Iceland? Yes, Iceland!… because if a friend offers up a 3 night trip somewhere amazing you say yes.

My friend Dave wanted to see the Northern Lights and the spectacular landscape of Iceland in the winter. An inexpensive 3 night package out of Boston came up and he said let's do it. Even though I just got back from my Australia trip a week before, it would take me a full day to travel there and a full day back and oh ya,... there is a volcano going off there right now, I said yes because I've found you never regret the things you do, just the things you don't do. So off to Iceland I went.

Here's what I've found. Often you arrive in Iceland early in the morning because it's a gateway to Europe. It's only a few hours flight to most European cities, so for connection times you arrive at the crack of dawn. That means you can't check into your hotel, you're tired and you want to get started seeing this small amazing country as fast as you can, especially if you're only there for 3 nights. The best thing to do is book a Golden Circle tour. You can go drop off your stuff and spend the day traveling the 300 km loop to some of the most amazing natural and historic wonders of Iceland while also napping in the comfy, nice warm bus during the time it take to get to the various locations. I highly recommend this, but this is not what we did. Instead we decided that a 4 hour hike over lava fields to a volcano in freezing temperatures would be a good idea. So with barely a couple hours sleep in us we dropped off our bags at the hotel and walked up the streets of Reykjavík toward our pick up point near Hallgrímskirkja church. The sun was just rising at 10: 30 am and the church was glowing. We went up to the very top and although frigid the views of the city with the rising sun were well worth it. We had time to warm up with some hot chocolate at Cafe Lokí and then we met up with Giuseppe, our volcanologist guide for the day to head out to Keilir volcano about an hour away.

If you've been to Iceland you have most likely seen Keilir. It is a perfectly cone-shaped mountain visible on the main road leading from Keflavik Airport into Reykjavík. During the Ice Age, an eruption underneath a glacier formed Keilir mountain, pushing the earth metres into the air. I loved this hike. It reminded me of the beautiful hiking in Alaska and was a unique thing to do in Iceland.

So here is where the downsides of the day were. First, there were 4 others in our group. If you have ever, as a full grown adult, had to sit in the back 2 seats of a 7 passenger suv for a drive that is over an hour you begin to understand what a baby feels like in a womb. Second, expectation is a killer. The tour brousure made it sound as if we would be walking next to red hot lava, but because of the current volcanic activity going on, we were taken to a different site that didn't have this without communication or deduction in the already pricey tour. Not good. Third, confidence is essential. On the hike back to the suv, Giuseppe appeared to not know where the trail was, and we were tramping over virgin snowy ground. I've done this many times and if you have a general sense of direction it's not a problem, but when others in the group start to let fear and frustration in and they can't be calmed, it's a buzz kill.

      But I absolutely loved it. Here were the upsides. I got to do an actual hike over lava fields in winter in Iceland. The sun barely rose over the horizon, but when it did the slanted light gave a spectacular color show dusting everything in a pink purple glow. We hiked out to the base of Kelir, and although we didn't see running red lava through tubes, we did get to a view point and got to see the current geothermal activity in the area and some breathtaking views. Giuseppe was very knowledgable and sweet even if a little flustered, and I tend to think when things don't go as expected they make good stories.

We arrived back into Reykjavík around 5 pm and headed straight to Bæjarins Beztu better know as the famous hotdog stand. This 5 square meter of a food stand has not closed or moved since 1937, but what is so special about a hot dog? Well, first off, these hot dogs are not made from pork or beef, but lamb meat. For the best dog you should order it with everything, which includes, crispy onion, raw onion, sweet mustard, ketchup and remoulade. The ketchup is actually made from apples instead of sugar to give it its unique taste. Don't worry if you see a long line, it moves fast. The employees are paid by hot dog not the hour, so they have incentive to move that line. It's a Reykjavík must do.

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The next morning, we did what we were supposed to do on the first day, The Golden Circle Tour, but we added in some hot springs and an evening Northern Lights trip also. Packed day. It began by getting to our bus. Now we could have taken a taxi to the bus station, but then we would have missed the nice morning walk by Duck Pond. We made it in what we thought was plenty of time until we realized it was the wrong bus station, so added to the morning walk for exercise we also got in a little run to the correct bus station 15 minutes away, and in just in the nick of time, we jumped on our coach ride for the day.

First stop was þingvellir (pronounced Thing-vet-leer). We were literally in Europe and North America on the same day. Þingvellir is where you can see the two tectonic plates, the Eurasian and the North American, pulling away from each other very slowly, a whopping 2.5 cm each year, but it is very cool to see the two plates clearly. It is not only the meeting place for techtonic plates but also the meeting place of the oldest parliament in Europe. Founded in 930, Icelanders gathered there to make important decisions about their island, hear the gossip of the time and find a mate not related to you, not an easy thing to do in a small population.

Then we stopped to pet an islandic horse. So dang cute. Icelandic horses are short, long-lived and hardy. Icelandic law prevents horses from being imported into the country and exported animals are not allowed to return so they have very few diseases. In addition to the gaits of walk, trot, and canter/gallop typical of other horse breeds, many Icelandic horses can also do the tölt and the flying pace. Very fancy. Look it up. Oh and they are not ponies. Apparently Icelanders get very offended if you call their little horses ponies.

Next stop was Geysir. Geysir is the original erupting hot spring giving its name to all the geysers out there, but Geysir has decided to retire and doesn't blow anymore, but the neighboring pool of boiling hot water, Strokkur does. Every 4 minutes Strokkur shoots out a stream of steaming water into the air. It's very exciting when it goes off. The area also has several pools of water ranging from hot to boil-you-alive-in seconds. It literally just bubbles like an electric kettle all day.

Gullfoss, the reason why it is called the golden circle tour. We arrived just as the sun was setting and were lucky enough to see why it's considered golden. The area has a huge amount of water thundering down a jagged canyon creating massive waterfalls, and if the light is just right a gold cloud is created from the mist. Spectacular, but really, really cold. But this scene is the reason people travel here. It was something out of a movie set.

Now for my highlight of the day....hot springs. Blue lagoon is a famous, beautiful, fancy, hot spring resort on the way to the airport that most people are familiar with, but it is also close to that pesky volcano about ready to blow, so is closed to the public right now, so instead of Blue Lagoon we went to Secret Lagoon. It was just what I wanted, not too built up, a large open air pool, hot, hot water, colors from the sunset still in the sky, a glass of wine in my hand, good company and the stars shining above, pure luxury.

All relaxed and happy we made our way back to Reykjavík for some dinner before heading out to our Northern lights tour. Reykjavík or "Smokey Bay" as the first residents called it due to the surrounding hot springs is home to about 2/3 of the inhabitants of Iceland and is the smallest capitol city in Europe. It has a beautiful mix of modern metropolis and historic small-town charm. I could spend a week just checking out the exquisite restaurants here, but we did get to sample a few. The night before we ate at Monkey which has the best gyoza I've ever tasted and this night we went to Posthús, the coolest, hippest food court I have ever been to.

So next up, the Aurora Borealis, the reason for the trip. Now this elusive artist of the sky is not always visible. You need clear skies, no city lights and solar activity. We had heard that the night before they went off in one of the biggest solar storms the northern skies have seen in a while, even displaying the rare red lights. But we had booked for this night and were hopeful for the leftovers from the night before. We boarded the bus to take us out of town and waited outside in the freezing cold for two hours. Not even a blip. Nothing. Skunked. That's Mother Nature for you. It did make us want to kick ourselves for not going the night before, but what can you do....well...it was Saturday night so we went and checked out the Reykjavík night life. First the Lebowski Bar, where we met the lively Inga Athena who warned us of emergency rooms and shared her frustration of foreigners in round abouts. Yes, I did have a White Russian there in honor of my friend Seth and then on to The English pub. This was my favorite. Live music every night and friendly people. Highly recommend. We went here all three nights.😁

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For our last full day we rented a car and drove south. The south is known for its waterfalls, glaciers, black sand beaches and the volcano that stopped the world, Eyjafjalkajökull, when it erupted in 2010 into a glacier and created so much ash in the air that air traffic was halted all over the Europe for a week. The first stop on our southern excursion was Seljalandsfoss waterfall. It is a part of a series of waterfalls that look as though they are falling off a table top. Although due to icy conditions we couldn't walk around the back of it we did hike a little further down and found a cave you could walk through to get to a stunning spot with a beautiful waterfall falling through the top.

Next waterfall - Skógafoss. Not only does this have a large powerful waterfall but it is the beginning of the Fimmvörðuháls trail. We hiked up the staircase to the top and then followed the trail along the river for about an hour, stopping every minute or so to try to capture the beauty.

Next was Vik, the southern most town in Iceland. Many trolls live here. In fact, if you look out to the ocean and to the left you will see towering hexagonal basalt towers rising out of the North Atlantic Ocean just off the coast. According to Icelandic folklore these pillars used to be trolls. While dragging a 3 masted ship towards land they took too long and at the break of dawn instantly turned to stone. The other point of interest is the Reynuskirkja Church. This red roofed wooden church sits on a hill above the town. Vik is directly south of Mýrdalsjökull glacier which sits on Kayla volcano. The volcano last erupted in 1918, but if it were to erupt again the melting glacier would create a flood that would destroy the town, all except this beautiful church, so it's like a bunker also. We ate lunch at a cute little pub called Strondin Pub. It overlooks the black sand beach and the frozen trolls. The beer is good too.😁

So we didn't plan the day out super well. It's close to a 3 hour drive down to Vik and then we wanted to see Glacier lagoon which is another 2.5 hour drive. We had way too much fun at the waterfalls and enjoyed a nice lunch and of course the sun sets at 4 pm, but we decided to give it a shot anyway and drove to Jökulsárlón Glacier lagoon and arrived just as it got dark. But it was still worth it, and we got to see a calving glacier. Jökulsárlón only formed in 1935 due to the rising temperatures in the beginning of the 20th century. The glacier Breioðamerkurjökull is shrinking and causing the lagoon to grow. It is expected that in the future Jökulsárlón will grow into a deep large fjord, so although it was sort of dark I am happy I got to see it before it changes into something else.

For our last night in Reykjavík, we wanted to find another knock it out of the ballpark restaurant and found it, Public House Gastropub. This restaurant and pub specializes in gourmet Icelandic mini dishes with a Japanese flair. We had the Duck chopsticks with truffle mayo, blueberry cured reindeer with dill, blue cheese and sugar coated almonds and grilled duck breast with pumpkin and cranberry teriyaki glaze all while enjoying the funky rock-and-roll interior (complete with neon signs, fake animal heads and a giant pig in a suit mural). So good. I didn't get to see the town Christmas tree lighting because we got back to late, but regardless Reykjavík looked like something out of a Hallmark movie. It's a great place to go to get into the holiday spirit.

On the way to the airport the next day, we wanted to fit in one more thing and because we really didn't get to see lava tubes on the first day, we stopped at the lava tunnel Raufarhólshellir. This is an impressive lava tube being 4500 foot long, up to 100 feet wide and 30 feet tall. It was formed during the Leitahruan eruption about 5200 years ago. A few natural sky lights at the beginning create some stunning scenery. It takes about and hour and is a good thing to do on the way to the airport. The sunrise was pretty spectacular also.

What an amazing trip! I can't stress enough my gratefulness to Dave for putting it all together and making it happen. He's an amazing dude! This is an example of just saying yes even though it seems crazy because it's these moments that make up life. I'm a lucky girl.

Oh ya..... and on the last leg of my flight back home who was on the same flight as me but......my sister, Billie and her husband, Cory on their way back from Alaska. What a small beautiful world!