During this week, I’m aurora hunting from the beautiful island country of Iceland. I’m joining a tour with Astronomy magazine’s travel partner, MWT Associates, Inc., as the lecturer. While here, I get to learn about Iceland’s impressive geology and rich culture while hoping the northern lights make nightly appearances.

After snow in Wisconsin and New York City, we finally made it to the west coast of the island Tuesday morning — a couple hours delayed. Our first stop was the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa within the lava fields of Iceland’s Reykjanes Penninsula. The warm waters are mineral-rich (with silica and sulfur) and relaxing. How we didn’t all fall asleep after the long travel day is a mystery. 

Managing to stay awake, we continued on to see Iceland’s largest church and sixth tallest architectural structure, Reykjavik’s Hallgrimskirkja. It houses a gorgeous organ with 5,275 pipes! They were tuning the instrument as we walked through the church.

The last sight-seeing stop of the day was Perlan, a hemispherical structure and museum at the top of a hill in Reykjavik. The observation deck gave wonderful views of the capital city and the Esja mountain range in the background. I also found out why MWT recommended windproof pants and coats — the wind is incredibly strong in Iceland (and bitterly cold when from the North).

Tomorrow we visit more geological wonders of the country, and we begin a few-nights stay away from the glow of the capital city, with the hopes of active aurorae.