Our Icelandic Saga: Part 1

I forget what it's like to not be able to understand. For the most part, wherever I am in the United States I can understand everything because it's in either English or Spanish. 

But then I went to Iceland. 

You try pronouncing Hallgrimskirkja or Seljalandsfoss or Jokulsarlon and see if you don't look a little like an idiot. It's impossible. After 5 days I could probably say takk fyrir (thank you) and skyr (yogurt) and not receive a cringe-worthy look, but that was about it. 

Notwithstanding the language barrier, my recent trip to Iceland was once-in-a-lifetime. I've widdled my pictures down to only the best and figure it most fitting to describe them one-by-one. So here goes nothing.

DAY 1

Snaefellsness Peninsula

The girls- Whitney, me, and Kathryn- ready to board our flight. We left at 7:30 pm D.C. time and got to Iceland around 1:30 am D.C. time, or 5:30 am Iceland time. No, we did not sleep on the plane and we didn't take any time to sleep once we got there. That means we were up for two full days, or 37 hours total. Thank heavens for caffeine pills, adrenaline, and amazing sights the first day that kept us awake. 

Our first stop, a local Icelandic bakery to get some pastries. This was also our first encounter with Skyr (Iceland's yogurt) that I became a little obsessed with over the course of the trip. Between me and Kathryn, we tried every flavor at least once. My favorite was probably cantaloupe. Skyr is like a type of greek yogurt but it actually has MORE protein than greek yogurt and isn't quite as tart. Loved it. 

Our first to-do was travel to the town where "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" was filmed. There wasn't a ton there (no surprise) but we did hike to this pretty lighthouse on the hill. Just behind us is the restaurant where Walter Mitty encounters the drunk helicopter pilot and just behind us is the helicopter pad where he jumps into the helicopter. I think we were also realizing at this point that it's freezing in Iceland and were evaluating if we had brought enough warm clothes. The answer to that evaluation was definitely no. We were freezing for five whole days. 

You can see in the distance a partially frozen waterfall. Little did we know that there would be waterfalls around almost every turn in this country. This was one of dozens that we saw from the road. 

Kirkjufell Mountain- the most photographed mountain in Iceland. This was the beginning of our excursion around Snaefellsjokull National Park. Once again, try pronouncing that. 

Another waterfall we saw from the road. This was also the first time I used my beloved selfie stick and I'd say it was pretty awesome. #notashamed

One of my favorite pictures from the trip. Not sure where we are or what we're doing but I'm mid-jump and Whitney is pretending to push me off the stump. The whole thing is a perfect depiction of our relationship. We're crazy fun. 

Vatnshellir Cave- We saw this ad on the side of the road to hike down into a lava cave and decided to go for it. Totally worth it. Our guide led us down into a large, dripping, troll-infested (that's what he said) cave where he pointed out stalagmites and stalactites and told us stories of how the trolls come out in the darkness. This is also where we learned that all the water in Iceland is so pure that you can drink it straight from the rivers. We even got to drink some water from a pool in the cave and it tasted amazing. No kidding. From then on we were dunking out hands into every body of water and drinking. Here's to hoping we don't get parasites. 

Our first black sand beach- so very cold but so magical as well. 

As everyone knows, I was raving about this cabin that we'd found on Air BnB and was so excited to get there. It did not disappoint. After more than 35 hours of being awake, we arrived at this cabin and it was perfect. Comfy beds, a mini-fridge stocked with bacon and toast for the morning, and a HOT TUB. Words cannot fully describe how it felt to relax in that hot tub after all we'd been through. It was PERFECT. If we had been in Iceland just a few weeks earlier we probably would have been able to see the Northern Lights from this cabin but it was just a little too late in the year. This is also where we figured out that the sun doesn't really set at this time of year in Iceland. At midnight, the sky is still that grey blue- like it might be at 5 am here in the States- and even in the middle of the night it's not pitch black outside. It was definitely a weird sensation and does something funky to your brain. You don't feel like you ever need to head to bed because it's still light outside. 

DAY 2

The Golden Circle

Thingvellir National Park- This spot is significant for two reasons: (1) This is where two tectonic plates are continually separating, not very fast mind you, but just a couple of centimeters each year and (2) this is the site of the word's first parliament. Pretty cool. 

One of the few words we didn't struggle with is geyser. That's because geyser is Icelandic! We've changed the spelling a bit- in Icelandic it's spelled geysir- but even still, a word we could pronounce! Behind us is the most famous geyser in Iceland. It's not very reliable these days and only goes off 2-3 times a day, but there were other geysers in the area that we saw so we weren't mad. 

The first of the humongous waterfalls we saw on our trip- this one is called Gulfoss. This is where I need to point out that these pictures really can't do anything justice. The vistas were so much grander and magnificent than a picture could portray, and for that I'm a little disappointed. I wish I could help you understand just how big and amazing these waterfalls were.

Our last stop in the Golden Circle- Kerid volcano crater lake. Hard to imagine these volanos actually erupting thousands of years ago.

After booking our trip to Iceland, I realized that we would be gone for the premier of Pitch Perfect 2. I was determined that I was going to do everything in my power to try and see the movie while in Iceland so I did a lot of research and called every movie theater in Reykjavik. To our dismay it was not showing anywhere. I was worried this would happen so I had bought me and Whitney t-shirts so we could celebrate all day long, but I still think it would have been cool to see it in country. Oh well. 

And that was our first day! 

Part 2 is found here: http://memoirs-of-hannah.blogspot.com/2015/05/our-icelandic-saga-part-2.html