Iceland In Two Days or Bust

Day 1
​To me Iceland was only about two things.  The northern lights and the blue lagoon.  There can’t be too much more to do in a country called Iceland.  Two days should be fine to take those two things in.  Plus, I hate the cold.  The less time the better. Well don’t be naive like me.  I pretty much fell in love with the country after leaving the airport.
After leaving from JFK to get to Iceland, I was prepared to just die from cold.  I was ultimately shocked it wasn’t that cold.  It was way colder in NY.  Iceland is more of a dry cold, compared to that wind chill in NY.  I could stay here forever.
We took a 7pm flight that got in at about 6 am.  We couldn’t check into our airbnb till 11am.  After getting our rental car it was barely 7am.  What to do? What to do?  Iceland is like a small town.  I am secretly a small town girl at heart.  I love when there is no hustle and bustle.  That is exactly what you are gonna get in Iceland.  I can count the people that were outside when we arrived.  I could count them all day and there might be 100.  That actually sounds like too much.

​Everything opens late and closes early.  We were able to find a restaurant open at Hotel Kelfavik. It was a buffet of an assortment of things we have never seen before.  But, every morsel was delightful! I highly recommend if you have time stop by here for this breakfast. You will not be disappointed.

Breakfast at Hotel Kelfavik

Now Iceland is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Columbia.  Everything is a lot more pricey.  The buffet was $2,000 Krona.  Which is about $18US.  That’s like 5 meals in Columbia lol.  But, not so bad by American buffets so it evens out I guess.
 
The Blue Lagoon
We decided to the the premium package.  This included a robe, flip flops, a drink, and a reservation at the restaurant.  This was $9500 Krona($83US).  We thought this was the best deal. We read that people like to just take whatever they see when coming out the water.  So we were a bit hesitant, but luckily no one stole our robes.  I highly recommend the robe option.  Coming out of beautiful warm water to stark cold...

I loved everything about the lagoon.  The mud masks are a nice addition.  I also recommend the local hard ciders.  Yummy.  You should book in advance if you can.  There was only a 7pm slot that we could get last minute. I would have loved to have seen the lagoon in the day, and stayed into the night.

Algae masks in the Blue Lagoon

We heard one couple say they had been in the water for 8 hours.  That’s kinda crazy, but I can understand.  It feels amazing! Make sure if you don’t want your hair to get wet at all to wear a shower cap or something.  The humidity will destroy your blow out.

Sadly, our time was up and we had to go for our dinner reservations.  The premium package came with a glass of sparkly champagne.  There were only about 4 options to choose from on the menu.  Mia & I decided to split the the fresh fish of the day and the steak.  The fish was very light tasting, and not particularly my favorite.  You really can’t go wrong with steak.  The meal was $5900 Krona.  Which is about $51US.

Day 2
Our plan to get up bright and early didn’t quite workout.  Plus, the sun doesn’t come out till 10am.  Today we decided to tackle the Hallgrímskirkja, the golden circle, and northern lights hunting.  You are literally chasing daylight here.  The sun goes down at about 5pm.  Iceland has a website where you can check out the road conditions for the day.  Everything looked terrible.  We couldn't come all this way and not try.  So off we went with a hope and a prayer.  Up first Hallgrímskirkja.
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Hallgrímskirkja

Hallgrimskirkja Church

Hallgrímskirkja is a church and happens to be the tallest building in Iceland.  It cost $8US to go up to the lookout up top.  You’ll wait in line for about 45 mins for a 5 min lookout.  It is an incredible view of the city.  Be mindful that the church doesn’t offer public restrooms.  Of course we all had to go..smh…

Golden Circle  
We had limited time so we went for the smaller circle.  Which produces beautiful views as you are riding through the country. It is predicted that it should take about 3-4 hours.  Keep daylight in mind when planning this trip.  We only had about 6 hours of sun when we got going.  We used up all that sun exploring the circle.

There are many opportunities to stop and have a snowball fight, make snow angels, and checkout the scenery.  It was also very eerie.  The fog was so dense you literally could not see in front of you.  Cars driving in front of you just disappeared into whiteness.  I'm not sure if this happens anywhere in the states.  I'm from Texas and I've never seen anything like it.  So it was a bit eerie, it was also a very cool experience.

Haukadalur
We arrived at the first stop which is Haukadalur to check out the geysers.  You follow a walkway with little hot springs bubbling away, until you arrive at the big mama.  Strokkur shoots boiling hot water 100 feet into the air about every 10 minutes.  It’s like a smaller Bellagio finale.  Well worth the wait.  If you have had enough after that wait you can head into the restaurant for lunch. We grabbed some sandwiches and the minestrone soup.  I highly recommend the soup.  Yummy!  You can also grab a can of fresh air on your way out. lol

Gullfoss Waterfall
Off we went bc there was no time to waste.  Next up Gullfoss Waterfall.  We got lucky and caught a glimpse of a rainbow.  Just beautiful.  A little scary walking to the edge.  Feels like you are walking to the edge of the earth.  The cold really creeps up on you so snap some pictures quick!

Since this is our last day and the sunlight was already fleeting, we decided to skip the last stop Kerið Crater Lake.  We had to start making our way back so we could hunt for northern lights.  But, first...Icelandic horses.  They are just too darn cute!

Hunt For The Northern Lights
Now the hunt for the northern lights was our biggest adventure in Iceland.  We needed to get out of the city and the light pollution.  We read somewhere that the lights are better in the north.  So we just started driving north. We drove for an hour and were sadly disappointed.  We decided if we didn’t see anything soon we would turn around and call it a night. Nothing!!!  

All my hopes and dreams shattered.  I was really disappointed.  That was my whole reason for this trip.  Sadly, we started to make our way back.  As we were driving back toward town we kept seeing big tour buses.  After about 5 buses we decided to turn around and follow them.  They clearly knew where they were going.  So when they turned off the beaten path, and made their way to a secluded spot we got a bit nerves.  

​Clearly, they knew we were following them.  Then the bus stops and turns off its engine and lights.  Well this is awkward.  We quickly cut our lights off too.  We are all just sitting there when the door to the bus opens and people start to come out.  Should we just pretend we are not here? Or should we go ask one of the people is there a possibility of seeing theses lights tonight? Perhaps tell them that we looked online and this is where it sent us.  

Welp, that is exactly the lie I was nominated to go tell.  One of the guys off the bus confirmed this was a good spot to see and all we can do is wait.  And wait we did.  An hour went by and again nothing.  There was only one way in so we were trapped. Eventually, everyone filed back on the bus and off we went.  Again, disappointed.  We came to a fork in the road and the buses went left. It was pushing midnight and we had a super early flight to catch. So we decided to go right.

Making our way back there again was again a slew of buses going back the direction we just left.  Were we too early? These buses were just starting out.  Maybe they knew where they were going this time.  We thought what the hell...and turned right back around.  These buses lead us to a different location.  Other cars got the same bright idea and joined in on the caravan.  We ended up at a huge open field.  It is best to have clear skies, but it was a bit cloudy.  Everyone went to the field.  It was freezing! We wait and we wait.  You would think these people are waiting for a sunset on a nice summer day.  No one seemed affected by the cold.  I on the other hand was dying.  So I went back to wait in the car.  About 10 minutes later the girls followed.  Nothing was gonna happen tonight.  Might as well head back to get a few hours of sleep.

I do hope that you will have better luck on your hunt for the northern lights.  Of course I am aware there are other locations to see the lights and they are on my list as well.  I will see these lights one of these days.  Iceland is a beautiful country that was not high on my list.  After this small taste, I definitely want more.  I would say the best tip is renting a car, and just following the tour buses lol.  Not to say tours aren't great.  You just can't beat the freedom of a car.  Until we met again Iceland. Onward to Cuba!!!