What's up everybody? I'm Marko, I'm Alex, and you are watching Vagabrothers. And this is our
stopover in Iceland with Icelandair
All season we've been traveling in Europe
searching for the best things to do in winter, but there's one winter bucket list item
that we still haven't gone for: The Northern Lights
The Northern Lights are naturally occurring light show that happen in the
arctic skies every winter when sun and earth particles collide
But the see them you've got the way up north.
So we left the Alps behind and caught an Icelandair flight to Keflavik International Airport
Alright you guys, surprise surprise we are no longer in continental Europe.
We've taken a quick little trip to a beautiful little island in the North Atlantic
Iceland
Icelandair has invited us to check out their "Stopover Experience"
which allows you to stopover in Iceland for up to 7 days on the way across the Atlantic
for no extra charge. Plus it's winter, which means the best time to experience
the Northern Lights and Icelandair has a brand-new northern-lights-themed plane
the Hekla Aurora. So the plan is to take a ride on the Hekla Aurora
go see how much we can explore in Iceland in 24 hours
and then, with some luck, hopefully see the Northern Lights. Fingers crossed - let's go!
When we arrived in Keflavik Airport we were greeted with drinks and nibbles
at the Saga Lounge where
we met a local expert on the Northern Lights. She explained that
Iceland sees the Northern Lights about 280 days a year
Basically Iceland is one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights
But nature's a fickle force and there are no guarantees
but at least we were sure to see them on the Northern Lights Plane.
Thank you, enjoy your flight
So where are we heading?
We're heading for Reykjavik - a very short flight
The church is lighted up up especially for this occasion today
and of course we gonna see the beautiful city of Reykjavik
It's got that new plane smell, ya know?
[Alex farts silently]
It no longer has that new airplane smell
Hahaha! Sorry...
Bro, we got the Northern Lights on the plane. That's pretty cool
Alright guys that was a short flight but awesome
And now, there's supposedly a little welcoming party so the adventure begins
Okay, to maximize our time here in Iceland the first thing we're going to do
is b-line it straight up to the Golden Circle
The Golden Circle is home to three of Iceland's many natural attractions
But the first stop is the "Secret Lagoon." -It's like the Blue Lagoon but more secret
I'm so excited right now, dude
It's actually ridiculously mild right now, apparently that's because there's a
meeting of air currents and the Jet Stream here which is what makes it
possible to live here so... and probably brings the aurora borealis too
I am NOT a scientist - I don't know about that one... -What I do know for certain
is that this hot pool is going to be epic. I'm ready to go.
Unfortunately there were too many clouds to see the Northern Lights
but you know me I love a good soak in a hot tub
so it was the perfect way to rest up for the next day
Alright guys it's the crack of dawn
It is 9:45 in the morning, it's dawn which means we are seizing the day
Yes! We have a couple things to do today first off we're heading to the
Golden Circle
to the golden waterfall "Gullfoss" - I'm stoked because
We've been here a year and a half ago but I was sick the whole time
so all this is new to me I was in bed so - And I've been there once before but once
is not enough with Iceland
Okay so let's do it
Many people come to Iceland for the nature
but the reality is a nature's unpredictable.
Such was the case on our drive to Gullfoss.
The roads were so icy that just getting there became an adventure in itself
Guys the road is literally frozen solid
But we're cool, right? - We're cool, we're cool...
We're in good hands...
I'm a freaking out!
But eventually we made it to our first destination in the Golden Circle
The mist is coming off the geyser right on to us
so if it blows we are going to get covered in hot water
GET DOWN!!!
Alright guys we just made it to the geyser area called the geyser area because
you guessed it - there's geysers.
It's actually pronounced "geysir" here that's the Icelandic word and
the English word "geyser" comes from it... so we're kinda at the original OG
geyser...geysir...the old geezer...the Old Faithful of Iceland
It's not like Old Faithful, though, you don't have to sit around for
an hour waiting
it explodes every eight minutes.
And that's because Iceland is [one of] the newest geological formations on earth
because it's basically all volcanic activity volcanoes geysers hot springs
because there's two plates here rubbing together and that makes for some cool
things like this
So after a quick lunch of fish soup we hopped back in the car
and headed to Gullfoss the largest waterfall in Iceland
Iceland just claimed it's first casualty
That was an adventure, I just slipped and fell on my butt. Alex just said it's like the March
of the Penguins
and I think that's pretty much exactly it... but there's the waterfall!
Okay guys behind us is Gullfoss, the "Golden Waterfall"
although right now it is not golden, it's white
#whiteandgold
Naw, it's been a total mission to get out here, only in Iceland
is seeing the sights
an adrenaline activity. We had to ice-skate to get here after driving on the roads
but now we know what Iceland means - "Icy-Land." -Totally, worth it. -But it's been worth it
I now feel fulfilled we've seen the requisites
for any visitor Iceland and now it's time that we head a little bit closer to civilization
Reykjavik? Let's do it. Alright.
All that ice and snow made
these two californians a little bit chilly so we decided to make a pit stop
for coffee
but seems like Alex's enthusiasm for caffeine migh have got the best of him
[Sounds of warfare, ears ringing from bombs exploding]
[In the voice of a cliche US Army officer from the Vietnam War] You okay in there?
The weather is not too grand right now, boy!
But don't worry, we've found a little "coffee-stofen" [our Anglicization of the Icelandic name of the coffee shop]
It's warm inside! Come on, son! You'll be fine!
Seriously, though, this is supposedly the most famous
coffee stop in all of Iceland
most famous little "stopover" when you're on a road trip, and we are in desperate need of caffeine.
After warming up our bellies with coffee and Icelandic crepes
Berglind told us we can warm up our toes in a secret spot
So it's the end of our day
And we've brought some snacks with us including dried shark
and dried fish, and we're gonna go look for a secret
little hot tub for two, so it should be bro-mantic.
As the sun set we headed to Reykjavik
which happened to be celebrating the winter Lights Festival which kicked off
with the light show on Reykjavik's iconic church. There were events happening all over
downtown Reykjavik
which is a colorful mixture a century old fisherman's houses
bars and boutiques clustered around the old port
Well guys it's been an eventful day running around the Golden Circle but
we've made it back
to Reykjavik, the capital city, which is always a good time
We've got a long night ahead of us but we're starting off with dinner.
Icelanders are all about
their seafood so we're going to a restaurant right here in the port called Kopar
which is all about using Icelandic ingredients from the land and the sea
So I'm hungry - you hungry? Starving. Alright, we're gonna do it...
It also happen to be Reykjavik Cocktail Week so we started off
with a couple specialty drinks from their bar.
icelandic cuisine has evolved a lot in the last decade so we ask one of Kopar's owners
to explain a bit more about what's happening in the kitchen
Traditional Icelandic food is fish mostly and lamb
and what we do have is cod tongue
It is quite rare, but it used to be very popular before and we put it
in a new twist, we put it in tempura so it's a bit crispy
and we show it with a lemon dip
and garlic creamy sauce so I would say that
it's traditional but cooked in a new style
Alright guys, so we just finished dinner lots of fresh seafood and delicious cocktails
but I don't think we're done yet.
Actually, I know we're not done yet
We're gonna go next to KEX which is a hostel
it's a cafe its a music venue
and it's gonna be fun, there's a live show so let's go check it out.
Next to KEX...
KEX is unique in Reykjavik because it's a place
where travelers and locals alike come to hang out
sip a beer, read a book, or even get a haircut
It's got a funky design and a cool welcoming vibe so after the show
we sat down to hang out
Alright, so next step on the tour we're going to Kaldi the craft beer bar
Beer was a legal in Iceland until 1989 and we're gonna see what they've done since then
Should be fun
Reykjavik's night life doesn't get started until after midnight but
once it does
it gets going and its easy to make new local friends
Cheers!
Well guys that was our stopover experience. Super fun! If you're
interested in learning more about the stopover check out the link in the infobox
As always, if you like the video give it a thumbs up,
share with your friends, and subscribe to our channel for new travel videos every Tuesday
An we will see you on the road. Later