Iceland Travel Journal: Day 1

Day 1: Reykjavik (photo of me, by Chad)

Even though I didn’t sleep at all on the plane (and had to sit next to a random stranger), I am so happy to be in Iceland and off the damn airplane!

Let me warn you about the Iceland airport...it is like a strange Ikea-type place where you cannot buy ANYTHING at all because all the stores you see are reserved for departing passengers and you have to present a boarding pass...so if you have just stepped off a plane and your stomach is eating itself, all the delectable food smells will assault your nostrils as you drag your suitcase around hunting for the one tiny store hidden on the bottom floor that will sell to until you damn near pass out from starvation.

Once we have a snack, we pick up our rental car (it has a heated steering wheel!) and drive to Reykjavik.

Here are the road signs we must learn:

We eat lunch at a Thai place. Thai places and Sushi places are on every corner! I’m relieved that I won’t have to subsist on fish and yogurt for 8 days.

We walk around town (on no sleep) until 3pm, then it is time to check into our Air B N B. Get $40 in travel credit on Airbnb, anywhere in the world: www.airbnb.com/c/sarahj24797

By now I have to pee like you wouldn’t believe, and the confusing instructions have us knocking on the wrong door. I’m embarrassed for Chad, who is shaking and also has to pee. But I'm more mad because we can't open the damn door for a few minutes and I've slammed by already-sore pinky into my suitcase handle.

Once inside, we take a nap for a few hours and I finally feel human after we shower. By the way, the beds here are thin and long. I’m talking smaller than a twin bed. The blanket, on the other hand, is thicker than an american mattress. Chad opts to sleep on the sofa.

There is no hair dryer, so I look like this:

Luckily it's hat weather.

We walk by the gorgeous awter/mountain, and it looks like Hawaii if you multiply the beauty of Hawaii by 1000.

We walk to a restaurant for dinner. I can tell who lives here and who doesn’t by their height, blue eyes and white-blonde hair. I'm guessing all the yogurt and cheese has caused Icelanders to look like Vikings. They never stop growing.

Here we are, blending in:

We share a shrimp salad and Chad eats some kind of Icelandic mystery meat soup that stings my nostrils. The soup is served with luscious homemade bread and butter. After living on airplane snacks for 24 hours, My body is screaming out for vegetables!

If you are gluten-free and dairy-free like I was before this trip, prepare to see bread and ice cream and cheese everywhere. You can’t walk 10 feet in Reykjavik without seeing a pizza, homemade bread or some other baked good. I decided to just live a little and eat bread during the trip. We shared meals, so I lost 3 pounds and Chad ate twice as much as he normally does.

It’s drizzling now so we walk in the rain for a few hours more. Our rain-proof, wind-proof packable jackets cost more than my entire closet but are proving to be worth their weight in gold. We stay warm and dry!

We find the only gluten-free place in town and I stuff 2 cinnamon covered crepes into my eager mouth while Chad uses the bathroom. We walk back to our Air B N B. It’s cold.

We’re ready to see more nature and waterfalls (and less city).

Day 2

The water out of the tap smells like poo...Chad informs me it’s from the sulphur that heats up the water.

We drive to Glymer (waterfall) and there are so many beautiful stops along the way.

Horses, sheep and fluffy goats are roaming wild!

We stop to pet the horses. I give them all names and promise to keep in touch before Chad drags me away.

Here's me and Brownie and Ziggy:

We stop at a grocery store called Bonus. This is where we buy snacks and oatmeal for breakfast for the week. We save money by cooking breakfast at the air b n b's. You can't buy eggs here apparently.

Outside of town, there are no bathrooms. I have to get used to peeing outside like a farm animal.

We arrive at Glymer. There are a surprising amount of gnats. It’s not too cold.

We hike cliff-side with no guard rails and then go into a cave. We stop to eat our makeshift lunch of pepperoni and fruit.

If Chad didn’t show this cave to me on YouTube, I wouldn’t have believed this was the “right” way. We hike down the cliff on steep stairs...

... and after hopping over the bog of eternal stench, we get to the log I had agreed to cross back when we were at our Airbnb. Chad took a photo of it but I can't find it now.

The water here is MUCH higher than the video Chad showed me earlier. We see a man cross barefoot and I consider trying it, until I see a another guy fall. The rope to hold onto is way too loose. Luckily Chad isn't too keen to cross it either.

We drive back through a cute town and I yell, “Stop the car! I see David Bowie!”
We take pictures by the Memorial wall.

For dinner we share delicious local lobster soup and a hamburger with fries, with more fresh baked bread.

Stay tuned for day 3.

Have your own adventure: Get $40 in travel credit on Airbnb, anywhere in the world: www.airbnb.com/c/sarahj24797