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Daily Archives: March 22, 2018

Intro to Iceland

We came, we saw, we conquered.  Just three girls from Brooklyn looking for an adventure in the land of fire and ice!  As young girls we dreamt of the days when only the thoughts in our wild imagination would finally come to life.  The trip was a dream come true for all of us.  We chased waterfalls, walked on lava (hardened after hundreds of years of course), submerged ourselves in hot springs, basked in the glorious sounds of the Hallgrimskirkja organ, and experienced nature at its finest.  We road tripped through white mountains, black sands as far as the eye can see, alongside the shores of the blue waters of Iceland.  It was definitely an unforgettable experience!

 

Day 1

We spent the day sightseeing the little big city of Reykavik.  I say “little big” because from up top the Hallgrimsirkja Church it seems so small, at least to us NYC girls, but as you’re walking through the streets every turn led to a charming little shop, a vivacious avenue, or numerous works of dope street art.  There was always something new to see around every corner.  Each narrow alley would lead you to a different part of town you didn’t know existed.  It was exciting to explore what lay ahead!

For lunch, we found ourselves at the Lebowski Bar where we had awesome burgers, but the best part of being there was our server!  Full red bearded and Icelandic to the core in all his physical nature like right out of a Game of Thrones episode!  What stood out the most though was his shirt.  Guys!  He was wearing a Wu tang shirt!  Out of all the places we could have gone we end up at the restaurant with a man wearing the shirt of a hip hop group from one of our neighboring boroughs (Staten Island).  Hip hop legends!  As 80’s babies we grew up on hip hop and it was awesome to connect with someone from a completely different culture in that aspect.  You know, you leave the comforts of your familiar block in Brooklyn expecting to be wow’ed by seeing something new or meeting someone new, but you come to realize that no matter where we come from we’re not really all that different.

We spent the rest of the day browsing through all the little cute shops filled with distinctive wool sweaters, black lava rock jewelry, beer steins, and plenty more Icelandic trinkets and treasures.  In the evening, we spent it having very expensive cocktails!  Now, in doing all my research before arriving I read on a lot of various blogs that you should pick up any alcohol of your choosing at the duty free shops in the airport.  It was then that I truly understood why!!  $25 for one cocktail!  We chatted up one of the servers at the Public House Gastropub who proceeded to tell us that the locals usually pre-game at friend’s houses THEN ending up going out.  Through him we got a little insight into how the locals enjoy the nightlife. Even still though, I was a bit surprised.  I can understand that Iceland is an island in the middle of an ocean and importing products would be super expensive, but even in Hawaii I did not see prices like that! Dead. Really. Horrible.  Still, it didn’t stop us from having a good time though! I mean, you only live once, right??!

 

 

Stay tuned for more details on our adventures throughout the trip!…..