Tuesday
I landed in Keflavik on Tuesday afternoon, and from there took a bus to the capital of Reykjavik. I checked into my hostel and grabbed a bite to eat there. That night I didn't have much planned, so I just wondered around outside my hostel and around the city. Reykjavik was a beautiful city that was very easy to get around and definitely had a small town feel to it. Only 200,000 people live there out of Iceland's population of about 300,000. Here are some pictures of Reykjavik.
Wednesday
Woke up way to early for a day that I was supposed to be on "break" to go on a tour of the "Golden Circle". This is a tour through Iceland that takes you to some of the coolest places to go ever. We started off at a geothermal powerplant (way more interesting than it sounds), continued to a volcanic crater, followed by the oldest church in Iceland, the Gullfoss waterfall, the Strokur geyser, and ended at the Thingvellir National Park. This entire day was magnificent and although I took pictures, they in no way capture the beauty of Iceland. On the bus ride back, our guide mentioned that this night would be a great night to see the Northern Lights. So, I did some finagling at the travel agency, switched some tickets around, and a few hours later I was on a bus to go see the Northern Lights. And luckily, I got to see them. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life and completely unexplainable. It is something that everyone needs to experience.
Geothermal PowerPlant
Volcanic Crater
Strokkur Geyser
Gullfoss
Thingvellir National Park
(Northern Lights not Pictured)
Thursday
Made a game-time decision to go to the Blue Lagoon, which is a geothermal pool a few minutes outside of Reykjavik. It was a much needed day of relaxation. Thursday night, I hung around the hostel as a few bands playing at the music festival were "warming-up" there that night.
Friday/Saturday
Friday and Saturday were practically identical in nature, so I'm going to combine them here. These days, I attended the "Sonar Festival for Advanced Music". While some of the music was a little too advanced for me, I absolutely loved the artists I saw and the environment. It was held in the Harpa Concert Hall which was only about a five minute walk from my hostel, and located beautifully on the coast. At the festival, I made some Icelandic friends who offered me a place to stay if I ever make my way back there (which I definitely will be).
Harpa Concert Hall
Modeselektor
James Blake
Me and my Icelandic friends
Sunday
Sunday was really just a continuation of Saturday, as the festival ended at 3:00 AM and my shuttle to the airport picked me up at 4:00 AM. And, after 18 hours of travel, I finally made it back to the flats in London at 11:00 PM.
Iceland was fantastic, beautiful, amazing, and everything I thought it would be. If you have ever though about going, I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment