My first travel diary.....
I had the opportunity this month to travel to Iceland with my wonderful boyfriend, Avery. I It was truly one of the most incredible places I've been- I can't even begin to tell you how special it was to share the experience with someone I love so much!
I basically wore the same outfit the entire trip- a hoodie, cargo pants, puffer, and my af1s. Uniqlo's heattech is AMAZING for staying warm in the cold. It's not too expensive either...shop it here.
LOVES
Reykjavik is such a cute and homey place to stay! Our airbnb was located a block from the main street and it was still pretty inexpensive. I love airbnb- we got a much nicer space + better location for a cheaper price than a hotel. If you want to get $35 off your first trip, you can use this link.
The city is not too big (at least in comparison to New York), so no need to worry about public transit! You can walk everywhere :)
Everything is BEAUTIFUL and the people are incredibly nice.
We had a love-hate relationship with the sunlight hours. In early January, the sun is up from around 11:00 AM - 3:30 PM. This requires a bit more planning for sight-seeing.
GENERAL DISLIKES (nothing was that terrible!!!)
1. The hot water......it reeks of sulfur (which I know is totally sanitary, but I feel kinda gross bathing in water that smells like rotten eggs)
2. We never got to see the northern lights because it was too cloudy :(
3. It's hard to find a place open for breakfast early in the morning- and if you're vegan or vegetarian, it can be a bit difficult to find options!
DAY 1 (1/7/2017)
4:40 AM- Touch down at the Keflavik airport! We flew with Wow Air, a budget airline. They offer free stopovers in Iceland with roundtrip tickets to other destinations. We had a good experience overall, even if packing light was a little tricky. After collecting our bags, we hopped on a bus to Reykjavik.
6:00 AM- Luckily, our airbnb host let us store our bags! We were a little concerned we would have to lug them around the city until noon. Nothing was open, we were exhausted, and the sun wasn't coming up for another five hours! It was an interesting way to start :) We grabbed croissants at one of the only places open, Broad & Co. They were delicious!
7:00 AM- We wandered around the nearly empty streets for a couple hours, then found a place to grab coffee before the church opened. We got to the church and paid $9 to go to the lookout at the top. No one collected tickets, so I don't think you actually have to pay....
10:00 AM- It was slowly getting light outside while we were in Hallgrímskirkja's lookout. We were thrilled with the beautiful 360 degree view of the city!
11:00 AM- We still couldn't get in our airbnb and we were getting really sleepy. We sat in the church pews and talked about our least favorite words for an hour....lol.
12:00 PM- Finally, we had a place to stay! We picked up the keys and went out to grab some candy and snacks. After that, we accidentally fell asleep- for the rest of the day... jet lag murdered me this trip.
DAY 2 (1/8/17)
My favorite day!
4:00 AM- Since we went to sleep so early yesterday, we were up all night! We made a route for our trip into the countryside of Iceland and booked a rental car.
8:00 AM- Grabbed Dunkin Donuts (one of the only places open before 10) and headed out on our way!
We drove three beautiful hours to waterfalls, a black sand beach, and the town of Vik. We hiked a bit and got some great photos. I highly recommend renting a car, rather than taking a bus tour! If you rent, you can stop wherever you please and stay as long as you wish!
3:00 PM- Started the journey back to Reykjavik. I was having SUCH a difficult time staying awake, so good thing Avery was driving! We stopped at a joint KFC/Taco Bell on the way since it was the only thing we could find. So weird they have KFC in Iceland! Eventually we made it home, parked the car, and fell asleep.
DAY 3 (1/9/17)
9:00 AM- We woke up this morning, grabbed some breakfast and explored Reykjavik a bit more.
12:00 PM- Took an accidental nap, woke up frazzled, and headed to pick up our car to drive to the Blue Lagoon!
3:00 PM- After an hour of driving through lava fields, we made it. While the Blue Lagoon is a bit expensive, I recommend going! It was so relaxing. We didn't get any photos because we didn't want to bring our electronics into the water. It's important to note that the water drys your hair out! Make sure to bring a good conditioner :)
6:00 PM- Back to Reykjavik to pack our bags before our venture to Copenhagen tomorrow! It's Avery's birthday, and he's also moving to Denmark for the semester. How exciting :)
xx