Iceland 440: Day 1

I know that this is long overdue. You will have to forgive me though as this is very difficult for me to type this.

You see, I spent most of my Christmas break writing a long, detailed log of our trip to Iceland. I worked on it for several hours over the course of several days. Then when I had about three-quarters of it done, I decided to just publish the first half and finish the rest later. As I went to break it up, the free (you get what you pay for) blog host that we use erased it. I’m not kidding. I know that this sounds like the dog ate my homework, but truly this is what happened. And as I started to tap the ‘Back’ button to try to recover it, autosave kicked in and saved a blank page.

So, I will bravely try again. But you should know that the original was insightful, well-written and much funnier.

For those of you that have no patience for blogs (TShay), here is the quick link to the pictures.

For those of you that are chained to a desk and need a virtual vacation, here is the play-by-play.
Sunday, 14 December 2008
We left on a typically-Irish dirty day. The rain and wind soaked me as I left my building and got a taxi to Slim’s office – the taxi queue is across the street from my office! But we made it to Cork in good time to enjoy a sandwich before heading east.

No, I don’t need to check a map; you can’t fly directly from Ireland to Iceland (although the history of the islands is actually pretty closely connected – more on that later). So, we flew through Heathrow. We had a couple hours layover and were lucky enough to land at and depart from the same terminal (Heathrow veterans will understand how nice that is). So we had time for a nice dinner and pre-shopping planning (what we would buy from duty free on the way back). I had a lovely steak pie with blue cheese and Slim had a burger. Both were topped off by some lovely British bitter.

We arrived in Keflavik at 11.30pm. We were not able to land exactly on time due to a snow storm which made us giddy with anticipation. In the lights from the airport, we could see the snow covered ground and were thrilled. Our winter vacation was off to a perfect start.
After some shopping at duty free (arriving passengers are allowed to stock up before leaving the airport – so nice) and waiting in a long line at the only ATM in the terminal, we were out in the snow grabbing a taxi. I booked an airport hotel for our first night as the airport is an hour’s journey from Reykjavik. We probably would have still been awake after an hour’s bus ride, but I had another plan as well for our first full day.

Besides, we would have missed our first amazing site. I had read how important light is to Icelanders. So important that they decorate their gravestones. Sorry, never did get a photo of this, but we passed a graveyard that first night where many of the headstones were lined with Christmas lights. We did not figured out if this was just for Christmas or something that they just do. It was quite a site though.

We awoke around nine the next morning to almost darkness, not complete, but close. We headed downstairs for our lovely breakfast. We seemed to have been the first arrivals, even though breakfast was almost over. When we walked in, the lights were very low and all was dead quiet. It felt like it was the middle of the night. A couple other guests then arrived and someone came out from the kitchen to turn up the lights. The spread was gorgeous – a variety of cheeses, meats, crackers, bread, fruit, yogurt, cereals and preserved fish. I did not partake of the latter; I’m not that adventurous when it comes to breakfast. Oh, and the coffee – delicious.

I could have lounged the day away enjoying that coffee, but Slim was anxious to find out what we were doing next. Quick repacking, settling the bill then into another taxi – to the Blue Lagoon. There are shuttle services that run between Reykjavik, the Blue Lagoon and Keflavik, but I did not want to be on someone else’s time schedule. Visiting the Blue Lagoon was a lifetime dream for birthday boy, so we made the most of it. The taxi ride was luxurious with leather, heated seats. We enjoyed the snow covered mountains and lava field on the way.

We arrived around 11am, checking in and procuring our rental towels and robes. Then we were off to change and shower. The Icelanders really hate the foreigners coming over and not showering properly because their pools are not treated with chlorine or other chemicals.
As we came out or our respective change rooms, I could see that the lagoon was just as I had imagined it. The pool is that perfect blue and the steam dances and floats off the water constantly.

We removed our robes and flip-flops in the just-above-freezing temperature (only figuring out at the end of the day the secret to avoiding this) and were in the water. The perfect, perfect water. The temperature of the water ranges from 98.6˚ - 102.2˚ and is so soft.

We explored the perimeter of the pool and found the ‘pudding’ section – the area at the back where the fine silt that has collected on the bottom. It makes you think that you are walking in pudding in a nice way. We spent a couple hours at a time in the water then would come out for lunch, some time in the relaxation room, a sit in the sauna or photos. Lunch was soup and a hot dog in the cafe, and we later enjoyed a beer while sitting in the bar area of the pool.

The average visit is two to two and a half hours. We were there for almost six! Oh yes, we made the most of our Blue Lagoon day!

We then gathered our many belongings (they have massive lockers there for bags with a very slick system of wrist-band identification that opens your locker and puts your purchases on your bill for checking out – it even monitors the three-drink limit for the bar area so you don’t get massively drunk and fall asleep in the water). We called another taxi, and we were off to Reykjavik.

As we got closer to Reykjavik, I began to worry. Had I made a good decision in my room booking? We were there for four nights and, it being Iceland in the winter, we were going to be spending more time there than one normally would in a hotel room. The taxi driver was not sure of the address, so we got to see the entirety of the main shopping street. When she finally pulled up to it, we still weren’t sure where it was. Very clandestine... The lobby is basically a hall, but with interesting black leather couches and wintery decor. After checking in, we did our best to cram ourselves into the elevator, in fact, there were two other people waiting for the elevator, but we sent them up on their own. As it was, we barely fit with our bags!

I needn’t have worried (as is almost always the case) about the room. Our little studio apartment was amazing. It matched the website perfectly which is always a pleasant surprise. We had a huge bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and sun shower, a tiny but functional kitchen, dining area and lovely decor. The location was amazing. We looked down on the main shopping street and the city centre was about three blocks down the hill. We were close enough to the action to partake but not so close as to be disturbed when we weren’t partaking. And the view! But we would not be able to see that until the next morning as it was well after dark when we arrived.

The only problem with our long day at the Blue Lagoon is that we were now hungry in Reykjavik on a Saturday night at the height of dinner hour. We wondered around the city for quite a while checking out menus and finally stumbled on the Fish Market. And what a stumble it was!

No reservations on a Saturday night in Reykjavik? It was December, but still the place was jammers! They had a couple of seats at the bar, overlooking the kitchen. Would that be okay? In a word, yes! Dinner and a show! The kitchen was organised and bright and no one was running around like crazy, despite what reality shows try to tell us. We had such a great time watching our food get prepared then delivered. The special of the night was an eight-course Christmas menu. Christmas menus are big in Iceland, so when in Rome... Eight courses of mouth-watering dishes on steal-worthy plates made their way at a perfect pace to our little corner. This is a definite case of 'pictures are worth thousands of words'...

Day of Blue Lagooning, a fantastic dinner, time for old people like us to go to bed! But wait, it is Saturday night in Reykjavik. This is no time for sleeping - it's Runtur! After a disco nap, we rallied ourselves, put on our hippest outfits and went out on the town - just after midnight! We first found the Cafe Rosenburg just around the corner from our hotel. A cafe by day, bar by night place with long tables and a live band. The band was great, and we acquired our first Iceland memento: their CD.

But, you do not linger on the Runtur, so we were off on the next adventure. We tried to follow some local looking group, but they headed out of town, so we made our way towards the town centre. After one more stop, we ended the evening at the English pub. The main attraction there was the wheel of beer fortune - a giant spinning wheel that cost about $12 per chance. There were several 'Sorry' wedges but also one, two, four or eight beer wedges. The big prize? A metre of beer. Great fun to watch, but seemed too close to gambling for us to participate (not being prudes, just that we don't gamble beer money).

I know you are thinking that sure I must be done. Seriously, what else could we do in one day? Just one more Reykjavik tradition - the hot dog night cap - dee-lish!

Now don't be too worried. Even though the first day has taken five pages to detail, this thing is not really going to be a novel. The second day was also jam-packed. However, after that we took things a little easier. Oh, and yes, I will try to finish this before his next birthday…