January 1, 2018
Delray Beach, Florida
Sunny and a nice 25C
Happy New Year! While NYC is below freezing, I'm spending the New Year in sunny Florida with my best friend Priscilla. I'm having a wonderful time catching up and enjoying the beautiful weather of Florida. It also gave me some time to catch up on my blogging which I have not been keeping up. In 2018, I'll try and be more diligent about my blogging.
Way back in early November, my BFF in NYC, Nicky and I took a trip to Iceland - only a 4-5 hour flight from NYC. Seeing the Northern Lights have been on my bucket list for a long time. Nicky has always wanted to ride the Icelandic horse, so we figure we try and cross the 2 items from our bucket list on this trip
As I had a business trip to Norway, I arrived in Iceland the night before Nicky arrived. I arrived mid afternoon and since I had conference calls I stayed in the hotel that night. Which was a MISTAKE! as it was one of the best days for the Northern Lights, which were visible even from the city of Reykjavik! Fortunately, I did not know about this until the next morning as otherwise, I would not have been able to concentrate on the conference calls.
The next day, in a snowy dark morning, I checked out of the hotel I was in for the night, grabbed a cab, dropped off my luggage to the hotel where both Nicky and I are staying in (The Canopy - which I highly recommend). and took the cab to the Blue Lagoon which is about a 40 minute drive from the center of town but only a 10 minute drive or so from the airport. Blue Lagoon is one of the largest geothermal spas in the world. It started as a Geothermal plant, but when workers with psoriasis discovered their skin improving when dipping their hands in the water, it became a popular destination to go for a "soak" by word of mouth. It then became one of the largest luxurious spas in the world.
I met Nicky there who just came off the redeye from New York, where we followed the ritual - soak in the waters, plaster the silica mud on our face and chill. We spent about an hour or so there and also spent some time shopping for their EXPENSIVE beauty products. It was definitely worth doing. But I would make an effort (must book months in advance) for a water massage next time I go.
View from the plane upon arriving in Iceland
While looking for a quick dinner the first night I found Santa's mailbox
I arrived at Blue Lagoon around 8am and still dark
When we left the Blue Lagoon, the sun was out and beautiful
After the Blue Lagoon, we took the bus back to Reykjavik and had a nice light lunch at a small French bistro. Nicky wanted to take a nap, so while she was doing that I walked the town.
A lot of interesting graffiti in Reykjavik - It seems all the cities I visit have a graffiti boon!
Then after an excellent early dinner, it was time for us to take the bus to hunt for Northern Lights. The tour companies are so great in Iceland that if you don't see it the first night, you can continue to come back until we find them. We we're very lucky. Our guide was great and because we were in a jeep, we were able to go to the remote areas where there was no light pollution. It was tough to take photos but it was magical.
We got back around mid nite and crashed as we had to get up early the next day for an 8-9 our tour of the Golden Circle. So now that I've got a taste of the Northern Lights, I was to see more of them!
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