For those of you who don't know, I hate being alone. It's actually one of my biggest fears. Which is exactly why I took a solo trip. What better way to conquer a fear than to meet it head on, right? And what better place to go than Iceland!
Day 1 was spent in Dusseldorf, Germany due to a 23 hour layover. Now some of you may be asking: What in the world is there to do in Dusseldorf? Trust me, I was asking the same thing. Well there's actually quite a bit to do. I started my morning by taking a walk along the River Rhine looking at the sky slowly becoming darker and darker. After finally deciding it probs wasn't going to rain, I found the Tourist Information and asked what I could do in 5 hours.
I started with a self-guided walking tour of the old city which conveniently led me into the shopping district. This would be really exciting, cause I love shopping. But it was the high-end shopping district meaning I couldn't even afford to window shop.
One of the only unfortunate things is that I was there on a Sunday. Meaning almost everything is closed. HOWEVER, I did find a cupcake place where I had one of the best cupcakes since I've been home and had my friends Cassie and Courtney's cupcakes. Worth every damn euro.
My walking tour only killed about an hour and half. So I decided to walk to the harbor. Here is where the more modern buildings are, and while still pretty, just not as enchanting as the old district.
As I was walking through the city there was one thing I noticed: statues everywhere! Literally
everywhere. In random places, on random bridges. Everywhere. I have no clue what any of them are of/why they're there, ya know, since I don't speak German. But I do know they were some amazing pieces of work.
They're supposed to be doing cartwheels.
To kill some more time I decided to sit along the Rhine and people watch. But without my glasses, it's hard to see anything from afar. Which is why I honest to god couldn't tell if I was staring at sheep across the Rhine or fluffy looking rocks. Later discovered it was sheep!
I ended up going back to the hostel early to rest a bit before heading off to the airport. Now when I got the Dusseldorf the night before I took a taxi to my hostel because it was so late and I was alone. However, since I was leaving in the daytime I decided to take public transport to the airport. My hostel told me exactly where I needed to go and get off. So I get on the bus, get off at my stop, look around, and realize I have no freaking clue where I need to go to find the train station. And of course there were no signs. So of course I started panicking. And by panicking I mean I just pulled out the map, stared at it, turned in circles, and silently hoped it would suddenly talk to me and tell me where to go. It didn't. But after awhile I figured I should probably move. So I picked a direction and wouldn't you know it, it was the right way! About 20 feet, hidden under a bridge and behind a restaurant was the entrance to the train station. So I got on the train and headed to the airport to wait for my flight to Iceland! The flight was fine and it was actually extremely easy to get from the airport to the hostel in Iceland. Who would have thought the most difficult part of my journey would be trying to open the door of my hostel at 2am. So I get dropped off at my hostel, try to pull it open and it's locked. So I press the button and look at the receptionist. Still locked. Try again. Still locked. I look at the receptionist again and he's just leaning on his elbow looking at me with an extremely amused face. By this time I'm getting annoyed. After trying the door a few more times it finally clicked in my tired mind....Amanda, push the damn door. And lo and behold, the door opened! I had to hang my head in shame as I walked up to the receptionist who had the biggest smile on his face; clearly trying not to laugh at me.
Day 2 included the Blue Lagoon and let me tell you, it was probably the most relaxing day I've had in a long time! While yes, it was drizzling and cold the first hour and a half I was there, it was still an amazing day! The Blue Lagoon, while touristy, is a must and quite easy to do. They have lockers for you to put your stuff in and give you a wristband that opens/shuts your locker and acts as a card to buy drinks at the bar...which you just swim up to....that is what my heaven looks like.
Before the trip even started, a lot of people told me I would easily find other solo travers or make friends by doing the tours. Well. Every single person that got on my bus was a couple. Cool. And the majority of people at the Blue Lagoon were either couples or families or friends. It wasn't until the last hour that I found another solo traveler. Even if you barely know me, everybody knows I LOVE to talk. It's my passion, really. So having nobody to talk to is like, really, really hard. So finding somebody to talk to and float around with was nice.
They give you this mask that makes your face feel crazy smooth!
After spending a few hours in the Blue Lagoon it was time to head back to the hostel. I decided to just walk around Reykjavik a bit because I was exhausted! Reykjavik, while being the capital and where 2/3 of the population live, is quite small and pretty modern. I really enjoyed it though because the buildings were small and some had lots of color!
After walking for a bit I ended up finding this cafe I read about on Pinterest called The Laundromat Cafe. It was a small, cute little cafe and had some amazing food!! Since it was vacation I splurged and got dessert. I got and Icelandic Skyr which is yogurt, blueberries, oatmeal, I'm pretty sure chocolate chips, and some cookie thing, I think. Either way, oh my lanta, it was delicious!!
I started out day 3 with whale watching. When I woke up it was windy and rainy. Luckily it stopped raining. Unluckily it was still windy.
Overall, the whale watching was an adventure and a half. When you get to the whale watching boat they give you these awesome red suits to wear to keep you warm. While not the most stylish things to wear, they do keep you nice and toasty. It takes about 45 minutes to get out to where the whales and dolphins are. We started out by seeing a bunch of dolphins hopping out of the water. Eventually we saw the blow from a humpback whale. So we chased after it. It was quite far away, but not so far away that we couldn't see it breach. Twice! Finally we got closer and were able to see it better. Then we found another humpback whale that was close to the boat. And by close I mean, maybe 200 meters away. And it breached!! Apparently this is quite rare to see.....so of course I didn't get a picture of it because I put my phone away ten minutes before because my hands were freezing. Along with my hands freezing because I didn't have gloves, it was quite windy that day. So windy that the boat was rocking quite badly and at times I felt like I was on a boat in the show Deadliest Catch. At one point as I was walking to a different side of the boat we hit a wave, tilted, and I ran straight into some random guy who was leaning on the railing. I kind of bounced off of him, tumbled over to the other side, and tumbled back over before he caught me. I couldn't apologize enough and he couldn't stop laughing. So that was fun. But really, it was amazing!!
Once we finally made it back to land I stopped at a little....restaurant?....diner?....dive? I don't really know what you would consider it. But it was delicious! It was called McCain's and served only hamburgers and fries. These were the best fries I have ever had!!
After I finished lunch it started to rain again. So I decided to go learn about Iceland at the National Museum of Iceland. Because I knew nothing about Iceland. I definitely recommend this museum to anybody who wants to visit Iceland! I really enjoyed it because it had videos, audios and texts. Some of the texts and audios you had to sit to read or listen, which was nice to have a break....especially when you spend 4 hours there. I learned that Iceland was settled around 870 AD by Norwegian men and Irish women. I learned that while the Norwegian language changed over the years, Icelandic stayed true to the Norse language. I learned they were independent, then ruled by Norway, then ruled by Denmark, and finally became independent in 1944. It was definitely a good way to stay out of the rain.
Day 4 was the day I was waiting for for days! It meant snowmobiling!!!!
So when I booked this tour I thought it was simply me getting picked up at my hostel, going snowmobiling and then coming back. Well no. It was not just that. There was more. I actually got to tour the south coast and let me tell you, it was beyond beautiful! We had a perfect day. It was sunny with just a few clouds and I ended up becoming friends with a girl who was staying at my hostel and was solo traveling as well.
We started our tour by taking the 2 hour drive down. Along the way our guide told us about how the famous volcanic eruption in 2010 really put Iceland on the map. Their tourism rate rose from 200,000-300,000 people per year to 1.5 million! And while it also did quite a bit of damage, it also helped to replenish the soil and plants came back stronger than ever. We were able to see the famous volcano and tried to pronounce the name. I quickly gave up because....it's just really hard, guys. She also told us that these volcanic eruptions help to add on to the island, so the island is constantly growing. Where we were driving through actually used to be underwater, but due to volcanic eruptions it slowly became actually land. Eventually we ended up a waterfall called Skógafoss that was just beautiful!!
Then came the best part: snowmobiling!!! Here everybody departed ways. Some went snowmobiling, others hiked on a glacier, and the rest stayed on the bus. So I got dropped off with two other people and we joined a bigger group at the snowmobile location. After getting geared up we rode in this huge truck things up into a glacier called Myrdalsjökull. Now here I had a bit of a problem. I was supposed to drive solo. But something got mixed up and they didn't have enough snowmobiles. So I rode with one of the guides. Which ended up working perfectly because I was able to look around and enjoy the fact that I was snowmobiling in a glacier!!!! There is no picture that will ever show how beautiful it was. I was going to try and take pictures while I rode...but I like my life too much so I decided to just hang on instead. Once we got to the top they told us that were actually in a volcano that is 50 years overdue for eruption and usually follows the 2010 volcano by 5-6 years...aka right now. So that was equally cool and terrifying. The view was unbelievable! You could literally see the clouds touch the glacier. I missed snow and was way too happy to be able to play around for a bit.
Trying to explain where we were while playing with the snow.
On top of Myrdalsjökull!
The truck that took us part way up.
Sadly we had to go back down and join the group again. BUT right after that we went to another glacier called Sólheimajökull and were able to walk around it a bit.
Next we saw another waterfall called Seljalandsfoss that was just.....I'll just show you the pictures.
Behind the waterfall.
Finally it was time to go back. I was supposed to go see the Northern Lights but they ended up getting canceled due to clouds. But just mine. Everybody else in my hostel went. AND SAW THE LIGHTS!! It's fine though. The company refunded me my money and I decided to spend my last day in Iceland touring the Golden Circle. Two of the people I met there told me how amazing it was and I just had to check it out!
My last day was snowy, windy and freezing cold. It wasn't a great day for the Golden Circle, but I'm still glad I went. We started our tour by touring the geothermal energy center. As I previously said, 2/3 of Iceland's population lives in the greater Reykjavik area, and this plant uses geothermal energy from the volcanos to give hot water and electric to all of those people. It was interesting, and slightly confusing, to learn about how this process works.
We then continued on and saw a crater. This crater was created when the magma was released and the surrounding land fell inwards. Our tour guide said that some bands will put a boat in the water there for concerts because apparently the acoustics are amazing.
Next stop was another waterfall. We could have walked down, but it was just so cold we all took some pictures and ran back to the bus. And yes, I didn't have any gloves. And yes, my hands were icicles.
It was finally time for a lunch break. But our lunch break also included a stop to see some geysers. This is actually where we got the word "geyser" from. Here they have a "geyser" named "Geyser" and eventually the natural phenomenon and this name became synonymous. Geyser, though, doesn't erupt all the time. It erupts very, very rarely. There is one that erupts every five minutes or so called Strokkur, and I enjoyed watching people get soaked by it a few times because they stood in the splash zone.
Strokkur
Next we stopped at another waterfall called Gullfoss, or Golden Waterfall, which was just gorgeous!!! Once again, it was too cold to go up top, so we stayed on the lowest level, took our pictures and ran back to the bus.
Since we were ahead of schedule we ended up making a side stop at a local farm. This farm has been run by the same family for decades. Now they have a restaurant and ice cream parlor where everything is made from food grown and raised on their property. I felt a little bad eating the ice cream right in front of the cows, but I thanked them for it because it was delicious!!
Our final stop was to see where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. These plates are currently pulling away from each other at 2cm a year. This will eventually take a huge toll on Iceland. But until then, it's a wonderful attraction for tourists! The area it is in also is extremely important for Iceland. It was here where the settlers started their first parliament. By this time the snow and wind were really picking up, and while we were driving home it was a white out at times. But we made it out and back to Reykjavik in one piece.
After doing some souvenir shopping I decided it was time to try some Icelandic food. No matter what people think, whale and puffin aren't really "Icelandic" foods. The older generations eat it sometimes, but the majority of people who currently eat these foods are tourists who think they're eating traditional Icelandic food. I got a recommendation for an Icelandic restaurant called Cafe Loki. And yes, I went there because it was called Loki. Here I had traditional lamb stew and flatbread with cheese and lamb. Since it was vacation, and I really needed to get rid of my kronor, I got a desert called Love Ball. It was basically fried dough with fruit it in. All of this food was amazing and I wish I had tried it sooner!!
Finally it was time to head back to the hostel to wait for my 10pm airport pickup. As we were arriving to the airport the bus driver stopped us all and said, "Look, it's the northern lights!" I turned around and there they were! They were faint, but definitely there. You could see them dance across the sky and change shapes and brightness. It was the best way to end my trip.
Everybody always says you have to take a solo trip, and I 100% agree. When I left I was terrified to eat alone, terrified to walk around alone, just straight up terrified. But by the end I could confidently do things by myself without caring about what others thought. I want to go to a museum? Okay, I'm going! I want to go snowmobiling in a glacier? Done! You really do find yourself on a solo trip. You find out how far you can push yourself and what you're really capable of. And if anybody doesn't know where to go, go to Iceland!! Every single person I met was extremely friendly and helpful. I used GreyLine and SternaTravel for tours and they were both phenomenal. I have never felt more safe walking around a city. Nor have a ever seen such a beautiful country. All you wanna-be solo travelers out there, do it! Take that jump and go find an adventure. Adventure is always out there.
To end this extremely long post, thank you Iceland, for showing me what true beauty is and for helping me find myself again.
Hasta luego!
