ICE ICELAND BABY
Sticking to another Groupon deal, I went to Iceland with my good friend AP, whom I've known since highschool (wow 10 years??) Now I've wanted to go to Iceland for a loong time, even before Beyonce went (which only solidified my need to go). We went the week after Thanksgiving, and so it was winter season in Iceland. This was also right after the US election so this was our escape route and chance to look for Icelandic spouses and seek refuge.
Another redeye, and we arrived to Iceland early morning. Much to the advice from other people, we got a lot of groceries from the grocery store at the airport. By groceries I mean alcohol. Since it was winter in Iceland, that meant that Iceland only got about 6 hours of sunlight every day, from 10am to about 430pm. This forced us to really prioritize and plan ahead (by plan ahead I mean plan the night before). So after we got out of the airport and rented a car, we drove to Reykjavik to check in our hotel. After settling in our hotel room and getting breakfast, it was still dark out which was very off-putting. Alex took a nap, while I tried. Around 10:30am when light was showing, we went to do one of those Free Walking City tours. **I highly recommend to look into doing these where ever you travel - they're tip-based and you learn a lot. I also suggest doing a tour when you first get to any city cause it helps me get my bearings and orientation around a place. After the tour was over, we continued exploring around the city on our own.. looking at buildings, churches, and town squares.
Reykjavik was such a cute town with bright modest houses. And people were really nice! Although it's an expensive area. Average bar food was at least 15 USD. Also, according to my tour guide, 'Iceland is very gay'. His words not mine (see Unicorn pic below). Pictures don't do Iceland justice, particularly my phone one. But AP had his fancy camera and a good photographer himself so he took better pictures- I think he has them on facebook?
DAY 2:
Since we have limited sunlight hours, we made a point to get up around 9 to have breakfast and hit the road so by the time we get to the destination, the sun will just come up. The drive there was eerie... like straight from Game of Thrones with the fog. We couldn't see anything in front, right or left of us. I was expecting White Walkers to appear out of the thick of nowhere! Luckily Alex was game to go snorkeling with me in the Silfra fissure in 2 degrees celcius water! This fissure is special because you're between the North American and European tectonic plates and swimming in pure glacial water. I was suited up really well, and when I got into the water, my face was in shock cause of the cold, then it became numb after the first minute or so. The instructors will tell you to not move in order to conserve warmth and insulation from the suit. I got a disposable camera with the plastic encasing to prevent water damage, and my fingers were so numb from holding it and turning the film knob, but worth it for the pics right? Also the water that I swam in tasted amazing!! It was seriously the best tasting water. After that, we did the Golden Circle Tour since we were in the area. This included Þingvellir National Park, Geysir area, and Gullfoss waterfall. Timing worked out because shortly after, it started to get dark, and driving in Iceland with its windy roads and minimal streetlights, can be a little risky. For dinner we did a prefix menu of tapas where they gave us Icelandic local food like puffin and whale. It was so good! And the water was delicious - I'd go back just for the water! Water from tap was no less quality - not to be gross but we'd refill our water bottles from the sink in the bathroom and it's just as good!
Day 3:
This day we went to the South Coast (Vik). The drive was scenic as most, if not all, of Iceland is just a picture-esque landscape. We saw huge waterfalls, walked on a glacier and breaking shores with black sand. When we went to see the glacier, there were signs that said to not go further in, but there was no one around, and the area didn't seem that dangerous so we kept walking right on to the glacier. We timed everything really well cause we kept beating the numerous tour buses - they'd get there right as we were leaving. We tried to get to that infamous broken down plane, but by that time it was getting dark. This was our last night so we went bar hopping, or as much as we could seeing how expensive things were. But we went to a fast food type pho place which wasn't that bad. It was $15 USD! Alex made friends with some college students from England and we hung out with them. They were nice and funny, and one was drunk and tried to keep talking to me. Every night we tried to catch the aurora lights, but we didn't have any luck.
Overall, I would LOVE to go back to Iceland in a different season. I think AP and I did A LOT in ths short days we had. I can't imagine what the scenery would look like without the snow. I read you could go horseback riding through the plains which I would love to do. Not to mention I didn't get to see the elusive aurora lights. Iceland has so much nature to offer: waterfalls, glaciers, beaches, hot springs, snorkeling, and amazing drinking water!
Another redeye, and we arrived to Iceland early morning. Much to the advice from other people, we got a lot of groceries from the grocery store at the airport. By groceries I mean alcohol. Since it was winter in Iceland, that meant that Iceland only got about 6 hours of sunlight every day, from 10am to about 430pm. This forced us to really prioritize and plan ahead (by plan ahead I mean plan the night before). So after we got out of the airport and rented a car, we drove to Reykjavik to check in our hotel. After settling in our hotel room and getting breakfast, it was still dark out which was very off-putting. Alex took a nap, while I tried. Around 10:30am when light was showing, we went to do one of those Free Walking City tours. **I highly recommend to look into doing these where ever you travel - they're tip-based and you learn a lot. I also suggest doing a tour when you first get to any city cause it helps me get my bearings and orientation around a place. After the tour was over, we continued exploring around the city on our own.. looking at buildings, churches, and town squares.
Reykjavik was such a cute town with bright modest houses. And people were really nice! Although it's an expensive area. Average bar food was at least 15 USD. Also, according to my tour guide, 'Iceland is very gay'. His words not mine (see Unicorn pic below). Pictures don't do Iceland justice, particularly my phone one. But AP had his fancy camera and a good photographer himself so he took better pictures- I think he has them on facebook?
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| This was around 8am |
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| Outside of our hotel, and also my mitten |
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| 'Iceland is very gay.' |
DAY 2:
Since we have limited sunlight hours, we made a point to get up around 9 to have breakfast and hit the road so by the time we get to the destination, the sun will just come up. The drive there was eerie... like straight from Game of Thrones with the fog. We couldn't see anything in front, right or left of us. I was expecting White Walkers to appear out of the thick of nowhere! Luckily Alex was game to go snorkeling with me in the Silfra fissure in 2 degrees celcius water! This fissure is special because you're between the North American and European tectonic plates and swimming in pure glacial water. I was suited up really well, and when I got into the water, my face was in shock cause of the cold, then it became numb after the first minute or so. The instructors will tell you to not move in order to conserve warmth and insulation from the suit. I got a disposable camera with the plastic encasing to prevent water damage, and my fingers were so numb from holding it and turning the film knob, but worth it for the pics right? Also the water that I swam in tasted amazing!! It was seriously the best tasting water. After that, we did the Golden Circle Tour since we were in the area. This included Þingvellir National Park, Geysir area, and Gullfoss waterfall. Timing worked out because shortly after, it started to get dark, and driving in Iceland with its windy roads and minimal streetlights, can be a little risky. For dinner we did a prefix menu of tapas where they gave us Icelandic local food like puffin and whale. It was so good! And the water was delicious - I'd go back just for the water! Water from tap was no less quality - not to be gross but we'd refill our water bottles from the sink in the bathroom and it's just as good!
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| The bottom one is whale (resembles steak) and I think the middle one is puffin? |
This day we went to the South Coast (Vik). The drive was scenic as most, if not all, of Iceland is just a picture-esque landscape. We saw huge waterfalls, walked on a glacier and breaking shores with black sand. When we went to see the glacier, there were signs that said to not go further in, but there was no one around, and the area didn't seem that dangerous so we kept walking right on to the glacier. We timed everything really well cause we kept beating the numerous tour buses - they'd get there right as we were leaving. We tried to get to that infamous broken down plane, but by that time it was getting dark. This was our last night so we went bar hopping, or as much as we could seeing how expensive things were. But we went to a fast food type pho place which wasn't that bad. It was $15 USD! Alex made friends with some college students from England and we hung out with them. They were nice and funny, and one was drunk and tried to keep talking to me. Every night we tried to catch the aurora lights, but we didn't have any luck.
DAY 4:
This was our last day (the groupon is nuanced where it says 5 days but it counts the day we travelled which was a red eye at night...) Throughout our trip we were debating on whether to do the Blue Lagoon which we would have had to get tickets ahead of time. It wasn't a deal breaker for either of us whether we went or not so we didn't make it a point to book ahead. By the time we got around to it, tickets were either sold out or only available at certain times or times where the sun wouldn't have been up. Instead, we went to a natural hot spring that I personally preferred. One it's natural, and two it's free. It's a hike to go up the mountain- about a mile and a half? - but it's worth it. I unfortunately lost my gray neff beanie along the way. RIP. One thing was that since it was winter, while it's nice in the spring, it was a little painful to get out and change in the open cold.
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