Reykjavík's night life is legendary, and let me tell you- this place lives up to its rep! Nowhere else have I experienced a sense of camaraderie among party-goers quite like this place. You can legitimately walk along the road, start a random conversation and become instant friends with anyone. In our case we befriended some Germans and some Icelanders!
The Rúntur is a past time found all over Iceland. It literally translates as "Round Tour" and is just that. You basically drive around with your friends, check out the passengers in each car, and if you like, park the car and chat. The driving Rúntur, according to what I've read, is more common in rural towns which is HILARIOUS because my mom told stories of how all the high-schoolers would go "cruising" in her small, rural town in Indiana on weekends. SAME EXACT THING. Rúntur=Cruising. Yes, I love that there is an American equivalent!
My Rúntur
The Rúntur that my roomie and I did was of the walking variety down Laugarvegur in Reykjavík. We didn't get off to the best of starts... We went to sleep after dinner and planned on waking up at 11pm to start getting ready and pre-game before meeting up with our peeps at midnight. The alarm didn't go off and we woke up at 10 til midnight! Amazingly, we got ready, got some shots of Vodka in our bodies and were out the door in 15 minutes. (An all time girl record?!)
Don't start your Rúntur until about midnight or so because no one will be out! Remember, buying alcohol is expensive, so most people pre-game then nurse a beer or two while they're out. Buying alcohol at the Duty-Free shop in the airport is the best way to go.We meet up with our peeps and walk the length of Laugarvegur for a place to get our first round of drinks. There was a good crowd out for the 12:00 hour. We go into an American bar that played great Classic Rock music. A round of Viking was ordered and we act, well, like typical loud Americans at an American bar much to the delight of other foreigners at tables nearby. They loved us.
My roomie and I then bounced to a place called Oliver's. I liked it because it looked like a popular spot and it had purple lights outlining the entryway. We go in, no line, and see that the place is, indeed, crowded. A fight/brawl broke out between some UK guys and I got beer spilled on me as security escorted them past us and out the door. Great first impression. We decide to go upstairs where the atmosphere was more chill, there were less people, and it was a lot easier to order a beer.
While chatting and sipping our beers, we did a bit of people watching. First of all, the Icelandic girls are gorgeous and they dress to impress! Every single one of them was supermodel tall. Every. Single. One. I felt so out of place in my jeans! As for the guys, MMMMMMMMM! Well- dressed, tall Viking men surrounded the bar. Not a bad looking guy anywhere, I swear.
After finishing our beers, we head down to the dance floor and immediately get picked up by some cute Iceland guys. Side note: My roomie also met a guy from DC (of all places) out there on the dance floor with us! We part from our Viking men after a few hours of dancing and in the Rúntur spirit, we continue down Laugarvegur to find the next party destination.
I'm not sure how this happened, but in typical Icelandic fashion, we end up talking to some fun Icelandic guys, Helgi and Phil. We talk to them for a while, become BFF, and head off to a bar not far from where we were standing. Phil and Helgi knew the bar tender and got us beers. Before we know it, we close down the bar at 6 am!Since we visited in June, it practically was light out 24/7. It doesn't even phase you that you've been up for 24 hours, it's GREAT! Bars typically stay open into the early hours of the morning as there are still tons of people out and about. To think, a late night in DC for me is getting home at 3:30 am!
As we say goodbye to the second set of Iceland guys, we see real, live Skinkas!!!! Skinkas rock Eurotrash outfits and the orange oompa loompa look from excessive self- tanning. It was the perfect end to a perfect Rúntur.
Hahaha Phil shows us the Skinkas!!!!!
PS. This post doesn't even come close to doing my Rúntur justice. You have to experience it. ;)
