Monday, March 10, 2014

ICELAND ((Day 1))

Why hello there, internet! I can honestly say that I missed blogging while we were traveling. But we're back now - and I am ready to share my daily recaps with you. Guys, this trip was absolutely insane - Jake and I both agreed that Iceland exceeded all of our expectations. The people, the food,  and the raw beauty were all just incredible. I never know where to start with these recaps, but I like doing them by day so we can look back and remember what we did each day and then you guys can feel like you were on the trip along with us! Maybe? Well, just pretend that you were there. And if you haven't been to Iceland - put it on your travel list! Like, now! I cannot say enough about this amazing country. If you are planning a trip there, feel free to ask me any questions. It's an up-and -coming destination and sometimes we found it a little challenging to find and exact answer to our specific question. As far as planning goes, we used the Iceland Lonely Planet book which we found very helpful, Tripadvisor (including forums), the Northern Lights forecast website and a couple other resources. Again, don't hesitate to ask me any questions! I would be happy to share. 

We flew there via Iceland Air. It's kind of like flying Hawaiian Airlines to Hawaii - you almost feel like you are there while you are on the plane. They also had USB ports to charge my cell phone and the seats just felt roomier and cushiony {compared to the domestic flights we have been on lately}. We didn't do this because we had a Travelzoo deal, but another cool thing about flying Iceland Air is that you can do up to a 7 day layover in Iceland at no additional charge. They fly to a lot of European destinations so just something to consider if you want to tack it onto a European adventure.

We arrived at KEF in the wee hours of Sunday morning, March 2nd... well not that early, 6:00 am. Then we caught a 45 min ride bus ride to Reykjavik and checked into our hotel, Center Hotels Arnarhvoll. Here are a few photos of our view - not too shabby, right?


We finally got to our room, napped for a bit, then headed out to explore the city.  We loved the Scandinavian flavor of Reykjavik and the touches of modern architecture we saw. We shopped a bit at  a store called Geysir {and a few others} but didn't end up getting anything.  The city is pricey but had a lot of really good shopping and restaurants... as you will learn, one of the highlights of our trip was the food.  The main street, Luagavegur, was just a few blocks away from our hotel.


It was pretty cold when the wind blew! Definitely, colder than I expected - I think it was in the mid to upper 30's but with wind chill it was in the low 20's. Eeek. Thank goodness we packed our hats and gloves and warmest coats.


A couple more snaps:


We went on a 3 hour Northern Lights boat tour as part of our package, but alas, the Northern Lights did not show up for us that night. Or any night. But I don't want to focus on what we didn't see, I want to focus on what we did see!


Don't worry... the next day we did the Golden Circle Tour so you will see a lot more nature photos on the next recap. Goodnight!

2 comments:

  1. I've never thought about visiting Iceland, but you are convincing me. Excited to see the rest of your recaps!!

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  2. I never gave it a second thought either but we absolutely loved it!!! Thanks for following along :)

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