iceland
We’ve heard a lot about Iceland in recent years, especially from our friends who have taken advantage of the Denver-Reykjavík nonstop on Iceland Air. Needless to say, a trip to see what all the hype was about was definitely on our wish list. So when friends invited us to join their Icelandic adventure, we were in. The only thing... they wanted to go in February, not exactly the height of tourist season near the Arctic Circle. In the end, I couldn’t imagine a better time to go. Iceland is one of the more unique places we’ve visited, and going in the wintertime actually made it even more special!
Exploring and Touring
We were well bundled in front of the Sun Voyager.
We spent our first day exploring Reykjavík. It was cold, but we were mentally prepared and dressed in layers of ski-gear. Our first stop was the gleaming Sun Voyager sculpture on the bay. With the beauty of the snow-covered mountains in the background, it was really beautiful.
At the recommendation of our friends, Rich and Kelly, our next stop was the Icelandic Knitters’ Guild where learned about Icelandic wool and the importance of not-washing anything made from it. Julien found a great, hand-knit sweater that was a lifesaver on a couple of our coldest adventures! I found one that I really liked a couple days later at the Reykjavík flea market. Then, also at the advice of the Valdez-Hansens, we visited the outdoor sculpture garden at Einar Jónsson Museum. It was very pretty, especially with the recent snowfall.
Our friends arrived in Reykjavik at 5am the next morning. Despite having just jumped off a long red-eye, they were excited to dive into an ambitious itinerary of guided tours and sightseeing! Most of our guides were well-informed and entertaining. One was pretty boring... the bus ride felt pretty long that day. But we lucked out with another who had the voice of James Earl Jones and told ridiculous stories about Icelandic history and mythology! He also took us to a roadside corral where we could pet Icelandic horses! Here are just a few of the highlights from our two days of touring:
Culinary Adventures
We weren’t the most adventurous eaters on this trip. We debated the ethics of eating certain delicacies and, in the end, skipped puffin dishes and sheep head. But we tried some other traditional dishes. Fish jerky with butter was my least favorite. It was stone dry and tough. No amount of butter made it enjoyable for me. I wouldn’t go out of my way to have fermented shark again, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected! The texture was chewy, but the flavor had almost a spicy finish, like wasabi, that we could feel tingling in our noses. We really enjoyed trying different fish soups. And you can’t go to Iceland without taking full advantage of the Icelandic hot dogs, which come with mustard, ketchup, remoulade, and fried onions! We sampled our fair share at swanky restaurants and street stands alike.
The Lights
We loved all our Icelandic adventures. But the experience of looking for the aurora was so special it deserved its own post. You can read about our hunt to see the Northern Lights here.
(Resumen en español)
Hemos oído hablar mucho sobre Islandia en los últimos años. Cuando nuestros amigos Evy y Jarrad nos invitaron a unirnos a su aventura islandesa por el 30 cumpleaños de Evy, nos apuntamos. Al principio teníamos algunas dudas sobre viajar en febrero, ¡pero ir en invierno lo hizo más especial!
Julien y yo pasamos nuestro primer día explorando Reikiavik. Visitamos la reluciente escultura del Sun Voyager en la bahía. Con la belleza de las montañas cubiertas de nieve en el fondo, era realmente hermosa. Por recomendación de nuestros amigos, Rich y Kelly, nuestra siguiente parada fue el Gremio de Tejedores de Islandia. ¡Julien encontró un gran jersey tejido a mano que fue un salvavidas en un par de nuestras aventuras más frías! También visitamos el jardín de esculturas al aire libre en el Museo Einar Jónsson. La reciente nevada se sumó a la belleza de las figuras de bronce.
Evy y Jarrad llegaron a Reikiavik a las 5 de la mañana del día siguiente y nos lanzamos directamente a un ambicioso itinerario de excursiones y visitas turísticas. En sólo un par de días:
caminamos por una playa de arena negra,
visitamos un parque nacional donde se encuentran las placas tectónicas norteamericanas y europeas,
exploramos una cueva de hielo dentro de un glaciar en la costa sur,
nos maravillamos con dos cascadas heladas,
visitamos tres lagunas termales diferentes,
probamos platos tradicionales como el pescado seco, el tiburón en escabeche, la sopa de pescado y muchos perritos calientes islandeses.
