Kaffi Kaffi Kaffi

If I learned anything in Iceland, it's that Icelanders love their coffee, or kaffi. As the world's biggest export, next to oil, it's no surprise that this island hopped on the java bandwagon and formed a kaffi-centric culture. I mean, it makes perfect sense. Beer was illegal until 1987 and alcohol is super expensive. Kaffi is the logical drink of choice.

My first Icelandic kaffi in the Keflavík airport. Notice the kaffi beans in the bar counter :)

Kaffi has made its mark as a staple of Icelandic society. Ironically the honor of highest coffee drinkers per capita goes to Finland (seriously? I think a recount may be in order). Icelanders serve the drink for just about any occasion. In my case, my choir was served coffee on our rehearsal breaks. This blew my mind! Never had I had coffee in the middle of a block of singing- it was always water and only water.

Kaffi break at rehearsal with Vox Academica. Such great hosts!

There are coffeehouses all over Reykjavík with wi-fi, reading material, and tasty pastries. Cafe Paris was my favorite place to enjoy a cup and people watch :) Unlike the United States, coffee is rarely ordered to go. Icelanders prefer to savor their brew (usually strong) and enjoy life. What a foreign concept for we on the go Americans haha! Also, there was not one Starbucks in Iceland- the coffeehouse chain thing never caught on. Iceland's kaffi is truly unique.

Icelandic pancakes, kaffi, and people watching at Cafe Paris.

Never have I had so much coffee in my life! I must have had 3 cups a day at least :)

Musings of a lively capital city 66° north of the equator.

A select few pictures in and around Reykjavík made enough of an impression on me to chronicle the experience in writing. The quotes below are excerpts from my travel journal reflecting thoughts/events that happened when I took each picture.

"Long, open windows lined the top and looking out we saw an amazing view of the small city."

"A guy on his balcony makes a noise like he was going to hock a loogie. We look up. He says, 'Welcome to Iceland.' We all started laughing- it was hilarious."


"Reykjavík was full of downward turned face statues [not sure what their deal was]. We put a mask on the statue because of all the ash. Awesome. We are officially those tourists!"

"It felt kitschy :) Knickknacks lined the wall as well as an old fishing net in the corner."

"According to the hostel guy we talked to, a knitter asked permission of Reykjavík to tag the city with her craft."

"On our way, we were cat-called by some local men drinking by the harbor. 'Americans!' "


"It's a very modern design, small compared to other European churches."


"It was about 1 am then. It was dusky out- but mostly ashy. I climbed all over that statue like a monkey."

"Our destination was a pretty, two story white building on the lake with a view of town hall."

"On the way back from the afterglow, we saw a lady wearing MC Hammer pants!!!! The guy didn't seem to mind. Their love was so pure hahahaha."

"A security guard at the front door appeared. 'NO PICTURES!' I asked if I could take a pic of the sign. 'All things that way are OK.' So I got a pic of the embassy sign by the road. We walked past, then the guard re-emerged and followed us for half a block."

"We kill the vodka and go out for round #2 (to no avail). We ended up using my self timer to take pics of us in front of the bridge that changes colors at night."

"The sun was out, the temperature just right and we were surrounded by the Reykjavík locals on their lunch breaks. It was a perfect morning."

Don't mess with the Lögreglan!

The best way to see Iceland is to get out and experience it yourself! My group decided to rent a car so we popped over to the tourist office next to our hotel. At the front desk, we were given a binder full of car rental places with price comparisons and made reservations to be picked up bright and early the next morning.

The Budget car rental guy picked us up in the lobby. He was young, about my age, and we listened to his ipod playlist. During the ride we asked him a bunch of questions :) He studied abroad in York, PA as a high school exchange student and even went to prom! We also were filled in on the difference between American and Icelandic girls. In America, he said, everyone is in a relationship, quite the opposite of Iceland. He also added that Icelandic girls are easier to kiss! I digress...

When we got to the Budget car rental office, we filled out our paperwork and were given a two door, gold-colored, manual car (luckily my roomie knew how to drive stick!). Driving in Iceland was easy, just like driving in the States. Everyone drives on the right side and the signs are pretty easy to figure out. Get to love roundabouts because they are everywhere!

Road sign along Rte 1 headed south

In Iceland, there is one main road that encircles the country called Rte 1, or the "Ring Road." Since Iceland is sparsely populated, there aren't many cars on the road. Ironically, we were late for our first rehearsal that night because of traffic. Yes, traffic in Reykjavík. For our first day, we took this road south to Vík for a day trip. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Reykjavík without stopping. The drive made for a very comfortable day trip.

You're going to want to stop and take pictures of everything, so plan your trip accordingly! Returning from Vík that day, we decided we wanted to rent the car and go north the next day. We called Budget from our cell and reserved the car for another day (thank goodness they spoke English- it made everything so much easier!).

Fender bender in the middle lane that brought traffic to a stand still.

The second day, we drove north to the Snæfellsnes peninsula, another 2 1/2 hour day trip from Reykjavík (my fave drive!). Our hotel front desk man, who was incredibly helpful and nice, suggested we drive around the Hvalfjörður instead of going through the tunnel. It was totally worth it- the views were stunning (below).

After hiking a volcano crater that afternoon, we took a kaffi break in Ólafsvík and then panicked at the time because we had another rehearsal that night! The road that looped around Snæfellsjökull on our way back was beautiful. Out the window to our left we saw the mountain and on the right was the ocean.

The drive on the peninsula.

I eventually fell asleep in the back seat and about an hour from Reykjavík our car stopped. The Icelandic police pulled us over for speeding! Major suck. The cop approached the car and said, "Góðan daginn." We mumbled the phrase back and then he started talking to us in English (once again, thank you for being multi-lingual, Iceland!). Our driver was then made to sit in the back of the patrol car and produce his passport. He was in there for a good 15 minutes.

Upon returning to the car, he told us that we were clocked going 126 km/hr or the US equivalent of 78 mph. Oops. (In our defense, before I fell asleep, multiple cars were passing us on the road.) Also, his ticket was CRAZY EXPENSIVE. It was $400 with a 25% discount since he paid right there on the spot. At least the policeman was cordial during the ordeal.

This was my furtive attempt to capture the moment on camera from the back seat.

Lesson to take away: Don't speed in Iceland.