With 2017 being so drastically strange and different, what better place to go on spend my birthday than in the land of contrasts. With its rough, black lava rocks peeking beneath the plush, white layer of snow, we see contrasting elements juxtaposed everywhere. It is, after all, the land of fire and ice.
With only four days and five hours of daylight, we jammed as much in as we can. The natural wonders were abundant, even in the wintertime. What's great is that there's less crowd, so getting to where we needed to be was quick. (Luckily, the Geysir at the Golden Circle erupts every 5 minutes)
One of my favorite places was the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, located near the south coast of Vik. It's not so much sand as they were pebbles from lava stones, smoothed out by the water over time. I loved the pillars situated right on the beach. It's fascinating to see up close and even climb on. Even the church in Reykjavík, Hallgrímskirkja, was modeled after it.
The waterfalls were aplenty too, although the snow got pretty bad once we got to them. We tried to climb to the top of Skogafoss, only to be hit by wind and snow (which came out of nowhere) that made the ascent almost miserable. Gulfoss was a sight to see, partially frozen but the water was harsh and current still strong. It was interesting to learn about the protests that happened to prevent Gulfoss from becoming a hydroelectric powerplant.
But natural energy is very popular in Iceland, and they're very proud to show it. We visited the Hellisheidi geothermal powerplant and learned of how they extracted hot water from the ground, close to the magma, and carried it to Reykjavík. Most of the energy used was natural, making power very cheap in Iceland. We got to enjoy these geothermal extractions in hot tubs, especially the Blue Lagoon, which was one of my favorite spots. I believe my skin has never been so soft.
Because wintertime can lose a lot of sunlight, it can get hard for farming to become consistent with the natural climate. We visited the Friðheimar Greenhouse to learn about tomato growing in artificial sunlight. The lunch they served there, organic tomato soup, is probably the best tomato soup I've ever had. Right out the greenhouse is a cute horse stable where they raised furry Icelandic horses.
Of course, one does not travel to Iceland in January and bear the crazy winter conditions without trying to hunt for the Northern Lights. These lights only occur when the skies are clear and dark. In the summertime, Iceland gets over 20 hours of daylight, so seeing the aurora borealis is a real treat this time of year. After searching each night for it, standing frigid in as many layers we can have on, we almost gave up until we saw a streak of green-ish tint peeking through the sky on our last night. Everyone cheered cause they almost expected to go home without seeing it too. In the end, the light show was spectacular; it was a curtain of colors that danced continuously until it somehow sensed that we needed to go home and sleep for our flight back. After all, nature is always alive and listening.
