World weary from one too many walks across the Downs, I spent a large portion of last term nagging for a family holiday. Booking in advance has never been a strong point of ours; we are constantly in the gripes of indecision. All I wanted was a small glimpse of the sun. Fast forward to my last week at Bristol and still no holiday. I was about to lose hope when a text came through.
– How about Iceland?
Iceland. Here’s what I knew of Iceland. Cold. Geysers. Cold.
Soggy Selfie
Wait though, I reassured myself, maybe this had the potential to be a pretty cool holiday… (Punny). What followed was a three-day bender of eating, drinking and soaking up scenery that was straight out of Star Wars. It was just great. Here’s a few highlights of our trip (kindly funded by the parents):
Stay in Reykjavik to experience some civilisation in this sparsely populated country. City culture in Iceland is cosmopolitan meets small town. Watch The Grand Budapest Hotel and you get an idea of the look of the place. Buildings seem two dimensional, built from corrugated iron and given character with bright paint. The place has style, with modern boutique stores, galleries and a fashionable younger generation. There is a buzzing café culture throughout, with many places staying open into the night – casually shifting from coffee to cocktails.
Reykjavik
Iceland can offer both fine dining, and fast food to top notch standard. Icelandic hot dogs are an institution, visit Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur for the full experience – they even offer handy stands to prop up your multiple hot dogs. If you’re a little bit hungover like I was, one will not be satisfactory. For a more refined palette head to Fish Company where they pack as many ingredients as possible onto one plate, and assemble perfection. A highlight had to be the deconstructed PB&J Sandwich dessert that was served in its very own lunchbox. For distinctly Icelandic flavours try Minke whale and puffin. Not for the faint hearted I guess, but I say with (slight) regret that Minke whale is well worth a try. Puffin I’ll admit was a little hard to stomach – who could cook something that cute?
Geyser
If you can prise yourself out of your chair after all of this feasting it’s time to sight see! We chose to break away from organised coach tours by hiring a car to drive out into the country. Five minutes out of Reykjavik and you are surrounded by mountain ranges peaked with snow and clouds. Follow the Golden Circle through the alien landscape to find Geyser and Gullfoss waterfall. Whilst you may find yourself becoming rather blasé with each new glacier, nothing prepares you for the absurdity of a hot stream of water shooting out of the ground. Upon arrival, I was rather amused to find a large crowd of people staring at the geyser through their waiting cameras and iPhones. Not even nature can make us put them away!
Gullfoss
This time of year Iceland can still leave you feeling a little chilled to the bone. Never fear though, The Blue Lagoon will sort you out. Iceland’s answer to the spa is ingeniously made out of the by-product of a geothermal power plant. Swim in bright blue hot springs sipping on wine, mud mask on your cheeks and emerge a slightly tipsy, really quite light headed new woman. Bliss!Â
The Blue Lagoon
All Images Ella Wills