So why would anyone want to
go to Iceland in the middle of winter? Iceland has become a very popular
destination with tourism now being the biggest industry in the country of only
330,000 people. Ray and Traci decided to find out what is attracting so many
people to the land of fire and ice during a March adventure.
Icelandair solved one of the
biggest hassles of traveling by providing direct service to Iceland from many
US cities including Seattle. They also offer tickets where travelers can fly to
the European continent with a stopover in Iceland to stay hours to a few days at
no extra cost. Ray and Traci decided to make Iceland their only destination and
booked tickets for a 5 day 4 night stay. Their 7 hour 10 minute flight from
Seattle to Keflavik International Airport (KEF) was on time and pleasant.
Icelandair provides no complimentary food in coach but offers a variety of food
choices for purchase at reasonable prices. They have strict baggage policies
(carry on size and weight) so don’t try to bring in an oversized carry on to
avoid checked baggage fees. Their back of seat entertainment screens have a
modest selection of programs and you will need your own audio device – so bring
a patch cable for your noise cancelling headphones or some earbuds. Icelandair
will sell you some earbuds if you forget. They do have USB charging ports and
slow (3G speed) wifi available to those who need to stay connected.
After arriving in the early
morning hours at KEF, Ray and Traci passed thru passport control efficiently,
claimed their checked baggage and bought roundtrip tickets on the Flybus which
took them from KEF to downtown Reykjavik in about an hour. Note that Iceland
is, for the most part, a cashless society – credit cards are gladly accepted
for even small purchases. Ray purchased some Icelandic Krona at an ATM for
incidentals but ended up with 70,000 ISK instead of 7,000 ($595 vs $59) so
ended up paying cash for most expenses during the trip. They encountered some significant traffic into
Reykjavik which surprised Ray given the population of only 122,000. In town,
Ray and Traci checked into the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica where they had
reservations. Despite arriving around 9AM, the hotel made their room available
within 75 minutes. Given the sunny but cold (high 20s F) weather, Ray and Traci
were happy they could change into warmer clothes to begin their exploration.
Their room seemed to be small even by European standards but comfortably
arranged. Their biggest complaint was the very limited space in the bathroom.
One major thing to keep in mind is that even in an American hotel chain like
the Hilton, there were no US type electrical outlets – Iceland uses the twin
pole design. Since most electronic adapters can convert the voltage, all that
is needed is the US prongs to Iceland poles adapter, a very small and light item
that fortunately Ray brought with him.
Tired, but ready to explore their new home, Ray
and Traci walked to Hallgrimskirkja, a centrally located church with an 8 story
clock tower. The travelers admired the architecture and rode the elevator to
the top of the tower to get impressive views of Reykjavik on a beautiful clear
day. Continuing their journey using Google Maps to guide them, they went to the
Harpa which is Reykjavik’s performing arts theater. While the outside glass construction was fairly unremarkable, the inside architecture was quite amazing!
The construction was unique in that the walls were constructed using clear glass geometric blocks creating a honeycomb appearance. The beautiful sunny day bathed visitors in daylight. The Harpa was much smaller than the Sydney Opera House but the architecture was very impressive and worth a visit (free). Walking along the waterfront, they encountered a well-known sculpture called the Sun Voyager.
Based on the frame of a
Viking Ship, the creator Jon Gunnar Amason intended it to convey the promise of
undiscovered territory. Certainly the water and mountain backdrop highlighted
the waterfront sculpture. Ray and Traci walked back along the waterfront to the
Settlement Exhibition which is the archaeological excavation of a 10th
century Viking House. Here, they purchased 72 hour Reykjavik City Passes which
give access to many of the attractions and serves as a public bus pass. Both
attraction entrance fees and bus fares are pricey in Reykjavik so the pass makes a lot of sense for those wanting to do exploration in the city. The travelers
made a final stop at the National Museum of Iceland to learn about the
country’s history before catching a public bus back to the Hilton. Having very
limited sleep from working the night prior and not sleeping on the flight over,
Ray needed to take a short nap before seeing one of the trip’s highlights – the
Northern Lights.
Travelers need to know the large
amount of luck that needs to happen to have a good Northern Lights sighting.
Most of the companies offer to let unsuccessful viewers have complimentary repeat
tours if the lights aren’t visible and cancel tours when weather conditions are
unfavorable. Happy but exhausted, Ray and Traci were dropped off at the Hilton
and ended a very exhausting first day in Iceland.
One of the highlights of a visit to Iceland was next, Gullfoss, the celebrated 2 tier waterfall. Viewing and taking photos of the beautiful natural attraction was made more difficult due to forceful winds in cold weather but few seemed deterred given the large crowd sizes. One can only imagine how crowded the site must be in the summer.
The tour continued with a stop at Geysir a combination tourist trap and volcanic park complete with a geyser that erupts every few minutes.
The last stop was at Thingvellir, a national park which is located at the junction of the European and North American tectonic plates. Visitors can actually see the earth’s fissures and subsequent development of a high wall which represents the edge of the North American plate. Having completed a long second day, Ray and Traci returned to the hotel for dinner and much needed rest.
Iceland’s remote location
presumably makes all imported goods quite expensive. A trip to the supermarket
or perusal of menu prices quickly confirms that. According to their guides,
Iceland has a comfortable living wages and a 25% sales tax (value added tax)
which are built into the cost of goods. Two things that are relatively cheap in
Iceland is electricity and heat. Geothermal and hydroelectric sources supply
most all of Iceland’s electricity, and power prices are considerably lower than
in Europe although pretty much on par with what Seattle residents pay.
Geothermal heat is also used to warm pools (seems like there is a public
swimming pool on every block in Reykjavik), warm buildings, and to even grow
tropical foods like bananas in large greenhouses. It is common to walk past
homes (or Ray and Traci’s hotel room) in the winter with windows wide open to
disperse excess geothermal heat piped in. It has been estimated that 87% of all
structures in Iceland get their heat & hot water from geothermal sources.
Saturday morning proved to be
a bit cloudy but still ideal weather for exploring. Ray and Traci walked to the
Perlan, just over a mile from the Hilton. The Perlan is a tourist attraction
that features a glass dome, observation deck, planetarium, nature exhibits and
an ice cave. Ray and Traci toured the artificial ice cave held at a temperature
of 14 degrees Fahrenheit with its very low ceilings. After looking at the
glacial and volcanic exhibits, they watched a film about the northern lights
followed by one on the many natural spectacles in Iceland. After admiring the
views on the Perlan’s observation deck, Ray and Traci left to catch a public bus.
As they walked to the bus stop they cut through Klambratun Park and decided to
stop at one of Reykjavik Art Museums located at the park. Most of the art
museums admission fees were included in their Reykjavik City Pass, but the Perlan
was not. Two exhibit halls featured works from two Icelandic artists, one modern
and the other more classical. After leaving the park, the travelers boarded a
public bus headed back downtown. Their destination was the Grotta Island Lighthouse.
The lighthouse is surrounded by a black sand beach which serves as a bird
nature preserve and is a popular spot to view the northern lights near the
city. Rolling waves passed by the lighthouse, and shockingly, two surfers were
in presumably very warm dry suits taking advantage of the surf in freezing
conditions. Glad that they didn’t want surfing lessons today, Ray and Traci
took the bus back to the Hilton for the evening. During their bus ride home
they noted two pre-teenage girls conversing in English while texting on their
phones. While in America it would be unusual just to see such young children
riding a bus downtown unescorted, it was remarkable in Iceland that they were
chatting in English. Later in the trip, Ray and Traci learned that children are
required to learn English in addition to Icelandic early in school and then a
third foreign language in high school. Since texting & video games are
often in English, the young adopt it for casual conversations although the older
generations still speak Icelandic. Basically, you can visit Iceland and speak
English to any resident.
Steini described the significant melting going
on resulting in retraction of the ice seen in Iceland as well as other glaciers
around the world. Next, the minibus brought everyone to the town of Vik,
population 300. This picturesque village was framed by beautiful scenery
usually seen in some Hollywood fantasy movie. The lunch stop was at a black
sand beach at the southern tip of Iceland. The surf was quite rough and
variable – all of the guides warned visitors that large waves periodically
strike and cause soakings or worse. Sure enough, a few unlucky tourists ended
up being drenched despite the warnings. The final two stops were at waterfalls
– Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss. The sunny day formed a faint rainbow at the
Skogafoss waterfall.
Steini treated his guests to
a non-alcoholic beer tasting beverage and some smoked lamb before returning
them to Reykjavik.
Ray and Traci managed to complete
their planned itinerary leaving the final day free which turned out to be a
good thing – from the Hilton, they could see snow squalls roll in resulting in
near blizzard conditions lasting just a few minutes before relenting. For the
first time during their visit, snow was actually visible on the Reykjavik
streets. Ray and Traci were very fortunate to have near perfect weather during
the bulk of their visit, and one night with crystal clear skies highlighting
the northern lights. Their return on the Flybus to the airport was uneventful
and after a 7 hour 45 minute flight, Ray and Traci found themselves back in
Seattle.
