Day 9: Iceland via London


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Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík
April 14th 2006
Published: September 10th 2007
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Day 9: April 14 - ENGLAND - London; ICELAND - Reykjavik & Keflavik
Accommodation: University of Iceland residences (Couchsurfing.com)

After leaving Toronto airport at 8am I arrived in London Heathrow airport at what was actually 8am UK time but I was still on Canadian time which was 3am for me, so in waiting for my next flight some 5 hours later I was very tired and tried to catch a nap. Heathrow Terminal 2 wasn’t as inviting as I hoped it would be, and the rain seemed to be following me in most places I visited, but I managed a bit of a nap. I got on my Icelandair flight just before 1pm and I was very excited about finally getting over to Iceland and my first actual European country (not really counting the UK which was just in transit so far). I arrived at Keflavik airport a while after 3pm and had the option of going straight to Reykjavik or stopping on the way at the Blue Lagoon natural hot springs for a little extra money. Well, how could I resist? After arriving and getting changed I eased my way into the beautiful warm springs and stayed in one spot for a few minutes to soak it all in. It was such an exhilarating feeling. I moved around after a while and found that some parts were only warm, some were hot, and some were extremely hot. I didn’t stay in the latter for too long. I stayed in there for about 1½ hours but it was so amazing that it only felt like 20 to 30 minutes. There was even a warm waterfall to duck your head under, so I did for a little while which was fun.
Eventually the bus took me towards the city. Even this bus ride was nice. Either side of the road was this barren flat alpine-like land with no trees other than a few small bushes with hills and snow-capped mountains off in the distance while being close to the coastline. After dropping off every other person at a hotel, I got off at the last hotel stop and caught a taxi to the University of Iceland residences where I would be meeting a person I had met through Couchsurfing.com, a website where people offer a couch or a bed or similar place to sleep for a period of time to backpackers for free! I figured with Iceland being so expensive I’d try it out to save money, and thought it would be great to meet a local.
So first afternoon or night I got to meet the guy I was staying with, Frithjon (he said to call him Fritz), and I just got to know him and get used to my first person from a non-English speaking country and went to bed for the night.

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