Iceland, oh Ísland

Did you know that Iceland is actually spelled like Ísland in Icelandic? Fitting since it is an island country... just a little colder than the tropical feeling that we associate with the word : )

Aaron and I traveled to this snowy country last weekend in search of the Northern lights! Ah, the amazing green night sky. Unfortunately the cloud cover was too heavy and so every Northern light excursion was cancelled... boo! (Travel tip: you can see the Northern lights from late October to March, but the best time to go is October/November or February/March).

So instead we explored Reykjavik and hit up all the sight-seeing spots:

1. The Best View - Hallgrimur Church is the largest church in Iceland and towers above the rest of the city. We went up into the steeple for some amazing views - I love how colorful all the roofs are! There's also a statue outside of it that was a gift to Iceland from the US. You're welcome, Reykjavik : )

2.  The Most Famous Food Stop - and you can't even go inside of it! Turns out Icelanders love hot dogs; everything we'd read about Iceland said to go to this place and after we got on the plane, there were mentions of it everywhere. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, which translates to "The Best Hot Dog in Town" (right to the point) is a famous hot dog stand that has been around since 1937. There was a long line when we arrived and left. It became famous after President Clinton declared it the best hot dog on a visit to Reykjavik. (Monica didn't agree though... I'm sorry, I just had to make one joke!)

3. The Most Precious Commodity - turns out that it would've been really terrible to be living in Reykjavik more than 25 years ago.

Iceland had a prohibition period from 1915 to March 1, 1989 (now known as Beer Day, yeah!) The short version is that in 1908 Iceland voted to ban all alcohol starting in 1915; in 1921 Spain said, "if you won't buy our Spanish wine, we won't buy your seafood and you're on an island so you're screwed" so Iceland said, "okay, only Spanish wine is allowed". In 1935 the people of Iceland said, "wow, this ban really sucks. Let's un-ban hard alcohol, but still no beer allowed!" Finally in 1989 Iceland said, "wow, this is really dumb. Beer is good. Let's end prohibition." And that was the short version! Now beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in Iceland.

Because we couldn't see the Northern lights, we did a brewery tour instead at Ölgerðin Egill Skallagrímsson. It was such a great night - we had so much fun and learned a lot. We drank Polar Beer (clever name!), hung out with the other people on the tour and laughed at the history and stories that our guide told us all night. 

4. The Best Way to Detox - We planned our trip pretty well I'd say. Brewery tour, then out to bars that night (Iceland is like Barcelona - the bars don't get crowded until 2am and everyone stays out way past our bedtime!) and then in the morning a trip to the Blue Lagoon : )

Located on a lava field, the Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa. The water is said to do wonders to your skin and the temperature is about 98–102 °F. It was the perfect end to a great trip. And if you have to be outside in cold weather, I'd say a geothermal spa is the place to be!