The Working Wanderer

This day was one of the highlights of our trip.  We began with a quaint breakfast at a cute French restaurant on Laugavegur called Le Bistro.  The restaurant was cozy filled with trinkets and treasures and cute souvenirs that made you feel like you were right in France once you walked in.

We were off to a great start.  One word-Mimosas!  I ordered the “healthy brunch,” which consisted of an array of delectable breakfast items-from smoked salmon to skyr (Icelandic yogurt) with muesli, fresh fruits, gouda cheese, and scrambled eggs, of course.  All the things to give us the energy we needed to tackle the day.

After breakfast, we drove off towards the Blue Lagoon.  It was sunny yet a chilly day.  The cool breeze a gentle reminder that winter is departing and spring is right around the corner.  On the way there we stopped on the side of the road to get a closer look at the sea of blue to our right.  As we veered off the rocky road we came across a stone pile.  These piles of rocks you will see throughout the island.  Apparently, these were like old school GPS.  Early Vikings would build these piles to help guide them through their journeys of exploration around the country.  We took a few photos by the water and hopped back in the car to make our appointed time at the Lagoon.

Now, I advise anyone planning on visiting the Blue Lagoon to book as far ahead as possible for your preferred time slot.  Pre-booking is definitely required.  We booked 2 weeks prior (which is actually really late) and all that was available was evening slots, so we picked a 6pm appointment.  Thinking back now though, we kind of got the best of both worlds because when we arrived it was still daytime and we stood basking in the geothermal seawater well into the night. 

While there is a variety of packages to choose from like something as basic as entrance to the lagoon with maybe a face mask and a drink included to a more luxurious package including entrance to their exclusive lounge, private changing rooms, spa products, and sparkling wine at the Lava restaurant.  We chose the premium package which included all the necessary perks minus most of the aforementioned in the luxury package.  We were provided with luxurious robes and slippers, mud and algae masks and, yes- sparkling wine!  Ummm, in Iceland you gotta take your libations where you can get them cause it don’t come cheap otherwise!

Here is the link to the different packages currently offered on the Blue Lagoon website:

https://www.bluelagoon.com/blue-lagoon-spa/prices-and-packages/experiences-2018/

I’d have to say this was one of my favorite days in Iceland.  The three of us being together, we had sooooo much fun.  The jokes, almost dropping our phones in the water just to get that perfect photo opp, the uncontrollable chattering of our teeth from the cold only soothed by a dip into the warm waters of the hot spring.  We decided to head back out to put our phones away and truly submerge ourselves into this hot spring experience.  The ultimate setting for GIRL TALK!  Spa day on 100!  Swim up bar on fleek!  Life couldn’t get any better!  Three girls living their dreams!

It was ABSOLUTELY freezing when we walked out of the water!  We began to run where we had hooked our robes on the outdoor racks and, struggling cause all of them looked exactly the same, finally grabbed ours and ran inside.  Word of advice, bring some kind of ribbon or tag; anything that can differentiate your robe from someone else’s because most likely it WILL get lost!  Night fell, bringing all the stars a little closer, beams of moonlight dancing over the blue waters of the lagoon and it came time for us to bid adieu to the magical evening it turned out to be.  We retrieved our belongings from our lockers, showered, and dressed to find that a blizzard had begun!  Literal heavy snowfall!  If there’s one thing you can count on while being in Iceland, it’s that the weather never stays the same.  In the span of a day!  I bought a souvenir magnet that says “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes” because that’s how accurate it is about Iceland’s ever changing climate.  It’s crazy to see the various types of “seasons” you can experience in just one day.

So we admired the chaos from the warmth of our Lava restaurant table sipping on our sparkling wine.  This was our time to reflect.  Looking through a menu as if it was a receipt.  Proof of the things that have occurred in those past 48 hours.  Yes, steak please!  Well done.  Leave nothing uncooked, taste it all.  Give us the full experience.  Mud masks, champagne flutes, cold snow on a hot spring, check bucket list.  Who could ask for anything more?!

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!…..

St. Patty’s Day in Dublin was definitely an eye opener for me.  Completely different from what I’ve experienced here in the States.  St. Patrick’s Day is kind of like the Thanksgiving Day of Ireland.  Very family oriented, not the binge drinking holiday us Americans know it to be.  

St. Pat’s is a day the Irish celebrate the patron Saint Patrick.  Families get together over fancy feasts and get ready to settle in to their chosen spots along the parade route.  The parade itself was MAGICAL!  It’s like Carnival in the streets of Dublin!  It was absolutely amazing!  Masts of creative, colorful floats gliding down O’ Connell Street.  It was an experience I recommend you do at least once in a lifetime.

The people there (in Ireland) made the trip 10 times better!  Everyone was always so nice and helpful.  Nothing like New Yorkers.  Not to discredit us New Yorkers, but we tend to keep to ourselves mostly.  The Irish were so friendly, even though I must admit it was very difficult for me to understand them half the time.  My friend, Lisa, had to translate for me, practically, the whole time.  She’s a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn just like me but, for some odd reason, she had a magic ear for understanding them.

Anyways, we started our day on a drive to a nearby fishing village that a cab driver suggested we check out.  By this time, we had rented a car, which that in itself is a hilarious story I’d have to tell you another time.  Howth was the name of the village just about 45 minutes from Dublin.  It was cute, quaint, with an amazing view of the Irish Sea.

We had breakfast at a local coffee shop then headed back in time for the parade.  Once there, the city came to life!  Music, laughter, ooh’s & ahh’s from all the parade viewers creating a harmony of sounds; the soundtrack of this unforgettable day!  We decided to walk down with the parade stopping along the way to have a pint or to make new friends.  We initiated a pub crawl to the Guinness Storehouse and as we reached Temple Bar we realized we were never going to make it there.  There was too much fun happening along the way that could just NOT be missed!

Temple Bar is a long winding strip of bars and pubs.  I have never seen that many people in one street in my life.  We were bobbing and weaving through the crowd, popping in and out of just a few of the numerous establishments those cobble stoned streets had to offer.  And when we weren’t in a pub dancing to some of Ireland’s finest musicians and trying to decide which was our favorite beer (Galway Hooker it turned out to be), we were outside taking photos with random people or listening to the sounds of capoeira played by the Brazilian band in the middle of one of the small squares of The Strip. 

We had the time of our lives!  It is a day Lisa and I will never forget and will always hold dear to our hearts.  My trip to Ireland (on St. Patrick’s Day) was a bucket list item of mine.  Many people found this unusual, but I only wish they saw what I saw, felt what I felt, experienced what I did.  I only hope that anyone reading this will take the time to discover this for themselves.  This whole experience was amazing, changed my perspective on a lot of things, and I’m glad I made the decision to choose this place as my destination at that time of my life!