You Me and Tuscany: Reykjavik, Iceland

Our first impression of Iceland was barren and desolate. As we trekked our tired selves out of the airport after our red eye flight,we looked around to see a fairly flat landscape covered with rocks and moss. Though I hadn't slept all night, we ran outside excited to find our shuttle bus. And then it hit us. A cold Icelandic gust of wind. We were tired, hungry and had no sense of time, but that wind definitely kept us awake until we could check into our hostel. Reykjavik was an adventure and an awesome way to start our journey. From the culture and people, the scenery, and the copius amount of daylight, we've loved our stay. Here are some of the highlights:

1. The Culture and People

Reykjavik is a bright, colourful city full of creativity. Many of the buildings have colourful roofs and siding-- I heard that this was because of the lack of sunlight in the winter (I can imagine you'd want some extra colour in your life when there are only three hours of daylight....). A lot of houses have corrugated tin siding or are concrete (coloured, or course). We were thinking this is because of how windy it gets (it was crazy while we were there!). We spent a lot of time exploring the city, and stumbled upon many unique and artsy cafes, shops with trendy clothing, cobblestone streets with a lot of people out walking. Our hostel was extraordinarily unique in it's design and decor and we felt the chill atmosphere as soon as we walked in. There was live music every night we were there (that ranged from amazing eukelale and acoustic artists, to one guy who was painful to listen to). Icelanders just seem to have this edgy sort of style. I saw a ton of vintage shops downtown and the flea market also had a lot of good finds for cheaper. There is a lot of wool to be found around town... I would have loved to purchase an iconic Icelandic wool sweater but a) there's no way I want to lug that around for the summer. And b) there would go our food budget! Even at the flea market they were selling for 150 dollars (or 15,000 krona). The Icelandic language is also pretty cool. As much as I listened, I could just not get over this language. It sounds like a mix of dutch, german, and gibberish to me. Luckily, everyone also speaks English which is good since there are so many travellers here.

2. The Thermal Pools

In Canada we may go to the movies on a Friday night, but in Iceland they are at the pools! You'd think it's crazy considering it's pretty chilly outside, but since the country is rich with hot springs, there are many geothermal pools to be found around town. We went the first evening we were there and loved it! So much cleaner than any public swimming pool I've been to at home. It was definitely evident that they are proud of their clean, sustainable facilities. So much that it is a rule that everyone MUST shower thoroughly without your bathing suit. That's right, you MUST shower with all the other women absolutely naked. If you are uncomfortable with that, too bad-- there is a worker there making sure you are totally stripped down. I would also like to add in at this point that Zack is fitting in quite well with his new "Euro" bathing suit. No shame here! Once you are all squeeky clean, an array of hot tubs, pools, and slides await you. They had different temperature hot tubs, with the hottest being 111 degrees fahrenheit. Of course we hit that one up, along with the water slides and any other pool toy we could get our hands on. If you know me, you know how much I love swimming. Man, I wish we had these types of pools at home.

3. The hot dogs, meat soup, and ice cream

This is something we were not aware of until about halfway through our stay here. But believe it or not, after the Icelanders finish swimming at the pools, they hit up the hot dog stand for (in their words) the BEST hot dogs you'll ever eat! I was first told about these hot dogs when I asked a girl that was staying in our hostel room how her day was, and the first thing she told me about was how she ate a hot dog. I know, you're probably thinking what I was thinking (seriously? A hot dog?) but we found out the truth when we spoke to a few of the locals. We asked them if this was really something worth our while and we found out this local girl would sometimes drive fifteen minutes into town just to buy a hot dog from this specific stand. She told us they boil them in beer and something else, and then have this "special" mustard sauce that goes on top. So, we tried them. They were good, but I really couldn't taste anything too different about the actual meat, the toppings on the other hand were amazing. Next, this same girl told us about the Icelandic meat soup that we HAVE to try. It is from a food truck around town, and I'd say it was almost worth the 10 dollars that we spent (yes, 10 dollars. We cooked the rest of our meals in our hostel). Lastly, to really experience what the Icelanders do, you must go out for ice cream. This is craziness to me. The wind is blowing so hard that you can barely open your eyes, my fingers were going numb, and there are tons of locals eating ice cream! We didn't get the ice cream.

4. The Amazing Outdoors

Iceland is one beautiful country. If we ever decide to come back here we'd definitely rent a small car, pack a tent and check out the Golden Circle (the Golden Circle is a popular route that allows you to see volcanoes, geysirs, and mountains- Iceland's most stunning sights). I'd also love to see the West Fjords. There were some people staying at our hostel who had been there and it sounds like an incredible sight to see. However, having only a few days here, we opted for some closer mountains. And boy, they did NOT let us down. Mount Esja was possibly the most intense hike I've done yet-- especially at the end. But we made it! And it rained on us at the top! Wahoo! The views were spectacular. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

5. The Blue Lagoon!

Visiting the Blue Lagoon was something we almost decided not to do because of how much it costs and because we were on a time limit. I have to say though, I am so glad we went here! Such a great way to end our time in Iceland. Basically, it is a giant natural hot spring among the rocks in South Iceland. The water is literally a light blue colour and it's unlike anything I've ever seen! While we were there, there was a photo shoot going on right beside us for a New York Fashion company. So close that we probably could have photo bombed one of the pictures (but of course, we didn't!). This is a place that I would definitely recommend if you ever get the chance to visit Iceland.