Iceland - part 1
Updated: Feb 15, 2023
I just got back from my first major trip of the year: ICELAND!
My husband's family planned a trip to Reykjavik, and it was fantastic! Also, it was actually the first time I met his older siblings in person, and only the second time I had seen his parents and younger brother in person. Iceland has been on my travel bucket-list for a while, so I was incredibly excited for this opportunity to go with the family.
I have a LOT to say about this trip, so I will probably be posting about it in several parts - maybe two days at a time.
First up: the arrival days!
Ben and I arrived a day before the rest of his family. Since we came from a different continent, our flight options provided wildly different arrival times, so we opted for early rather than late. But as it turned out, Ben's family coming from Boston and Toronto ended up stuck on their plane in Keflavik (after landing) for.... 12 extra hours... due to high winds delaying safe de-boarding. So, we had a lot of extra time before the rest of the party joined us, and I was impressed with the good moods his parents and siblings arrived in once they finally got to the airport...
Day 1: intentional early day
My husband and I arrived in the early afternoon, on a smooth flight from London Stansted to Keflavik International. Once settling into the hotel, we got dinner at a nearby burger restaurant. He's a vegetarian, and I don't typically go for red meat, but Hamburgerfabrikken offers a variety of vegetarian burgers, and I decided to try Icelandic beef while I had the chance.
I have never truly enjoyed a beef burger so much. The texture, the flavour, the juiciness, the condiments and toppings, it was all perfect. I would end up going back there twice in the week I was in town. If you are ever in Reykjavik, I highly recommend the Hamburgerfabrikken restaurant. They do not have a gluten-free bread option, but the two gluten-sensitive people in our group did alright with the keto bun.
After dinner, we took advantage of the remaining daylight and wandered over to a historic house and statue that we noticed from our view at the restaurant. The house turned out to be the location where President Reagan and Premier Gorbachev met in 1986, Hofði* House. Next time I went to Hamburgerfabrikken, I noticed the photo on the wall of Reagan and Gorbachev in front of the house. The statue at Hofði House is of a famous Icelandic poet, Einar Benediktsson, who lived there for a time.
*pronunciation note: the letter "ð" (eth) is pronounced as a voiced "th" sound, as in "father", "Heather", and "that" additionally, the letter "Þ" (thorn) is pronounced as the un-voiced "th" sound, as in "thunder", "Bethany", and "thorn"
Day 2: an eventual family reunion
As I said earlier, Ben's family ended up being stuck in their planes for longer than twice the length of their flight times... We had expected them to join us at the hotel around 8am, but did not see them until shortly after 8pm. They said the airline crew did everything they could to make the extended wait comfortable, and one plane even had a group of traveling musicians on board to serenade the passengers for a while.
While we waited, Ben and I braved the extremely windy weather and explored downtown Reykjavik some more. There are a lot of tchotchke shops, cold-weather gear/apparel stores, Thai and other Asian cuisine, and vintage/second-hand shops. We wanted to save major tourist attractions for when the rest of the family joined us, but we did go check out the Hallgrímskirkja Cathedral in the center of the city. It was gorgeous! Very large but still minimalist in its interior design, compared to other cathedrals I've seen in the UK/Europe and the US. It was rather striking in its simplicity, and made the enormous pipe organ stand out even more.
Finally, the rest of the Powell clan were safely off their planes, and driven to the hotel by Siggy, a man who would quickly become our favorite human over the course of the week. Upon their arrival, there was much hugging and expressions of hunger. The hotel restaurant was closing, but the Bjór Garðurinn (beer garden) was open late and serving excellent ciders, sandwiches, and tacos. Quality family time really started the next day after a good night's sleep, but still everyone was in good spirits and happy to be together that evening.
Autism/Sensory Friendly Considerations thus far: - if you go to Iceland, come prepared with practical cold-weather clothing! This is obviously good advice for anyone regardless of neurotype, but especially if you struggle to regulate body temperature... I would recommend:
--> Layers are ideal so you can adjust easily and don't freeze outside or roast indoors (I packed camis, short and long sleeves, and warm quarter-zips all to layer under my parka in various configurations)
--> Overpants are the second-best thing I bought for this trip, which is basically a parka for your legs, can wear over everything from leggings to to joggers to jeans (why didn't I buy these years ago??)
- I also strongly recommend getting ice cleats, aka crampons, the first0best thing I bought for this trip - they saved my butt many times from slipping and falling in the snow, which made me way less apprehensive about walking around outside in the windy, icy weather conditions
- Hotel perk: idk how common this is throughout the country, but in the hotel we stayed at (Fosshotel Reykjavik), all our rooms had heated bathroom floors! It was bliss and made the transition out of the shower less of a sensory struggle. (this is officially a new feature for my dream house)
That's all for now! Stay tuned for the next two posts that will cover the rest of our Icelandic adventure :) I'll leave you with this mural I saw while walking downtown - I adore it and low-key want it on a wall in my living room...
take care of yourself <3
~heather
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