Reykjavík and Beyond

Joanie joined me in Reykjavík for some post-hike tours and sightseeing. Upon arriving from the overnight flight, she navigated her way from the airport to the main bus station, where I met her for the short 15 min walk to our hotel.

She took an opportunity to rest up before our afternoon activity, the Reykjavík Food Walk. If ever in Iceland, I highly recommend this 3 hour experience. We were met at the Harpa Concert Hall by Katrín, a young university student studying tourism.

During the tour, we visited 5 different restaurants and got to try some very tasty Icelandic cuisine ranging from Arctic Char (similar to salmon) to lamb stew and the famous Icelandic hotdog, among many other dishes. We even had the opportunity to sample something quite exotic and clearly an acquired taste, hákarl, or fermented Greenland shark.

For those of us brave (or gullible enough) to try this traditional Icelandic dish it was an experience we don’t need to repeat! Let me describe how it’s made:

1. Catch a Greenland shark
2. Behead the shark, gut it, and cut it’s flesh into strips
3. Bury the strips in the sand to ferment for 6-12 weeks
4. Unbury it and hang it to dry for several months to concentrate the flavors
5. And finally… Serve to the tourists, because frankly the Icelanders have evolved from ever needing this to be a staple of their diets!

We bravely selected our sugar cube-sized morsel of shark, then were instructed to smell it (it evokes a strong essence of ammonia with a nuance of rotten fish) before placing it in our mouths and chewing it 8-10 times before swallowing. Then, and only then, could we chase it with a shot of a strong alcohol spirit called Brennevín. I can guarantee you that nobody had a compelling desire for a second portion!

During the Food Walk, Katrín shared some of the fascinating history of Iceland and her own experience growing up on Vestmannaeyjar, a small island off the south coast with a population of just over 4,000. One of the particularly interesting facts she shared was that every native Icelander, from its first settlers in 874 (Norwegian Chieftan Ingólfur Arnarson and his wife, Hallveig Fróðadóttir) to today have been entered into the Íslendingabók (a genealogy database with record of every Icelander, dating back more than 1,200 years). She showed us her account that displayed her entire genealogy of 31 generations back to Arnarson.

Our second day tour was intended to include the Golden Circle, a particularly full itinerary of natural wonders, culminating is a several hour soak at the famous Blue Lagoon. Unfortunately, we were notified in the morning that the Blue Lagoon was closed late the previous night due to an active volcanic event near the small town of Grindavík and the Blue Lagoon.

With our shortened itinerary, the day was still set to be a full one with a lot of sites to see, a few which I will describe.

Our first stop was Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park straddles the area where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, so interestingly we were on two different continents in the span of a few minutes of driving. This site is was also the location of the first Icelandic Parliament, the Lögretta (Law Council) that met annually from 930 to 1262 to make laws, resolve disputes, and recite laws from memory to the assembly from the Lögberg (Law Rock).

After Þingvellir we headed to see the Strokker Geyser. By the time we got there we were enjoying a cold, gale force wind as we waited patiently for the advertised eruption every 8-10 minutes. We saw two eruptions before we retreated into the gift shop/cafe for lunch.

Then it was off to the magnificent Gullfoss waterfall. Along the way we stopped briefly to feed some Icelandic horses that were conveniently posted next to the roadside where we had the opportunity to supplement the farmer’s income by buying a small cup of “horse candy.”

After Gullfoss, we briefly drove through a crop farm featuring massive geothermally heated greenhouses. The vast majority of Iceland’s fresh fruits and vegetables are grown locally in these greenhouses, without the need for fertilizers or pesticides, so everything is totally organic.

Our final full day in Iceland just happened to coincide with the annual Reykjavík Culture Night… despite its name, this is a day long event where seemingly the entire Icelandic population descends on the capital city for a day of enthusiastic celebration, music, culture, eating, drinking, shopping and downright celebration. The long day of festivities began early in the day with the Reykjavík Marathon and culminated at 11:00 pm with a huge fireworks show over the city.

Finally it was time to say goodbye to Iceland. We dutifully hiked back to the main bus terminal for our FlyBus back to the airport. Along the way we were hoping to get a glimpse of of the volcanic eruption that disrupted our Blue Lagoon plans, perhaps some solace for the lost opportunity. Luckily we were seated in a prime location on the bus to see the area of the eruption as we approached the airport. Amazingly I was even able to capture a reasonably good picture through the window of the moving bus… a final indelible memory from the “Land of Fire and Ice.“

---

Author’s Note: If you enjoyed this post, leave a comment or repost to your social media. Also, feel free to explore past adventure series by clicking the “HOME” button below