Iceland - Reykjavik
7 days in Iceland
From November 12 to November 21, 2021, we traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland with my best friend, Sarah.
We were part of a GoAhead Tour from November 14 to November 18 and for the following three days, we rented a car and adventured around the island.
Sunday, November 14, 2021
Day 1: After flying from Maui to O‘ahu, O‘ahu to Chicago, and then Chicago to Iceland, we finally made it! It was still dark at 8am in the morning. The sun didn’t rise until maybe 10ish. We were greeted by our tour guide, Perla. She was amazing! We still had to wait for other people from our tour to land so we had a little extra time to rest on the bus. Today, we settled into our hotel (Centerhotel Midgardur), ate lunch as a group, took a little tour of the city, and had a free night. The food at the hotel was really good. I had some kind of fish that was very tasty. But after the lunch, I wasn’t feeling well so instead of going on the tour of the city, I rested in the hotel room while the rest of the group went for a tour around the city and learned some of Iceland’s history. I felt better after resting for a while and we went out of a walk at night and tried to find a place to eat. Many places were already closed but we found a Greek place to grab something fast and small. The weather changed so much while we were out. It was clear, snowy, rainy, and it even started sleeting. It was very different from being on Maui.
Monday, November 15, 2021
Day 2: We were able to have a full on breakfast every morning before we started our day. There was so much food to chose from and it was all sooo good. Today we visited a bunch of different historical places. We first went to Thingvellir, the place where Iceland’s parliament was held from the 10th century to the 18th century. Then to Fridheimar, which was a greenhouse that produced most of the tomatoes for the whole island. We ate some tomato bisque for lunch adn then headed to Strokkur Geysir. It was really nice there. After there, we went to Gullfoss, a huge waterfall. The entire time we were in Iceland, there wasn’t much sunlight so we had to make sure to get as much done as we could while it was still bright out. After Gulfoss, we headed back to our hotel. We had dinner on our own and were hoping to see the Northern Lights possibly on a boat. We ate dinner at the Icelandic Bar. We tried deer burger, fin whale, fermented shark, and their specialty alcohol called black death. The weather wasn’t nice enough to go on a boat so instead of seeing the Northern Lights, we went to Whales of Iceland. That was pretty cool too.
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Day 3: Today we visited more beautiful sights! Chad was too hungover from the previous night so he didn’t see much of today’s sights and just stayed in the tour bus. We saw the Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall that we could walk behind. After that, we visited the Skoga waterfall and it started snowing! it was so cold but still so beautiful! Then we went to Skogar museum, where we learned about Icelandic history and they even had a model turn-house village. We stopped in Vik to have lunch. We both ate a lamb dish. Chad had a soup that tasted similar to Portuguese bean soup and I had lamb chops. We bought some things to bring back home at the shop there. After visiting Vik, we went to Reynisfjara, or the Black Beach. It had some cool pillar things like what we saw in Ireland. The waves were huge here and many people weren’t aware how powerful the ocean can be…but we knew. We headed back to the hotel, had some pho for dinner, and went on a search for the Aurora Borealis!!!
and Chad proposed!!!
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Day 4: Today was a relaxing day with the tour. In the morning, we ate breakfast again…sooo good! Then we went to get everyone COVID-19 tested. Since we were staying a few days longer, we didn’t have to take our tests till later. After that, we went to the Blue Lagoon where we just relaxed in the mineral waters. It was so nice and refreshing. We were there for a couple hours. For dinner, we ate at Reykjavik Kitchen, located right across our hotel, with all the people from our tour. We only had maybe about 15 people in our tour. It was a nice size, everyone was really nice, and most of them were older than us. One guy, Edward, who was closer to our age and from New York, became a friend to us. The dinner was nice and the food was delicious.
Thursday, November 18, 2021
Day 5: Today, everyone left for their flights except for us. Sarah moved into our room and Chad went down to get our rental car. We drove around the town a little and found a spot to park before our food tour with Reykjavik Food Walk. The food tour had so much good food and a lot of walking. We learned a little more history about Iceland while on the tour. We got to try a bunch of different foods that are traditionally eaten in Iceland such as Arctic Char, slow cooked lamb shoulders, lamb hot dogs, and Plokkfiskur, or mashed cod with potatoes, just to name a few. Everything was so delicious. We highly recommend going on this food tour if it’s your first time in Iceland. It’s a good introduction to their traditional foods and to some history about Iceland. We ate pho for dinner again and then went on a bar crawl tour I found on AirBnB experiences with a guy named Olaf. We stopped a few bars but due to COVID-19, many of the bars closed earlier than they normally would have. It was fun to experience the night life a little and we had a lot to drink.
Friday, November 19, 2021
Day 6: Today we had to get our COVD-19 tests done before roaming around the island. Chad was excited to be driving because he loves to adventure. Everywhere we passed was so pretty and the mountain ranges with snow were amazing. It’s really hard to describe how beautiful this place is…you just have to see it for yourself. We headed north of Rekjavik and our first stop was this place called Eyja-og Miklaholtshreppur. There were stones a little similar to those we saw in Ireland and the Giant’s Causeway. We drove a little further and ended up in this open area where all you could see were mountains on mountains for miles in all directions. After that, we stopped at a little shop to use the restroom and then another shortly after to eat lunch named Veitingastadur Restaurant. We kept heading north, stopped off at a mineral spring, then a beach in Snaefellsbare where sometimes you’d see animals lounging around, and then more waterfalls. We drove thru a snow storm, parked at a lookout to see the ocean, and then finally arrived at Kirkjufellfoss. It was magnificent! After that, we headed back to town, got some gas on the way and some stamps from a post office close by. We got back to the city and ate at Krons Streetfood. It was a little place with tasty food. I was still hungry after and decided to eat an Icelandic hotdog. It hit the spot.
Saturday, November 20, 2021
Day 7: Today was our last day in Iceland! We had breakfast for the last time at our hotel and then stopped at Bonus, a normal grocery store to buy some goodies to take back home. The sunrise was a beautiful one and for our last morning in Iceland, we could even still see the moon at the same time! Today, we went to the Kolaportid Reykjavik Flea Market near the harbor. There were so many different things that people sold. We found even more goodies to bring back home. Before heading to the airport, we had one last meal at the oldest place Icelandic hotdogs were made, called Pulsa, and we were off to go back home.
Iceland is such an amazing place with so much beauty everywhere! We were there during their winter time and we hope to visit during the summer time someday. Until next time, Iceland!