Iceland: the land of 10,000 climates.

Well, not "10,000" literally. But they do have a saying-- "If you don't like the weather, give it 10 minutes, it'll change." And boy, do they make good on that!

It’s safe to say that, pre-pandemic, Iceland was pretty much errrybody’s Bucket List destination. It was mine for several years, but I opted to “save it for a special occasion”. So, come milestone birthday, homegirl booked her ticket to Reykjavík. Besides the fact that it’s super fun to pronounce, the city also boasts some of the nicest people in the world and one of THE most delicious hamburgers I’ve ever eaten! Here’s what 4 days in Iceland looked like for me…

Day 1: roaming downtown. There was a lot about Reykjavík that reminded me of Amsterdam this time of year (Christmastime). And given that the city gets basically 4 hours of sunlight a day during the winter, makes sense that it would be lighted up to the heavens in yuletide festivities as compensation for the near-perpetual darkness. First view: a giant, lighted, very angry cat statue. I yet had much to learn about this upset feline, but the lure of the first-night-in-a-new-city beckoned and the cat can wait. (Besides, I’m more of a dog person anywho.) Downtown Reykjavík, a.k.a., Christmasville was complete with ice staking rink built right in the center. A quick turn of the head to the right, and the view from harborside came complete with glacier...mountain thingy looming in the back. Duuuudde, whatevs... imma go up/in one of them things before I leave, that’s all I knew.

I stumbled upon Tjornin Pond, which I didn’t even know existed, and saw the largest collection of gorgeous swans (Iceland’s famed Whooper Swans).

Day 2: Grand Tour of The Golden Circle. First stop, Kerid Crater, formed 6,500 years following a volcanic explosion. I say “explosion” deliberately, as many volcanoes here erupt underneath glaciers. When the extreme heat of the lava meets the extreme cold of the glacier, dramatic geological impact occurs. And while the photo may seem as if we were there before dawn, it was really like 9am.

Second stop, Gullfoss Falls. The beauty and majesty of the water, surrounding land, clouds overhead, ice on the ground and frozen mid-way on the falls… in ZERO way, could be captured. And since it is me, of course I slipped and fell on my ass on top of an icy, jagged cliff… and yet, of the 100s of people around me, I was the only one to have lost my footing. Ever. During the whole trip. Anywhere anyone went. Speaking of ‘going places’, guess where we went after the Falls. Thingvellir National Park, home of the bicontinental tectonics. Guess who walked between two continental plates simultaneously. Spoiler alert: this girl!

Back in Reykjavík at night, I found out the legend of The Christmas Cat— it’ll eat children who don’t get clothes for Christmas. That’s odd. Icelandic parents apparently have a lot of scare tactics when it comes to child rearing. And to ensure that their kids don’t throw a fit for receiving clothes (say, instead of toys or something), they threaten them with the legend of this cat… whose name, btw, I never got.

Day 3: world-famous Blue Lagoon. Obvi I didn’t take my camera into the water, don’t have a ton of pix to share. But even if I had, no picture—especially taken from a camera phone—could have done it justice. Let me get my Sophia Petrillo on for a sec. Picture it, Iceland, 2019. It was a dark and rainy night, so I would not have been able to capture that iconic, aerial image Google so abundantly supplies. But you perhaps would have seen a glimpse of what my eyes beheld— a lashing chilly ice-rain storm pummeling the building, plumes of steam rising in defiance from the warm silica-rich water, which was aglow highlight blue. Silhouettes of clouds in the near and far distance, some backlit red from the nearby water heaters, some backlit green or blue, depending on whether the city’s many holiday lights were able to cut through the cloudy night sky. Nothing, absolutely nothing could have prepared me for feeling that chilly ice falling relentlessly on my head, yet my entire body feeling so comfortably warm immersed in 100-degree salt and mineral water. Several of us attempted to brave the intense juxtaposed weather, a legendary fickle phenomenon, many couldn’t and just ran inside. They tell you you’re not supposed to get your hair wet. I broke the rules and got my hair wet. For a few moments, I floated in the water, warm and relaxed, while ice pellets thrashed my face. I took in the totality of this complexity—the sights and feels of Icelandic notoriety at its finest. I heard the many screams of delight and discomfort, people laughing at the “misfortune” of being at the Lagoon during a winter storm and felt... happy. Relaxed with not a single worry in the world, while simultaneously marveling at this unexpected adventure. It was.... absolutely amazing. And precisely because it was not ideal by any means and not at all what I had planned.

Day 4: Last tour of the trip—into a Glacier! A full-day trip that includes driving 2 hrs. outside of the city, getting into a military grade… uh… umm.. truck? bus? thingy, which then hauls you another hour or so onto a certified glacier. There’s a stop in the middle, so people can get out, take stock of the natural landscape, its storied history, natural unpredictability and, oh yeah, step on some semi-recently (maybe) dried lava! (remember I mentioned those eruptions and explosions earlier??) We are already at a fair bit of altitude, but right at bottom of the glacier.

So, we get back on the bus and continue heading toward our destination aaaannnnndd… just like that, we found ourselves caught in a whiteout snowstorm. White. OUT.

The glacier itself was mad cool. I felt like I was in a Bond movie (but like, Connery or Brosnan Bond)—being completely immersed in ice that was somehow mild in temperature. I walked past a pantry or “break room” type station, alongside pipe and measurement tools, past signposts that meant to guide and educate, and sat in not one, but TWO chapels. You heard me. Chapels. (And yes, you can book your wedding in them!) Fun fact: it was actually warmer in the glacier than in my office’s ladies room!

But here’s the really fun fact, when they were digging the ice cave, two teams set out in opposite directions with the goal of meeting in the middle, thereby creating a circular cave within the glacier. One of the teams got lost a few times so instead of a circle, the ice cave is more...wait for it...HEART-SHAPED! (If you know me at all, you know that I see hearts everywhere I go. I mean, the swan poop for example…) Yup, the ice cave itself is a giant heart! And this room was at the heart of the glacier. And even the hole in the floor was heart-shaped.

The other super cool thing about the ice cave in the glacier? They found a real cave in the middle of the glacier! Another captivating example of the rich history and vast landscapes of this amazing island.

Day 5: Time to go home. I squeezed in one last activity before departing for the airport, FlyOver Iceland, which was visually stunning. So much so that it made me motion sick  So who had to hobble all the way back to the hotel nauseous?? Or attempt to eat something strategically timed ahead of my flight so I wouldn’t get motion sick while on the plane… so I ate while reeling from the motion sickness from the simulation, at first raising the alarm of the nice men at Hamborgarabúlla Tómasar (cool harborside hamburger joint) and then their laughter. And probably, pity.