My instruction was as follows “Be at Dulles airport by 530 pm on Thursday. Passport in hand.”That was the extent of the information I had. No information on destination, climate, itinerary, or attendees. Now I’ll preface this by saying I do have the type of friends who would send me to the airport with a passport, only to pick me up in a minivan and take me to Charlestown races or Chuckie Cheese. I was not convinced I’d be flying anywhere.

Needless to say, I was not let down. While Iceland may be a tad cold and low in vitamin D levels in November, they do have their most popular music festival, Iceland Airwaves. Which I think they describe aptly below:

“Since the first edition was held in 1999 (in an airplane hangar), Iceland Airwaves has become one of the premier annual showcases for new music – Icelandic and otherwise – in the world. It’s made a heap of friends and won many fans along the way, and been lavished with praise pretty much everywhere they write about music. Example: Rolling Stone magazine called it “The hippest long weekend on the annual music-festival calendar.”

Reykjavík is quite possibly the perfect festival city – small enough to be welcoming, sophisticated enough to offer cultural, historical and nightlife diversions to rival cities ten times its size. Maybe twenty. Who knows? And it’s surrounded by some of the most unique and astonishing natural beauty you’re ever likely to see (this is a grand statement, but you should just see it).

“Roll out of bed, hose the party remains out of your hair and hop on a bus. Before you can remember what you did the night before, you’re looking at geysers, waterfalls, lava fields – all the best that a volcanic island has to offer, including the world-famous Blue Lagoon, favorite soaking spot of the international hung-over glitterati. Mmm! You can really taste the hipster!”

Iceland was spectacular. The festival was amazing, the food delicious, and the people welcoming. The sun never fully rises, but the party doesn’t ever seem to stop and the Northern Lights are even better than you’d expect. Its a just a 5.5 hour flight from New York. What are you waiting for?

NeilCallanan Photos, Uncategorized

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