Iceland Trip Highlights
November 2024
Captain’s Log: November 6, 2024
It’s Wednesday, the day after the election, and we’re crestfallen because it looks like Trump has won by a landslide.
By 9:00pm on Tuesday night, things we not looking good for Kamala Harris. We turned off the coverage and went to bed. I woke up at 3:00am and checked my phone (reminiscent of 2016). Trump had won. At that point, David and I both agreed that it was the perfectly wrong time to take a vacation. How could we go when we and so many others in our circle were heartbroken by this devastating loss. We didn’t care if we were out the money.
The next morning, I woke up to texts from my siblings. The mood was pretty low. My brother called me expressing his anger and disappointment in our country. I told him that the last thing I felt like doing was taking a carefree vacation. A few minutes later I got a text from my sister, Julie, telling me, “Go on your vacation. It’ll be therapeutic.”
We went about our regular morning routine, walked Ziggy, joined the huddle. Somehow it the light of day, canceling our trip seemed dumb. After all, what would that accomplish?
I’m really happy we went on the trip. Here’s my travelogue.
Wednesday, 11/6, 6:25pm: Fly out of MSP.
Thursday, 11/7, 6:25am: Land at KEF Keflavik Airport, located in the Reykjanes peninsula, about 50 kilometers from Reykjavik city center.
At KEF, you deplane aircrafts outside. As we were grabbing our bags and getting ready to head-off the plane, the flight attendant said sometime to the affect, “Keep in mind that the weather changes quickly in Iceland, dress appropriately.” I laughed to myself, thinking, yeah right, I’m from Minnesota. I’m used to the cold.
I might be used to the cold, but the wind that’s another story. Wowza. Between the howling wind and the airport workers running around, I was laughing like a hyena trying not to blow away.
We made it inside the airport and unceremoniously grabbed our bags. Since we were running late, we decided to forgo the trip to the restroom, even though we both wanted to, but we didn’t want to miss the shuttle bus that we had booked. Whew! That turned out to be a good decision because we were the last two people on the bus and others were very disappointed waiting out in the wind and rain.
The shuttle from the KEF to Reykjavik is about 45 minutes. Finally, over a hill, I could see city lights! We pulled into the BSI Bus Terminal. After receiving some very quick and confusing directions from the driver (it could have been us operating on very little sleep over a 48 hour period) we exited the bus, found our bus and got on another bus to take us to Bus Stop 3, just a short distance to our hotel. Thankfully, that ride was short, and let us off a few blocks from our Hotel Apotek.
Since we arrived so early that morning, 9:00am, our room wasn’t ready. We gave the front desk our number, found our raincoats, hats, and gloves, stowed our luggage, and headed out to find some much-needed coffee. After walking around for a few minutes, I spotted an Illy sign. We headed in and ordered two cappuccinos. About mid-way through our drinks, David got a call from the hotel, our room was ready. Yay!
Our room at Hotel Apotek was small, yet nice. We both took a little snooze, and woke up feeling a little more human and refreshed.
Near our hotel, there was a Food Hall. We split some fish and chips and a soft pretzel.
Afterwards, we did some walking and got the lay the land. We picked up some snacks and a little convenience store and a bottle of wine from the liquor store near our hotel. It turns out that there’s only one liquor store in Reykjavik!
After some exploring, and getting our Iceland Airwaves wrist bands, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up, get ready, and have a drink before heading out to the first night of music. We went to EDNO to hear two bands ____ and another called SuperSerious. They were both kind of power-pop groups — not exactly either of our jams. We called it “a night” around 9pm and headed back to our room for some chocolate, wine, popcorn, and the last episode of Bad Monkey (the show we had started watching before leaving town).
Friday, 11/8: We slept in a bit and headed out for a coffee. David booked us a Food Walking Tour. We met our guide, Caterin and the rest of our group — a couple from Portland, OR, a woman from Poland, another woman from London, and a mother and daughter from Argentina. David put his Duolingo to use and made some new Argentinian friends.
We made five stops on the tour - the first was at Baka Baka for Icelandic pancakes, which taste a little like Swedish pancakes. Messann for some fresh fish, another place for fermented shark, a shot of Brenevin, and some lamb soup, the famous hot dog stand with everything (raw onions, crispy onions, a remoulade relish mix, mustard and ketchup). The hot dogs are about 80% lamb, with pork and beef. Not really my cup of tea. Our final stop was at a place called Loki where we had rye ice cream with caramel, and whipped cream, and coffee. That was delicious but by then I was feeling pretty full.
That night we went out to hear more music at a venue at a church. The first musician as a pianist and a cellist. The pianist was billed a GenZ composer to watch. The music was calming and really moving. He wrote the second piece he played when he was sixteen. It was about daydreaming. The second act was a singer/spoken word artist with strings and percussion. His voice ranged from vulnerable to strong and powerful. We were hungry after that so we went out for pizza and a grilled cabbage salad at Baka Baka. Since there was still lots of music to hear, we went back to the church to catch another show. This one was ____, a vocalist/pianist, with percussion, horns, strings, and projected video. Unfortunately, the music never really opened up.
We popped into the Apotek launch for a little dessert before heading up to our room.
Saturday, 11/9: We were getting the hang of Reykjavik. We headed out to Baka Baka coffee, sandwiches and a little exploring. We had booked a trip to the Sky Lagoon for The Ritual - the lagoon, cold plunge, sauna, cold mist, and scrub, and a long soak in the lagoon with drinks. Really fun and relaxing! What a view!
We returned relaxed and meticulously scrubbed.
Later it was time for more music. That night, we caught Charlotte Day Wilson at The Art Museum. Her music was a little like Alicia Keys meets Prince. We were up super close and it was fun! She was great! The next act was a DJ with two rappers. They were a trip!
We went to Horig but after finding out they only were serving pizza because it was getting late, we stepped out and made our way back to the food hall for Pasta Carbnera and a mista salad. Greens! We were bushed and ready for a little R&R back at the hotel.
Sunday, 11/10: Free day! We had coffee, shopped and explored for a while. We found this old bookstore that was converted into a bar/live music venue and stopped for a drink. It was a really cool place. We wondered if Magers and Quinn could do something like that! Later that day, we saw a violin concert at The Harpa, followed by dinner at the Food Hall — s Scandinavian / curry spot. Interesting combo! We ate some chicken mango curry and a curry burger.
Since we were booked on a long bus tour leaving early the next day, we headed back to the hotel to turn-in early.
Monday, 11/11: Epic bus tour!! The tour bus picked us up at 8:30 at Bus Stop 3. After some driving around, picking up other passengers, the 19 of us were on our way. Our guide, Bear had studied geology, and made sure to fill us in on anything geologic to note. Our first stop was at the National Park. It was raining and blowing! We were both suited up in our ranger, hats, gloves, hiking boots. We looped around and got back on the bus. The next stop was The Geysers, lunch, followed by the waterfall — more rain and wind, the volcanic bowl — cool but wet. It was the worst weather we had! The rain and wind were relentless. We saw the town that needed to be evacuated last year due to the active volcano, and finally we hit our last stop — The Blue Lagoon. All day, Bear had been selling us on the Blue Lagoon. Even the way he said it, sold it The Bluuue Laaggoooon. It was more like an amusement park with lines and lots of people. Men go this way, women upstairs to shower and then head to The Lagoon. It was strange because you didn’t get a towel until after you got out of the lagoon. I decided to keep my glasses on since I didn’t at the Sky Lagoon and wanted to be able to see better. That was a mistake. They were completely fogged up the entire time. It was dark, and I couldn’t see anything. Lol. David and I did a couple of masks, did a little soaking and decided we had had enough.
We finally got bak to the hotel around 8:15pm. What a long day! We quickly freshened up and went downstairs to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner. We got surf and turf, crispy potatoes, brocollini, bread, and two glasses of wine.
We headed out to The Bookstore Bar but it was absolutely mobbed and we decided to go back to the hotel. After such a long day, neither of us was up for that much of a scene!
Wowza! What a day!!
Tuesday, 11/12: After the marathon site seeing tour the day before, we were up for something a bit more mellow. After coffee and brunch at Baka Baka, we met our Funky Tour Guide, Lolli, at the big church on the hill. It was so windy, I was clutching on to David. Over the next two and a half hours, we walked around seeing the sites and hearing the history of Iceland. I learned the a lot and it was pretty darn cold. I had lost one of my gloves on the epic tour, thankfully at the end of the day so my hands were freezing. After the tour, I bought a pair of warm, wool gloves.
We headed back to the hotel for hot showers, and a little rest before dinner. That night, we headed back to Messann for a fish pan dish — arctic char, with honey, almonds, arugula, new potatoes, lime, and cherry tomatoes, a shrimp and grain appetizer, some delicious bread and a glass of Malbec. This was my favorite meal of the trip!
We headed back to the Bookstore Bar to hear The Bookstore Band. They were great, and all talented musicians. The place was full!
Wednesday, 11/13: It’s our last day in Reykjavik. It’s been a really fun trip but I’m looking forward to getting home. We got our stuff organized, went out for coffee, then hit the Viking Museum before heading to the airport.
Things I learned on this trip:
People in Iceland are very proud of their country.
There’s a real community and innocence in Iceland. Our tour guide, Lolli reminded me of Will Ferrel in Elf.
Icelandic people are all related to each other. Duh. Wow, though.
Iceland is safe!
Use twinkling lights to make everything look pretty when it’s dark outside.
Most food is on the sweet side in Iceland.
Split meals. Portions are big in Iceland. Plus, you can order a variety of dishes.
Bring warm clothes and plenty of rain gear if you travel to Iceland!
Even if you’re soaking wet, remember to find the humor in the situation. It’s probably pretty funny and joyful.
People value music in Iceland.
Icelandic people are tall - duh. They’re Vikings!
Wear contacts to lagoon-type situations so you can see.
Rotating shoes helps keep you feet feeling good.