Honeymoon in Iceland: Northern Lights Hunting (Night 16)

Our main purpose of visiting Iceland is in the hopes of viewing the northern lights. The winter of 2013/14 is reported to have increased chances of sighting due to the solar maximum. Winter is the best season for viewing due to the longer nights, so we picked a ‘moonless’ week for our stay.

There are many companies that offer tours for chasing the lights, but we eventually picked Superjeeps for the following reasons:

1. unlimited retries for the duration of your trip if your prior chases were not successful or the lights were not strong
2. the jeeps can travel to off-road locations and can therefore bring you to more remote location and places not accessible by buses
3. high successul viewing rates
4. small groups

The booking process was done via email and payment had to be made one month prior to the tour to confirm our places. To go on a tour, you will just need to call them around 5-6pm on the day itself to ask if they would be chasing the lights that night. If they are, they will schedule a pickup at your address at 8.30pm. Originally we thought that each jeep will have a customized route that is dependent on the driver. However for Superjeeps, all of them will meet up at a petrol station, discuss and proceed as a group to whichever location they conclude to have the best chance of sighting.

Sightings are dependent on a few factors: cloud cover, solar activity and the amount of light. The Icelandic Meteorological Office gives an idea of your chances of sighting on their aurora forecast site. In general, a level 2 or 3 will result in a dazzling view provided that there are no clouds and the place is sufficiently dark.

In our previous posts, we mentioned that the tour on night 13 was cancelled and the view on night 14 was not strong enough. According to Superjeeps, there were no successful sightings for the past week due to the undesirable weather. The convoy on night 14 took over an hour to gather due to the larger number of retries than usual. We spent two hours waiting at two different sites without any sighting. Nevertheless, the off-road rides were fun and the guides tried to liven up the atmosphere by telling us Icelandic folklore and giving us hot chocolate with the optional vodka added to warm us up. The lights finally appeared far away in the horizon, albeit very weak. The guides then lit some fireworks to mark the end of the tour and we returned back to our apartment at 1am.

We were soaking in the waters on day 16 and decided that we should give the chase another try. I called Superjeeps when we were at Blue Lagoon to confirm our booking. The aurora forecast was at a mind-boggling Level 6 with minimal cloud cover! Everything went on as per the first night and we were on our way to our first site. Now this was when something amazing happened; within minutes of leaving the lights of Reykjavik, the guides spotted the lights! The convoy immediately gather on an open patch of snow. The jeeps were arranged in a circle to block us from the wind and the cold was quickly forgotten as everyone scrambled to take the once-in-a-lifetime photographs.

The true beauty of the lights can only be captured on camera; with your naked eye the northern lights look like a greyish moving cloud. Here are some ways we learnt that will get you a good photo:

1. set exposure time to 10-15 seconds, this is to allow the light to enter the lens and ‘accumulate’
2. use a tripod unless you can hold the camera without moving for 10-15 seconds
3. if you want to be in the shot, get someone to shine a torch on you briefly and do not move for 10-15 seconds

The strong display meant that we could capture the green light with our simple point-and-shoot cameras. The better photographs were provided by Superjeeps and were uploaded on to their Facebook page shortly after the tour. The display went on for a good 2 hours; we were elated and truly grateful to be given the chance to see such a rare phenomenon of nature.

Honeymoon in Iceland: Cycling in Reykavik and Blue Lagoon (Day 16)

Day 16 was yet another public holiday, luckily Reykjavik Bike Tour who conducts a popular Classic Reykavik Bike Tour is still operating on New Year’s Day! We took a long walk to the meeting point at the Old Harbour at Aegisgarour, the same street as the whale watching companies. Our guide, Stefan was waiting for us at the front of their striking red cabin where he gave us our bikes, safety jackets, helmets and even provided us with gloves. We were once again the only pair on the tour!

We started our tour from the Old Harbour with Stefan explaining how Reykjavik i.e. Smokey Bay first got its name. Then we moved on to the Parliament Building, City Center, Tjörnin City Lake and University of Iceland Campus before taking a break at Ægissida beach. Along the way, Stefan pointed out several eating places where we could sample some of the city’s best cuisine like whale steak, lobster soup, burgers, tacos and hot dogs. Stefan shared lots of interesting stories with us at each attraction, he was extremely familiar with Reykjavik’s history and also quite popular; with locals frequently greeting him as we rode around.

After relaxing with delicious cups of hot chocolate and biscuits, we continued on to Reykjavik’s Catholic Cathedral and then headed back to the Old Harbour. We had a very satisfying lunch at a burger joint, Bullan that Stefan recommended before heading back to the apartment.

The tour lasted about 2.5 hours, it was a refreshing experience to be cycling in the cold windy morning, although we slipped on the icy road a couple of times and cycling against the wind was like riding uphill! Communication with Stefan prior to the tour was prompt and we were grateful that he proceeded with the tour despite having only the two of us.

For the second half of the day, we booked our bus and entrance tickets with Reykjavik Excursions for the Blue Lagoon. They offer hourly bus transfers to and from their interchange at the BSI bus terminal which was a 15 minute walk from the apartment and were also the only operator providing trips to Blue Lagoon on New Year’s Day. It took us 45 minutes to get there and another 30 minutes of queuing and jostling with the huge crowd before we were able to collect our locker keys and entered the facility. We brought our own towels, robes and slippers to avoid having to spend time and money purchasing them. The Blue Lagoon was similar to an onsen; the chilling winter air creates a nice contrast with the soothing hot water. We heard that the silica deposits are good for the skin and we see lots of people slapping them onto their faces; but after grabbing a handful of really icky stuff from the bottom of the pool, we decided against that. We soaked in the milky waters for about an hour before heading out to catch the bus back to Reykjavik.

Honeymoon in Iceland: South Coast and New Year 2014! (Day 15)

Day 15 was New Year’s Eve in Iceland, most tour operators are taking a day off for the next two days so it was ‘Christmas in Germany’ all over again. After some prior communication with Superjeeps, they kindly agreed to arrange for a South Coast tour. We couldn’t be more grateful and were pleasantly surprised when we were picked up, for we were the only ones on the tour! Our guide, Svavar proudly presented our ride for the day, a modified Land Rover Defender.

The first attraction was Seljalandsfoss, a very approachable waterfall in the summer as you can walk behind the curtain of water to get a unique view. In winter you can only appreciate its beauty from a distance, unless you fancy a nasty fall followed by hypothermia as you hit the water. As we slowly and carefully walked towards the waterfall, we berated ourselves for not getting proper footwear.

No safe way to climb this!

The second stop was Dyrhólaey lighthouse and the black sand beaches in Vík í Mýrdal. The road to the lighthouse and along the beach was not a smooth ride, it got pretty scary a few times but Svavar and the Rover really maneuvered the tough conditions really well. The winds were really going strong, so we were not able to venture as far out to the edge as possible. We use the lighthouse as a resting place to shield us from the wind, it can be rather exhausting fighting the forces of nature.

We had a quick lunch in the jeep before proceeding to Skogafoss, one of the largest and picturesque waterfalls in Iceland recently featured in Thor 2: The Dark World and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We carefully made our way to the top of the waterfall where there was a viewing platform and got an excellent view of the landscape.

We had to forego the glacier walk due to the blustery winds; we couldn’t even get out of the jeep safely and even witness a guy literally being blown away. Along the way back we saw some interesting houses that looked like they were crafted for the mountains.

Since it was New Year’s Eve, our day would not be complete without some fireworks to join in tonight’s countdown. Fireworks are permitted and exclusively sold by Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue during this period as the proceeds they obtain from this event is enough to finance their operations for an entire year. After purchasing some fireworks within our budget, Svavar drove us back to Reykjavík and dropped us off at Laugavegur where we did some quick shopping.

We’ve seen fireworks being set off in sporadically random locations the past few nights, but the true display will take place on New Year’s Eve at midnight. The dazzling display at Hallgrímskirkja Church went on for hours before reaching a peak as the clock strike twelve. The atmosphere was terrific as we ushered in 2014 with the sky filled with fireworks!

We were too embarrassed and a little scared to set off our tiny fireworks in the crowd, so we retreated to a more private area where we lit our own sticks and set off our first ever fireworks.

 

Honeymoon in Iceland: Golden Circle (Day 14)

Day 14 was dedicated to exploration of the Golden Circle, Iceland’s most popular tourist route. We would have preferred to explore the route by self-driving but since it was the dead of winter, it was too dangerous due to the strong winds and icy roads. We chose Iceland Horizon for a number of reasons: they had good reviews on TripAdvisor, they offered the tour on the day we wanted, and they operate in small buses which means more interaction with the guide and a lesser chance for delays.

The minibus picked us up at Siguron’s apartment at 8.30am and headed to our first attraction, Þingvellir National Park, after picking up a few more tourists. Our tour guide, Helga, first took us into the tourist center where there was a model of Iceland and explained how it was formed geographically. Afterwards, she suggested for the group to take a walk to the meeting point downhill where she will have the minibus waiting. It took us about 45 min of careful walking on the ice to get there; I slipped twice en-route (army boots are pretty useless here). We got a little confused as to where the meeting point was but we managed to get to the correct location, one couple wasn’t so lucky though and Helga had to go look for them. When in doubt, follow the crowd!

map of Iceland

crystal clear water

Our next attraction is Geysir which used to be an active geyser that sends boiling water up into the air every few minutes. Due to tectonic plates movements beneath, the frequent activity has stopped in recent years. Fortunately, Geysir’s neighbour Strokkur functions frequently and reliably. After viewing Strokkur’s amazing display, we went for lunch at the nearby diner. The food was mediocre but the prices was alarming; 25000Íkr for two set consisting of burgers, fries and soup! We were definitely packing our lunch for the remaining tours.

Geysir

Strokkur

calm before the storm

it’s hot!

After lunch, we visited Gullfoss! Due to the cold temperatures, much of the viewing platform was covered in ice formed from the spray of the waterfall. It was pretty dangerous with the strong winds and insignificant barriers; we had to slowly shuffle our way around to avoid slipping into certain death. The sound of the cascading waters was deafening and the view of the mighty Gullfoss was simply breathtaking.

Gullfoss

the wind was so strong!

a slightly different view of Gullfoss

Communication with Iceland Horizon prior to the tour was easy as they spoke good English and replied to our questions promptly. No upfront payment was needed, we only confirmed our booking via email and payment was made at the end of the tour. We also emailed them a few days before our arrival to confirm the tour was going ahead.

The tour itself was well-managed and interesting, with Helga keeping us entertained with a steady flow of information about Iceland on the drives to different attractions. Helga also stopped at other locations to allow us to view the less popular but nonetheless beautiful scenery of Iceland. She even stopped by the road so we could have some face-to-face interaction with some friendly Icelandic horses.

Later at night, we went out with Superjeeps to try our luck in viewing the northern lights but we only caught a half-hearted display. Although, we were treated to a different display of lights.

 

 

Honeymoon: Goodbye Berlin and Hello Iceland! (Day 13)

On the morning of Day 13 we took the S-Bahn to Berlin Schönefeld Airport to catch our flight to Iceland via WOW air. Wow air is a newly formed budget airline specializing in budget flights to Reykjavik. We booked 10 months early and paid only 150 SGD for our flight from Berlin to Reykjavik. The stewardess were donned in bright fuchsia uniforms that gave off a very classy vibe and the inside of the aircraft was uniquely designed with catchy greetings on each seat and catchy phrases on the usual mundane objects; it really made the flight somewhat special and extra cozy. They also played ‘Ice Age 2’ on the overhead screen during the flight, unfortunately we didn’t have any earphones so we couldn’t really enjoy it. I didn’t manage to take pictures as the flight was pretty packed, so some of the pictures below are courtesy of WOW air Pinterest board.

3 hours later, we arrived at Keflavík International Airport around 3pm and it was already starting to get dark. We originally booked an airport transfer via IGtours and met up with the driver, he told us that one of the flight ferrying the bulk of the passengers sharing the bus with us was delayed, so the driver was going to wait for them. Unlike most airport transfers in Iceland, the minibus for IGtours goes directly to Siguron’s apartment without having to make a transfer at the bus station. The driver recommended us Iceland Excursions as a backup and talked to the staff there to give us a discount to make up for the trouble. We agreed as we didn’t make any upfront payment for the transfer and the driver seemed really apologetic about it. We also purchased a sim card (Vodafone) which activated immediately from the convenience shop in the airport and changed some of our Euros into Icelandic Krona (ISK) before heading outside to board the bus.

view from the plane

snow!

nice and warm in the bus

Iceland Excursions. all buses have wifi!

lots of snow

It was a smooth ride to the bus station, with a few stops at locations along the main road. We then had to transfer our luggage onto a mini-bus that could maneuver the smaller, narrower streets in Reykjavik which brought us to Siguron’s apartment! We tried our luck with SuperJeeps but they informed us that the northern lights tour has been postponed due to heavy cloud cover. So we bundled ourselves up and went for a walk along Reykjavik’s main shopping street, Laugavegur. Our last stop was the supermarket Bonus where we switched our protein from pork to fish, which is really cheap in Iceland!

Honeymoon in Germany: Berlin (Day 12)

We reserved our final day in Berlin for visiting landmarks that were within the city area; and what better way to do than cycling? Cycling is relatively easy in Berlin due to its flat topography and allocated bicycle lanes on the roads. Exploring cities on bicycles is always something we try to include in our itinerary; just our way of injecting some healthy living amongst the gorging. We signed up for the All-in-One Bike Tour with Fat Tire Bike, which was quite highly rated on TripAdvisor and held every Wednesday and Saturdays during winter. No reservation was required, we just had to show up at the TV tower (Fernsehturm) at Alexanderplatz at 11am.

After around 10 minutes of waiting, they gathered us for a short briefing and dividing us into groups of fifteen-twenty; each group had a guide and ours was Tim from USA. We then selected our bicycles and check them for faults, for some reason they were really comfortable to sit on and easy to ride; totally unlike the ones in East Coast Park that makes your ass hurt after 15 minutes. Gloves and hats are essential as it can get pretty cold so make sure you bundle up!

For the first half of the trip, we rode by Museum Island and went to Humboldt University at Bebelplatz, French Cathedral at Gendarmenmarket, Checkpoint Charlie, the remaining Berlin Wall and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Then we took a long, leisurely cycle through the Berlin Tiergarten and had lunch at a beer garden.

explaining the mysterious pink pipes

Humboldt Universität

Französische Dom

redesigned piece of the wall

Tim doodle

Checkpoint Charlie

Berlin Wall

Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas

Recharged, we continued on the second half of the tour visiting the Victory Column, Reichstag Building and Brandenburger Tor before ending the tour back at the shop. We paid at the end of the tour and the Berlin WelcomeCard gave us 25% discount off the tour prices (18€ after discount).

Siegessäule

Reichstagsgebäude

Brandenburg Tor

At each stop, Tim provided some historical stories and interesting facts before giving us some time to explore and take photos. According to him, each tour guide presents the information in their own unique way and Tim frequently used chalk drawings to supplement his stories. The tour lasted a comfortable 5 hours and it was well-paced, entertaining and informative; highly-recommended for anyone who is visiting Berlin and knows how to ride a bicycle!

Honeymoon in Germany: Berlin (Day 11)

For Day 11, we visited Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum which used to be a concentration camp for Jews during WWII, it has now been converted into a memorial to educate people on the horrors of what happened to the prisoners during the war. The place was pretty far out from the city centre but still accessible by their local train network. We took the S-bahn to Oranienburg station followed by another 15-20 minute walk with numerous signs guiding the way; if you don’t fancy the long walk, there are also buses that take you there from the station but they only arrive in an hourly interval.

Entry to the memorial is free and we paid 3€ for the audio commentary guides to help us understand the exhibits a little bit better. The amount of information provided by the audio guides was extensive; each exhibit have at least four sections to listen to and almost all of the sections included sub-sections such as interviews of the actual inmates describing the conditions of the camp during their internment.  It was heart-breaking to hear how the prisoners were treated, and we got really cold because of the strong winds so we couldn’t imagine how bad it must have been. The memorial now is mainly open space with only a few buildings preserved to show the cramped and inhumane living conditions of that time. We spent about 3 hours and we only managed to listen to about 60% of the guide; we went away humbled but very impressed by the efforts to dedicate this site to mourn and remember of those who have suffered.

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After the rather somber day, we made a visit to the Panaromapunkt. It was one of Berlin’s best lookout point to get a bird’s eye view of the rest of the city and our WelcomeCard gave us a small discount off the admission prices. We went up at a good timing as we caught a magnificent sunset together with the rest of the city view.

Finally, on a more joyful note, we visited Ritter Sport Colorful Chocoworld! Conveniently located near Brandenburg Tor, it was a Ritter Sport themed shop where we could custom make our own very own Ritter Sport chocolate bar. The chocolates here are slightly more expensive than the ones in Stuttgart and have lesser variety but it is a good alternative if you have lesser time in Germany.

3.90€

tons of flavours to choose from

special ingredients of the month

gift shop

free chocolates when you visit the cafe!

our masterpiece

simply delicious!

Honeymoon in Germany: Berlin (Day 10)

The first half of Day 10 in Berlin was a day trip to Wolfsburg. It is the site of the Volkswagen headquarters and also the world largest car plant. The Autostadt, is an attraction just next to the Volkswagen factory and features automobiles as their main theme of attraction. Taking the bahn out of Berlin Hbf, we reached Wolfsburg Hbf in about 2 hours. Afterwards, it was an easy 10 minutes walk to reach the Autostadt.

VW factory!

VW factory!

walkway to Autostadt

all terrain track

The Autostadt is made up of several areas and buildings and a number of tours are available as well. We opted for the car tower ascent tour which was a tour of how manufactured cars were stored automatically. The museum featured a few of vintage models of the Kombi, our favourite vehicle. It was also possible to purchase a Volkswagen and arrange to pick up the car (with the odometer at 0.00) at the plant, where you get complimentary access to the Autostadt and a free tank of petrol. If you have a European or international license, you can try some of the all terrain track driving experience or the safety training driving track. Since we did not have international driving licenses, they kindly gave us three rides to experience the driving technology in newest models of Volkswagen cars in the Ausfahrt.

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We headed to the Sony Center for the Potsdamer Platz Christmas Market. Sony Center is the only place in Berlin to catch the latest blockbusters in English and they had a large display of Smaug guarding his pile of gold from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! There was also a Legoland Discovery Centre with a number of Christmas themed Lego-made statues in its vicinity. As we walked along the streets filled with Christmas markets we found ourselves within walking distance from the Brandenburger Tor!

Potsdamer Platz Christmas market

Sony Center

Smaug

Christmas pyramid

Christmas tree

Brandenburger Tor

Finally, we visited the Gendarmenmarkt, the only Christmas market that required a nominal entrance fee. It was located in a square surrounded by many landmarks and seemed to be extremely popular as proven by the massive crowd.

Gendarmenmarkt

Konzerthaus

Neue Kirche

Honeymoon in Germany: Berlin (Day 9)

We arrived in Berlin Hbf around on Christmas Day and quickly located the automated sales machines to purchase the Berlin WelcomeCard that gave unlimited rides on all buses and rail lines within the Berlin area. As with most travel passes, you can purchase cheaper options if you are not planning to travel too far out of the city center. We purchased the card that included zone C, this covered locations like Schönefeld Airport and Potsdam. The WelcomeCard includes discounts for tours and admission tickets and even restaurants, so it’s quite a good deal for its price.

welcome to Berlin!

Alexanderplatz: an important interchange

very large Hbf

The city bahn network is very extensive but not as easy to navigate as the previous cities. Due to the division between East and West Germany back in the Cold War their transport systems were developed separately and independently.The government has tried their best to unify the transport systems but there are still kinks to work out. Which means the platforms of the U-bahn and S-bahn of a particular station may or may not connected; for these instances we would have to exit the station and look for the other.

waiting for our train!

We made our way to Maria’s apartment at Schonhauser Allee which was a charming old estate area populated by mostly young immigrants; wall art is a common feature in the neighborhood. It was Christmas Day but luckily thankfully, after some prior research, we knew that the Berlin Zoo will be open. In addition to the zoo, animals can also be viewed in a separate location know as the Tierpark Berlin. The Zoo-Aquarium was located within the zoo and can be visited by getting an additional discounted ticket. There was tremendous biodiversity in the zoo’s exhibits, and the animals were housed in large natural enclosures.

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Berlin has tons of Christmas markets and luckily for us, some of them are open for a few more days after Christmas. The first one we visited was the one at Charlottenburg, just a few bus stops away from the zoo. We also visted a small Christmas market within walking distance from the zoo, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Christmas market.

Charlottenburg Christmas market

Charlottenburg

Christmas pyramid

salmon burger stall

salmon burger

one more Christmas mug in the bag

currywurst

Polish bratwurst

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche in the distance

We had our dinner at The Bird, touted as Berlin’s best burger place and they were open on Christmas Day too. We made reservations through email to avoid the long queue. The burgers were juicy, the portions were huge, so make sure you come with an empty stomach! We were stuffed and re-energized, so we decided to visit yet another Christmas market at Alexanderplatz.

The Bird

doesn’t even look like a burger

eating with our hands is highly recommended

we ordered a takwaway of their napalm wings

Alexanderplatz Christmas market

ferris wheel

Christmas pyramid

Fernsehturm

Honeymoon in Germany: Freiburg (Day 8)

Christmas Eve is kind of a big deal in Germany; think Chinese New Year in Singapore when everyone goes visiting and it just becomes a ghost town. Anyone who visits Germany during Christmas season will face difficulties planning for activities on Christmas Eve; 90% of shops, restaurants and attractions will be closed by noon when everyone heads home to spend the rest of the day with their families. It was especially difficult since Freiburg was a small town but a handful of attractions were still open; the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum, Tier-Natur-Erlebnispark Mundenhof and Erlebniswelt Schlossberg.

On Day 8 we did some last minute shopping in Freiburg and took a leisurely walk to the Talstation of the Schlossberg-bahn. To get to the Bergstation we can either take the automatic tram up or a long hike; we decided on the former as we didn’t want to be too ambitious. From the Bergstation, we took a short hike further up to the Schlossberg-Turm to take in some panoramic views of Freiburg. Be warned: the tower may look small but it’s pretty tall and it gets scarily windy on the top!

Stadtgarten

Talstation of Schlossberg Bahn

view from inside the bahn

at the top of Schlossberg Turm

Schlossberg Turm

hiking trail

view from the top

Freiburger Munster

After the hike, we went back to the hotel and had lunch at a döner restaurant near our hotel, this was one of the few places that was going to be open on Christmas Eve! We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the hotel and waited excitedly for our overnight train to Berlin. Since the trip from Freiburg to Berlin will take around 8 hours, it was more time efficient to spend it on a sleeper train. The City Night Line (Sirius) leaves Freiburg Hbf at 9.58pm and will be scheduled to arrive in Berlin Hbf at 7.15am and it was our most expensive accommodation of our trip! We wanted to book the first class cabin initially as it came with a private bathroom but the Sparpreis tickets were released much later than the second class tickets; by then we had already booked the second class tickets. Darn it!

narrow hallway

tiny stairway

small but comfortable beds

breakfast is included!

We were not mentally prepared for the size of the second class cabin since we only had pictures on the website as reference; it was so tiny that one of us had to wait outside the cabin while the other changed. Our luggage was too large to fit in the cabin, luckily the conductor kindly offered to lock them up in another empty cabin. The bed however, was surprisingly comfortable and the gentle movement of the train rocked us to sleep in no time. We enjoyed the train ride very much, although I can’t guarantee the same experience for someone who is much taller or bigger than us.