Iceland

This time last year I was looking forward to a trip to Iceland along with my wife and other Travel Counsellor colleagues and their families. We went in March and what an experience, we weren’t fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights (never guaranteed), but this did not detract from the fabulous time we had. What an amazing country steeped in folklore and amazing Natural wonders.

We flew from Manchester to Reykjavik. Stayed at Hotel Klopp in Reykjavik (a 50 minute transfer from airport), the hotel is located about 15 min walk from The Old Harbour area. This hotel is a basic, very clean and functional, but there are plenty of more luxurious hotels to choose from.

Even though it was cold we still went to the beach! Not your normal white sandy beach but the black beach Reynisfjara. The contrast of the calm white snow/ice and strong gusty waves and sea took my breath away. The black sand and formations are due to the volcanic activity. The cliff is made of basalt columns produce when the lava from a volcano cools. It’s like a pyramid of columns. The rock in the sea is also formed from basalt rock. It is told in folklore that two trolls were dragging their ship to land and when daylight broke they were turned to stone and that’s the Reynisdrangar stacks, visible from the beach. (there’s only one on my photo).

We travelled around Reykjavik mainly on foot taking in the atmosphere and we visited Hallgrimskirtja (Hallgrims Church). What a fascinating modernistic church. It took 41 years to build, completed in 1986 and designed in 1937 by Guojon Samuel. He was inspired by columns of basalt rock throughout Iceland produced from cooled lava. It is the highest building in the city and can be seen from almost any point within the city.

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing Gullfoss Waterfall and the Geysers of Thingvellir National Park.Gullfoss Waterfall plummets down 32 meters of a rocky canyon that is 70 meters high. Located in South Iceland on the Hvítá River which is fed by Iceland´s second biggest glacier, the Langjökull. This is an unspoiled natural wonder to behold.

And, the hot geysers – all I can say is wow!

The food and drink is expensive but very good. We ate in local restaurants offering a wide range of international and traditional cuisine. We had a meal at a Turkish restaurant on the first night, which was very good. But for the rest of the trip, we ate more of the traditional cuisine, including meat stews, mainly using Lamb and lots of fresh fish, mainly Arctic Char. All of our meals were fresh, beautifully cooked and warming, just what we needed!

We stayed for 3 nights and squeezed in a lot, but there is so much more to see. I would definitely visit again and take a trip to experience The Blue Lagoon and would like to catch a glimpse of The Northern Lights.