Iceland 2024

[ZivBnd (Ziv)]

I planned a trip to Iceland last month due to the scorching heat and smokey skies we have been experiencing in NW Montana. So the skies cleared and the temps dropped but I am still pretty fired up to be in Iceland! Our Canadian neighbors have had a couple tough summers but it looks, maybe, like this one will not be as bad for fires as last year.

I arrived in Keflavik at 9am and it was just above freezing and raining but it made a nice photo so I will share it.

I bagged my “delay trip” to the Blue Lagoon and had a bad lunch at the airport instead. My AirBNB said it was a 3pm arrival so I waited a couple hours and then hopped the bus to Reykavik. Considering I am seeing Iceland at its gloomy summer worst, it is still pretty nice. Hit a local grocery store, Kronan, for a few staples to tide me over until tomorrow. $24US did not seem that bad for a start. I have been warned about the cheese but no one warned me about the Icelandic version of Italian Salad. It is a creamy mayo mixture that did not exactly engender thoughts of Bella Italia…

But I fell out at 6pm and woke at 10am so I must have been too tired to judge accurately. I rolled out and merrily boarded the northbound #2 bus. Which promptly ended up taking 2 lefts and headed due south. When do you just give up and bail? I lasted 10 minutes before I decided I was definitely not going to see the bus turn around and head north. So I got off, crossed the road and boarded the other #2 bus. Which took me to Bio Paradis which is a short walk to 101 Street Food where I ordered seafood soup and chilled. I am not seafood expert but this is a delicious meal! Whitefish of some sort, shrimp, scallops and a broth that is very tasty all on its own. I have several places I want to see before I rent a car and head off to the hinterlands but I am tempted to come back here for the lobster soup. Or the traditional beef soup or classical Icelandic fish stew. Very chill.

Then it was down the street a step or two and into Ægir for espresso and a flight of beers. Really nice bartender, seriously bad espresso, a so-so Pilsener and two rather good IPA’s and a good sour. All in all, well worth returning. Oddly enough, the beer bar has fish stew, too. Somehow I think I may see a few versions of this dish in the next couple days.

Then it was back to Bio Paradis where I remembered that you have to signal the bus driver to stop AFTER the bus got to me, so I watched the “express” #11 bus cruise right on by. The #13 was right behind it so I was good to go. Back to Kronan for grocery store sushi. I forgot to get a bus day pass, again, so I needed something that would give me the 650 ISK in change.

[digga]

Despite the bus frustrations, hope you’re having a nice time. Unbelievably, we’ve never taken the bus in Reykjavík. Looking forward to hearing about what’s next. And feel free to contact me for any guidance (except with the buses!).

[digga]

Oh geez—B just informed me that the volcano erupted! Holy smokes! This will be interesting.

[ZivBnd (Ziv)]

I am planning on heading East or North for 5 days so it may not impact me much, but getting out of Iceland might be affected since most flights leave from Keflavik and Grindavik is just 20km south of the international airport at KEF. Tempted to email my commercial pilot cousin to see if I should be planning alternatives, but he is not a volcanologist, so there is that. The few locals I have talked to in Reykavik do not seem that fired up, (yet?) but I bet the Grindavik folk are getting a bit tired of it.
I liked this ABC article:

" As news of the eruption spread, hundreds of curious onlookers drove to nearby vantage points for a view of the stunning natural phenomenon that has become a key tourism attraction.
“We just thought that it was the northern lights,” said Mahnoor Ali, visiting from Maryland in the US “It’s like the coolest thing I’ve seen in my whole life, honestly.”
For people living and working on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the regular eruptions and ensuing evacuation orders will undoubtedly be met with frustration."

Marylanders for the win!
Here is hoping that this does not impact the Icelanders too greatly! It sounds like the town of Grindavik is not threatened this time, which is a good start for a volcanic eruption.
Not that I want to be THAT tourist, but I wonder if it is ok to drive down and look at the volcano? I need to find out if there are observation spots for looky-loo’s.
“key tourism attraction” makes it sound like it is not that heinous an offense. LOL!

[digga]

We were there for one of the “eruptions;” the current one and the one that we experienced is a fissure and a lazy river of lava. No ash being spewed up so air travel should not be affected. Poor Grindavik – that town is basically closed down (did you see how the town name is basically taped over on the highway signs?). There is a poignant documentary we watched about it. The people are so sad for their hometown.

No one is allowed down there. Don’t even waste your time trying.

[digga]

@ZivBnd

Oddly enough, the beer bar has fish stew, too. Somehow I think I may see a few versions of this dish in the next couple days.

You are undoubtedly seeing how expensive restaurant food can be. Usually at lunch, the soup/bread option is cheapest and quite tasty and at some places, you can get unlimited refills. The Icelandic people know their soups, which I loved!

[digga]

Yikes – a terrible accident at the glacier called Breidamerkurjokull. I’m sure it’s all over the news in Iceland - it even made the front page of the NYT.

[ZivBnd (Ziv)]

Tragic!
I had not heard, noone has mentioned it so far.
I am doing much more mundane stuff, we can see the cloud rising above the volcanic eruption all the way to Geysir, but that is all.

[ZivBnd (Ziv)]

I have been visiting street food places and doing a lot of walking in Reykavik, but it was a bit of a shock to hear about the ice cave tragedy. When I mentioned it to the driver, only one other person appeared to know about it. She had gotten texts from friends asking if she was ok. The driver said something that was a bit odd about ice caving in summer being much riskier, not sure what was up with that statement. I cannot imagine what the family and loved ones of the person who was killed in the incident are going through. What a freak accident.
I read an article a few days ago about a traveler who passed away while he was in Colombia earlier this year and his Mother is still in a terrible state. It was a reminder to me to let my loved ones know that I love them, often.
But I got off the minivan and walked to Ægir again for a beer and a dinner of Double IPA, meat soup and rye bread. Great simple meal.

I was going to post tonight about the meals/foods I have enjoyed (or not) this trip but I think I will get a nights rest before I start on it. No great meals but a lot of good ones and even the not so good were fun and

ok for what they were.
Whoops. Not sure how that got there.

Which shot from today’s tour epitomizes Iceland for me?
Maybe:

[digga]

@ZivBnd

The driver said something that was a bit odd about ice caving in summer being much riskier, not sure what was up with that statement

Warner temps mean greater risk of walls of ice collapsing. It is called “ice calving.” We saw this happening in Patagonia years ago and it is an extraordinary sight to behold.

[ZivBnd (Ziv)]

I am back in Montana and looking through my photos of Iceland and wishing I could have stayed a few more days. I spent most of the time in Reykavik, I am kind of moving slow this summer and a guided tour of the Golden Circle was about as “adventurous” as I got. But the food was always interesting and mostly delicious! I concentrated on fish since it is such a huge part of Icelandic heritage and two of my favorites were 101 Bistro (near the Drunken Rabbit) and Vagnin Fish & Chips (near the maritime museum). 101 Bistro is on a pedestrian street near an outdoor arts venue. I had heard about the fish and chips there so I ordered it and was not disappointed. Very light, nice crunch to the coating, so-so chips. Well, you cannot have everything! LOL!
101 is the red building behind the green Drunken Rabbit building.

I then visited the maritime museum for a couple hours. Not a huge building but it is right on the wharf and has outstanding exhibits! Loved this place!

By that point I was ready to find an Icelandic sweater so I wandered up to the coop and found out that I am an XXXL and there was one sweater in my size. I am just 6’4" but I guess I am wider than I am tall. Shrugs. So I start to head over to Rainbow street for Reykavik Fish and Chips (for the stew, not the fish and chips) and this ginger cat pops out in front of me and leads me down the road. I am a sucker for a confident cat, so I followed and found out it was heading for its favorite watering hole. I prefer Ægir for their ales, but to each their own.

So I got to RF&C, and the place is hopping, I got a table down in the back. Excellent service, nice ambiance and the food was outstanding. I ordered the fish “stew”/Plokkfiskur which is more of a small casserole in a cast iron skillet than a stew, but it is a delicious casserole in a cast iron skillet. I definitely would go back and explore the menu a bit further if I had more days here.

Now comes to the negatives. LOL! I have the worst luck with buses. I am golden with subways/underground systems, aircraft are usually a joy, boats and ships are my métier. But buses are special. I got to the bus stop a few minutes after the last #13 bus left going SE, but I had the unique privilege of watching 4 #13 buses heading NW right past me. I knew the #2 had been a problem in the past for me but I was willing to risk it but no #2 buses either. #11 was giving it a miss, as well. So I finally put all my cards on the table and hopped a #6 bus which would take me just one stop closer to my AirBNB. And my bus pass would not work. Then I missed my stop so I had to walk back to the bus stop I wanted, completely negating any advantage the one bus ride I had been able to avail myself of would have given me. But I got 17,000 steps on my pedometer that day! Yea, me!
But the next day the #13 bus was back to its usual route so I hopped it down to the harbor and passed by the imposing Helga Maria on my way to Vagnin Fish and Chips opposite the maritime museum. Loved this fish, super light, almost rare but still done. Mushy peas were ok but missing something.

Mostly, though, I was just trying to find places to sit down because my legs and feet were killing me from my peregrinations of the days before. No coffee, just ale. They make a very good double IPL at Ægir…

[tomatotomato (Denise)]

Loving those menu descriptions of “Viking Food” and “Food for non-Vikings.” Would you recommend Iceland as a destination for travelers from the U.S. (like me), based on your recent adventure?

[ZivBnd (Ziv)]

The 'Viking Food" was fermented shark meat plus something even more “challenging” if memory serves. The only vikings I saw were the guys on the bus (the driver and a restive passenger) ready to go berserker on each other when the bus took a revised route due to the Culture Day festivities.
Iceland is well worth visiting, especially if you are able to get away from the roads and walk! I ended up in an ice cream place where the tables were on one side of the glass and the cows on the other.

Iceland just has a quirky charm to it. I spent most of my time in Reykavik and it is a pleasant city with good food and frequently bad weather. Especially this year, apparently. And volcanoes. But I missed that part, unfortunately.
But in short, yes, I do recommend it for a visit! Especially if you live on the East Coast so the trip is shorter. The next time I go, I hope to be able to get out and walk a bit more in the country, rather than walking on sidewalks trying to get back to my AirBNB. I would schedule as little as possible beforehand (just booking hotels/AirBNB’s in advance) and play it by ear, doing outdoor stuff on clear days and indoor stuff on rainy days.
The countryside varies a great deal, from green’ish lichen covered lava:

To wind blown beach (birch?) trees and scrub brush.

But it is a stark beauty that grabs your attention and the lake areas are just phenomenal!

[tomatotomato (Denise)]

@ZivBnd

But in short, yes, I do recommend it for a visit! Especially if you live on the East Coast so the trip is shorter

^ Thanks! This describes my husband and me. We are hoping to start traveling more, and the natural beauty you describe is a draw.

[ieatalotoficecream]

Thanks for the report! Had fun reading along! And yes, it’s a great destination from the east coast. The flight is short and easy, and while you could easily spend weeks there, you can see enough in a short time to still feel like you covered alot of ground. I did four nights with a friend two summers ago and I think at some point I’ll go back with my kid to revisit some of my favorites and see some new sights.

Edited to add - another great and easy destination from the east coast is Nova Scotia - I will try to write up my trip report for that this weekend!

[ZivBnd (Ziv)]

Reykavik has a lot of non-Icelandic cafes too, and I visited one pizza place, Radegeroi Veitinghus, for lunch. An Aperol Spritz and a rather large pizza, with a fried egg added on top. I am usually a huge fan of fried egg with just about anything, but you have to draw the line somewhere and pizza may be an egg too far for me. Good pizza, excellent drink, very nice cafe and outstanding servers. A 3 or 4 year old girl in a princess dress spent 5 or 6 minutes describing her favorite movie to my waitress (Ice?) and the waitress was very sweet about it. It was just a charming moment in a very friendly inviting place.

And there were no buses running so I walked back to Reykavik. LOL!
Beautiful walk, I love the smell of drying kelp. No, seriously, I really do like it!

It was Culture Day so the Midborg area was heaving. A festive bunch.

By the time I got to Midborg, I was actually kind of hungry so I stopped at the most famous (?) hot dog place in Reykavik, Bæjarins beztu pylsun. Short line, lots of benches and tables to sit at and some rather well mannered starlings slouching about. But the dog was very good, nice snap when you bite it and the toppings were complementary rather than overwhelming, definitely a dog I would enjoy again. The little hot dog racks were a nice touch.

The next day I was near the pier again so I visited two cafes there and my orders were a clean hit and a miss. The hit was kind of an odd choice for Reykavik, but I ordered salmon at Viet Noodles and really liked it. Very fresh, lightly seasoned to allow the salmon to shine. The gyoza? Not so much. But a very nice, relatively light meal.

Later I ventured across the street to Kaffivagninn and proceeded to order rather poorly. If you go to a cafe famous for its fish and chips, maybe ordering the fishcakes is contraindicated, but I went there anyway and got fishcakes that kind of resemble bland hushpuppies, but with no fish flavor or texture. Not sure what was up with that… Maybe a recipe for stretching food in lean times? Not sure. But the poor choice is all on me.

After all that food, how about a little gratuitous beauty? Gullfoss.
Just a great place. And yet another place that is worth getting up early to get to first thing in the morning before the crowds arrive.

The aptly named Geysir area…

All in all, great visit to a beautiful and welcoming city. Nearly every person I met was truly friendly and proud of their country. The food was good and the weather was 50-50. Not bad for a place that is a hop step and a jump from the Arctic Circle!