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Well... here is an overview of Iceland:
Accommodations: We rolled Real World style (everyone has seen at least one episode right?!) and rented a flat on the main street in Reykjavik. It had five bedrooms, black and green decorations, a magnificent and stocked kitchen and plenty of space for all 7 of us. It was right on the main road and had loads of nice touches- big plasma screen TV (with 4 channels), comfy beds, and a big patio to relax on. Just picture your last IKEA catalogue for further visuals- but it was really nice.
Cast of Characters: Aimee- regular travel buddy & GEP from NYC, Oggie- helped represent the west coast, GEP from SF, Brian- new to the group, GEP from NYC, and then JP's friends Jared & Sarah who live and work in Geneva, Switzerland. JP & I rounded out that group.
What did we do? We arrived on a Thursday night and took the drive into Reykjavik and set to work on getting to know one another over some duty free Jack Daniels and vodka. After a few and an entire bag of Cool American Doritos (or, as we know it, Cool Ranch) we decided to go check out the nightlife. We rolled out a tad late (2:30am) and found that Thursday night is not the night to go out. It was a ghost town. No worries, we needed to rest up for Friday...
Friday we did the Golden Circle tour- http://www.randburg.com/is/golden-circle/index.asp We rented cars to do this on our own and we are so glad we did. It was a really fun and long day- we saw gorgeous valleys, hiked some great hills, saw geysers and waterfalls. It was really fun to go from spot to spot, not sure what to expect and then you are confronted with a gorgeous waterfall or vista view. It was also nice to be at our own pace and not sharing a coach tour bus with a bunch of tourists.
After returning to our flat we ordered up some pizza and headed out to sample the bars. We were warned that the people were fun but ignored all personal space and were quite rowdy. What this means when you are 5'2" is that they just knock you out of the way, dance right into you, or grab you. I mean it, it is rowdy. You have to go with it or it can get ugly- but for such a nice group of people, they can get crazy when they go out! We did our best to hold our own- we danced and hit up a rock bar close to our flat. Some of the singles stayed out past us old married couples who retired at around 3am. The mess of people and energy were just unreal though- these people enjoy to party.
Saturday- after waking Saturday with no real plans, we hit up the Taco Bell for lunch and headed out to drive the south coast of the island. Let me just say- for those of you who are thinking- what?? Taco Bell?? You are talking about 7 Americans who have not seen a Taco Bell in anywhere between 9 months and 2 years. And guess what, it tastes the same in Iceland as it does in the US- Delicious! After that we drove around in search of puffins (native birds) but were unable to hike out to see them due to some pretty nasty winds. We found the Continental divide which is where the two tectonic plates from Europe and North America meet and played around there for a bit.
Upon our return back to the flat, we made dinner reservations at a steakhouse in downtown and set out to enjoy some steak and potatoes. We sat down to our table, ordered some drinks when JP leans over to me and says- hey, is that Mel Gibson at the table next to us? Sure enough- it was!! He was sitting literally 8 feet away from us having dinner with we think one of his sons and grandsons. He looked great, kind of cranky really but we all were a bit starstruck and kept sneaking peeks over in his direction. Oh, and the dinner was great too!
Sunday we rose early to go play around on the glaciers and see waterfalls. We took this tour: http://www.mountainguides.is/English/Tours/39/36/120/default.aspx and had a great time. They outfitted us with cramp-ons and ice picks and we set off for a 3 hour hike around the glaciers. It was gorgeous, great weather for it.
Sunday night we enjoyed one last night together in the flat and cooked a big meal... meaning the girls cooked and the boys drank beers and did the dishes.
Monday we went to the Blue Lagoon http://www.bluelagoon.com/ which is easily the most popular tourist spot in Iceland. We soaked in the water, enjoyed the steam room and the massaging water falls before eating lunch and taking off for the airport.
All in all, a fabulous trip, would have been incredible without a Mel Gibson sighting and Taco Bell- but has to be one of the best trips we've taken since we've been here. I highly recommend this to anybody with a love of outdoors and hiking as it really does have every type of land- lava, desert, lush mountains, etc. The people of Iceland are fantastic, super friendly, all speak English and all are very eager to share facts about their beloved country. I learned more from quick taxi rides or talking with the flat manager than I did from our tourbook! I can't imagine a better way to experience Iceland and left yesterday wishing I had a few more days to see more.
Pics are on our site, enjoy!
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