Last month I went to Iceland with my dad. We had traveled quite a bit together when I was growing up. This was our first time traveling out of the country together in 25 years.

After a five hour too hot and semi-restless fully booked flight, we arrived in the darkness to the airport just outside of Reykjavik. The air was crisp as it nipped at my nostrils and awakened me from my jet lagged drowsiness. We were traveling with thirty-seven people from the ski club that I grew up with called the Fagowees (explanation of the name saved for another time). Following each other in single file as we tugged our luggage behind us. Hoping that I had packed enough warm clothes for the frozen adventure ahead, I stepped in the dry spots of asphalt that lead to our tour bus in the parking lot. One by one the suitcases were loaded and in minutes we were back in the warmth of the heated bus that would be our tour companion over the next several days. From the airport we had about a forty-five minute drive to Reykjavik, the capitol city. Traveling through the city in the dark morning, we could see the Icelanders working from their lit up modern glass office buildings.

We stayed in Center Hotel Arnarhvoll which was in a great location. I would highly recommend this hotel for anyone looking for a place to stay in the City Center area. The staff was very accommodating to our needs and allowed us to store our luggage in a locked closest before we checked into our rooms. We had one hour to grab some coffee and  breakfast and get back on the bus. Knowing that our rooms included breakfast each morning so we decided to check out the hotel’s restaurant, the Sky Lounge on the top floor. There was a welcome spread of food and hot coffee waiting for us along with a beautiful view of the Harpa House Music Hall. Dad and I filled our plates and grabbed a table still trying to wake up from the night’s travel.  Soon our crew was loading up on the bus again ready to head out for our first tour and sights of Iceland as we were off to the Blue Lagoon. I had read many things about this being a must see when visiting Iceland. Our tour guide gave some history and background about the country as light just starting to cone to the sky. This was almost 10:30 am. In January there is only 4 1/2 hours of sunlight a day. Definitely enough reason for me to only want to visit such a country and not live there. I honestly don’t know how people can do it. on the bright side (pun intended) the daylight that does happen, consists of a 2 1/2 hour sunrise and a 2 hour sunset, which is a photographer’s dream. Our bus crawled up the cleared road through the snow covered volcanic fields to the parking lot where several buses were unloading other tourists. We followed a brick path patched with ice to the building that housed the locker rooms, restaurants and of course souvenir shops. We received a quick lesson in how things worked there and were given a high tech electronic bracelet that was to keep track of everything from our lockers to any cash-less purchases we were to make. It took a little bit to figure out but once we did and got changed into our bathing suits, our group gathered again in the steamy hot water pool that was still within the confines of a glass atrium. Wading my way in the milky waters that felt like a soft silk wrapping around my skin, I continued down a ramp that fed into the outside. The brisk air was a sharp contrast to the hot mineral waters that soothed my  travel weary muscles. Several of my friends scooped up white handfuls of mineral mud and smeared it on their faces as suggested by the employees that were nearby. The feeling became quite surreal as the pool opened into a larger body of water, surrounded by lava fields covered in snow and ice. The sun was just starting to crest over the peak of the nearest volcanic mountain. Steam and fog hung in an erie manner over the water. I could recognize voices,  but had to push through the clouds to see familiar faces from our tribe. In the center of the pool we found a welcome site, a bar that served ice cold beer, smoothie drinks and slushies. A quick swipe of a scanner to our high tech bracelets and we were enjoying refreshments in this most surreal atmosphere. After about ninety  minutes of this luxurious mineral bath, it was time move on to the locker rooms to shower and get back to the schedule of the day. Which was back to our hotel, get checked in and then meet for our welcome reception party. As we rode back to the city, the sun starting to set. Which is a couple hour process. The shadows cast were long and the light golden as it poured down the snow covered mountains.

Day 2 a handful of our friends set out for the day to check off “skiing in Iceland” from their bucket lists. We did not have any tours set up for Saturday but just decided to explore a little right in the downtown Reykjavik area. We browsed around the local flea market then stumbled into a tasteful little restaurant called Uno. It was after the lunch crowd but before dinnertime, we were the only people there. Our waiter was a very attractive young man who spoke excellent English. A few minutes into our conversation we discovered that he had lived in the Savannah area for a couple years and had just moved back to Iceland. Continuing our discussion, we soon realized we had friends in common and then connected on Facebook. Some serendipities never cease to surprise me. Our meals at Uno were excellent, I had the seafood soup with polenta fries and dad had the pan fried fish. The food was so good we brought friends back with us the following night.

Later that same night, most of our group decided to take a tour out of the city to hopefully witness Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights. Dad and I decided we would have enough time on a tour bus the next day, and decided to hire a cab driver for our own private tour. This is one decision we did not regret. I had read online that the Grotta Lighthouse was an excellent place to view the natural light show. We called a driver after a late night dinner of puffin and fish and chips. Yes you read that correct… Puffin, “that cute little bird that looks like a penguin”, as our waiter described it to me. Our driver was most accommodating, he told us he would stay with us till we were done and drive us back to the city. He took us to a fantastic little spot that even had a nice flat rock for me to set up my little travel tripod. Dad was able to view the super natural light show from the warm car. Once I knew I got a few good shots, I could hardly feel my fingers and was ready to get back the warm taxi. I knew I did not shoot anything that was contest worthy, but nonetheless I was happy to get what I got. We went back to the Sky Lounge and was able to continue watching the Aurora Borealis in the sky from the deck on top of the hotel.

Day 3 – I found it pretty easy to sleep at night in very comfortable clean white linens under a fluffy down comforter. With the long dark days and nights it was a little crazy to wake up, have breakfast the be ready for a nap because it was still so dark outside. We figured since we were on vacation, why not? This became our schedule for a couple of  mornings. I have to admit it was pretty nice to be so relaxed to go back to sleep for a bit. On our third day, our group had scheduled a tour called The Golden Circle. This is a bus tour that travels outside of the city and takes you to three destinations. First stop is Thingvellir national park, where the Icelandic Parliament was founded in 930. Next up is the massive Gullfoss Waterfall that was mostly frozen in January. Last stop was the active spouting geysers.

There was a large cafeteria and lunch buffet at the Geysir location where we had our lunch before the drive back to Reykjavik. We napped in and out as we listened to our tour guide give us more information on Icelandic history and culture. Later that night we had dinner in the city center, then Dad went back to the hotel and I joined the rest of the group in an English Pub to watch some American football while drinking pints of Irish Guinness. This is where I met my friend Gunther. He was a sweet little man that I sat next to near the bar. Next to his pint was a shot of some kind of dark liquor, probably a traditional Icelandic licorice flavored liqour…that tastes a lot like cough syrup. A little while later he had his 2nd round of both drinks.

As we talked, I learned that he had been a seaman his whole life. He has three grown children that he is so proud of. Both boys continued the sea life, one in the Icelandic Coast Guard and one a fisherman. His daughter was married and raising children. Then he told me about his wife that had fallen that same day and was in the hospital in intensive care. I could tell that he was worried about her and really did not know what the outcome would be. This was 4 days before her 80th birthday. I posted a picture of my new friend on facebook that night and asked prayers for her and him. I did not see him anymore and had no way of finding out how his wife was doing, but I trust that the prayers that were lifted up for them from around the world were heard. To me, meeting people like Gunther is what traveling around the world is really all about. Connecting with other human beings, and sharing our lives with each other and finding our common ground.

Day 4 – Most of our group participated in a City Tour. But Dad and I just did our own thing. We called a taxi and decided to visit the Iceland Maritime Museum. The creative displays were put together well and we both enjoyed leisurely looking through the museum learning about the sea life history and the Icelandic Coast Guard. Later that night, after dinner, I hooked up with some friends for our last night in Reykjavik. We had heard that there was a Big Lewbowski Themed bar just a few blocks up from our hotel, which we figured we really had to visit. In typical Fagowee and McNally fashion, we were there till last call after sampling a few drinks from their White Russian menu and enjoying some local Icelandic brews.

Day 5 –  On our last day, I did a little souvenir shopping and then came back in time to pack up and check out of our room. We still had a few hours before our bus was leaving for the airport. We had heard reports and reviews about a hot dog stand that claims it has the “World’s Best Hot Dog” so we figured we better try it before we leave. We arrived to a long line that meandered through the parking lot and spilled into the street.  It was just a little kiosk stand with only one woman taking orders and serving. There were no frills options. Not sure that it is the World’s best, but it was pretty darn good. We had ours served with everything that they offered. Which was not like an American hot dog. Crunchy fried onions were placed on the bun under the dog and then two types of sauce squirted on top. The best I can describe the sauces, were like a barbeque and a honey mustard, both sweet tasting that complimented the savory meat. Soon we were back at the airport on our flight to DC enjoying our recap conversations about the highlights of our trip.