everything.

We decied to take a walk into town along the coast. Although it was freezing because the sun was shining it was bearable. The walk along the coast was beautiful. We stopped to take a lot of photos. We ened up in the city centre after awandering up and dow na few streets. We went to the tourist information place so Michelle could exchange her money and then to the chemists so she could buysome bonjela for her toothache. Reykjavik is like no other capital city I have been to. It's so small and kind of relaxed. It feels more like a country town than a main city. One strange thing I noticed was that woman left their babies in their prams or buggies outside of the shops. It was obviously too much effort to get them in and the doorways probably weren't big enough. No way would that happen in England. But Iceland is a load safer.

We spent the day wandering in and out of shops, and the town. We bought loads of random goodies at the supermarket to try later. It was pretty cold, I'm glad I had my long johns on. We went to the duck pond, which was really nice and the area surrounding it. It was really pretty and we took loads of photos. We want to go to the famous catherdral, but it was closed for renovations, and it was all covered up so we couldn't get any photos of it.

We had decided to conserve a bit of cash that day to eat a big brekky at the hotel, forgo lunch and then have an early dinner. We went to a lovely Italian place along the main street and had pasta (seafood, I think) and garlic bread. Then we took the bus back to the hotel. And decided not to bother again in the future as the walk wasn't that long at all. We had a beer in the hotel bar, but at a fiver for a half we then went to the nearest shop to pick up some cans. I love the names of the beers here. Polar beer! Lol! Spent the night chatting, drinking random named beer and eating our Icelandic snacks.

11th Mar: After brekky we headed into town again. Today was going to be museum day. The museums also meant we got a bit of respite from the cold. We went to Reykjavik Art Museum because it was free, not bad. Then we went to the National Gallery of Iceland, although I could be mistaken Then we took a walk to the National Museum of Iceland. that was really interesting and we learned a lot about the history of Iceland. We also visited another museum. (I have forgotten so much trying to write this blog over three years later.)

We wandered around the city a bit and even found out where the drunken tramps hang out. For dinner we stumbled across a really nice restaurant called Laekjarbrekka. The restaurant has quite an experimental menu to say the least and it is recommended in all the guidebooks as one of the places to eat in Reykjavik. So we thought sod the cost, let's go for it. Even Gorden Ramsey has been. The restaurant is in a beautiful old converted house and I felt a bit out of place when we entered. However the waiter was lovely and we were made to feel welcome. I think we were the first diners of the evening. We ordered a beer each an sat drinking them, while we waited for our food.

First up was our starter platter. The platter contained four things, seafood chowder in a shot glass, that was delicious, sheep's brain pate, rank, forced myself to swallow that one. There was also smoked salmon, delish, I love the stuff, and finally puffin salad. The salad had bits of puffin mixed in with the leaves. Not the greatest thing I've eaten in my life, it was really fish, you know like those artificial fish smells. Well atleast I can say I've tried it. Our main course was whale. I was looknig forward to this and it certainly didn't disappoint. The waiter was also funny saying here's Free Willy for you. I loved the whale, it was different from what I expected. It was a lot like steak in texture and taste, but a bit more gamey. Michelle couldn't finish hers, so I happily did. Dessert was pretty normal, berries and yoghurt, but lovely all the same. The meal was expensive but definately a once in a lifetime experience. After we ent to a pub nearby for a couple of beers, but it wasn't very busy, so we left and headed back to the hotel.

12th Mar: An early start today as we were heading out on a Golden Cirlce day tour. The bus picked us up from the hotel and we drove to the city centre and people changed buses depending on what trip they were on. The guides made this point a load of times to make sure that people were on the right buses, however one bloke must of serioulsly not been paying attention as half way to our first stop he realised he was on the wrong bus. What a numpty!

We drove for quite a while through the Icelandic countryside. It was beautiful and there was a lot of snow in some parts. We passed some ski slopes and small villages. Our first stop was a geothermal powerplant not far from Reykjavik. It was okay, quite interesting, but not really my cup of tea. It reminded me of going on a school trip, from when I was in primary school, however geothermal energy is very important for Iceland. Our next stop was Gullfoss. Gullfoss is the largest waterfall in Europe and its name means Golden Falls. It is 105 feet high and has a double cascade. The waterfalls were very impressive, eventhough we couldn't get too close because the path was really slippery and I didn't fancy falling in, you could feel how powerful they were. It was mesmerising to watcnh the water churn. We hasd lunch in the cafe near the falls, the food was pretty awful, but cheaper than the hotel buffet that was the other option.

After lunch it was back on the bus and Michelle and I were the last two back, oops. We had spent a little too long in the gift shop. Then it was a short drive to Geysir. Geysir was pretty cool as there was loads of steam coming from the hole and Strokkur near to it shoots out a big jet of water roughly every five miutes. I was able to get some photos of Geysir but not Strokkur as my camera doesn't like the cold and when it gets too cold refuses to turn on. Grr! Our last stop of the trip was Thingvellir National Park. The area was really beautiful. Thingvellir means parliament plains and it was used as a meeting place by chieftains, and is referred to as the world's first parliament, the Althing. The meeting place was used for over 300 years and people travelled there to elect leaders, argue cases, and settle disputes. The bus took us back to our hotel for a bit of a rest.

That evening we went on a tour to find the Northern lights. We had tried to do the tour earlier in our trip but it is weather dependent and tonight was the first night it was possible. Our guide was really nice, he looked really celtic. The bus drove us up into the hills in the middle of nowhere. We got out of the bus and it was freezing. We saw the Northern Lights but they weren't very strong and it was impossible to get any decent photos of them. I will have to try and find the Northern Lights again at a later date. I didn't stay outside too long as it was sooo cold and ended up back on the bus trying to warm up.

13th Mar: We decided to take it easy for our last day. We had a bit of a lie-in and then went down for brekky. Had a bit time to chill in the room and get sorted for leaving tomorrow. Then we headed off to the Blue Lagoon. The bus took a while as it is about 50 km from Reykjavik. We got there paid our entrance fees and then went and got changed into our bathers. Then we went outside wrapped up in our towels. It was freezing and we were standing there dreading taking our towels off. But finally we did and legged it into the water.

The Blue Lagoon is a natural geothermal pool. It was amazzing! The water was nice and warm and there was steam rolling off it, giving it a mystical look. We spent a god couple of hours in the pool, floating around, putting the mud stuuf that there are massive pots of, on our faces and bodies. Another magical thing happened it started to snow. That was great! Floating in the lagoon, nice and toasty and warm, while snow was falling around us. The pool is funny as the temperature is not constant and some parts are warmer than others. Some parts were just too hot to stay in. We finally dragged ourselves away from the pool, we didn't want to lewave and step into the frigid air. Made use of all the complimentary body washes and shampoos. Headed back to Reykjavik. We went back to the hotel and then took a wander into town. We were going to do some shopping but by the time we got there all the shops were shut. We had a wander along one of the main streets, looking at the Christmas shop, again. Then we decided to get some dinner.

We had dinner at a lovely tapas place. The food was delish and it was a lovely end to our holidays. When we came out of the restaurant, it was snowing. Not tooheavy but it was nice as I love snow. We took some daft photos posing with a statue and then we gheaded back to the hotel, stopping at the shop to buy a couple of beers to drink when we got back.

14th Mar: Up in what felt like the middle of the night. The airport bus picked up up from the hotel. Was still very dark. Our flight left about 7, 7:30. The flight was empty so we got to spread out over a whole row each. If only it was like that every time I flew. Arrived in Stanstead around 9 ish. Said bye to Michelle and waited for my train home.

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Photos

Duck Pond
Reykjavik

Duck Pond
Reykjavik

Icelandic Treats
Reykjavik

Dried Fish Snack
Reykjavik

Funny Money
Icelandic Currency, Reykjavik

Retro Coke Ad
Reykjavik

Laekjarbrekka
Reykjavik

Starter
Seafood chowder, smoked salmon, sheep's brain pate, and puffin salad. Laekjarbrekka, Reykjavik

Main Course Whale!
It was delicious! Laekjarbrekka, Reykjavik

Menu
Crap photo, but they had lots of interesting choices on their menu. Laekjarbrekka, Reykjavik