Hello from the land of ice! It's our last night in Iceland and we had a fabulous four days. It was definitely colder than we expected and were shivering our first day here. Luckily we bought 30 dollar gloves to keep our hands warm.
First off, here's some things we learned about Iceland:
1. Buy liquor at the duty free when you get off the plane. Liquor is extremely expensive because it has a high tax to deter people from drinking. Liquor stores are cheaper but are only open for small amounts of time
2. The nightlife doesn't start until at least midnight. Seriously do not step outside your hotel until midnight.
3. Everything is expensive. It's just the way it is. Go to Bonus supermarket and buy your breakfasts and lunches.
4. Rent a car. It's much cheaper than paying for three tours and you can explore more.
5. Go to a local swimming pool. They are all outdoor with geothermal water. You have to get naked in the showers though, but man up and do it (if you don't, they have people making sure you do).
6. Elf experts are a real thing. They need to come communicate with the elves when the elf rocks (where they live of course) need to be moved.
Day 1: we were extremely tired. Neither of us got any sleep on our 6 hour overnight flight. We were lucky and could check into our hostel early. We then went on a hunt for breakfast. The day we arrived, April 23, is the first day of summer for Icelanders and marks a national holiday. I'm not sure they know what summer means. Anyway it was early and a holiday so a lot of places were closed. We found a bakery that served coffee and fresh baked goods. We had a good laugh trying to order from the Icelandic menu until the waiter pitied us enough to bring the English one. After breakfast we explored the city of Reykjavik. We found a cool graveyard by an old church, went down to the harbour and back up their main shopping street. We found a free, yes FREE, city walk tour that lasted two hours with this great guide. He knew his stuff because he was a history major. Definitely recommend him, City Walk, if you're ever there. Then we went shopping for some groceries to make supper and had an early night.
Day 2: we took up two girls on their offer of going in their rental car with them. We drove the entire peninsula on the west side of the island. We saw amazing cliffs, waterfalls and even did a bit of off roading (not on purpose). We did a two hour hike to see the second tallest waterfall in Iceland, Glymur, which was probably the best experience we had here! We drove around a national park as the sun was setting and crashed as soon as we got back.
Day 3: we slept in pretty late as we were tried from the all day driving. We decided to go see the big church, Hallgrimskirkja. When the elevator doors opened, who walked out but John Slattery from Mad Men. Roger god-damn Sterling... at least we're pretty sure. Being from Canada, seeing a celebrity is a big deal. We fan-girled (new verb) all the way up to the 8th floor. There were some amazing views. We took in a free concert in the church after but wasn't sure what the hell was going on. I'm certain one girl's piano "song" was just scales. We grabbed lunch at Prikid and had some of the best fish ever. Seriously it was amazing! Then we headed back to the hostel for some relaxation and to research what bars would be okay with hiking boots. We missed the liquor store hours like chumps (so don't do it) and were debating whether we wanted to go out or not. We ended up going to the Lebowski (yes, from the Big Lebowski) bar. Iceland has been stuck in the 80's since the 80's. It was really gold old music. We met a local who took us to another bar where we met up with a bunch of his friends. We did some Icelandic liquorice shots that us foreigners agreed could cure any cough, went a got the best hotdog from Baejarins Beztu Plysur at 4 in the morning and stumbled back to the hostel.
Day 4: again, we slept in like crazy. We wanted to do a hike but it was way too cold. We walked to see the Perlan which is some big dome thing overlooking Reykjavik. If you're John Slattery you could probably afford to eat there. We could afford to go in there for free and use the bathroom and get out. Then we found our way to a local pool where we sat in the warm water for two hours. We wanted to try SOME sort of Icelandic food before we left so we headed to Cafe Loki where we tried the Icelandic meat soup and Rye-Bread ice cream. We didn't have the guts to try shark.
Iceland was a first great stop on our adventure. We have to be up at 3 in the morning to catch our flight to Glasgow. So with that, I bid you adieu.
-V xo
