Memories of Iceland

When people ask me what my favorite place is that I’ve ever visited. Iceland is consistently at or near the top of my list. I could write many posts about Iceland, but I thought I would start with a few of my favorite memories.

I spent a week in Iceland in June 2009 with two of my college friends. We stayed in hostels and tried to do as much as possible during our time there. Here were some of my favorites:

Waterfalls
Credit: RunTravelAdventure

1. Thingvallir: The ancient assembly place in Iceland. It’s also where the tectonic plates are coming apart. There is a river, a plain and Thingvatn, a lake. You can feel how peaceful the place it. And, I think this is only place where you can see the tectonic rift in those plates above ground.
   

   Credit: RunTravelAdventure
   Thingvallir

2. Akureyri: I took a day and flew to the northern city of Akureyri. It’s within the Arctic Circle, along a fjord. It’s a smaller place, which has it’s own charm. Wandering around a small town lets you discover little things- churches, coffee shops, ice cream parlors, interesting parks.
   

   Akureyri from the hills Credit: RunTravelAdventure

3. Going out dancing till 4am and the sun never set. Iceland is known for it’s music and late night scene. Taking an evening nap and then going out to dance the night away was epic. Reykjavik is pretty walkable, so it was easy to find a place within a 15 minute walk, and dance. We saw the sun set to about dusk color, and then it rose again. It was a night I will never forget.
4. Puffins! Puffins next in a rock island just off from Reykjavik’s harbor. During some months, you can go on whale watching tours, and in other months, you can go out to see the puffins. They are so cute! They fly, they dive, they swim.
   

   Puffins!
   Credit: RunTravelAdventure

   

   Blue Lagoon
   Credit: RunTravelAdventure

5. Blue Lagoon: After days of hiking, walking, sitting on airplanes, taking some time to relax at a geothermal spa is perfect. It’s a little expensive, so plan your day to spend a lot of time there. Also, because the water is naturally an opaque milky blue, you can get easily sunburned. Remember sunscreen, even on cloudy days!
6. Skyr: Icelandic yogurt. It’s amazing. It’s thicker than most American yogurts, and you can often find it in US grocery stores.

Reykjavik
Credit:RunTravelAdventure

Have you ever been to Iceland? What was your favorite thing?