ICELAND | Reykjavik

As soon as we landed in Iceland, our trip finally became a little more real. We had decided to spend a few days in Reykjavik, but hadn’t quite realized just how far outside the city the airport was. A further testament to our lack of planning, we had no idea how we were going to get to our Airbnb in downtown Reykjavik from there. Luckily we were able to grab a bus, and 50 minutes later we were dropped in front of the closest hotel on the line the bus went to.

Now, before Isaac and I had left, he had shown a few signs of getting a cold but somehow, with his superior immune system, only managed to get a bit of a sore throat before passing it onto me. I however, got the full force of the flu (thank you love!). The weather in Iceland made us wish we had gotten a sim card. We only had a prayer and an inaccurate gps pin to navigate to our first stay. The air was so frigid that my lungs felt like they were collapsed under the weight of my backpack. Our 15 minute walk past too many street signs we couldn’t pronounce (we found out later that google couldn’t either) ended in us arriving to most lovely flat. Our host, Thorunn, greeted us at the top of the stairs. I can only imagine the look on our faces, as the heat from her place came rushing around our bodies,when she opened the door. I was so relieved to snuggle into our comfy warm bed and ditch our 30lb backpacks, laptop, and camera bag.

Isaac had to work the next day doing graphics for a company in America. I spent most of my time sleeping, except for the occasional stops for food. We managed to get our hands on some fabulous sushi and do a little sightseeing around the city. We were able to rent a car from Budget, before we made our way out to the Blue Lagoon. We were pretty happy to find out that we has full insurance coverage under our Chase Sapphire Card, when it was paid for on our card. We had to obey the rules though on where the car could go. There are many spots in Iceland that are considered too rugged (unpaved roads/no roads) and dangerous (one lane/near natural hazards like volcanos & glaciers).

My most favorite moments of Reykjavik were the numerous friendly cats (#CatsOfReykjavik is actually a thing), views of the harbour from our Host’s flat, all the colorful houses, random lost mittens, quirky painted murals, and the different textiles/shops/food/architecture. We didn’t do any traditional sightseeing really, but enjoyed the cool wind effects, awakening us to our trip being a reality.

It was a short drive to the Blue Lagoon where we were to spend the most luxurious night of our honeymoon at the Silica Hotel.

Categories: TRAVEL, Uncategorized