Anybody thinking about going to Iceland definitely should. It is the weirdest country ever.

Kylebug and I booked to go to Iceland for our 4th anniversary (of unmarried love, in case anyone thought they missed anything). We hummed and hawed about it, because a) the package was pretty expensive and b) Iceland is known to be pretty expensive. We eventually decided to just bite the bullet and do it, based on the fact that we are closer to Iceland than we ever will be again- unless we move to…say…Iceland, and also it is unlikely that we shall have a greater disposable pound income in the near future. So off to Iceland we went.

First- the amazing coincidence. We ended up heading off to the most expensive country in the world (verification not possible) the day after the entire economy crashed. Not good for Iceland. Reasonably good for us. There was a sense of low-level panic about the economy the whole time we were there. Sitting in a pizza shop I saw a newspaper- entirely red, with a suggestion of a hammer and sickle in the background- with the headline ‘Welcome to Iceland-istan.’

So, the Icelanders were not having a good time, but with the plummeting ISK bringing a pint down to £2.50 and the Northern Lights (allegedly) overhead, Kyle and I were up for a good weekend. Iceland is a country with incredible geography. There is a lot of history and culture, but if you are used to the magnificent buildings and gracious proportions of the rest of Europe you are likely to be disappointed. You can comfort yourself by swimming in a pool full of turquoise thermally heated water, drive past volcanoes and spy glaciers out of the bus window, so it really depends what you are wanting out of a holiday. I loved Iceland, because it is just completely unlike anywhere I am ever likely to go again. The rock is black. You have fields of black magma covered in moss. That is the main feature in and around Reykjavik. You have looming mountains and a wind that comes off the sea at minus 1 million degrees. You have the best salads in the Northern Hemisphere. You have a geyser called Geysir that gave all the others in the world their name. You have a waterfall called Gullfoss, whose glacial runoff plummets towards the sea harder and faster than I have ever seen from a waterfall. You have the Northern Lights sharpening to a gradual lime green in the night sky above. And crowning it all off, you have the wind. The freezing cold, icy, glacial (how many more descriptive words can I put in?) wind.

Iceland is a country that will never fail to provide you with memorable experiences. On day one we walked around Reykjavik for a bit, absorbing the vibe of this capital city that feels ¾ like an overgrown fishing town. A lot of the buildings are not more than a few stories high (probably because of the earth quakes) and everything has a bit of a gauche feel. The land feels very young. We ate pizza and salad in a hip bar on a street with too many umlauts in the title.

On day two we caught buses frantically around town, trying to decide if we wanted to rent a car for the remained of our trip, or if we should take the preset tour busses that seemed to be on offer. One fight outside Budget travel later, we decided to take the tour buses. We returned to the hotel just in time to catch our lift to the Blue Lagoon, a thermal pool about an hour outside of Reykjavik. It was amazing- powder blue milky water against black rock, with slimy white sand underfoot and the chill breeze against any exposed skin. We froze all bits of our body off standing outside the warm water trying to capture the magic of it on video. We swam closer to gigantic clouds of sulphur than you would think would be desirable, just to get the warmth of the hot water as it is released into the pool. I slathered the ‘silica mask’ (mud) all over my face, straight from the buckets at the side of the pool. Kyle refused to touch it, in spite of the alleged healing, rejuvenating, anti-aging properties. Truth be told, once it was dry on my face it did just feel like mud. We returned to Reykjavik totally relaxed and warm.

On day two we headed out on a coach tour to see Pingvellir (pronounced ‘Thing-vellir’), the ancient seat of the Viking parliament and the place where the Eurasian and American continental plates meet; Gullfoss, a massive glacial waterfall; and the geysers at Haukadalur. I cannot recommend this Golden Circle tour (as it is known) highly enough. Each element of the experience was totally unique- from standing at a roaring waterfall with the largest glacier in Europe nearby, to skirting the carefully roped off area around the geysers because ‘the earth’s crust is very thin, and you can easily put a leg through the rock if you are not careful.' Everything about Iceland is incredibly primeval, and really brings home the fact that humans are not masters of the elements. The whole country feels very old and very new at the same time, with the black rocks stretching out across the plains. Standing at Pingvellir, where the Vikings once held parliament, made decisions and drowned witches (as they were apt to do, apparently), with the American continental plate looming behind me as the weak Northern sun set over the mountains and rivers of the no-man’s-land between the continental plates would definitely have to be a highlight of my trip. It just felt so otherworldly.

On the evening of day two it was finally clear enough for us to head out on (yet another) bus to see the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights themselves were amazing to see- muted clouds that gradually stained the sky lime green as they moved overhead, only to be gone a few moments later. Not bright dazzles as we were led to expect, but good to see nevertheless. A thoroughly enjoyable sight. The experience of going to see the Northern Lights was less enjoyable:
1. Put on thermals, jeans, full ski gear, beanie, scarf and gloves.
2. Go to bus.
3. Sit in between a loud drunk American guy who yelled: “Do you mind- some of us are really hungover here,” when the bus lights were turned on, and a woman from Manchester who was so disinterested in the Northern Lights that she didn’t even bother to get out of the bus.
4. Get out of the bus to get away from the above people.
5. Feel freezing, stare at the sky.
6. Get back in bus.
7. Someone has a phantom sighting of Northern Lights. Get out of bus.
8. Repeat steps 5-7.
9. Eventually, Northern Lights actually manifest. Stand, stare in wonder at them for a while.
10. Get back on bus and go home.

In summary: Iceland. Home of Puffins, Vikings and the world’s most northern capital city. Home of more geological phenomena than you can shake a stick at. Home of Bjork. Who could want more? Not I. Not you. Book now.

(Edit: see photos here.)

(Edit again- looking through the photos I realised I forgot to mention the world's hugest and most scary swan. That thing was both huge and scary. It tried to eat a small child. Beware of the swans.)