Hello everyone!
I realise it's been an age since I last posted here, however I've been super busy. In amongst a full time job, trying to fit in my a-level and trying to have a tiny social life in between, I've not been the most inspired to write a new post. Although, I finally have something that I'd love to share with you.
Last year, for Alfie's birthday, I surprised him with a 5 day trip to Reykjavik, Iceland! It did mean that he would have to wait almost an entire year to actually go, but he was super excited and so was I. I wanted to get him something special and that we'd both remember. We've been on holiday together before, but it's either been with friends, or places with my parents. Those have been lovely, but I wanted to go somewhere just the two of us. So when my Papi found an offer online for a 5 night stay at the Arctic Comfort Hotel including flights, for an amazing price, I just couldn't refuse! Better than the trip to London I was planning for him (which we can do anytime). My beautiful late Nan left me some money when she passed, which was such a lovely surprise for me, and so I wanted to use it towards something memorable. So, she took me to Reykjavik and I'm so grateful.
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As we were there for 5 days in total, I'm going to split these posts up, to save how lengthy one post could possibly be! - but I thought I'd share some of the things we did throughout our stay, and leave a few links for you incase you'd like to go! Unfortunately, we weren't able to see the Northern Lights due to extreme weather conditions - our trip got cancelled three times! However, that didn't stop us from having a wonderful time. So, I hope you enjoy :)
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We'd planned three main trips throughout our trip. The first being the 'Golden Circle Tour'. The second being 'The Northern Lights Tour' & the third being the 'South Shore Adventure'.
On our first day, we were both a little out of sorts. We left the UK super early, saw two sunrises, were starving for hours, sleep deprived due to a rubbish nights sleep and were bored of transportation. Everything went seamlessly with getting to Iceland, which I was very thankful for.
Once we'd checked into the hotel, and got to our room (which was rather spacious!) we didn't really know what to do with ourselves. We knew we were tired and hungry but also knew it was only around midday and we shouldn't sleep and should go out and find some food.
Basically, we had a snack and managed to nap for a couple of hours - oops! We eventually made it out and walked about 20/25 minutes to a big shopping mall called the Kringlan.
I'd really recommend it if it's easy for you to get to - it's got a really great food court, plenty of wonderful shops and two supermarkets. One budget and the other more high end.
So we made it, feeling slightly delirious but had some dinner and went to the supermarket to get some supplies for the week! (our room had a fridge!) As I'm coeliac, eating out is generally a nightmare, let alone going to a different country. I thought ahead and took my own loaf of bread for sandwiches! Basically, the whole week I lived off different types of salad, and chips (which did make me a little uncomfortable sometimes). I did do a little research for restaurants with GF options, but we didn't have the most money so it was very difficult on a budget for me to eat the right way. In the high end supermarket, there was a 'health' section complete with a GF/WF section! Woo! Complete with chocolate covered treats for me!
So to end the day, we headed back to the hotel and had some more little snacks and chilled out. We switched on the tv, watched some handball (pretty exciting!) and I had my first Icelandic shower. Lets just say, it STUNK. Not because it's dirty, but because all the water in Reykjavik comes from beneath the volcanoes. It's the purest & cleanest water EVER. But, due to the sulphur in the water, it means that your showers are super stinky. I couldn't get used to it. Then we went to sleep, and boy did we sleep well. I for one, was super comfy.
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This is the first main stop - Geysir/Strokkur.
Previous to this we went to a tomato farm in where we had a talk by the owner and had a look around his tomato farm. It was pretty incredible, not my cup of tea, but it was good to stretch my legs!
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Second main stop - Gulfoss waterfall.
This was incredible! It was so vast and considering the waterfall was falling fast, it was also bizarrely peaceful. It was amazing & I'd love to see it minus the ice and snow too.
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Third main stop - a drive through Thingvellir National Park.
It started to get darker by this point and it was a lot colder, but we took a big walk around this area and apparently they shot some of Game of Thrones here, however I wasn't too interested in that.
It was a very 'mystical' area but very serene. Ravens flying about everywhere!
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We then drove back into Reykjavik and got dropped off in the centre of town. We hadn't planned anywhere for dinner (silly mistake). I tried using the bus wifi, but it was very hard to concentrate what with all the stops etc. So we literally walked around for about an hour and a half.. I felt so bad for Alfie as I can hardly eat anything 'convenient' as it usually means it's pizza or pasta. We ended up in a little cafe area where Alfie had a burger and I had a chicken salad. It was an exhausting night and we had to walk the whole way home in the freezing cold, our backs aching and full bellies. However, we'd had a lovely day and were happy to be back in the warmth, handball on, showers to be had, and looking forward to a little lie in the next morning.
I'm going to leave this post here as there's a lot more to cover from the week.
These photo's aren't the best quality but in the last post I will be putting up a link to my behance site so that you can see them in better detail & a lot more to see as well.
Have a lovely weekend!
Nos da, elfums xo
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