A Long Weekend in Iceland

I have two friends from college with whom I keep in close touch, but with one of us in Europe and the other over 1000 miles away in the US, we don’t all get together very often. In 2019, we decided a trip was in store, so we met up for a long weekend in Iceland for an adventure.

At that time, my only trip to Europe had been my cruise out of Barcelona. I figured if I was going to go all that way, I should spend some time in London as well. So, I flew into London on a Saturday morning prior to heading to Iceland on Thursday. I spent five days exploring the city and seeing some of the most popular sites including the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. I loved the ease of taking the Tube everywhere and knew it would not be my last visit to London.

Getting Acclimated

On Thursday, I flew to Iceland and checked into our hotel, The Swan House, in Reykjavik. This was the perfect place for us to call home for our long weekend. The room had two twin beds and a sofa bed as well as a kitchenette. It was super convenient to restaurants and stores, and the city was nicely walkable. I was solo that first night, and took the opportunity to hit up the Lebowski Bar, as I didn’t think it would be something my friends were too interested in. I tried a couple of the White Russian variations they had in their extensive menu.

Airport Pickups

Early Friday morning my friend arrived from her overnight flight from the US. It worked out well that I had checked in to our hotel the night before, so she could take a nap before we headed out to explore some more. I had rented a car at the airport and while it isn’t super close to Reykjavik, the drive for the airport pickups wasn’t too bad. Our other friend arrived on Friday afternoon, and we got our reunion started.

A Private Tour

On Saturday, we took a private tour along the southern coast, stopping at waterfalls and the black sand beaches. The tour was booked through a family company and at the last minute, the son who was supposed to be our guide along with his mother fell ill, so we were offered a chance to change to Sunday, cancel, or continue with just the mother, who did not speak much English.

We had other plans for Sunday and really wanted to do the tour, so we went with the mom. While there were certainly some communication challenges, and maybe we didn’t get as much information as we might have with another guide, she was an absolute expert at taking us to the best places.

Iceland is a beautiful country and we all took so many amazing photos of our time there. Our guide also insisted on taking a ton of photos of the three of us which she shared with us afterwards. I’m so grateful for those memories of this trip.

The Northern Lights

That evening, we had another tour scheduled to try to see the Northern Lights. We lucked out and had an amazing show. I learned that it’s not as easy to take great pictures of the lights, and a tripod is a must to get really great pictures. Unfortunately, I hadn’t brought mine. Even though it was September, it was really cold out on the water, but thankfully the tour company provided us with a full suit to wear and keep us warm.

The Blue Lagoon

On Sunday, we explored town some more and headed back towards the airport to visit the famous Blue Lagoon. While it was a very busy tourist spot, once you were in the lagoon, there was plenty of space to spread out and relax in the warm water. We had lots of fun and laughs playing with the included mud masks and enjoyed our drinks. We used one of those waterproof phone holders to bring a phone into the lagoon to take pictures of ourselves, which I will cherish.

Unfortunately, that was the final highlight of our trip. We were all headed back home on Monday, but we promised each other that we would plan another trip within two years. Unfortunately, Covid had other plans for us, and we haven’t been able to get together again since this trip. I know when we do though, it will be another amazing experience.