Iceland

Despite being the most keen traveller in my family (though not by a lot), I was the only member who hadn't yet been to Iceland, and in October 2018, I set out to change that. My brother had been to Iceland on a school trip and my parents had visited together previously, however none of them were too keen on the country (though my mum offered to join me on this trip) and forewarned me that the water smelt strongly of sulphur (spoiler: it didn't). Regardless, I was very keen to see the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, ever since we had found out that we'd slept through them whilst on a ski holiday in Norway, and knew that Iceland in October offered high chances of seeing them.

On arrival, it was -2°C and extremely windy, with some of the strongest gusts I've experienced to-date (and I've been in a hurricane). Luckily, this was the most extreme weather that we encountered during our stay (with the exception of snowfall during a day trip) and the majority of the time we were blessed with sunshine. Nonetheless, I wore thermals under my clothing and brought my biggest coat, along with a hat, scarf and gloves, just to survive the trip.

The first attraction we visited was The Blue Lagoon: a geothermal spa with temperate water. We visited at night and dined in the hotel, which was lovely, and the spa offered face masks and drinks, which were both very much appreciated. Whilst I do think that the Blue Lagoon is overrated, it does provide novelty and somewhat of a unique experience (although I've since found that geothermal spas aren't as rare as I'd thought at the time).

We spent the next few days exploring Iceland's capital: Reykjavik. The city features a lot of cool artwork, which I love to catch a glimpse of, and various unique buildings, of which Hallgrimskirkja Church stands out (see the leftmost picture above). This church is 74.5m tall and features a beautiful organ inside. A lot of the buildings in the city were more functional than aesthetically-pleasing, although there were a few colourful houses that I liked a lot. We also toured the city on a hop-on-hop-off bus, allowing us to visit the Perlan, Harpa Concert Hall, and the Old Harbour. We actually intended to go whale watching too, but our timings did not permit this unfortunately.

As aforementioned, the main purpose of this trip was to witness the spectacular Northern Lights. Although not guaranteed, your chances of seeing them in Iceland increase greatly between October and April, so I was hopeful. That is, until I saw that the day we'd booked to go on a Northern Lights cruise to escape the city's light pollution was forecast to have a low probability as well as low visibility. This was saddening, but there wasn't much we could do, so we went on the cruise regardless and headed into the distance. The guides were amazing and informed us about Iceland's wildlife and the different constellations. After a while, some Irish tourists (who were drinking and were becoming increasingly merry) began to sing Irish folksongs, when suddenly we caught glimpses of colour in the sky. As the greens became more prominent, I noticed that they seemed to dance around - I wasn't aware that the phenomenon would change form in front of my very eyes. Incredibly, we managed to see pink hues beneath the green, which was stunning and it was honestly one of the most magical and memorable moments of my life: being out at sea with my mum, hearing Irish folksongs and witnessing one of nature's miracles. I don't think I'll ever forget that feeling and I'll forever cherish that experience.

Another tour that I enjoyed greatly (and is a gem for any keen geographers) is the famous Golden Circle sightseeing route, which comprises Þingvellir National Park, the Gullfoss waterfall, and a geothermal areas featuring various geysers (including Geysir and Strokkur). It was on this trip that it began to snow, however we were on a coach so it wasn't an issue. First, we visited the National Park, where you can walk between two continents as the North-American tectonic plate features on one side, whilst the Eurasian tectonic plate is located on the other. We then visited the Gullfoss waterfall, which is vast and stunning - it's hard to put into words the volume of water that cascades down the falls. Finally, we visited one of Iceland's most popular tourist attractions: the geysers. This phenomenon involves hot springs below the surface, which accumulate pressure until a jet of water erupts upwards. It is very cool to see, especially when it is cold outside but you can see smoke coming from the ground due to the geothermal actively underground. The Golden Circle is a must if you are in Iceland.

It was in Iceland that we tried shark, fermented whale, and elk as this was a time in my life where I sought out novelty and wanted to experience everything. Admittedly, the elk was delicious, but the shark and whale weren't my cup of tea. Oddly, following the Northern Lights, my main association with Iceland is actually the book that I was reading at the time: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, which ended up becoming one of my favourite novels of all-time. I would strongly recommend visiting Iceland, especially to witness the aurora borealis at least once in your lifetime.