If you aren’t familiar with the aurora, how it looks in pictures and how it looks to your eyes in person are not the same. So while the shapes are exactly as I remember from last night, this is far more color saturated because of the length of time a camera lens stays open. (At least that is how the dude on the trip explained it.)
If you aren’t familiar with how the aurora looks in person, book your trip. Because seriously… there aren’t words or images to capture the experience.
Here’s what I wrote at midnight, in my amazing smash journal from Etsy:
It is midnight but I had to express my enchantment over the northern lights. It was astounding. I never would have imagined the movement the way it was. Dancing ribbons, so much fading in and out, swirling, floating. Even the boat captain called our night ‘unreal.’ We cheered and jumped, couldn’t point things our fast enough to one another.
When we got in the taxi to go back to the Air BNB, the driver asked why we were out so late. We said we’d been on a northern lights tour, and he responded that all his friends on Facebook were saying that night was the best lights show they’d seen in years. YAY! So we knew from the locals that the captain wasn’t exaggerating. It truly was a remarkable night.
The next day, we drove the golden circle. The only thing we didn’t do was the blue lagoon because that is a man-made waste water pit. We went to a natural lagoon called the Secret Lagoon and loved it.
We finally ate bola-bola-bola buns. Yum! First stop was Kerid, 6500 year old crater. Snowy so we couldn’t see the colorful water, but still a good view. This was the only place we saw with trees but they are way shorter than you’d expect. The joke goes:
“What do you do if you get lost in a forest in Iceland? Stand up.”
Super bummed that I forgot my crampons because I slipped a lot on the ice.
Next stop was Gesyir. We saw 6 or 7 eruptions and ate lunch, plus a TON of hot springs. Lots of funny signs about how the water is hot and not to touch it or you’ll have to drive 62 km to a hospital in a lot of pain. (Those signs were mostly in English because American tourists…) One of the hot springs had an underground cave. So colorful… definitely a mermaid lives there. We shopped here and then drove to Gullfoss.
Gullfoss is a waterfall between tectonic plates. SO DRAMATIC. I didn’t like the roads here with no guard rails. In the 1920s and 30s, they were trying to turn this STUNNING site into a hydroelectric plant. Basically, one woman single handedly saved it.
After Gullfoss, the Secret Lagoon was the perfect end to the day. We crossed a terrifying bridge and then found an amazing glacier lake. Unreal color. Unreal blue. My favorite accidental thing we saw for sure, by far.
Also Secret Lagoon did not watch us shower naked, so that’s a plus despite what their website says. It snowed on us while we were in the hot spring lagoon. It was a crazy contrast, and I loved it. It was intense though since it was natural, there was an actual small boiling part off to the side and occasionally hot little stripes of water would jet out and you’d have to move. It was an adventure. Magical. There were stone benches all around the side and the bottom wasn’t too uncomfortable to stand on for long periods.
I was a little rashy when we got out, but it faded fast. The run from the hot sprig to the bathroom — soaking wet in the snow — was all kinds of COLD. Our towels were covered in snow!! Rookie mistake, haha.
Also, if it’s still playing, SEE THE FUNNY SHOW AT THE HARPA: Icelandic Sagas The Greatest Hits. It was SOOO funny.
