Yesterday was a travel day, but James and I intended to make the most of it, with what time we had in both Iceland and in London. We woke up early to tackle a run to a lighthouse outside of the city sprawl of Reykjavik – Grotta.
Grotta had been a fixation for James the moment we arrived (most likely due to his watching a what to do in Reykjavik video on Icelandaire). There was apparently a hot spring there, its the only place in the city you can see the Northern Lights from and its just a cool lighthouse in general (all according to James).
Grotta was 5 kilometers from our hotel. Being the crazy people that we are, and because we are training for a 10k at the end of the month, James and I decided that running to Grotta was the right decision. So we donned our running gear, rain jackets and welcomed the brisk air with open arms (does it ever go above 54F?).
When we arrived at the end of the path, where Grotta lies, I asked James exactly how does one get there. Well in the video, they simply walked across. During high tide, one does not simply walk across. Rather you stand on shore and look at the ocean covered pathway that leads to this mystical structure – or as James calls it “candy mountain.”
We left Grotta, ran back to the city, and enjoyed nice hot beverages from what I took to be the Starbucks equivalent of Iceland (Te & Kaffi). We bummed around the hotel until our ride picked us up and returned us to the airport.
A note about the airport – though I took no pictures of it – it’s beautiful. It’s like walking into an expensive Ikea. The number of times you have to have your passport reviewed and scanned is ridiculous, but I guess that’s what you get for traveling internationally.
We ended up boarding our plane on the tarmac, which I’ve never done before. In case you’re wondering, you feel almost presidential as you walk up a massive set of stairs to your seat.
The flat we are staying in is cute, and close to a wide variety of shops and pubs. Once we dropped off our luggage, we booked it to the nearest grocery store for dinner which resulted in me buying wine, fresh farm eggs, stinky cheeses, cured meats, milk, vegetables, the largest loaf of gluten free bread ever (praise the London grocery gods) and some soup. What can I say? I love grocery stores.