The Land of Fire and Ice: Fire(works!)

For winter break this year, my goal was - as per usual - to see the Aurora Borealis. We decided to head back to one of our favorite places, Iceland. I had a family reunion for Christmas, so the plan was to fly out on the 27th.

On December 18, 2023, a volcanic fissure erupted around 7 miles from Keflavik Airport in Iceland. An interesting development, considering I was flying into that airport 10 days later - so my eyes were glued to the news reports. Icelandic scientists had been closely monitoring the area, since heavy seismic activity during the previous months portended an eruption of Fagradalsfjall, on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Luckily, the eruption wasn’t as disruptive as the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull that grounded all European flights for a week (this volcano isn’t covered by a glacier, so there isn’t a lot of melted groundwater, which in 2010 mixed with molten lava and sent an explosive plume of volcanic ash into the sky). By December 21, the eruption had stopped. Nobody was hurt, though the nearby town of Grindavik had been evacuated the prior month and the famous Blue Lagoon geothermal spa was closed. Bummer though, that I didn't get to see any lava from the airplane window.

I was planning to meet Anil in Reykjavik before driving up into Northern Iceland to meet friends. Through a series of unfortunate airline events (this seems to happen a lot in recent winter travels!) I got stranded in Minneapolis for a night and arrived in Reykjavik a day late. I picked Anil up from the airport and immediately began our drive north.

Our first stop was the Silver Circle, a beautiful route in Western Iceland featuring geological and historical sites. Our first stop was to Hraunfossar or “Lava Falls", a 1 km wide waterfall fed by subterranean springs that feed into the Hvítá river. The water seems to come from nowhere, appearing from under the lava. This is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland.

Along the same walking trail is Barnafoss, or “Children’s Waterfall”. According to legend, a widow left her two children at home to attend a Christmas service only to discover them missing when she returned home. A search party followed their footsteps to the stone arch over the river. The devastated mother had the arch destroyed so that no other children would fall into the water again.

From the waterfalls, we backtracked to Krauma Spa where we soaked in the 6 different geothermal baths. The setup of the tubs was a bit dangerous since the walkway between tubs was iced over and people were slipping and sliding all over! Even so, it was a nice way to spend the day after so long on an airplane.

After a delicious lunch of hot soup and fresh bread at Krauma, we headed up north to our Airbnb in Hvammstangi. It’s a quaint little village on the Midfjordur fjord that is known for its seal colony and seal center (that would be awesome to see in the summer). Our rental was a tiny but cozy box on the hill above town; nothing was open but one seafood restaurant on the harbor (which was pretty good!) so we went to bed fairly early. I was a big jet lagged so I kept getting up to check for the aurora, so I was half-awake when a ghost turned the TV on at 4AM! They say Iceland is filled with elves and trolls and magic, and maybe there’s something to it…

By the way... did you know? The stop
lights in Akureyri are really friendly!

The next morning we set off early in order to get to Akureyri in time to pick up Joe and Justina. It was around a 3 hour drive, so it was pitch black when we loaded up the car at 8AM. It would definitely be difficult spending an entire winter up here, with just a few hours of muted daylight each day. We also had difficulty filling the gas - the car absolutely guzzled gas and gas stations are few and far between. We thought we had filled it to full but apparently didn’t, so we were running on fumes when we finally saw the lights of Akureyri! Phew!

After picking up Joe and Justina, we stopped in town for our first delicious Icelandic hot dog. I got the bacon wrapped - just as good as I remember! We dropped off our luggage then headed to our next waterfall, Goðafoss - the Waterfall of the Gods. Goðafoss is important in Iceland’s religious history. Around 1000AD, Iceland was feeling the pressure to convert from worshipping the Old Norse Gods (Thor, Odin, Loki, etc.) to Christianity. They feared invasion by Norway, so the head lawmaker at the time, Thorgeir, decided to convert for the good of the people. To symbolize the change, he threw all the former idols into the waterfall.

After driving back to Akureyri, we had high tea at the Aurora Restaurant. Joe and Anil were happy because there was an electric car charger outside where we could charge our hybrid Jeep - I thought that might make up for our awful gas mileage, but the full charge only lasted a few hours. The next day, we got up early to drive around Lake Myvatn.

Lake Myvatn was created by volcanic forces around 2300 years ago; all around it, remnants of past eruptions can still be seen. In the winter, much of the landscape is covered by snow, but at least we didn’t have to worry about the enormous clouds of midges that Lake Myvatn - or “Lake of Midges” - is known for. We first stopped at the visitor center for the Skútustaðagígar pseudocraters. These formations were created when lava came through the swampy wetlands, causing steam eruptions in the cooling lava. This formed the crater-like shape of the hills, even though they aren’t true craters. During our visit, most of the pseudocraters were buried under snow, so we could only see the undulating mounds under a layer of white.

A few miles up the road is the area known as Dimmumborgir, or “Dark Fortress”. This lava rock maze was the location of Mance Ryder’s wilding camp in Game of Thrones. It’s also the place where half troll, half ogre Gryla and her husband Leppaludi raised their thirteen sons, the Christmas Yule Lads. Gryla is also known for her pet, the gigantic black Christmas Cat, who eats anyone not wearing new clothing. yikes. 

The Yule Lads are mischievous trolls that come out during the Christmas season to reward or terrorize children. The thirteen are named for their different personalities, like Spoon Licker, Sausage Swiper, Skyr Gobbler, and Door Slammer. Since we visited a bit after Christmas, the Yule Lads weren’t around, but we did find one of their little caves! We walked a short loop around Dimmumborgir, which gave us some nice views of interesting lava formations.

We stopped for lunch at the Myvatn Nature Baths - even though we didn’t go in for a soak, the soup was warm and delicious. We then attempted to drive to the Krafla caldera, but turned back when the roads got too icy. Instead, we stopped at the Hverir geothermal area near the Namafjall mountain. It’s one of the most active geothermal areas in Iceland, with mud pots, steam vents, and that characteristic rotten egg sulfur smell. There’s a nice short hike through the main area, where hot water and steam melt the snow around the fissures, allowing the colorful mineral-rich ground to peek through. It’s an otherworldly landscape, and it’s easy to see why NASA astronauts once used the area as a training ground.

We returned to Akureyri in time for our New Year’s Eve reservation at Mulaberg, a nice restaurant in town. We made sure to return back to the cabin by 8:30, since Iceland is known for its crazy New Year’s celebrations. It’s the only time of the year when fireworks are legal, and all proceeds go to their Search and Rescue teams. Many Icelanders spend an entire month’s salary on fireworks, and it really showed! There were nonstop fireworks for around 4 straight hours - it was insane! Puts July 4th in the US to shame.

While we waited for midnight, we had a soak in the cabin’s hot tub and watched Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. It’s a cheesy Will Farrell movie whose lead characters hail from the tiny town of Husavik, where we were headed the next day. (Spoiler alert: it was awful).

After a late start the next morning, we headed out to Husavik and the seaside geothermal spa, Geosea. We arrived just as it was opening, so there were very few people there and we could peacefully enjoy the views overlooking Skjálfandi Bay and the Arctic Ocean. At the right time of year, it's an amazing place to whale watch.

What we didn’t plan for is the fact that almost everything in Iceland is closed on New Year’s Day, including the restaurant at Geosea. We headed back to Akureyri, but couldn’t find an open grocery store - we ended up at a large gas station convenience store and bought snacks and dinner. That evening, we relaxed at home and played an escape room game.

Colorful downtown Akureyri

Joe and Justina left the next morning, after a stop at the art museum cafe for a quick coffee. It was a lovely way to spend the New Year’s – highly recommended!