A Magical Holiday In Iceland
I’m just back and unpacked, flicking through my holiday snaps with the sun shining in through the window - I'm already feeling the holiday blues. After a flying work visit back in January, I took the Easter holiday and flew back over to Reykjavik last week to spend an amazing 8 days with my boyfriend, seeing a bit more of this beautiful country.
We headed southwest on the Golden Circle and started out with a mesmerizing drive to the Geysir at Gullfoss. The view was mesmerizing and I just wanted to stop every few minutes to take a picture, it was hard to take it all in. Wrapped in multiple layers, we slid around the paths leading up to Geysir and waited for an eruption of boiling water from the great Geysir which is over 10,000 years old. The whole place was so picturesque and the anticipation of an eruption, which can reach a staggering 70m in the air (though we only saw a few mini eruptions), was pretty exciting. We then got back in the car, heated seats on, and drove out to the semi-frozen Gullfoss waterfalls which were just mesmerizing and so powerful, but boy this was a cold spot!! Getting around can be difficult if you don't have a car but there are some tours on offer, check out Grey Line and Reykjavik Excursions.
Mid-trip, we drove up north to the town of Blönduós and spent some time relaxing in the local hot baths before having a look around the bold but beautiful Church of Blonduoskirkja. Blönduós is a small town, where my boyfriend’s family is from but it offers some staggering scenery, especially when the sunbeams pierce through the clouds in between snow flurries and showers.
The last few days were spent in a beautiful cabin up in the woods near Borganes and on the edge of a freezing lake. We spent our days walking through the woods and down to the lake to take in the view across snow-covered hills and the mini glaciers floating on the tide of the lake. The cabin was so cozy and we lit candles, chatted, cooked yummy food, and warmed up in the hot tub under a starry sky as the snow came down and the sunset over the hills and lake - I kept hoping for just a small glimpse of the northern lights.
Easter Sunday was spent visiting relatives, eating treats including Icelandic Easter Skyr, and walking around Reykjavik to visit the Hallgrimskirkja Church where we took the lift to the top and enjoyed fantastic panoramic views across the city from the top. We headed back to make our Easter meal - garlic bread and broccoli with BBQ lobster on the balcony (a first for me) - pretty delicious. A fantastic second visit to this beautiful country.