!Writing these posts always make me happy. It's almost like my little way of reliving the trip and making me remember the little bits and pieces that could easily be forgotten. I have been slightly busy and didn't manage to write this post up closer to 'real-time' but anyways, I know the following post is going to be long, so let's jump straight into my four day journey in Iceland! Accomodation has always been an important part to me when it comes to travelling, this time, we decided to deviate from the norm of living in convenience and actually enjoy the life of a local, living right by the beach, 40 minutes walk from the city that let us digest a little better each night after dinner and also appreciate the beautiful walks of Iceland. This proved to be an incredible choice with this beautiful little apartment we chose. And THIS was the biggest reason why we decided that this apartment was worth it. Every night, we walked 5 minutes out to the beach at 10:15pm and saw the stars to our lefts, northern lights to our right. Although not the spectacular light show of green I expected, it was still enough to make me realise how many miracles there are in this world, unexplainable beauties of life. On our first full day in Iceland, we took the South Coast + Glacier Hike tour with Greyline tours. I wasn't confident enough to drive outside of home just yet, so we decided to spend a little extra on tours, again, proven to be quite worth it with extra stories, history and geographical information to take-in, the most you know, the better the trip always is and hence, more memorable. This tour included time at a waterfall where you could walk about 100 steps or so to the top of it, the black sand beach and of course, a glacier hike. Glacier hikes for beginners (aka. hikes MUCH less than 14 hours) aren't always going to be available except in places like Iceland, New Zealand....So when you get the chance to do it you have to. I was actually mortified by the thought of walking up ice in the beginning but when I saw the professionalism of the tour guides, it felt relatively "normal". Best thing about guided tours is that they take you from point A to B to C, you have nothing to worry about and equipment for the glacier hike was also covered, including crampons that were 100% a must and a hiking axe, which was proven to serve the purpose for us to take aesthetic pictures. On a side note, it was pretty sad to hear about the changes of the glacier from only a few years ago, all coming down to the adverse effects of global warming. I know it might be easy to say that we understand the effects of global warming but being there was another story. Being there MADE you see the effects in real life, it felt like it was actually happening right in front of your eyes. I'm not going to go into too much detail about this but we are all responsible for this and we should all do our parts to revive this situation. Think global and act local. Leaving the reality of global warming for a second. Next morning, we did something else pretty native to Iceland, riding horses around a Volcanic zone with Islenski Hesturinn. Not just your regular horses but Icelandic horses! Here I learnt a couple of interesting facts about them: 1. If Icelandic horses have travelled outside of Iceland for international competitions or for any other reasons, they cannot return to Iceland ever again - Pretty much a one way ticket... 2. Only Icelandic horses have 5 gaits (this is shown by the 5 black stickers in the first photo) vs the 3 that most of us are used to or have heard of Not to mention, despite my hands that were already freezing off from the cold, I was mesmerised by the view and just hand to take my phone out to capture the moments. After a few hours on the horse, it was time to get back on our own feet for a stroll in the city and I'm leaving my food shoutout for the end of this post (because you save the best for last). So in a couple hours, we managed to visit the Hallgrimskirakja Church, which was admittedly more significant from the outside but has a massive atmosphere of tranquility on the inside due to it's simplicity but it's a must go destination since it is the largest church of Iceland, THE church of Iceland and almost visible from every part of the city standin 73m high! This was our second last night in Iceland, so we decided to take it chill. I unfortunately didn’t take any nice photos at the blue lagoon like I anticipated because it was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING and it was way too much to have to take care of my phone, my warmth, my towel and to really soak up the essence of the destination. Besides, we only managed to get a booking in for the 6pm time slot, meaning that it was already completely dark when we got there. So, maybe one day I’ll go back during the summer where there’s 24 hours of sun, THEN I’ll try my best to get some nice photos for you. Blue Lagoon was 101% a must go location. However, I do need to be completely real with you….it was filled to the brim with tourists (not crowded though since they do have a cut-off with bookings) and has also been designed in a way where they make the most $ other than entrance fee they charge, such as charging you for the “premium algae mud mask” at the mud mask bar that’s slightly more green than the regular mask they provide for free at the mask bar…. BUT there was one perk to this touristy setup, it was the drinks bar. Here, we got a SKYR smoothie that probably became the highlight of the trip for me (trust that to be a food item…) but to be fair, when you’re in the same pool for such a long time, you get bored….. especially after having paid for the coach service to the Blue Lagoon and entrance fee, you really would not want to leave after 30 minutes. Just one of the many very aesthetic Bakeries we popped into Last but not least, food is always the highlight of a trip for me and after many meals, there are a few places I would 100% return to, as below 1. Sea Baron - Highlights were the lobster soup that was extremely dense in flavour and also the salmon / scallop skewers which were seasoned and grilled so perfectly both times we went. (We also tried other fishes but were all too much on the dry side) Also, I must add, a shoutout to the cameo of this meal, the bread roll, EXTREMELY soft and dipped into the soup was just.... heaven 2. Islenska Hamborgarafabrikkan - This was a burger joint that's a little away from the city, it's about a 15 minute walk. Although the burgers weren't AMAZING so to speak, the vibe there was definitely fantastic. Music was being played in accordance to the Reyjavik theme, so they were playing songs like 'Froken Reykjavik', which I fell in love with and the ultimate highlight of this restaurant is that board up on the wall, it's the population of Iceland! Whenever a child is born, the music is stopped and everyone claps! How much more joyful can a restaurant get! Tip: Don't get the chicken burgers, go for the beef options, they're much better. The chicken in Iceland tend to be a little different.... 3. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur - The best Hot Dog of Iceland. Thats all I've got to say. Just joking. We returned about 4 times and to be completely honest, I was quite indifferent to it because never did I knew that Iceland had hot dogs, let alone, they were popular?? So I did a bit of research on it. Apparently Icelanders loved their hotdogs and therefore became the "big thing" of the country, however, there is a slight difference between Icelandic hotdogs and regular hotdogs we see, it comes down to the mustard. Instead of a bright yellow colour I would expect from hotdogs, it was a brown colour, didn’t look appetising but tasted pretty good, especially in combination with fried onions that they put under the sausage (they would have normally had chopped onions in there as well but I hate raw onion). 4. Skyr Yoghurt - This isn't a restaurant recommendation or anything but this is a yoghurt unique to Iceland that I have fallen in love for it's taste, texture (very very thick) and nutritional value (high protein and almost 0 fat!) According to their website, "The first Nordic settlers to Iceland brought centuries of food-preserving skills with them. Dairy products took on new qualities in Iceland thanks to the unique climate and environment." This particular preservation method, has therefore resulted in a yoghurt that will probably become the replacement of Greek Yoghurt with such high beneficial value. Also, the brand that I have taken a photo is the original brand but because this product was invested in Iceland and have become such a success, it has now because a 'type' of yoghurt that many other companies also produce. Final word for Iceland? Definitely loved the aesthetics of it, everyone there was extremely friendly and it was one of the most well-cut destination for tourists. Although admittedly expensive relative to the rest of Europe, I would most likely be going back in the future for other experiences that Iceland has to offer!
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