Our Weekend in Iceland

It’s already been two weeks since we went to Iceland for the weekend with our friends Eileen and Wally Powelson. It was a great trip - fast, but great - and gave us a quick look at this fascinating country. Icelandair has these inexpensive packages that include round trip airfare Seattle-Reykjavik, hotel (essentially four nights - you arrive in the early morning and can go right to your room), and a one-day tour of your choice. All this for just $800 per person! And there were a lot of people taking advantage of these deals.

We left Seattle on Thursday afternoon and arrived 7.5 hours later in the early morning at Keflavik airport. The airport is 30 miles or so from Reykjavik. There is good transportation into town, but we had rented a car to give us a bit more flexibility. Since Icelandair only provides food for purchase we got coffee and rolls in the airport.

We didn’t realize that the car rental people were actually waiting for us at the exit! We got our car (after a little fussing to get the correct GPS) and headed into town. We couldn’t see much, as it was still dark. Sunrise in January in Iceland is about 10:30 a.m. - sunset at 5:30! A short day. We arrived at our hotel - the Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura - and were able to go right to our rooms.
 
The rooms were small but usable, and everything was in good condition. We had breakfast (not included in the room price, but a good breakfast buffet), and then set out to explore Reykjavik. Our hotel was a ways from the town center, and we were glad we had our car. The temperature was in the 30's and there was always a lot of wind and some rain and snow, so it was pretty cold.


One of the first places we went was the architecturally amazing Hallgrimskirkja.

Built in the 20th century to honor one of Iceland’s most famous pastors, it is a beautiful structure inside and out. There’s a Leif Ericksson statue outside. Ericksson was an Icelander - from the family of the first Viking settlers in 860 AD. I thought the statue looked like he was pointing toward the Leif Ericksson statue at Shilshole Bay! We went inside the church. The place is famous for its organ, and we were looking forward to going to Sunday worship there. But the organ is being cleaned and was all over the floor! It’s looks pretty amazing, though, and we were sorry not to be able to hear it. It was a beautiful day - clear blue sky. We went up into the tower and got terrific views all around.

We walked further into the town, beginning the hunt for a new Icelandic sweater for Monte Krog! (The subtext of the trip.) We all decided after a few turns along the streets that it was time for a nap! (These weekend excursions may be for younger people!) So we went back to the hotel and had good long naps and gather again to go for dinner. We had three dinner meals and they were all excellent. We were the only people in this restaurant - Fjalakotturinn: french cooking with local food - and we all had superb meals. We had a great visit with our server, Matthias, who was a Ph.D student at the University of Iceland in Human Geography. He gave us some tips on what to see and where, and we enjoyed our conversation.

The next day was a our tour day. We left the hotel at 11:30 a.m. There were 8 on the tour in a small van - just right. Besides us there was a couple from Boston and a couple from Vancouver, B.C. Our driver and guide was a young woman named Dana, and she was very good.

We were surprised to learn later in the day that she is actually from the Czech Republic! She clearly loves her new Icelandic home. The tour company is Icelandic Mountain Guides, and we would recommend them.

The name of our tour was Golden Circle, and included a visit to the main Icelandic historic site, a big waterfall, some geysers, time at a geothermal spa, and, if possible, seeing the Aurora Borealis. It’s a quite common tour (one book noted that there’s nothing “Golden” or “Circle” about it - should be called the “Mossy Green Triangle”) but we thought it a good one to get a sense of the place, and it provided us with that experience.

We started out at Thingvillar, the place where the Althing, the Icelandic parliament, was established in 930. It was interesting for me to learn that there were no humans on Iceland prior to the arrival of the Vikings in 860. The parliament formed proclaimed freedom from royal rule and established a partnership between the first families to settle Iceland. Iceland is still not very big. Only 320,000 people live there. But they are very proud of their heritage, and this place is a sacred site for them.

Wally and Eileen braved the stormy weather and walked down the hill to the small church and met the rest of us in the parking lot. There we were at the rift valley where the American tectonic plate meets the European one - virtually at the meeting of Europe and America!

From there we went to one of Icelands many huge waterfalls. This one is Gullfoss, or Golden Falls. It is huge, and was beautiful to see in the winter as much of it is frozen. The frozen spray on the edges adds such a gorgeous pattern to the whole area.

We had lunch here, and then headed off to a geothermal site to see geysers. The word “geyser” is Icelandic in origin. It is actually the name of one geyser, and from there has become the word for geysers everywhere. The actual word for the phenomena in Icelandic is different! The area was very interesting, and we stood and watched their own “Old Faithful” which erupts every seven minutes.

From there we went to a geothermal spa called Fontana on a large lake. On the way we stopped to see some Icelandic horses. They are their own breed. No other horses can be imported into Iceland to protect these lovely animals, and if one is taken off Iceland it cannot return. They have an interesting genetic possibility: some have a special gait where they can lift the hooves on the same side of their bodies!

We changed to bathing suits and joined in the fun in the pools and the steam huts. Fairly amazing how warm it all is! After the bathing, we had dinner at another very good restaurant nearby. This dinner was included in the tour.

After dinner we tried looking for Aurora Borealis, but it was cloudy and rainy and there were none to be seen. We did go walk on a black sand beach on the Atlantic late at night - an interesting experience! We got back to our hotel around midnight.

The next day, after another walk in the city including the Sunday flea market,

 we set off to see something of the west coast. It is an amazing landscape.

We drove through a tunnel that went under a fjord! We had lunch in the historic village of Borgarnes,

and then headed back to Reykjavik as the weather was changing rapidly with lots of snow coming down! We did see many of these greenhouses which are all heated with geothermal energy. Iceland grows all its own fruits and vegetables, including bananas, in these greenhouses.

We got back safely. After a little break, we went to our dinner reservation at The Fish Market, a very popular Asian fusion restaurant. We again had a superb meal.

Monday was departure day. After checking out of our hotel we went back into town to finish the Monte Krog sweater purchase. We had a nice time doing it at the Icelandic Handknitters Association, a cooperative of 200 handknitters from all over Iceland. We looked around a little more in Reykjavik and then headed towards the airport. On the way we went to the Blue Lagoon, a very famous geothermal spa right near Keflavik.

Larry took a lot of pictures while Eileen, Wally, and I went into the pools. The water is a gorgeous blue color, set off even more in winter by the snow-covered stark mountains around. We had lunch there and then went to the airport, left our car, got checked in and got ready to leave. Our flight departed on time, and we arrive a few minutes early into SeaTac. It was a great experience all around. We’d be happy to explore more of Iceland another time. If you fly Icelandair to Europe, you can stay up to one week in Iceland for no additional flight charges. A good deal all around!

One other note: my seminary professor and friend Daniel Simundson had died the week before. His service at Luther Seminary was on February 4, our last day in Iceland. Dan was a proud Icelander. His parents had come to Pt. Roberts, Washington, where there was a thriving Icelandic community. Dan traveled to Iceland often over the years. In 2000 the University of Iceland gave him an honorary degree, which pleased him very much. And I was pleased very much to be in Iceland on the day of his service. Perfect.