A Long Weekend in Iceland — geothermic-ally active island nation,where astronauts trained for their moon walk, is stimulating, interesting, surprising — exciting and fun! Below are our visit highlights. View each day’s photos — enjoy as we did. Interesting Iceland info here.

 

Icelandic countryside

 

day 1 — Thursday = travel

Left JFK 2:05 PM,flew Icelandair arriving 11:40 PM, viewing in twilight, the flat, black lava landscape around Keflavik airport.Factoid: Icelandair, privately owned and 70 years old, has a route network of 21 international destinations, transporting 1.5 million travelers annually – 5 times the population of its home country.photos

Picked up Sixt car rental — drove to hotel in Reykjavík.Accommodations: Radisson SAS Hotel – go

day 2 — Friday = touring

Fjalar Sigurdarson led us through countryside en route to Borgarnes: remote village, far from industrial pollution, where clean air, pure water and natural lava needed to create Reyka Vodka are found.

Tour:countryside – big vistas photos

Reyka Vodka

Tour:Reyka Vodka – hand crafted, small batches, using water drawn from 4,000 year old lava field results in vodka which is fresh, with delicate hint of creamy vanilla and underlying natural sweetness. Master distiller, Kristmar Olafsson, showed off his Carter Head Still and explained process he uses to create Reyka Vodka. photos

Tour:water and energy– geothermically heated and naturally cooled water from deep underground is piped to every home in Reykjavik!photos

Dinner:Sjávarkjallarinn – Seafood Cellar Restaurant – go1go2Top range fusion, friendly atmosphere, cheeky cuisine presentation, dishes with exacting spece combinations, good wine list and good company photos

Day 3 — Saturday = Reykjavik exploration

Perfect day, city’s location created beautiful setting for stunning Nordically inspired architecture. Permanent structures were not built prior to World War II so Reykjavik is relatively “new” – with oldest buildings dating to the 50’s.

Easy walking in compact downtown – shops, port, fish shack (run by retired fisherman) for lunch, and world’s northernmost flea market.

Tried SKYR (curd) and town’s best PYLSA (hot dog) – loved them both, but did not go for whale, horsemeat or puffin. Sea bird’s eggs tempting. Medicinal benefits of thermal pools enjoyed by Viking descendant’s and visitors alike. photos

Reykjavik

Creditsandacknowledgements

EinarGustavsson, DirectorIcelandicTouristBoardfortheAmericas

Icelandair

Sixtcarrental – go

Radisson SAS Hotel – go

Fjalar Sigurdarson – go

Reyka Vodka – go

Sjávarkjallarinn – Seafood Cellar Restaurant – go1go2

magellans.com – go

Telestial wireless – go

Kodak EasyShare V705 digital camera – go

Olympus SP-550 UZ digital camera – go

ECCO shoes – go

Article courtesy Joseph Cillo

Photos courtesy Mary Buttaro