Iceland: My first trip overseas
The circumstances that surrounded my trip to Iceland (my first international trip at that) were interesting. Well, maybe not so much. But it started with my professor telling me how cheap direct flights to Iceland were, so of course I had to check it out. And indeed, the roundtrips to Iceland were $300 from Pittsburgh. I had to try to make it there, even if it was by myself (but I went with a friend after all). It ended up being one of the best decisions I had ever made. Iceland in itself it’s expensive (hello, $6 per gallon of gas!) but I don’t regret it. I didn’t spend that much really, around $600 between flight, the room I stayed in and the rental car. Some $80 in gas, and about $30 per day on food and miscellaneous.
But let me tell you, getting there wasn’t that much fun. I hate flying, and a six hour flight is no easy feat. The flight was at 6 pm, and we would arrive there at 5 am, but because it was summer it looked like it was 10 am. And to be honest, it looked depressive as hell. All around the airport, not even a tree in sight. Scratch that, there wasn’t a sign of anything alive. And on top of that, the massive jet lag (yes, yes, it can be worse, it was just 6hr difference, but jet lag virgin here!)
This is what a lot of Iceland looks like. According to a museum I visited, the reason Iceland has no trees is due to the Vikings that cut them down so often they extinguished them (but there is a current effort trying to reforest Iceland, so yay!)
Our days were gonna be packed, since we were gonna be driving for hours to get to the places we wanted to see, and after half an hour or so, Iceland started to look amazing. First stop, Reynisfjara Beach or Black Sand beach. It was a 3 hour drive from the airport. We encountered many beautiful landscapes on the way, but this waterfall takes the cake.
After the three hour ride, we made it to Reynisfjara. The first thing we saw was a sign with a warning saying that “the beach is not suitable for bathers”, because the waves are really rough, and the weather varies so unexpectedly that they don’t even recommend standing too close to the shore, since there was an accident a few years back where a person stood too close and a wave came in and swept him.
As you can see, it is very beautiful. But it was also windy as hell, and the 50’s felt like 30’s. To the left of this beach there are these rocky stacks, called Reynisdrangar that are so famous they can be seen on Game of Thrones, Season 7 in the episode North of the Wall. They are as impressive as they look! Fun fact about this beach, according to the site Guide To Iceland, local folklore says that the columns were once trolls trying to pull boats to the shore, but they stayed out too late, and at dawn, the trolls turned into stone.
On our way back from Reykjavik we stopped at the renowned Blue Lagoon, we had seen the images and heard the buzz, so of course we had to visit. It is expensive as hell, but it is a must do (at least once in your life). The ticket prices vary per time, and increase as you get closer to the date. We loved it, in spite of it being an artificial thermal water lagoon (which is fed by a factory nearby). They ask that you bathe without a bathing suit, so that you don’t pass off chemicals to the water, and while they do have private showers for people like us in the U.S. that are not used to it, most of the showers were open and women were having conversations while showering, which to be honest we thought was weird. But as someone pointed out, it is weirder how bathroom stalls in the U.S. have huge gaps that you can see through.
Like I said, while expensive, it is definitely worth visiting at least once. (P.S. that was at 10 pm.) We drove back to Reykjavik, where we were staying. When we got there, we were intrigued because the lady we rented the room from said that the front door should be open. Coming from a place where criminality is high, this was new for us. Once we found the house, it was indeed open, and so was our room, though she provided us with a key for the room door, something we appreciated. We found a grocery store where we bought breakfast for the following days. Initially, we were confused with the currency exchange, and thought we were paying some hundred dollars for five items, but nowhere is that expensive, I think. It was just some $12 (oops). Also, we were not thrilled by the fact that most places closed up by 6 pm (and they usually opened by 9 or 10 am) though, so most of the time we didn’t make it back in time to do more grocery shopping. Speaking of being out late, we walked around Reykjavik at midnight, and this is what it looked like.
Next day we headed to the northwestern town Ólafsvík and, oh my. That place was breathtaking. From the tiny waterfall in some people’s backyard, to the mountain view, the tiny house with a museum, the church (Ólafsvíkurkirkja) and even the hotdogs.
We had heard about the thermal natural pools, and of course we had to go! So we went to Snæfellsbær. It was an interesting experience. They told us that in order to go in, we had to shower without our bathing suit before we went in, so we wouldn’t contaminate the water with chemicals we had on, let it be deodorant, perfume, etc. To our surprise, the showers had no curtains… AT ALL. And there were around four of them. My friend and I decided to take showers separately, since the place was pretty empty. After the showers we walked out, and it was freezing cold, ok?! So we hesitated to go into the green water, though we knew it was due to the algae in it from the spring it fed off. There were three different ponds, all different temperatures.
A few years ago, I met a girl while doing an internship in Pennsylvania and coincidentally she is doing her master’s in Iceland, so she, very nicely offered to guide us to our next destination: the Golden Circle. This area has a lot of sightseeing places, like Þingvellir National Park, a Geysir, a waterfall, thermal baths, a crater, a lagoon, among other places. It takes about six hours to go around it, and boy was it a trip! First stop, Þingvellir National Park, where we walked between a fault that until 1967 was used as a road. Next stop, Öxarárfoss waterfall (well, writing waterfall is redundant because the “foss” means waterfall in Icelandic). Then, the Þingvallavatn lake, and while it was beautiful, I had never seen so many bugs (and I am from a tropical place where we have a shit ton of bugs). Next we headed to the Kerid crater, before continuing to Friðheimar, where we had made a reservation. My friend suggested it for its tomato soup and bread (unlimited I might add). At twenty dollars it was pricy, but it was worth it. I was skeptical of tomato soup, but I was proven wrong, it was amazing! In this farm, they grow their own tomatoes and cucumbers inside a green house, and they even have horses (which we petted of course). Next to this restaurant a place was selling strawberries, and while expensive, they were so yummy. Pure perfection!
After that amazing lunch, we had to keep sightseeing. Next stop was Faxi waterfall in Bláskógabyggð. You’d think we would be tired of waterfalls, but each time we saw a new one, it was bigger than the one before. We were standing so close to it at some point that we ended soaking wet.
I did say that every time we saw another waterfall, it was a bigger one right? Well, I present to you Gullfoss. My favorite thing was the permanent rainbow and the calm sound of the water falling. With the huge number of waterfalls and thermal pools, Geysir, etc., it is no surprise Iceland runs mostly on renewable energy (hydroelectric and geothermal), but on this particular waterfall, there was a sign that said that a woman fought for this waterfall to not be turned into a hydroelectric energy source, in order t preserve it as it was, and she won. (P.S. This day was particularly sunny and I believe it was the only one like that while we were there, most of the days were overcast.)
We proceeded to drive to the Geysir. This became one of my favorite places. But the place that took the cake was the Bruarfoss (another waterfall), as you can see, while it is not as big as the previous ones, in the middle it is deeper, which causes the lighter color. It was scary standing on the bridge that crossed it, as it was vibrating a lot from the water moving below it. But it truly became my favorite spot.
Soon it was time to return the car, walk around Reykjavik and learn its history. Over the next few days we visited museums and a public pool (which I have no pictures of as we were not allowed to have phones in the pool area).
I have a thing for chapels so whenever I visit a place where there’s one, I’m there.
Remember I talked about a friend before? Well, she invited me to a picnic, she and some friends of them were having. To be honest, I hesitated a little bit, but I ended up saying yes, and it was the best choice I could have made. For one, I got to meet people from all over Europe, so it was hard to not “fangirl” since these were people from countries I wanted to visit, so I had a lot of questions for them. To my defense in the beginning, it was a bit overwhelming when I first met them, we were in their apartment, and it was a relative small space for the amount of people there were there (some 20 people). There were German, Dutch, Kenyan, American, Romanian, Colombian, Dominican and Mexican people (I’m sure there were more but I only talked to a handful of them). It was honestly one of the best things. We got to talk about Puerto Rico, its political status, how we’re dealing with the current U.S. President, and how it all looks like a freak show for the people across the pond. I was speechless, I had lived in the U.S. for a year, and no one was this well informed!
I saw most of them one last time before I left. It was a shame I met them at the end of my trip, and for such a short amount of time! But I am glad to have kept in touch with some of them. It really brings diversity to one’s life, and it broadens your mind and your knowledge.
Unfortunately, shortly after this, we departed. But not before walking one last time through Reykjavik, where we found a coffee shop that sold vinyls. Looking through them, I found a Julio Iglesias one, which really surprised me, I didn’t know they would know who he is, but apparently he’s a hit! So, of course I had to buy it and I’ve pretty much travelled with “him” ever since. In the airport, it made for an interesting conversation when a French lady talked to us about how much she liked him.
Sadly, the trip came to an end, but I was left with the amazing memories. People, I urge you to travel, it’s the best thing you can do. You’ll make amazing memories and your mind will open. This was my first trip across the pond, and I loved it! Europe will definitely be seeing me soon again.
Carolyn