Back in Reykjavik, we changed out of our wet clothes and headed back over to Hallgrimskirkja, where we paid to go up in the tower. It had been gloomy and foggy the day before, and, while still kind of gloomy, the clouds were making a small attempt to clear out so we had good visibility of the city. The bells went off once while we were up there (note: they go off every 15 minutes!) and were super loud.
We then did a bit more souvenir shopping, grabbed some fish and chips for lunch, as our Icelandic soup was tasty but not very filling, and then headed over to the Einstok Bar, as Mr. Strange is a big Einstok fan. I’m not a beer drinker, so I had an old fashioned which was only so-so. We sat outside and did some people watching (and a bit of eavesdropping to the people sitting next to us), then headed back to the hotel to get ready for what was supposed to be our last attraction of the trip, Sky Lagoon.
We decided to drive up to the Seltjarnarnes peninsula, which was out of the way, but I just wanted to see if the Kvika Footbath was available. There were people there already, so we continued on.
On our drive from the peninsula down to Sky Lagoon, we lamented that we still hadn’t seen the Northern Lights, and with the city’s light pollution and overcast skies, that did not look to change that evening. We made a spontaneous last minute decision then to book a Northern Lights tour, as neither of us really wanted to be doing a bunch of late night driving without knowing exactly where to go, before having to get up early for a flight the next morning. We figured this was our last chance before we left, and if there was zero chance of seeing them, then they would cancel the tour altogether, so really, what did we have to lose? (Except sleep, of course.)
At Sky Lagoon, we were given a couple wristbands: one that I think indicated which dressing room to use (they have public ones and private ones, and we opted for the public ones) as well as one that gave us entry into the Ritual. As with Blue Lagoon and other swimming areas in Iceland, you are required to shower nude before entering the pools. This, like Blue Lagoon, had private shower stalls, even within the public changing areas, so no need to be shy or to pay more for the private rooms.
We met back up at the entry into the pool, which was lovely and warm, but much more crowded than Blue Lagoon had been. I am not sure if it only seemed more crowded because it was much smaller or it was because of the day and times we went (Blue Lagoon was on a Monday morning and we were at Sky Lagoon on a Saturday evening) or both, but there wasn’t a great spot to just chill because there were people everywhere.
It was close to sunset, so we snapped a few photos of the sun going down and then decided to go head into the area for the Ritual. This was not unlike the spa ritual we had done in Baden Baden, though we were in swimsuits this time. The second step was a cold plunge (the first being the main pool). I basically dipped my legs in and that was all I could take. We then handed off our wristbands and went inside to the next step, the sauna. It was quiet in there and much more calm than it had been in the pool area, and it also had a gorgeous view over the ocean to the sunset. Highly recommend if you come here at sunset and are overwhelmed by the crowds in the pool, to go to the sauna instead. We spend some time in there, then headed out for the fourth step, which was a cool mist. Not my favorite, but Mr. Strange loved it. Next, we got a body scrub, and this was my favorite part, as it made my skin feel awesome. With the scrub all over us, we headed then into the steam room. Sweaty! I could only take so long in there, and then it was out to the final step, a shower, to wash off the scrub. Then back into the lagoon. We felt amazing!
Soon after completing the Ritual, it was time for us to leave the lagoon so that we could head back for our Northern Lights tour. We dressed and drove back to the hotel, where we put on our warmest clothes and headed back out to the same bus stop where we had caught the bus that morning.
A shuttle picked us up and took us to their hub where we boarded a larger bus. The guide told us we were driving out to the Reykjanes peninsula, near the airport, as it looked like the clouds were clearing away in that area. The light forecast was only a 2 (on a scale of 10, I believe), so I was trying not to get my hopes up. The tour bus in front of us apparently decided that the first spot we had planned to go to was not good enough, so we turned around in the middle of a road (quite a feat with a Greyhound bus) to head to a different spot (still on the peninsula). I had read online that you could see the lights with a camera easier than with your eyes, so I held my phone up as we were driving, and at one point, I saw some (very faint) green!
We arrived at the spot and disembarked from the bus. I picked a spot and set up my camera and tripod and waited. And waited. I took a photo every so often to check, and then finally: green! They were barely perceptible to our eyes and didn’t look green at all, really. More of a wispy white cloud. But we soon got to where we could spot them, even without the camera. It was super windy, so many of my photos were a little blurry from the wind blowing my tripod, but we stayed out in the cold and wind until they made us all get back on the bus because it was so cool to finally see them, even if they were faint.
We returned to the hotel around 2 am, got three hours of sleep, then woke to drive back to the airport. Our trip to Iceland was complete!