amiiniceland-blog

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Street Art

Before going to Reykjavik, I assumed that the streets would look very ‘bland’ for some reasons. I didn’t expect to find the city as aesthetically pleasing as I did, the buildings may not have been skyscrapers, but they have their own charm. One of my favourite thing was those murals that you could find in various places such as the ones above. 

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The Golden Circle

On the last day, we are going to visit the Golden Circle, which is a 300 km loop from Reykjavik. There we will get to visit the Gullfoss waterfalls, see the geysers and Pingvalla, also known as Thingvellir. (Guide to Iceland, 2019).

I was mostly excited about visting The National Thingvellir Park because I heard that it was featured in Games of Thrones, I tried to avoid looking at pictures online to see if I would be able to recognise in which scene was the landscape featured. Although it looked familiar, I couldn’t tell in which scenes had I seen the National Park. 

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At the Blue Lagoon with our face masks on. 

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Blue Lagoon

With the Blue Lagoon, I’m getting a teaser of well-being tourism. The Blue Lagoon initially started as a skincare line called ‘Blue Lagoon Ltd’ in 1995, the healing properties of the geothermal seawater were discovered. The spa was then opened in 1999 and most recently, due to its popularity, they opened a hotel. (Blue Lagoon Iceland, 2019).

The Blue Lagoon was fun, we received a free facial and a drink of our choice whilst being in the pool. Again, it wasn’t overcrowded so it was really nice. The only thing that came across as a bit uncomfortable was probably having to take our showers completely naked in front of strangers. 

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This is Reynisfjara Beach, it’s in the South Shore. 

Although, I already knew that the sand was black due to volcanic ashes, I still felt mesmerised at the sight of it. Probably would’ve been nice to dip my feet in the water but the weather conditions as well as the waves wouldn’t allow it.

One thing that I also enjoyed whilst visiting the natural attractions, is that a lot of them like at the beach, provided souvenir shops, restaurants, toilets and an information point. 

This enhanced my experience, as since most of the tourist attractions that we visited were more than an hour away from the city centre.

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South Shore

The South Shore is on the southern coastline of Iceland, the shore is very popular due to its natural attractions such as the Seljalandsfoss waterfalls, Skogafoss waterfalls, the Mydraslsjokull and Vatnajokull and beaches such as Reynisfjara. (Guide to Iceland, 2019).

The picture above is one that I took whilst visiting Skogafoss, I didn’t get to climb the stairs as the height would’ve caused shortness of breaths for me due to the fact that I am anaemic. But from where I was, it was still breath-taking. I was worried that we’d be overcrowded, however there wasn’t that many tourists, which made the visit very agreeable. I was able to take as many pictures and videos without being disturbed.  

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I’m not sure that the nightlife in Reykjavik would be my scene. From what I read on Iceland Guide, the bars, pubs and restaurants on the main street are all within walking distance and it’s very rare for there to be a dress code and an entrance fee. The only downside would probably the fact that alcohol is expensive. (Gunnarsdóttir, 2019). 

As a young women going out abroad during the night can be very daunting but Iceland is apparently one of the safest country in the world with the lowest crime rates. The most common crimes are petty thefts and anti-social behaviours.  (Safearound, 2017).

I actually ended up going out in Reykjavik, I went to a British pub and a club called ‘B5′ and surprisingly had a lot of fun. I felt really safe in Reykjavik, I remember last year, during a trip to Cyprus, I went out late at night and felt very uncomfortable walking home as I kept getting cat-called but it wasn’t the case here.

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Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are a natural attraction that I would love to be able to see. In Iceland, the best times to see them are during November, December and January as the nights are longer. From September to April, there are Northern Lights tours available but considering the time that I will be spending in Reykjavik and my budget, I doubt that I will be able to book one of those tours. (Guide to Iceland, n.d.).

I read that it was possible to see them from the city but that it was really hard, as I would need for it to be a night with clear skies and Northern light activity, and find a place where it’s pitch dark. (Icelandair Hotels, 2015).

I unfortunately did not get a chance to see the Northern lights, as I did not feel comfortable walking out of the city centre to watch the Northern Lights, as I was not confident that I would be able to find my way back to the hotel and also because it meant walking outside at night. 

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This is inside Reykjavik Airport.

Reykjavik Airport looked really nice inside, they were a few murals that looked really nice such as the one in the video. Prior to flying, I did some research and found out that each year around 500 thousands of passengers travel through this airport so I wasn’t really surprise at how quickly I got through customs. (Isavia.is,2019).

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What do Icelanders eat ?

This is Plokkfishur/fish stew 

The diet in Iceland is very simple and mainly composed of fish due to harsh natural conditions the live in. The lack of sunlight limits the Icelanders’ fishing and hunting options. Their main ingredients are fish and seafood, lamb and Icelandic skyr. (Sir Hallodorsdottir, 2019).

I am not a big fan of fish and tends to be a bit of a picky eater so I think that I’ll probably stick to what I know for the majority of the trip. However, if I ever feel a bit adventurous, I may try one of their dish called Plokkfiskur. It consist of white fish with potatoes, onions, flour, milk and seasonings. (Icelandmonitor.mbl.is, 2017)

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Reykjavik is the 14th most expensive city in the world according to the Economist (15/03/18). As I am only able to bring £250 with me, I doubt that I will be able to live it up as much I would like to.

The currency in Iceland is Icelandic Krona (ISK), the locals tends to prefer to pay their expenses by card, so some blogs advise that it may not be worth exchanging currencies. (Iceland with a View, 2016). In class, we were advised that some shops on the site of natural tourist attractions may not have card readers, I think that it would be wise to split my pocket money in two and have some in cash and the rest in my bank account.

The exchange rate is £1 for 159,0300 ISK.(Pound Sterling Live, 2019). I will be converting £125 = 18621.24 ISK . To save money, I plan on getting so canned food, and noodles as well as snacks. I read on Hostel Word a few tricks that I could use when in Reykjavik, such a getting as refillable bottle and drinking tap water as it’s pure. Although it many not be very healthy, if I ever wanted to eat outside, fast food should be my go to as it’s cheaper than eating at a restaurant.(Nissen and Nissen, 2019)

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Climate

Winters in Iceland usually means long nights, strong winter storms and also an opportunity for to see the Northern Lights. (Icelandic Meteorological office, 2019). Clothes wise, I’m thinking of bring baggy clothes to be comfortable as we’ll be walking around, jumpers, boots and fluffy socks. 

The average temperature in Reykjavik during winter is 2.1 C and contrarily what people think it doesn’t snow as much in Reykjavik, it tends to snow more in the North and East of Iceland and West Fjords. (Extreme Iceland, 2019). I tend to get cold very easily so I bought a coat that could withhold -50  temperatures, just so I could be warm as well as gloves, a scarf and a hat.

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Locals

Considering that there was more tourists than locals in 2016, I wondered if the attitude of the locals towards tourism was the same as in Barcelona. In 2017, over 150,000 locals marched in protest against the Spanish government and asked of them to prioritise refugees. (Burgen, 2018). Around the city, statements such as the one above could be found. 

This behaviour is called tourism-phobia and has happened in destinations such as Amsterdam, Florence, Berlin, Lisbon, Palma de Mallorca and more in Europe. (Burgen, 2018). 

In Barcelona, tourism-phobia seems to be due to a fear of lost of identity, the fear of becoming a ‘parquetematizacion’ (theme park). Another reason is that overcrowding is the consequence of mass tourism. 

Since Reykjavik is becoming a popular destination, I questioned whether during my visit, I may encounter locals who may have some resentment against tourists. (Burgen, 2017).

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REYKJAVIK, ICELAND.

Reykjavik is situated at the coast of Iceland. It's the capital with the smallest population in Europe, with only 216,940 inhabitants. (Worldpopulationreview.com, 2019).

Their peak season is between July and August, as there is 24 hours delight in June. (Presser, 2019). This time of the year is apparently the worse time of the year for tourists to visit as the destination becomes overcrowded. An example of this, would be in 2016 when the Icelandic touristic board reported 352,522 tourists while Iceland's population was only 332,000. (Worldpopulationreview.com, 2019).