Iceland, part 2: Reykjavik and the South

stefanie
15 Dec, 2016
travel
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After several days in Akureyri, we traveled back down to Reykjavik for the remainder of our trip. The snow from our drive up was replaced with very heavy rain and insane winds – our Yaris was blowing all over the place. We also encountered the cutest possible road block at one point: a large group of Icelandic horses wandering slowly across the road.

I was, to be completely honest, pretty shocked at the changes in Reykjavik since I was last there. There are just over 300,000 people in Iceland but millions of tourists each year, so the city is changing very rapidly in an attempt to accommodate and cater to those visitors. There were cranes and construction sites everywhere, and the cute local shops we visited last time have been replaced by shiny new restaurants with names like Chuck Norris Grill and Big Lebowski Bowl, and places advertising burgers called “The Gringo”. I’m being hypocritical though, because we did eat several times at an awesome new vegetarian/vegan place called Gló. One of my favorite things on my last visit was the multiplicity of cute little parks and open spaces randomly strewn throughout the city; those are gone now. Also, one of our hostel roommates said that she had to book her ticket for the Blue Lagoon a full year in advance! Last time we just showed up to stuff and there was no problem getting in without advance bookings. Everywhere we went in the south was clogged with tour buses and very large crowds of people, even though we traveled in the off-season.

None of that is to say that the south wasn’t fun (it was!), just that it felt very different and somewhat less authentic than our time in the north. I think I’m glad we spent the majority of our time in Akureyri, with only a couple days in Reykjavik.

Textílsetur Íslands (the Icelandic Textile Center) in Blönduós. I’ve daydreamed about applying for a residency here, and I didn’t realize it was such an easy stop on our drive. Sadly, they were closed for the season.

The Textile Center from the back side, along the path to the water.

Equine traffic delays.

Awesome thing about Iceland: there are cute little wool shops EVERYWHERE. This was in Hvammstangi, where we stopped to try and see seals (with no luck).

Favorite street art in downtown Reykjavik: “Heavy Stones Fear No Weather” by Wes21 and Onur.

Tjörnin, the lake in the center of downtown Reykjavik.

The back of Listasafn Íslands (the National Gallery of Iceland).

Háskóli Íslands (the University of Iceland).

The Reykjavik harbor, with the concert hall Harpa on the right.

Construction and art, everywhere.

I walked around forever trying to find the hotdog stand, but missed it several times because it’s overshadowed by a large construction project now. Eina með öllu, takk takk!

Looking up Skólavörðustígur toward Hallgrimskirkja.

Handknitting everywhere!

Looks like some other Northern Colorado folks beat us to Seljalandsfoss.

Seljalandsfoss. This waterfall sits at the beginning of a path along the base of a bluff. Thankfully, we decided to keep walking because there are several other amazing waterfalls to see further down the trail.

A little radio station (I think) along the path at Seljalandsfoss.

A random man asked Lauren to do yoga with him at Gljúfrabúi.

Maybe my favorite moment of the trip. This is Gljúfrabúi, the waterfall at the end of the trail from Seljalandsfoss. After wading through a stream coming from a narrow crevasse in the face of the bluff, you enter a grotto where the waterfall pours down from the rocks. It felt like magic, and these pics fail epically to do it justice.

Totally normal boring Icelandic scenery.

Skógafoss. This was the worst day of the head cold I managed to catch on the trip, and I climbed up all 400-odd steps feeling like I might pass out at any moment. It was worth it.

The view away from the waterfall at the top of Skógafoss. This was about noon, so that’s as high as the sun ever got during our trip.

Obligatory waterfall selfie at Skógafoss.

Pirates of the Caribbean XVII: The Search for Basalt Columns (working title: This is Not the Black Sand Beach You’re Looking For).

Found them! We were just around this promontory (outside Vík) on our first basalt attempt.

Went to a metal show in Reykjavik. It’s comforting to know that no matter where you are in the world, people will still yell “Free Bird!” during breaks between songs.

The view from the roof patio at our hostel. Construction, construction, everywhere.

Making friends with street cats wherever I go.

Spotted a couple of GQ models in front of my favorite Reykjavik record store.

Really really sad to have missed the release party for Amiina’s new album. They’re one of my favorite Icelandic bands, and I saw this poster the day after in our hostel elevator.