The next days of our Icelandic adventure moved swiftly by as, aided by our informative Lonely Planet guide to Iceland, we continued to explore this country of only about 300,000 inhabitants.  The temperature was similar to New York’s but, as warned, it could change on a dime with gusty winds so we made sure to dress in layers.

 

We were scheduled on the second night to take Reykjavik Excursions’ Warm Baths and Cool Lights tour involving a visit to the Langarvatn Fontana open air geothermal baths and then a search for the Northern Lights. So we decided to stick around and walk over from our hotel to Reykjavik’s largest shopping center Kringlan. Our taxi driver from the previous night had recommended this mall in order to see where the locals liked to shop and to find gifts that might be more reasonably priced than some of the stores within the center of town. 

 

As malls go, I liked this one with its love for bright colored furniture and its mixed selection of craft, discount, and international stores such as Top Shop.

 

After exploring there and more of the city where an annual music festival was being held, Reykjavik Expeditions picked us up at our hotel and we rode to Langarvatn Fontana. This was an interesting geothermal experience, but we would have preferred to try it earlier in the year or at least earlier in the day. While the attendants were all bundled up in scarves, hats and parkas, we needed to step out into the freezing night time environment in our bathing suits in order to get into one of a collection of heated pools.

The Northern Lights part of the tour, however, was more fun and, once again, we were able to drive to an area where we could see the light image of the aurora borealis  magically appear and disappear before us. We also learned many interesting facts from our guide including some about the official language that is derived from the Vikings and that, if you decided to apply for citizenship in this country, you would need to change your name to an Icelandic version.

 

 

Next: Golden Circle Tour