What an adventure! Iceland ... we have arrived.
After a pretty mweh flight on Icelandair (pay-as-you-go), we breezed through immigration (under 5 minutes – take that USA!!!) and headed into Reykjavik. The bus ride took us through a landscape that was flat, semi-barren and emerging from Winter. But that was exactly what we were hoping for … something different and a lot bit volcanic.
Hotel check-in was smooth, which meant that we could head out to explore the nearby area (it was late afternoon by then). A climb up a nearby hill through post-Winter forest (think mushy, sun-starved grass, bare deciduous trees and some ‘shouty’ evergreens) to see Reykjavik spread out below us was a terrific way to work off the travel stiffness and get the steps up. We even popped up the drone to get a bird’s-eye view of the city. Trekking back down from Perlan (a stunning museum at the top of the afore-mentioned hill) towards the city finished off the day (with some geographical embarrassment courtesy of building work/dodgy map reading).
First impressions? Dramatic landscape (aqua seas, snow-capped mountains, black lava flows), low-rise blocky cityscape, post-Winter/pre-Spring (greener than we thought it would be), expensive (we were warned). And we have found there is a weird underlying sound to the city – the rumble of ice tyres on the roads. It sounds like every car has flat tyres or is driving over gravel. Slightly disconcerting but helpful to hear them approach!
A helicopter flight over the active Grindavik lava flows was a highlight of our following morning. Our pilot flew us over the obvious geological fissure of the European and American plates boundary. The various recent eruption years are so clearly defined; some of the fields from the extrusions of 2021 are still steaming, and the regular yearly flows from them differ in colour and texture. Amazingly, the 800-year-old flows under them are only lightly colonised with moss and lichens.
Ambling along the pretty residential and commercial streets was a great way to get a feel for the city, though it required a little more energy that hovering above them! Reykjavik is very geared towards tourism – not many Reykjavikians (?) would shop in the areas we walked (not a pharmacy or practical shop in sight.) We had the pleasure of hearing the organ played at the Hallgrimskirkja, the Lutheran church that is a domineering landmark of the city. A delightful discovery was Tjörnin/Pond area, as it was more historical, less commercial and had a sense of history and calm (Alistair metaphor, translate as you will!).
A meet and greet with the tour guide rounded off the day, and we are pleased that it is not a big group, a mix of Australians, Malaysians and Americans. Our sit-back-and-enjoy adventure begins.
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