Warm winter street
There is something gentle, cold but warm in the heart of Reyjkavik. Walking down the shopping street Skólavörðustígur, the temperature has dropped to near zero.oC, just putting your hand out is enough to make your whole body cramp up.
Christmas in Reykjavik is bustling, not chaotic. Shops stay open until 10pm, locals and tourists mingle and create a festive atmosphere.
I wonder what people here do in winter other than sipping cappuccino and reading a good book. Sunrise at 11am and sunset at 3pm make the night reign, but it is not as dreary as I imagined.
I am happy to be here now, to feel a real Christmas season with the cold mixed with wonderful warmth. Everything is enough to make the young soul more eager to live more days, months, years, to experience this short life.
Explore the lovely Christmas market
When you arrive in Reykjavik, you will find small Christmas markets scattered throughout the city center. The Christmas decorations are displayed in wooden stalls with wooden roofs, decorated with lights and trees.
In addition to Christmas decorations, gifts such as ceramic mugs and furniture are also widely sold at the market. In addition, there are food stalls where you can order a fragrant cinnamon latte or peppermint latte to get the most Christmas vibe.
The market is also the perfect backdrop for capturing Christmas memories in Iceland because of its many decorations and giant Christmas tree placed in front of the market.
Listen to Icelandic fairy tales
Iceland is full of tales of ghosts and goblins. When I went on day tours, the 60-something driver and guide had no shortage of stories to tell.
The arrival of the Yule Lads marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Iceland. These thirteen brothers, direct descendants of trolls, live in dark caves in the mountains with their ogre parents—their mother Grýla and their father Leppalúði—and the child who devours the Yule Cat.
Originally, the Yule Lads were criminal miscreants who crept into rural communities where they stole, harassed, and pillaged, and each had a descriptive name reflecting their favorite form of mischief; “Door Slammer” liked to slam doors in the dark of night, “Sausage-Swiper” would hide in the rafters where they would make smoked sausages, and “Candle Stealer” would steal candles, which were made from animal fat.
Today, the Yule Lads take on a new form and play the traditional role of Santa Claus. Each of the thirteen nights leading up to Christmas Eve, one of the thirteen Yule Lads leaves moldy potatoes in the shoes that children leave on their windowsills, depending on the child's behavior throughout the year.
There is a more macabre legend that says the Yule Lads' mother, Grýla, had a habit of stealing children and eating disobedient ones, and the Yule Cat, would feed children who did not wear new clothes at Christmas.
MORE INFORMATION
Moving to Reykjavik
There is only one way to Reykjavik and that is by connecting flight. From Vietnam, you will not have the option of flying directly to the capital of Iceland but will have to transit at least once. First, you have to fly directly to Paris or Frankfurt, then continue to Reykjavik.
Airlines flying to Reykjavik
- There are not many airlines flying to Reykjavik, so you will have the following options:
- Low-cost airlines: Norwegian Air and WOWAir are two popular low-cost airlines. The big downside is that they do not serve free meals on the approximately 3-hour flight from European countries to Reykjavik.
- Good airlines: Lufthansa is a good airline because it has free food in the air, you just need to buy extra luggage, Icelandair serves water, but food is extra, however the airline has a pretty good on-board entertainment system.
