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Teresa and I went to Iceland in December. This was a trip that Teresa bid on for a charity auction and won last March. It was touted as “Iceland, a tour of the Northern Lights”. Teresa researched and found that December was a good time for a number of reasons. First, it has the longest nights, nearly 20 hours of night (which also means just 4 hours of daylight). Second, it is also not the coldest of the winter months, averaging about 28 degrees.
Knowing that, and knowing what we grew up with in the midwest, we knew we would need to procure a few things, like insulated underwear, better hats and warm socks. We knew layers were important in the cold. The tour was a week long, so we stocked up.
Iceland is 5 hours different from home, on GMT. We had hoped to sleep on the flight. Our first leg was nice, Teresa got us upgraded. Our second leg was not so great as a family had a screaming kid for most of the flight and even the noise canceling headphones did not help as much as we had hoped. My seat, unfortunately also did not recline at all. So when we got into Reykjavík, we checked in as soon as we could and spent the morning, afternoon getting acclimated.
We set off late in the afternoon and explored. We were in the “Center Hotels Laugavegur”, which is centrally located on a market street (Laugavegur) with lots of shops and restaurants. Remember though that at this time of year with only four hours of daylight, the sun sets around 2:30 pm (it rises around 10:30 am). The shops tended to close around 1700-1800 (5p-6p). The bars and restaurants were open much later.
We walked and did a lot of window shopping and found a lovely restaurant called “Salka Valka“. We looked at the menu and they had a nice vegan plate which peaked Teresa’s interest and there were several seafood plates. Iceland is an island and fish, shark, and whale are prominent. I chose the Atlantic Char and was not disappointed. Teresa was also impressed with the everything on her plate. The soup was delicious.
This trip was a few weeks before Christmas. I was hoping for a European style Christmas market, but Iceland does not do these. They do have Icelandic traditions, including the Yule Cat (also called Jólaköttur). While walking around near the town center, we came across this cat, all lit up. In the Icelandic tradition, the Yule cat is said to lurk around the Icelandic country side and is someone did not get receive a new piece of clothing before Christmas eve, the cat would eat them.
The Yule cat became a part of classic Icelandic Christmas folklore around in 1932, when Jóhannes úr Kötlum published his poetry collection Jólin koma [is] (‘Christmas is Coming’). In it, one of the poems, Jólakötturinn, focused on the man-eating monster. Subsequently, the Yule Cat became a common part of Christmas festivities and decorations in Iceland. Not to anger the kitty, we made sure we had a few new items.
Another thing about Christmas here is there is not one Santa Claus. That’s right, not ONE, but THIRTEEN of them. The Yule Lads, called Jólasveinar, are a group of tricksters who deliver gifts or punishments to children. It is said that the Yule Lads live in the highlands with their troll parents, Gryla and Leppaludi. Each one arrives starting thirteen days before Christmas. Children place their shoes outside at night and in the morning, there is either a gift if they were good, or a rotting potato if they were not. Each lad has their own name and personality or trait they exhibit year round, but come to homes on a given day in the Christmas season. All around town, we saw signs and videos on building walls depicting these tricksters.
Stekkjastaur (Sheep-Cote-Clod): Said to suck milk from sheep (Dec 12th)
Giljagaur (Gully Gawk): Known to hide in barns and steal the froth of the milk buckets. (Dec 13th)
Stúfur (Stubby): Known for being unusually short and stealing pans to eat the crust left in them. (Dec 14th)
Þvörusleikir (Spoon-Licker): Known for being tall and thin and for stealing þvörur (long wooden spoons) to lick them (Dec 15th)
Pottaskefill (Pot-Licker): Known to steal leftovers from pots (Dec 16th)
Askasleikir (Bowl-Licker): Known to hide under beds when people would place their “askur,” a plate used for all meals. He then stole the askur and ate from it. (Dec 17th)
Hurðaskellir (Door-Slammer): While others sneak and try to be quiet, this lad is loudest one, he was known to slam doors, especially during nighttime. (Dec 18th)
Skyrgámur (Skyr-Gobbler): Known for being obsessed with the Icelandic yogurt skyr. (Dec 19th)
Bjúgnakrækir (Sausage-Swiper): Known to hide in the rafters and steal sausages that were being smoked. (Dec 20th)
Gluggagægir (Window-Peeper): This I find to be the creepiest one, he would peek inside people’s windows to see if there was anything to steal.(Dec 21st)
Gáttaþefur (Doorway-Sniffer): Known to have an extremely long, large nose and an amazing sense of smell, he usually uses to seek out yummy Laufabrauð (called “Leaf Bread”, “Snowflake Bread”, or “Christmas Bread”). (Dec 22nd)
Ketkrókur (Meat-Hook): This one who uses a hook to steal meat. (Dec 23rd)
Kertasníkir (Candle-Stealer): This one followed children to steal their candles (which used to be edible, made from fat). (Dec 24th)
The next day we had to be up early. We grabbed breakfast in the hotel and had to be at bus stop 9 for the start of our tour. Fortunately, the bus stop was right outside the hotel. Today was the Golden Circle tour. It was one of the Reykjavík Excursions in the tour package. I would highly recommend them. They run buses to many of the major hotels or bus stops, picking up those who bought tickets and take them to a transportation station. There all the ticket holders from the various locations converge and board the real tour bus.
Our first stop was the Þingvellir National Park and Almannagjá Canyon. It is here that in 930AD, the first settlement took place and the Icelandic parliament Alþingi met until at late as June 1944. It is also where the two tectonic plates, the American and the European plates meet. They are actually drifting apart and there are many fissures.
Our next stop in the Golden Circle was the Haukadalur geothermal area and the town of Geysir. Here, we walked into a Geyser field. There were many pools of steaming water bubbling up. The “Great Geysir” had stopped erupting after the last volcanic “incident”, but smaller one “Strokkur” erupts every few minutes.
The area is ripe with sulfur springs and pools bubbling with mud or water. When we got to the geyser itself, I was expecting to there to be popping or some other sound to let us know when the eruption was near. Hey, this is not the “Fire Swamp” from “The Princess Bride”. Still, if you looked long enough, you can see the signs. It was nice to get so close too.
Our next stop was the Gullfoss waterfall. This waterfall is one of the most photographer in Iceland and is open year round. Our tour guide told us walk to the upper observation deck first and then go to the mid one. This time of year, the lower ones were most likely closed due to weather and ice making it treacherous.
We did as we were told and the waterfall is breath taking. Our guide told us the story of Sigríður Tómasdóttir, the daughter of Tómas Tómasson. The story goes that her father was trying to sell the land including the waterfall to an energy company who was going to use the waterfall as form of electrical generation. His daughter, knowing the beauty of this waterfall would be ruined, threatened to throw herself into the falls if he did and he conceded. She was a true conservationist and a status commemorating her is found nearby.
This was our last stop, lacking daylight by now and we headed back to Reykjavík. We had had plans for a “Northern Lights Excursion”, but the weather was not cooperating. We would get the chance tomorrow. Still, let’s do a bit of shopping and dinner.
It’s Wednesday and our big trip is to the Blue Lagoon. Again, we were picked up right outside the hotel. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa in southwest Iceland. The spa is located in a lava field some 5 km (3.1 mi) from Grindavík and in front of Mount Þorbjörn on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
The lagoon is man-made and first opened in 1976. It is made from the geospring water from the geothermal plant. The water goes into the plant at around 240 °C (464 °F) and drives their turbines. Because the mineral content is so high, it cannot be recycled. Therefore the water is disposed of in pools or ponds. The water’s milky blue hue is due to its high silica content. The silica forms soft white mud on the bottom of the lake which bathers rub on themselves. The water is also rich in salts and algae. average pH is 7.5 and the salt content is 2.5%.Very few organisms live in the water apart from some blue-green algae. Despite the water not being artificially disinfected, it contains no fecal bacteria, environmental bacteria, fungi, or plants.
The water temperature in the lagoon ranges from 37-39°C (99-102°F) year round.
As stated, the facility is located in a lava field. This means that volcanoes have erupted there, the most recent one as recent as November 22 of 2024. We did not know the full history and only learned on the trip out that the car park had been destroyed by a lava flow.
So our bus pulls into a staging area where smaller buses are waiting. We are instructed to get off and onto one of the smaller ones. We stepped off our bus and were hit in the face with wind and sleet. I mean, it is December and we knew it would be cold, but the wind was brisk.
We boarded the smaller bus and were whisked off towards the lava field with walls of lava stone forming a small maze. We finally parked her the Silica Hotel. We were told to follow the path around the lagoon to the main entrance. The wind at our backs was cutting through our layers and we laughed that the water would feel so good. After several minutes, we got to the entrance of the resort.
We were given wrist bands and led to the showers/changing rooms. Our package included a locker, a drink and silica mask. We emerged from the changing rooms, hung up our robes and immediately got into the water. It felt so good.
The water itself was shallow to start though and many people huddled in the tunnel leading out. It never got deep, maybe 4 ft. The wind was swift and steam from the water rose and blew around like fog. As we ventured out, the lagoon was huge. I mean, we walked around it, so we knew its size, but it seemed so much larger as one could not see the other side, the bridges, or even the main house if you got out too far. The only way to know where it was to follow the steam blowing right to it.
The lack of sight made it surreal. Standing up was met with a chilling wind and the pricks of sleet or snow if your head got too high above the water. It remind us of the time we spent in Colorado.
So, we opted to float around, letting the wind push us toward the resort and then swim/walk back again. The steam did not hinder us finding the bar either. They had plenty of libations to choose from, but we both chose the mulled wine and it did not disappoint. We found an area around the corner away from the weather for a bit with some people from England who where there celebrating a birthday.
We took some time and sipped on our hot wine before headed back out is search of the spa to get our mask.
We found the mask bar after resorting to a map we found. We followed the edge around and stepped up to the bar. They scanned our wrist band and gave us each a blob of “silica”. It is supposed to have some healing properties for various skin issues. We were warned to make sure we did not get it in our eyes.
After a few hours, we made our way out, showered and got all bundled up. We knew the walk back around would be as cold or colder as we were walking into the wind. Still, we were happy and relaxed and would definitely go back again. We both highly recommend it.
We checked on the way back and the “Northern Lights Excursion” was canceled again. We had our reservations moved to the next day.
It was about 5 pm when we got back and had been dark for a few hours. It felt later, though with a five hour time difference, it was noon at home. Teresa had seen another local restaurant she wanted to try and it was right near the Hallgrímskirkja church. We went up to our room and dropped off our stuff, then headed out.
Like I said, the hotel was centrally located and we made it up the hill. We got to the “Rok” and stepped in. The hostess asked if we had a reservation. We did not and looked around. It looked like a lot of the patronage were locals. The hostess pointed to the bar and said we could sit there. We found our way and ordered drinks. The menu, we were told were small plates. We were going over the menu when the hostess came to us and said that they had a table for two due to a cancelation. We accepted.
We ordered a few drinks at the bar and they brought them to us. The waitress offered suggestions and we ordered nice “Gratinated Icelandic cheese with honey, almonds and sourdough bread”. It was quite good. Teresa ordered a vegetarian dish and I opted for another fish dish. We also had the Christmas Bread and butter. For small plates, they were filling, but we left room for dessert.
It’s Thursday and we have a lot planned for today. We have a “tour with a Viking”, a portrait shoot, and hopefully the “Northern Lights” tour.
No bus for this part. We walked down to the meeting place and got there a bit early. We ended up getting a drink in an “English Pub”. We were supposed to meet up by two stone columns, but the only ones we saw were in the middle of a skating rink. We found our ‘viking’ tour guide and a few other members of the group and we set off.
He took us around to several historic houses, giving us a small history lesson at each. He had a good depth of history and made sure everyone was taken care of.
At the half way point, he took us into a coffee house to get some hot beverages to warm us up. The coffee house was a small part of the building with the other part having a stage. He explained about the music scene in Iceland. He talked about “black metal” and one of the members of our group spoke up that he was a fan.
The night before, Teresa had been searching for something unique and came across a photo studio. She explained that they would dress us as vikings and we would do a photo shoot. “Like those ‘Old West’ things?”, I asked. We had done this before, in amusement parks and even in Scotland where I indeed wore a kilt. It had been a while since we had done this and Teresa said we’d get all the photo’s digitally. The price was not to bad, so she made the reservation.
So after our tour, had time to warm back up at our hotel before we set off out to Mink Viking. Our host welcomed us and after a several minutes of talking, he suggested his changing room to get down to a shirt and trousers. And, when we came back out, he dressed us and gave us a history lesson at he same time.
He was quite knowledgable, also giving us some of his resume too. He told us that he worked in the film industry for years and had been doing this for a while as well.
He set us up in the studio with a very noisy (filled) backdrop. He started shooting us together, then separate, then together again. We spent a good hour or more with him, giving us several poses and multiple shots. And the shots turned our amazing.
When the shoot was over and we changed back to our “civilian” cloths, he got Teresa’s email and sent her a link to the entire gallery. I asked him directly if I could share these, posting them on social and here (and giving him credit, of course) and he said they were our photos. We thanked him and left.
The “Northern Lights” tour was next on our list, but we needed food. Teresa offered a steak house we had seen along the main road, Hereford. We stopped and saw nothing vegetarian. As a matter of fact, the special of the house was Stuffed Puffin as an appetizer and the entree was Whale Steak. We both offered “TGIF”, there was one nearly across from the hotel. We laughed. We did find a nice pub and the food was great (though we ordered too much). I even tasted and liked the “Buffalo Cauliflower” (and I tend to avoid cauliflower).
We made it back to the hotel and bus stop. When we transferred to the tour bus, we were told they had one stop to try first, but the reports were not looking good, so they had a back up sport that looked better. We needed to find a spot with little light pollution and breaks in the clouds. We ended up at the second spot, a place called “Ölfus” in a southern region of Iceland near the coast.
We stepped off the bus and the wind cut right through us. I thought the Blue Lagoon was bad, but this wind was worse. We had nothing to measure it by, but I would say that the wind chill in in the teens, if not single digits.
There were seven, eight, maybe more buses, but the clouds and weather just did not cooperate. We took a few pictures, hoping maybe the camera would pick up something we missed. No such luck. We stood in the wind for about 30 minutes before getting back on our bus. We figured we’d hear the excitement if the clouds did break and after two more hours, the tour guides called it.
Friday was a free day and we had a few places we wanted to see. I goofed up through. I knew we wanted to see “The Lava Show” and on the map it looked closer than it was. We ended up walking more than we should have. I was reminded that we should have taken the bus.
Still, we did get to the “Lava Show“, only to find out that show was every two hours and we just missed the start of it. We were hungry, so we bought tickets and then headed back to a row of restaurants. We opted for a pizza joint, Flatey PIzza. It was very good.
We hiked back and upgraded our tickets to the premium seats. The show started with the some history, then they poured lava into the auditorium. I won’t give anything away, except to say we learned a lot.
We left the show and got onto a “Hop on/Hop Off” bus and rode through most of the route. We were tired and it had been a long say and week. We decided to head back to the hotel and call it a night as we had an early flight and a long day ahead of us traveling home.
Our goal of this trip was to see the Northern Lights and while we were disappointed in not seeing them, we had a good time. We would come back to Iceland.
We love these trips, but we love getting home too. Until next time, travel safe.