Iceland (Reykjavik & Northern Lights)
- kimberlyongsuwen
- Feb 29, 2016
- 5 min read
So day 3 in Iceland started with breakfast in Sandholt Bakery that caught our attention with its pastries the night before.
Pastries and a cake for breakfast.
Things you can get away with when you have an eating buddy whom is as fat you :)
Our only concrete plan for the day was to watch the northern lights but that was scheduled at 9pm so we basically had pretty much the entire day to roam around Reykjavik.
First stop was the flea market.
You can find clothes, antiques (stamps, magazines and etc), lava stones jewellery and snacks.
Candid shot after the flea market.
Went roaming around the seaside again this time in daylight.
By the harbour.
Seaside.
Again it was freezing cold with very strong winds by the seaside.
So much so that our phones, from iphone 5s to iphone 6s, actually died while we expose them to the blistering cold to take pictures.
The phone's battery life will reduce sharply until zero or it will just shut off suddenly.
We can restart the phones again after we warmed them up or as we found out we could also force the phones to restart again by plugging it to a powerbank.
I guess even technology needs some protection from the below zero celcius temperature.
Sun Voyager sculpture.
Failed attempt at jumpshot.
The snow angel I made the night before was still perfectly intact!
After roaming around we decided to head to a public bath for a swim but we found out it was closing in an hour so we changed plans to visit the musuem instead.
On the way we stopped by the cathedral.
Hallgrimskirkja cathedral
Snowy white and dying phones due to the cold.
But snow also means snow fight! :)
Being stupid while hiding from the cold in the cathedral.
Camwhoring game still going strong.
Oops busted!
And so the photo bombing begins.
Because true friends dont let friends be stupid on their own.
The friendship is really strong in this group.
The guy at the back wanted some photo bombing action as well.
Headed to the musuem after the cathedral but we discovered it was close to closing time so we decided to head for dinner instead.
Walking under this was scary.
Close up.
Boys being boys they broke it off.
Discovered a frozen lake!
Walking on ice.
Hardened snow.
It was actually so perfectly white and smooth.
But then we monkeys came along.
Leaving footprints everywhere we went.
Discovered we could carve our names on the hardened snow :)
When you want to take the sunset but your monkey of a friend decided to throw a block of snow -.-
Still can see that damn block of snow!
Iceland really have the prettiest blue skies.
Went to Saegreifinn aka The Sea Baron Restaurant for their famous lobster soup.
Seafood to be grilled at your choosing.
Choices include minke whale, scallops and many more type of fishes.
Lobster soup.
So perfect after being out in the cold!
Minke whale steak.
The texture of the steak was like beef but with a fishy taste.
Love the sauce. It goes well with everything.
We preferred the whale here as compard to the one we had at Sushi Samba.
The food was much cheaper here too!
Scallops!
Was walking back and came across the famous hotdog stall in Reykjavik.
And my eating buddy being the pigs we are, we decided to get one
Hot Dog Stall out in the cold.
Yumzzzz.
The only thing special about it is that they included fried onions and that makes it different from other hot dogs.
It was a really good idea especially for me as I love fried onions!
After a short rest back in our accommodation it was off to see the northern lights.
Took an hour (I think) of a bus ride to reach a cafe in the middle of nowhere where we were free to roam around in absolute darkness in the cold or seek shelter in the overly packed cafe or our bus while we wait for the northern lights to appear.
We braved the cold in darkness for about an hour or what seems like forever before we admitted defeat and decided to camp in our bus.
It was really so cold to the point whereby it wasnt just our phones dying anymore but also my camera.
The battery pretty much stayed at minimum power while my friend played around with the settings to be able to capture the northern lights.
He toyed with it to the point that he could even capture the stars.
A little tip: Bring snacks and water with you because you could end up waiting for hours before the lights show up, if it even shows up at all.
There is really no space to sit and chill in the cafe plus there is a queue to buy stuff.
After waiting for a total of maybe 2+ hours our bus driver suddenly announced that the aurora lights was appearing on our left.
And with that we ran off the bus and there goes one major tick off my bucket list!
Photo credits to my friend.
Real kudos to him to be able to take these photos considering that was the first time he handled the camera.
The aurora lights were absolutely breathtakingly beautiful!
Words simply could not describe how amazing the experience was.
For years I have only read and hear about these lights in magazines and the TV each time wishing that I could one day see it with my own two eyes and I finally did.
Needless to say all of us were in awed by the aurora lights
We were acting like excited happy little kids jumping with joy.
It was definitely a night filled with:
Happiness
- because we were able to witness something so amazing.
Accomplishment
- because seeing the aurora lights was the main reason why we chose to brave the extremely cold weather in Iceland and also finally being able to do something we have always wanted to do.
And last but not least, feeling extremely lucky
- because choosing the day to see the northern lights was really a gamble as you will never know for sure if the lights will appear and even if it did, you wont know how active or long it will appear. We were definitely really lucky as not only was it bright but it lasted so long that we could even still see it from the bus while heading home. Timing of the tour was also really important because while waiting we saw several tour buses which set out earlier than us left before the lights even appear. So yeah, we were really darn lucky. Especially since, as we found out from the tour guide, they actually cancelled every northern lights tour the week before as the sky was too cloudy to see the lights and on top of that, we actually took a gamble and changed the date of the tour on the day we arrived in Iceland as the northern lights forecasts indicated that Saturday would be a better day to witness the lights.
I would definitely recommend to go see the aurora lights, be it northern (Aurora Borealis) or southern (Aurora Australis. And yes, there is such a thing as southern lights such as in Australia, NZ & etc), if you have the opportunity.
Most people claimed it to be a once in a lifetime type of activity but to be honest, if I have the chance to see it again I would definitely be up for it if circumstances allow me to.
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