Welcome to our newest series, Whiskey Travels. Several of us has have had the opportunity to travel the world to take in the sights, sounds and drinks that it has to offer, and we want to share those experiences with you! In our first installment, Garron Bible heads up north. Enjoy!
I’m normally off Monday through Wednesday so the plan is to always take a trip once a month… at a minimum three times a month max. With that timeline domestic trips are ideal, but I’m always trying to accumulate stamps in my passport so international trips are the move. Now don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate exploring the U.S. as there’s numerous sub-cultures and immensely diverse topography but i’m always looking to see and do more. So the answer to that is international travel (until interplanetary travel is a thing).
This particular “weekend” I was originally headed to the Azores but that fell through, and I’m not mad about it because it gave me the perfect opportunity to shoot further up north in the Atlantic to Iceland — “the land of fire and ice” .
Most international flights to Europe leave in the evening and this was no exception. I flew out of JFK at 9pm ET on a Monday night and happened to find myself in first class where they were already popping bottles of champagne… this should be a good flight. An older gentleman named Magnus was sitting next to me on the phone speaking Icelandic and I had a feeling we would be conversing for a good amount of this flight. When you’ve worked in the hospitality industry for a certain amount of time you get a feel for who’s a “talker” and who isn’t.
Magnus was an accomplished bridge player and his wife is apparently world renowned. He spends his time teaching the game to a variety of affluent Upper East Siders and I’ll say it was a pleasant conversation. He also spoke of the love he has for his native country and its culture and shared a story of his mother being 80 years old and still swimming every morning before work for 2-5 hours. He says most Icelanders love Americans because they grew up watching our TV shows and the states have provided various cultural (music, art, fashion) trends over the years.
I arrived at KEF @6:55am GMT and took a shuttle directly to the Blue Lagoon. I figured decompressing after a long work week and a five and a half-hour flight in silica laden natural thermal waters wasn’t a bad idea. The only thing that could possibly rival would be bathing in the waters of Lake Minnetonka but like I said, this was an international trip. I’ll get to Minnesota another time.
After showering and grabbing my bag from the locker room, I walked back to the shuttle bus and we made our way to Reykjavik. This particular shuttle service has a series of drop points, so I made sure I left a good amount of distance between where I was being dropped off and where I was staying. This allows me to walk and explore while having a predetermined destination. It’s all about efficiency, which you need when traveling under time constraints.
Fortunately, my drop-off point was a block from Hallgrimskirkja so I took advantage (check out photos below). I strolled around the church for about 20 minutes until a surge of other tourists swept in, which was my natural cue to continue on my way towards my room.
Apparently, hot dogs are a thing here so I made sure to grab one at Reykjavik Street Dog seeing that it was on the way. The space was very small and narrow but perfect for what they were doing. A diverse but simple menu of dogs and prep styles which was only outdone by their selection of sauces. Diverse but simple. A hard thing to pull off.
I finished up and continued walking towards my room where I checked in and grabbed a much needed two-hour nap before heading back out in an effort to take advantage of the remaining daylight.
In my research, I came across a bar that’s attached to a hostel, which is always an interesting concept, especially when they can find a level of success thats not entirely determined by the flow of guests. So with that, I had another stop on my list.
I started walking east through Reykjavik and was again amazed by the level of artistic “functional minimalism” that’s found in Scandinavian culture.
Upon walking in the Kex Hostel Restaurant, I immediately noticed the number of windows, white paint, and white tile which allowed the room to capture and reflect the incoming natural light. That, combined with the touches of natural wood, library book shelves, cafe themed work spaces, and the multicolored chalk beer menu board already had me patting myself on the back for the selection. I was a little short on time so I ordered a local malt heavy lager and burger off the happy hour menu for around $28 – $30 US and made my way out and west towards the main port.
Along the way, I passed a sculpture called The Sun Voyager, which is a “dreamboat and an ode the Sun” and conveys “the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom.” The design and craftsmanship was remarkable and its placement even better.
I continued on for another 1.3km (or a little less than a mile) west until arriving at Reykjavik Röst, where I decided to grab coffee. This cafe serves as a coffee house/bar, but the main thing that caught my eye was a wharf-facing window great for watching boats docking and departing. This was a perfect place to pass the time until my ship departed.
One thing that was non-negotiable when booking this trip was getting out on the North Atlantic, and if I’m out there I might as well attempt to see a few whales, so that’s exactly what was about to happen. I looked up a few different whale watching companies and landed on one with good reviews that had a vessel departing at an ideal time. We pushed off about 2 1/2 hours before sunset and headed out west for 1 1/2 hours into the North Atlantic.
Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any whales but did happen to see a whale shark which apparently is pretty rare. Honestly, I just wanted to get out on the ocean and take in some sea air, so I was pleased regardless. The temperature started out manageable but good thing we had full body suits because on the way back there was a dramatic drop. Obviously. This is almost the northernmost part of the North Atlantic. For most of the way back, everyone huddled inside the ship and plotted on the best method to thaw out upon docking. I already had my plan and now had the perfect excuse.
Once back on land, I walked into Bryggja Brygghus and immediately noticed how large the space was and the amount of table seating. This was a restaurant/food-forward establishment that could handle numerous large parties at once without a problem. They also offered outdoor seating with a view of the wharf. That’s gold for a place like this and I’m sure they do well when the weather permits. With all this going on I forgot the main reason I even chose this place… it was for the brews. “Brygghus” translated to English means “brewhouse” and that’s something I always make a conscious effort to try when traveling. Local Beers. Especially if the establishment brews their own on site, which Bryggia does. I ended up having a pint of their “B-Normal” which was an English Bitter with an ABV of 4.2% for 1,000 Icelandic Króna (approximately $6.83 US).
Knowing there were a few more spots I wanted to check out, I finished up and made my way back out into the evening. I usually prefer to alternate between cocktail and beer-themed venues in an effort to keep my palate and vibe fresh and Slippbarinn did that. This spot offered food but was a very cocktail-forward bar that offered a variety of coffees as well. At this time, nobody was really ordering coffee but during the day I’m sure the beans are moving. The white lighting was a bit too bright for the time of day but at least it wasn’t fluorescent.
For a cocktail, I chose “Summon the Dark One” because its base liquor was black Mezcal with Awamori, lime, smoked pineapple, dry curaçao, and habanero. Fantastic. I took my time with this one and nursed it for as long as I could before making a transition.
As I stated earlier, I prefer trying local things and now that I had accomplished that with beer at the previous spot, it was time to move onto something stronger.
Brennivin translated to English means “burning wine” and is recognized as Iceland’s signature distilled spirit. It’s described as “a clear, unsweetened schnapps with a licorice or anise aroma.” It’s made from a fermented grain or potato mash flavored with cumin and caraway seeds, and is served chilled in a small short glass.
Mid-decibel conversations, friendly service, and great cocktails made this stop worth it. After finishing up the Brennivin, I settled up and decided to walk back east across town to another beer spot because it was time for another switch.
BrewDog is a craft beer bar chain that has locations around the world. They have a number of their own beers as well as a number of guest and collaboration brews. I chose this place because it offers a wide variety of beers without necessarily coming off as a “corporate chain” bar which isn’t always easy to pull off. It was getting later in the evening and the crowd reflected that. I could tell the respective groups were a few rounds in at this point because voices were elevated and the “I love you, man” stories were flowing faster than the beer from the taps. The spot was fine so I stayed for one but with this crowd I knew it was “one and done”.
From there, I ventured back west towards the room because, in my opinion, its better to finish up at a location closest to where you’re staying. My reasoning revolves around the notion that if I have one too many its an easy walk and there’s less opportunity for the night to go south. With that I had the perfect place and I had been saving it for the finale.
Ölstofa was exactly what I was looking for. A local spot with great beer, lighting, service, music and overall vibe. The walls were full of a variety of framed pictures and the tables were full of conversations that spanned the spectrum and everyone was welcome. I could also tell this is where a good amount of industry people came after closing up shop and I couldn’t blame them. They had good taste. I ended up getting into a few long convos and stayed way longer than I expected over way more drinks than I expected but I was close to the room so it was fine. This was a great watering hole.
After shutting down the bar, I made my way back to the room for a three-hour nap that almost caused me to miss my flight. Luckily, I pre-packed before heading out the night before and just needed to brush my teeth because I woke up to calls from the shuttle driver downstairs. I climbed in the van and apologized to the crowd of older Icelandic couples and we made our way to KEF and myself back to JFK.
That’s how you do Iceland in 24 hours…
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