Joel & Jake Take Iceland 2021
Since moving to New York in 2018 I’ve tried to go visit my family in California three to four times a year. I was planning to come visit in August but at some point I was talking to Jake and we decided to change my trip to California to a brothers trip. We looked at a few ideas but the one that we quickly landed on was Iceland a place Jake has talked about wanting to go to for a long, long time. So even with the pandemic we booked it and on August 11th we began our journey to Reykjavik, Iceland.
Day 1 (August 11 & 12, 2021)
The day finally arrived. Jake departed from LAX at 11 AM and we met at JFK for our 10:30 PM flight to Reykjavik. My journey to JFK wasn’t too bad in comparison to a lot of the drives I’ve had there. However, when I arrived the line for dropping off bags at the Delta counter was nuts. When I finally was able to drop off my bags and get through security I met up with Jake and we were off to our gate. I did grab some Cheez-it’s and a Jamba Juice on the way. Unfortunately, we had a ton of thunderstorms this entire week and this evening was not any different. The entire airport was shut down for about an hour to let the storm pass and once that happened we boarded and made the 5-hour flight to Reykjavik.
We both slept for most if not all of the flight and when we arrived in Iceland we were able to quickly get through customs and grab our bags. Having just missed the bus to take us to the rental car agency we walked to Sixt where we were given by far the ugliest car on the lot. A lime green Opel Corsa which had seen better days. We jumped in though, got directions to our hotel, the Reykjavik Konsulat Hotel, and Jake drove us off.
The good news is that drivers are on the same side of the road as the United States so outside of a lot of roundabouts and weird-sounding street names Jake was able to navigate us to our hotel with relative ease. Our hotel, unfortunately, did not have its own parking area so we were forced to find street parking. Luckily we did after some searching and were able to check-in to our hotel at 10 AM. We recorded a room tour (doing our best Jenn impression) and unpacked our luggage. The room was beautiful, well-appointed, with a nice street view.
After we were able to get everything unpacked we went to lunch a few minutes away at a restaurant called Food Cellar - Matarkjallarinn Restaurant. No idea how you would pronounce that but luckily we didn’t have to and we got a seat right away. They started us off with a delightful pretzel and then we got the exquisite sashimi that had some Asian notes that were fantastic. For our main course, I went with the cod and Jake had the fish of the day. Both were beautifully cooked, well seasoned, and all-around quite delicious. We left lunch and went and found coffee around the corner at a small bookstore/cafe. We were both getting pretty tired at this point so we made our way back to our hotel. Sadly on the way back to our hotel we passed the “green machine” (our rental car) and found a lovely parking ticket waiting for us. Not the best way to start our street parking adventure but we quickly learned the rules of the road.
We got back to the hotel, went down to the gym for a quick workout and picture session for LilMrFit, and then I took a nap while Jake got ready for the evening. A little before 4 PM we left our hotel and walked to the Harpan Concert Hall the meeting spot for our food tour. We got there far too early so we had time to kill so we walked along the ocean letting the very cold air hit us as we walked. We made a quick picture stop at The Sun Voyager a famous sculpture set right on the ocean and a perfect spot to kill some time while we waited for the start of the tour.
We arrived at our tour a few minutes before 5 PM and left to make our way to the first of seven stops. Unfortunately right when we arrived at the restaurant Jake was starting to not feel well and by the end of the first stop, I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t going to make it for the tour. I let the tour guide know we might try to catch up with them but knew that probably wasn’t going to happen. We went back to our hotel and let Jake try to recuperate while I enjoyed the free hotel happy hour drinks and snacks. When Jake was feeling up to it we walked to a nearby pharmacy for some stomach medicine and within an hour he was feeling much better. So much so that we did some google searching and found a nearby Italian restaurant to have dinner at called Ristorante Caruso. After a short wait, we got our table and ordered two pizza’s and called it a night. Although not the smoothest start to the trip we knew the best was still in front of us.
Day 2 (August 13, 2021) - An Ox and a Snowmobile
One big difference between traveling with Jake and Jenn is that Jake is all about getting up and going. And our first full day in Reykjavik started off at 5 AM. We grabbed coffee downstairs after getting ready and before 7 AM we were in the car and off. I’ll probably say this a few times in this recap but we got incredibly lucky with the weather. We had a few small bursts of rain but for the most part, it was overcast but nice out which made all the driving we did a lot easier.
Our drive today had us going to Mýrdalur, about 25 km west of Vík where we were going on a snowmobile tour on a glacier. Because we made great time getting out there we planned to stop at the Skogafoss falls. But even before we got there we saw a beautiful waterfall off an exit so we made the split decision and stopped there. I am so glad we did there were only a few people there with us and it was just so cool to take in a random beautiful waterfall. We left there after about fifteen minutes and went to Skogafoss which was even bigger and had stairs that let us go right to the drop of the waterfall. The walk up the stairs was pretty tough but worth it for the views and pictures.
From there we drove another twenty kilometers to the base camp for our snowmobiling excursion. In full transparency, Jake was far more excited about this than I was but by the time we took the massive bus/tank up the mountain to the base of the glacier we were both ready. The tour began with a very brief demonstration of how to operate a snowmobile and then Jake and I along with the other 6 tour attendees were off for an hour of riding. Jake picked it up quickly and left me in his dust. I remained pretty tentative the entire ride never fully feeling comfortable on the massive machine but there were moments where we had some nice straightaways that I let the engines roar. It was surreal being on top of a glacier. When we stopped for a few breaks and all the engines turned off the silence of the glacier was intense. The tour was only a little over an hour and after that, we boarded back up the massive bus to take us back to base camp where we stripped off our gear and made it back to our car.
After the adrenaline began to wear off we both got super hungry and so we went to a nearby restaurant in a beautiful old house called Sudar-Vik. We lucked out and got one of the last tables available (limited due to COVID) and ordered a burger and pizza. In what turned out to be a great lunch, Jake’s pizza did come with a really good but odd jam that they recommended to put with the pizza. Never had that before but it surprisingly worked. Jake got an espresso and I had a cappuccino before we hit the road.
On our way to our last stop of the day, we noticed a beautiful church on top of a hill right behind where we had lunch. We decided to go check it out and then made our way up the hill a bit more so Jake could say hello to some horses. It was such a beautiful day and the view of the nearby beaches of Vik was spectacular. From there we drove down to the black sand beaches of Vik with absolutely stunning rock formations and some of the darkest black sands either of us had ever seen. We probably didn’t spend as much time at the beach as we might have knowing that we had a 2-3 hour drive back to Reykjavik and a massive dinner ahead of us.
Jake did a great job driving and we got back without a hitch finding another parking spot and dropping off our stuff at the hotel. We went back out to get another cup of coffee and found a great one in another book store. From there we made our way to our first of two big tasting menu dinners of the trip. Part of the deal of the trip was Jake planned the days and I planned the food. In fact, the first thing we booked after we had flights (before we had a hotel) was dinner at Ox a small chef’s counter at the back of a very popular restaurant called Sumac. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation and after some difficulty finding the restaurant we were sat at the bar and offered a drink while we waited for them to prep the chef’s table. From there we got the corner spot (perfect for us) and what transpired was four maybe five hours of food, wine, and more of both.
I won’t go through each of the 16-courses individually other than to say Jake and I and our ten companions had quite the evening. The chefs prepared a lot of the food ahead of the time and we watched as they plated it and explained how they made it, what was significant about some of the Icelandic ingredients. Not every course was a home run but the culmination of the meal turned into an incredibly memorable and delicious experience. If I was to pick a few of my favorites it would have been the Rye bread with arctic char, shrimp with marigold and horseradish, and the cod, shrimp, and onions. They were also incredibly gracious hosts, and heavy with the pours so by the time that Jake and I left the restaurant at a little after 10 PM I doubt we were walking straight back to our hotel. We did somehow make it back to our hotel on another beautiful evening with our bellies full and even more ready for what Iceland still had in store for us.
Day 3 (August 14, 2021) - Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls
After last night’s multi-course, a multi-hour meal I wasn’t really sure how we’d feel waking up this morning. But after a good night's sleep and a full itinerary ahead of us we got back up pretty early and were back on the road a little after 7 AM. We stopped at a gas station in town grabbed the bottled Starbucks and filled up the Opul and were on our way. We actually had more driving ahead of us today than yesterday and for the morning at least we drove in quite overcast conditions and for a brief period some serious fog. Luckily much of Iceland is empty so there would be 5-10 minute periods where we wouldn’t see another car.
Jake continued to drive us around Iceland with ease and after two hours of driving, we made it to our first stop on the itinerary, Gullfoss Falls. This was far and away, the most spectacular waterfall I have seen in my lifetime, blowing away the two we saw yesterday by a landslide. The pure power that comes from the Gullfoss falls is tremendous. Once we parked our car we walked for about five minutes to outlook point right at the top of the falls. We were covered in the mist the entire time and just couldn’t get enough of taking in the majestic falls. Pictures really don’t do it justice.
From there we drove to another waterfall, the Urrioafoss falls. Unfortunately coming from the Gullfoss falls it was a little unfair to compare the two. Although wide and much bigger than the falls from yesterday it didn’t have the same “wow factor” as Gulfoss. We did enjoy our time there taking some good pictures and watching a father and son fish.
Our last big stop of the day was to the Kerid crater which they still aren’t sure the origins of. It was one of those stops that had it not been on our way back to town we probably would have skipped it but now that we went I am glad we did. At the end of. the day it is a massive hole. in the ground, but a beautiful one at that. We walked around the perimeter of the crater and then down to the bottom where a small lake formed. There obviously wasn’t a ton to do there so once we got done with pictures we were off.
Before heading back to Reykjavik we made a quick pitstop in Selfoss and had lunch at Kaffi Krus. With COVID they set up a system where you had to order from your phone which would have been fine but only my beer came out and not my food. Finally, after Jake was almost done with his hamburger I was able to get someone to look for my food and finally got my fish and chips. The food here was pretty good and sitting outside on this beautiful day really was quite nice.
We got back to Reykjavik in the afternoon and walked around the small but beautiful city. The main square near our hotel was bustling with tourists and locals enjoying a picture-perfect day. When we got tired we made our way back to the hotel room and rested for the rest of the afternoon gaining some strength for our Michelin dinner that evening.
A little before 6 PM we left our hotel and made our way to the only Michelin star restaurant in Iceland, Dill. This is a restaurant that Jake actually heard about in a documentary on Netflix and so we made sure to get reservations. When we arrived we got a nice window spot and for the next two hours, we enjoyed a beautiful fifteen-course meal.
The best way I’d compare Dill to Ox (the previous multi-course dinner) was that Ox focused a lot on the food, where Dill really wanted to show off some incredibly fancy techniques. That led to some seriously amazing dishes like the Lamb Tartar, Cod, and Grilled Potato Bread with smoked cream cheese. There were also a couple of other dishes that weren’t as great. All in all though from our glass of champagne to the roll cake at the end we had a spectacular meal at Dill and can easily see why it got the Michelin star.
After dinner, we walked off dinner, did some light shopping, and closed out the night watching BBC News and getting an early end to the day.
Day 4 (August 15, 2021) - Volcanic Spa Day
Somehow we arrived on our last full day in Iceland already. Today unlike the last two days we had a much lighter schedule. We woke up and didn’t rush out first thing which was a nice change of pace. Today was the only day we really had any weather and it of course hit while I was out on a run. Luckily it wasn’t too bad and I was able to get it in without getting soaked. From there we went downstairs and had a decent breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. The coffee continued to be bad but the food was edible enough.
From there we got ready for the day and went back out to get some good coffee at a cafe called Te & Kaffi. After that, I convinced Jake that we had to have a hot dog for lunch. Our next stop on the food tour a few days back was going to be at the “famous” hot dog stand right next to our hotel. We got there and got two of their hot dogs, me with everything and Jake without onions. Not going to lie, it was a delicious hot dog, I sort of wish I had gotten two.
Our big activity for today was going to the Blue Lagoon, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland. It’s a massive geothermal spa in a lava field near Grindavík. We drove about an hour outside of Reykjavik and arrived a few minutes before our allotted time at 1 PM. Jake had convinced me to upgrade to the “retreat spa” so when we arrived they took us to the retreat area and my goodness it was worth every penny. Unlike the hundreds of people in the main lagoon, we were whisked off to a private area where we had our own changing room and several relaxation rooms. After getting changed into our robes we were off to the lagoons. We took some pictures in the main massive lagoon before going through to do their five-part skin rejuvenation. From there we spent the next couple of hours enjoying their amenities. We did get a free drink with our package so we both got a glass of champagne which hit the spot.
We didn’t leave the lagoon until a little before 5 PM and drove back to Reykjavik for dinner. Given it was our last night in Iceland we wanted to make sure we found a good place for dinner and were lucky to grab a last-minute reservation at Messin a seafood restaurant a few minutes from our hotel. I started off with their Lobster Bisque and we both had two different fish dishes. I had the Icelandic Plokkfiskur with a Bernaise sauce and Jake had the Cod. We finished the dinner with a phenomenal dessert, an apple crumble.
Sadly that concluded our evening. We walked back to our hotel and packed our bags for our flight home in the morning. It was such a relaxing day and a perfect way to conclude our time in Iceland.
Day 5 (August 16, 2021) - Homeward Bound
And just like that, the trip came to a close. After four full days of adventure and a bit of relaxation our trip, unfortunately, came to a close. We left our hotel a little after 7 AM and drove an hour to the airport. We did have some fun trying to fill up the car before dropping it off where the gas station was only letting me pump in 5 or 10 dollar increments. We were able to finally get the car filled up and dropped off the green machine at Sixt. That ended up being a bit of a hassle where they charged us $700 for a small chip in the windshield. Luckily a week later we were able to get that refunded but at the time it was a big headache.
From there we waited in another super long line to drop off our bags, grabbed a quick coffee and breakfast, and flew off to JFK. After customs in New York City, Jake and I said our goodbyes, and Jake flew back to LAX and I grabbed an Uber home. It was sad to see the trip come and go so quickly but what a journey it was!
