June 8th (not June 7th)
Ran around to the post office, tried to go to Best Buy …walked for like 15 minutes and couldn’t find it so gave up, was going to try and go to get that waterproof jacket (I was going to Iceland afterall )I saw but was running late. Opted to head straight to the airport
I had in my head that I would be leaving on Tuesday the 8th, but I was wrong….said so right on my itinerary that my flight was in fact on the 7th. Despair at the airport. Flight was full, Ticket was voided because it was not used on the day of the flight, new flight would be $700+. Fuck. So I wait patiently for a bunch of icelandic folk as well as americans stopping over like me to check in. 30 minutes before the flight, the very nice counter person at Iceland air types on his computer for a while and makes a few noises but never really gives away his intentions for me. Finally, about 5-10 minutes later (after a few interruptions from ‘real’ passengers, he hands me a boarding pass. I asked if there were fees and he said there were not and he would not feel right ruining the start of my trip. I stared at him to wait and see if he was joking then I smiled. I pulled a $50 bill out of my pocket and shook his hand to thank him….he would not accept it.
Rushed through security (there was actually nobody in line) to find the flight hadn’t even started boarding yet. I used my $2.50 in quarters to buy some candy and then got on the flight.
I love Iceland air. Nice seats, free movies on your own personal screen…I watched Marley and Me. Love that Owen Wilson. Also watched an episode of Always Sunny that I had never seen before…wow! Oh, and they were playing Bjork as we were boarding. They also have a live GPS map of the plane flying. America should have more toys like this standard. So far I like the Icelandic people. Food is shit for sure…had a 10 euro sandwich that only had 1 piece of bread (not sure if 1 bread sandwich is a standard but I didn’t like it…I folded it in half and ate it. Mayonaise….fuck Mayonaise.
June 9th: Slept in until 3pm…though it was daylight the entire time. Got in to the hostel at 2:30am the night before. Miniblinds didn’t work so basically slept through the daylight which I’m used to. Went for a jog along the harbor, took some photos, listened to Bjork and Sigur Ros. Ate a hot dog wrapped in bacon with dried/fried onion crisps and magical mustard that makes the entire world better.
Went home and napped then got up and went out downtown. Appearantly NO icelanders go out during the week and ALL of them go out on the weekends and get drunk and wonder around the streets…would have been a fun weekend but wont be able to stick around for that unfortunately. So I hit up an English pub (named English Pub) and hung out with other non locals. Stanley cup was on TV but no one was watching it. Met some girls from New York and Michigan who had just finished some hiking and were on their way back to the US. Finished the night talking to some polish girls before walking home. Not a bad night, but nothing exciting. The entertainment was a local version of Joe Vega (human jukebox) and played 2 of my request without taking tips. Stopped by the store and picked up some sort of crappy pita bread to eat as I walked home…in the cold/rain.
June 10th:
Wondered down to find a power converter and came across the local version of Best Buy…got what I needed then hit the local version of REI and found a cheap waterproof jacket on sale. Got my errands done so went to the local mall then down to a “thermal beach” which wasn’t actually thermal…just a cold fucking sand area. I think the warming geothermal thing was broken that day but they did have a little pool things that I chilled in for a bit. Wondered up thru some trails to the cathedral, then downtown to meet Arika’s friend for a drink. He didn’t show so I wondered back towards the hostel and stopped for another hotdog and went swimming again at another geothermal pool thing. Lots of locals there but didn’t really talk to any. I did have to shower with a bunch of naked Iceland men. I think I had actually made it this far in life without seeing another penis. I avoided the showers in junior high and in highschool, tennis was in the afternoon so went straight home after. Well, not seeing naked men and penises went out the door in iceland. You get used to it quick though.
After, had dinner/tea at the hostel and caught up on some travel stuff online. Realized then (my last night) that the hostel had bikes for rent the entire time…fuck walking 5miles per day in the future.
Met a guy from Switzerland who is going hiking in iceland by himself for 10 days…philosophy major
Met a CS from Bruni (somewhere near Malaysia) who invited me to visit since I’m going to be over there. Pretty laid back, nice dude who travels a lot. Name is Charles because the Christians infiltrated there long ago.
Met a couple from San Fran who are doing exactly what I’m doing and just planning as they go. I gave them my shit power converter that only has 2 prongs instead of 3. It was so shitty that it smelled like burning after using it with their computer for 10 minutes…says right on there to only use with hairdryers or something like that. They are CS as well so maybe will see them again.
June 11th:
Leaving Iceland. Overall a good experience. Best thing: the mustard….by far the best condiment sauce I’ve ever had. Worst thing was the weather which I would describe as….grey. Sun did come out my final day and was quite nice.
Today woke up early and hit the Blue Lagoon which is really awesome but kind of touristy. Lots of fat, hairy Germans. Again, had to shower with naked japanese and german dudes. Lagoon/spa was nice and relaxing after walking around 5+ miles per day. On to London today.
