The Northern Lights, Icelandic style

1/18

I spoke with many of you about my excitement regarding seeing the Northern Lights, so I thought I should tell about our outing to see them.

The shuttle arrived at 8:30pm at our hotel, Centerhotel Skjaldtbreid, and took us to the bus depot where we joined several hundred other tourists eager for a sighting of the dancing solar phenomenon.  Our tour guide, an older gentlemen who breathed into the mic in a manner akin to Darth Vadar, informed us he had a lecture prepared about the firmament. This was getting good. Once the lecture was over and we'd driven 40 minutes or so to the first potential viewing location we all got reflective slap bracelets. After our inner children (circa 1991) rejoiced we disembarked from the bus and walked a quarter mile down a pitch dark dirt pathway embedded with rocks and mud puddles. Then we stood and stared at the skies. The clouds went on for miles. The chill winter breeze occasionally blew an opening for the moon. We listened to Flight of the Conchords and 80's rock ballads as our fellow tourists took photos of the darkness (?) with their brilliant flashbulbs.
After an hour and a half standing behind a small barn we tromped back to the bus for another ride to another cloud-covered location. The lighthouse there had a light that looked to be made from the same material as the crystal skulls in that Indiana Jones film. After a short 20 minutes our guide gave up the search and took us back to Reykjavik and to the streets swarming with bar and club-goers.
Alas, it was not to be this time around. Perhaps another visit another year.