Over January, Lauren and I had the pleasure of traveling to Iceland for a few days. Iceland was originally our layover spot, otherwise I don’t think that we would have ever made it there (although it was on the Bachelor or Bachelorette, so Lauren knew something about it). As seen above, there were lots of ducks in Reykjavik, the capital city.
I have to say, this was a phenomenal place to visit. It was warmer there than it was at home for us, and the country had some of the best scenery that I have seen. While we did not see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), and our Snow Mobile trip got cancelled because we could not quite make it up to the Glacier, we did watch the sun rise, visit Strokur (Little Geysir), and do a little offroading.
Our video of Strokur (erupts at the end)
On the downside, it is an isolated island, so things are expensive (and they have a very high alcohol tax). But, on the positive, they have some of the best (if not the best) hot dogs in the world. Baejarins Beztu Pulsur was incredible (and cheap). Best of all, for those of us that do not eat pork, the hot dogs are made of lamb. Who could resist?
But, my favorite part of the trip was a visit to the Blue Lagoon (having never seen the movie, I believe there is very little relation besides both being about paradise). The Blue Lagoon is a hot spring, otherwise known as a geothermal body of water. (FYI, did you know that all of Iceland has geothermal water? After a shower, you will find yourself smelling of sulfur?) While in January, it is extremely cold outside of the water, inside, it was hot. The juxtaposition of the temperatures was very awesome. The Blue Lagoon is also a spa, so Lauren and I splurged on outdoor massages in the water. The whole experience was extremely relaxing.
So to sum up — Iceland is probably one of those places that is not on your radar to visit. It should be. We definitely plan on going back.