Blogs from Southwest, Iceland, Europe - page 23

After two busy days touring punctuated by a very late night northern lights hunt I reward myself with a massive lie in! Well that's the plan but I find myself woken up early by a little ginger cat walking around my head! He's found his way into our dorm room via an open window - no wonder I'd been cold - open windows with minus temperatures outside - are you insane! He spends the next 10 minutes checking out everyone's luggage, playing with me and jumping up on all the beds. No-one else wakes up and I even get a couple of photos of him before he decides to head off outside again and try to find some food elsewhere. So back to sleep and my promised lie in. I let everyone else get up and ... read more

Yesterday was another excursion day for me...but first I had some time to kill so I walked in a different direction up some paths and was once again, without a doubt, rewarded with an incredible view. Just when you think there can't possibly be anything around the next corner, a perfect peak proves you wrong! But anyways, this time I opted for the Icelandic Horseback riding tour which turned out to be an pretty darn good choice. Not only was it a heck of a workout - I've never really ridden a horse before and they things go damn fast when they wanna catch up to the rest of the group, lol - but the views that we got were unlike any other! We wound our way up the side of a mountain which was plopped ... read more

Introduction to the Golden Circle Tour and journey to first stop I'm picked up from my hostel and get transferred to the BSI bus terminal where the tour company I'm going with is based (Reykjavik Excursions). Here we board one of three coaches all going on the famous Golden Circle Tour. We meet our guide Steina who sets out the planned stops for the day, which include a greenhouse farm, Strokkur geysir, Gullfoss waterfall and Thingfellir national park. On the drive out of the city Steina points out some large water tanks. Water from the surrounding valleys is stored in these tanks for use by the entire city. The water is extremely pure quality drinking water. Snow melts, seeps through the porous volcanic rock and then is pumped out and piped directly to homes. Almost all ... read more

My first day in Iceland and the sun is shining. I treat myself to an incredibly over priced breakfast at the hostel and check out the weather forecast for the next day, more sunshine, so I get myself booked on the famous Golden Circle Tour before heading off to explore some of Reykjavik. Julia pronounced Yooleea points me in the the direction of the nearest cash point machine and budget supermarket and off I go. I head towards the harbour area first as it's so very close to where I'm staying. The snowy mountains across the bay are beautiful. It's really, really cold and I'm glad of my double layering coat system. The air is so crisp and fresh, it's wonderful. There are some huge boats in the harbour. I'm always amazed these hulking tonnes of ... read more

To cut a long a long story short my journey went something like this - taxi, train, tube, train, plane, coach, minibus and finally there is bearded Thomas holding open the door of the Reykjavik Downtown youth hostel for me with a big, welcoming smile. Bearing in mind it is now 1am I manage to be relatively coherent. The sign in process completed I set about sneaking into my dorm room as quietly as I can hoping not to wake people up. Booking a bottom bunk proves invaluable as I would surely have fallen arse over tit trying to fit sheets and duvet cover in the dark perched up on high! And so to sleep. My first night in Iceland. I can hardly believe I'm here. The name of the airline I flew with couldn't BE ... read more