Last summer, in July 2018, we went for a lovely week in Iceland. Much has happened between now and then which has precluded my writing about it until now. However, Iceland and all that we experienced is still there, and I feel confident that recommendations I give from that time will still be valid. Strap in and enjoy the beauty!
Iceland is one of those mystical places. It has breathtaking beauty and people who are actually happy and take care of each other for the most part. Visiting there, I felt very welcome, even as I felt the keen cultural and linguistic differences. It's a place I could return to again and again, and always find something new.
We started our adventure in Reykjavik, as I believe is most common. The international airport is very easy to get around and it's also accessible to the city by bus if needed. We rented a car from Blue Car Rental after a lot of research, and I recommend this company fully. It was a great experience from start to finish, and they were really fair with the rental price too. I'm not getting paid to say this, by the way, it's just true. They're good at what they do, and fair about it. We got a teeny Toyota Aygo, which we joked the entire time about "I go... if you push me," and other corny things like that. For the summer, it was just fine! We had limited choices because as Americans who don't drive stick shift much (at all?), we were relegated to choosing automatic transmissions.
After the car and finding our AirBnB (Iceland currently supports AirBnB rentals and properties because they love tourism), we walked into the old town area for dinner. It's a lovely part of town and where we spent most of our time in the city.
Hallgrimskirkja! This is a HUGE church with an equally large organ that is world-renowned. Famous organists give concerts here all the time. Its claim to fame is that it is 74.5 m tall, the highest church in Iceland. We love the fact that it's named after Hallgrimur Petursson, a poet and clergyman. He wrote the Passion Hymns, of which I know nothing. The church is really good for marking where you are, if you get lost.
This is a famous record shop that Matt wanted a picture of. I do not have a connection to it, but he swears it is cool.
We ate at Kol restaurant, knowingly splurging with complete acceptance. We went in for the three-course menu with Icelandic scallops and charred salmon, complete with a white chocolate cheesecake confection for dessert. It was all gluten free (plus the restaurant has tons of vegan choices too), and some of the most interesting flavors I've experienced. I highly recommend a visit to this place if you can afford to splurge a bit on food. We made a reservation before the fact too, and it worked out perfectly! Feast your eyes and prepare to become hungry:
We enjoyed more time in this city later in our trip, and had the chance to walk around and eat wonderful gluten free crepes from a great place in the old city called Joylato. That's a crepe stuffed with avocado, tomato, and other goodness, and a GF brownie topped with hazelnut and mint ice cream. I think. It was delicious, in any case.
Breakfasts were obtained from convenience stores, skyr for me and fun little wrapped pancakes for Matt. Just read labels if you don't like artificial sweeteners in your food, as almost all the skyrs were full of them! I didn't expect that, since in America that's uncommon now. I did manage to find a great local brand that was delicious and free of all artificial flavorings. So it can be done!
Iceland is one of those mystical places. It has breathtaking beauty and people who are actually happy and take care of each other for the most part. Visiting there, I felt very welcome, even as I felt the keen cultural and linguistic differences. It's a place I could return to again and again, and always find something new.
We started our adventure in Reykjavik, as I believe is most common. The international airport is very easy to get around and it's also accessible to the city by bus if needed. We rented a car from Blue Car Rental after a lot of research, and I recommend this company fully. It was a great experience from start to finish, and they were really fair with the rental price too. I'm not getting paid to say this, by the way, it's just true. They're good at what they do, and fair about it. We got a teeny Toyota Aygo, which we joked the entire time about "I go... if you push me," and other corny things like that. For the summer, it was just fine! We had limited choices because as Americans who don't drive stick shift much (at all?), we were relegated to choosing automatic transmissions.
After the car and finding our AirBnB (Iceland currently supports AirBnB rentals and properties because they love tourism), we walked into the old town area for dinner. It's a lovely part of town and where we spent most of our time in the city.
Hallgrimskirkja! This is a HUGE church with an equally large organ that is world-renowned. Famous organists give concerts here all the time. Its claim to fame is that it is 74.5 m tall, the highest church in Iceland. We love the fact that it's named after Hallgrimur Petursson, a poet and clergyman. He wrote the Passion Hymns, of which I know nothing. The church is really good for marking where you are, if you get lost.
This is a famous record shop that Matt wanted a picture of. I do not have a connection to it, but he swears it is cool.
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Breakfasts were obtained from convenience stores, skyr for me and fun little wrapped pancakes for Matt. Just read labels if you don't like artificial sweeteners in your food, as almost all the skyrs were full of them! I didn't expect that, since in America that's uncommon now. I did manage to find a great local brand that was delicious and free of all artificial flavorings. So it can be done!
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