iceland for austinites

Oh, we get so many requests about Iceland! We’ve been to this lovely place five times reaching back more than 17 years now (2005 for Iceland Airwaves to see gusgus; 2009 to drive the ring road and see gusgus in Seyðisfjörður; 2014-2015 for Christmas and New Year’s Eve; 2017-2018 to meet friends for New Year’s Eve [and accidentally saw gusgus]; March 2022 to see gusgus [twice!] play their 25th anniversary shows). We freakin’ love the country after a magical first trip to see our favorite band, gusgus, perform at Iceland Airwaves. We scored a rooftop penthouse, adored the food and culture, steeped in hot springs, gawked at gorgeous desolation, partied with Bjork, and hung out with Daniel Agust, lead singer of gusgus (he offered me a cigarette and leaned in to light it; the bride glared [we don’t smoke], “When Daniel Agust offers you a cigarette, you smoke it,” I replied)

Iceland is a country of contrasts. Cold weather and hot springs. Glaciers on top of volcanoes, hard workers and even harder partiers, dark all winter and light all summer. Surprises await around every corner.

Below are our tips and tricks on this beautiful place.

Here’s a few specific blog posts about our trips:

1. Some random Icelandic tidbits:
   • Speaking of Icelandic, it’s essentially the original language of the Vikings. It would be as if we still spoke in Ye Olde English.
   • In a traditional Icelandic family with a son and a daughter, each family member most likely has a different surname. That’s because sons and daughters assume a surname after their father’s first name. If dad is named Erik, the son would be Erikson (Erik’s son) and the daughter would be Erikdottir (Erik’s daughter). Wives keep their surnames after marriage.
   • Icelandic phone books list folks alphabetically by first name.
   • Almost everyone speaks perfect English. During our trips, we’ve only met one Icelander that couldn’t speak English, and she was out in the middle of nowhere.
2.  Reykjavik:
   • There used to be steamy hot springs here near the bay. Reykja mean smokey and vik means bay in Icelandic, hence Reykjavik. Groundwater pumping dried up the springs, so the downtown square features artificial steam stacks to reproduce the effect.
   • Go to the top of the main church. The church is gorgeously geologic, and the view is spectacular.
   • Check out the statue of Leif Erikson in front of the church: It was a gift from the US to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi. That’s right: the 1,000th anniversary!
   • I hope you have at least a Friday or Saturday in Reyk so you can experience the nightlife, which goes all night. Lots of fun!
   • Just stroll about this beautiful town.
   • Hard to go wrong on food. SNAPS is our favorite foodie restaurant.
   • Eat an Icelandic hotdog (no, really!). They are made out of lamb. And get it with everything, just as an Icelander does!
   • We did a walking Icelandic food tour, and it was really nice.
   • If you are brave, eat some rotten shark chased with a shot of Brennivín (aka Black Death)..
   • Two words: Penis Museum (used to be in Husavik, but is now here). But be warned: The place is full of dicks. You’ll need a stiff drink afterwards…
   • Go for the full monty at Sky Lagoon. We walked out of there the chillest we’d been in decades.
3. Blue Lagoon
   • A must-visit, but too popular for us now. Expensive, quite touristy because of all the tourists, but stunningly gorgeous. Flights to Iceland from the US generally land first thing in the morning (like 6am first thing). Spend the morning here until you can check into your hotel. Splurge on the preferred tickets and get there right at opening!
   • Get tickets in advance (like now!): We were sadly shut out on our third trip (ah, the good old days: when we first visited, we practically had the place to ourselves…).
   • If you can swing it, get the special access tickets to avoid the long lines.
   • If you despise crowds, consider driving out to more remote hotpots.
4. The Golden Circle
   • Many of Iceland’s primary natural sites are within a circular day trip out of Reykjavik. There are a variety of bus tours if you don’t have a car; we recommend the smaller buses just because they are more intimate.
   • No joke, Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” was written after touring the golden circle: “We come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow.”
   • Thingvellir (where the Althingi met). It’s also located right on top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where one side is the North American Plate and the other is the Eurasian Plate. Most Icelanders live on the North American Plate, so geologically speaking, they are North Americans!
   • Geysir (the first one seen by westerners is here and was named Geysir; thereafter, all geysers are named after this beauty.) Sadly, tourists (probably Oklahomans…) choked up Geysir’s throat with rocks, but there’s another one right there that spouts off more than your little sister. You can score a good bowl of soup at the visitors’ center.
   • Gullfoss (spectacular waterfall). Iceland is a land of waterfalls; Echo and the Bunnymen shot the cover for their album ‘Porcupine’ here. We’ve seen it in summer and winter.
   • There’s a place to soak in geothermal waters in a lake near Thingvellir [one of the Golden Circle tours will drop you off here and then pick you up later].
5. Heading south around the island, there’s a glacier park as well as a glacial lagoon.
   • You can also do a day trip here (or perhaps an overnight).
   • One of the glaciers here sits on top of an active volcano, which makes for an interesting landscape.
   • You can stop in at Vik along the way. I once ordered a lobster dinner here, and the plate came with 20 lobsters! Because of the cold, cold winters, critters are smaller here. Lobsters are about the size of Louisiana mudbugs.
6. Eastern:
   • Myvatn, a large lake. The gnats are off the hook!
   • There’s a mini-Blue Lagoon here now that looks interesting (we haven’t been yet).
   • Be sure to partake of poo-smoked lamb. Because the Viking harvested all the island’s trees to make salt, there’s nothing to smoke meat with except dried sheep shit. So the farmers smoke their lamb with it. No shit! But seriously, it tastes pretty good (it’s a must for any trip for us), albeit interesting…
   • The ground round these parts is so toasty that the locals stir up some dough and simply bury it in the ground to bake it. The resulting dense and molassy dish is called geothermal bread.
   • You can get poo-smoked lamb and slice of geothermal bread at Vogafjos Cowshed, a quaint little farmhouse cafe.
   • Selfoss  and Dettifoss (and other water falls) are rather amazing.
7. Northern
   • Akureyri: nice little town, nice church, gorgeous botanical gardens.
   • Glaumbaer: A collection of old turf buildings

• When:
  • Summer is best: You can rent a car and do and see things at your leisure; the sun is up most of the day; stay away from August as that’s when Europe is on vacation and everything is slammed (we went in July). You don’t need a car (there are tour buses), but we recommend one.
  • We’ve been twice for Christmas/New Years, and it was magical. Good sleeping weather; the sun is only up for 4 hours; Iceland’s Christmas traditions are kooky (get there several days before the 25th or it will be too late), and their New Year’s Eve is off the hook. We don’t recommend renting a car in the winter unless you know what you are doing on icy roads. Lots of cars in ditches.
• Read:
  • Read a copy of Halldor Laxness’s book “Independent People” during your trip! Gives you insight into the Icelandic psyche by one of Iceland’s best writers.
  • The Grapevine: http://grapevine.is is a great weekly/monthly English-language paper about what’s going on in Reykjavik. Available online.
• A disorganized, but perhaps useful, collection of links I used for our last trip:
  • http://tis4travel.blogspot.com/2014/10/iceland.html
• And here’s our Iceland playlist:
  • most songs are on a playlist I put together on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/bubbaofthebubbles/playlist/3tEVUZxfkjBxcGNdfbTtL5?si=QXM63TT8R-e-Pl21L8qZvQ 
  • Gun by gusgus
  • Midnight In Reykjavik by gusgus
  • The Moss by Daniel Agust (gusgus)
  • Northern Lights by gusgus
  • Hayling by FC Kahuna
  • Selfoss by gusgus
  • Góða Tungl by Samaris
  • Wanted 2 Say by Samaris
  • Ain’t got nobody (Gluteus Maximus remix) by Sísý Ey
  • All Is Full of Love by Bjork
  • Undercover by Worm is Green
  • Glósóli by Sigur Rós
  • Hit by The Sugarcubes
  • Regina by The Sugarcubes
  • Birthday by The Sugarcubes
  • Nótt by Samaris
  • Tomoko by Hafdis Huld
  • Made for Market by Ampop
  • Sacred Things by Bang Gang
  • We Have a Map of the Piano by Múm
  • Dive In (GusGus Remix) by Quarashi
  • Remember Me by Steed Lord
  • Waterfall by Vök
  • Cold Breath ’79 by gusgus
  • Glacier by John Grant
  • Iceland by Marc Romboy
  • Pedro by Lily the Kid
  • Iceland by gusgus
  • In Heaven (live in Iceland with Kim Deal) by The Pixies
  • Immigrant Song by Karen O, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
  • Snow by gusgus
  • Svefninn la ar by gusgus
  • If You Leave Me Now by Daníel Ágúst
  • No Mercy (feat. Daniel Agust) by Bix
  • Heyr Himna Smiður by Anneke van Giersbergen & Árstíðir
  • You’re Too Late Satan by Worm Is Green
  • Tropical by FM Belfast
  • Looped by Kiasmos
  • Reykjavik by Sykur
  • Loving None by Sykur

• gusgus is our favorite band (we’ve seen them four times in Iceland), hence the heavy inclusion of tracks by them.