My sister decided that she wanted to spend a few days in Iceland for a big birthday, with the bonus of being able to scarf down some puffin, so it was off on easyjet then a bus to the air b’n’b apartment we had booked. It, along with everything else, was delightful.

Everyone we met was delightful, everywhere we went was clean and close by (Reykjavik is tiny). On the first night we had booked onto a Northern Lights bus tour which took us out to Þingvellir. It was bitterly cold, so we were grateful for our thermals and ski jackets, and there were some lights in the sky. There was some arching, but it was quite pale (more easily picked up using cameras). On the way back into Reykjavik the Lights really kicked off brightly and we pulled over for a more impressive display. We only had our camera phones, which weren’t picking up anything, but our tour guide took photos of us in front of the Lights and we were able to grab them from facebook (she gave permission for us to download them).

The following day it was out on a Golden Circle tour. Lots more photos, including of a wonderfully active geyser (very little waiting), and a surprise trip to a horse farm (as the road to the church which we were supposed to visit was impassable). An evening of pizza and Cards Against Humanity to celebrate the actual birthday.

We had hummed and hawed about going to the Blue Lagoon on the Saturday, and it was a cold run across the decking to get into the water, but definitely worth it. So incredibly relaxing and we were glad we had decided to get the slightly later bus back. We eventually managed to drag ourselves out though, and when we got back into town we headed out to the Icelandic bar for delicious burgers and the much awaited Puffin (which was apparently very tender, more like a paste).

I managed to get my daily runs in early on the Friday and Saturday. They were quite slow as not all of the pavements are salted, but I had taken my trail shoes for this very reason.

I would quite happily go back, and recommend anyone who can to get out there. There were lots of opportunities to buy handmade sweaters, but I find Icelandic wool a bit scratchy against my skin and object to buying anything I can make myself. Instead I treated myself to a woven (and non-scratchy) blanket, and a pair of socks knit at a finer gauge than I have the patience for. Click on photo for full Iceland album: