Monday 28 September 2015

My Iceland Adventure: Days 5 - 8


View in the National Park
It is time for the second installment from my recent holiday to Iceland. If you'd like to read days 1 - 4 of My Iceland Adventure you can read it here. During days 5 - 8 I was super tired, I think I did too much during my first 4 days and it took it out of me. I like to explore a country but sometimes you need a holiday to be a holiday where you can chill out and not have to wake up early and do a lot of things in a short space of time.




Days 5 - 8 


Day 5 (Friday 18th):
Gullfoss Waterfall
Day five was my Golden Circle tour, I was so excited to be doing the Golden Circle Tour. Normally if you think about Reykjavik you think about the Golden Circle. If you don't know about the Golden Circle it is basically a circle around south west Iceland starting and ending in Reykjavik and covers roughly 300km. During the Golden Circle Tour you see Strokkur (geysir), geothermal hot springs, the national park and two beautiful waterfalls. Depending on your tour company or if you do it alone you can see a lot more or less. It was pretty amazing. I went with a new, small family run company called 'Your Day Tours' I chose them because they were not only cheaper but a smaller company so less people and a more personalised experience. 



The day started at 7am for me and I was up, washed and dressed by 7:30. I waited an hour for pick up in the cold but the day was so good I got over it. We set off and went to our first waterfall, it was beautiful but I was a little too tired to fully appreciate it, we then headed to our second waterfall before stopping at the geysir for our lunch break and then we headed tot he national park. The whole tour took about 8 hours and we wasn't actually driving for too long, it felt like we spent most of our time exploring. I got back around 5pm after going to the supermarket and going to a photography shop. Back on day two I got a massive scratch on my camera lens which was now effecting all of my pictures. I found out he couldn't fix it and I'll be looking for a specialist some time this week to try and fix it. When I got back I sat on the bed until around 5:30pm and the boys came in little after this. 

I started to pack and we tried to sleep until 6:30 but that didn't happen as we were chatting. We went for dinner at a pub, which was overpriced and AWFULLY tiny. So bad I'll be writing a tripadvisor review! After we ate we went to drink in the hostel before heading out around midnight, we played three rounds of 'Ring of Fire' which is always a laugh and allows you to get to know everyone a lot better. I didn't last long in the English pub as I was so tired from being up early and left the boys little before 1:30am. 
Just a normal Saturday night in Reykjavik
Day 6 (Saturday 19th):

Day 6 was my worst day of the holiday, nothing went wrong but I had next to no energy and I could have easily slept the day away if I was allowed! I was a little hungover even though I hadn't drank much, this must have been due to the fact I hadn't slept a lot the last few days and the Icelandic air haha. As I said on day 5 I left the boys around 1:30am. I heard them come in at 4:30am and the fire alarm went off around 5:30 - 6am. It turns out someone opened the fire escape to go smoke! I wasn't impressed, I had a really broken sleep and I didn't need such an awful sleep when I had a long day ahead of me. It felt like I had such got myself back to sleep when my alarm went off around 9:45am and I hopped up got ready and packed my bags, so overall I was pretty tired! The boys and I went to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast, I had a breakfast bagel and iced tea. After Dunkin' Donuts we went to a few shops and headed back to the hostel to collect our bags. They had a 1:15 bus to the airport and I had a 2pm check in at my next hotel. I sat around before getting a taxi to my new hotel, only to find out it was only 1.2km away and I could have easily walked. At this point it was great to have my own room where I could sleep without someone waking me up, I could unpack my bags fully, I had my own bathroom and my own TV and heater. I needed a 'holiday' by this point. After chilling out in the room for a while I headed to the Harpa where I booked a ticket to 'How to Become Icelandic in 60 Minutes'. It was a one man show and I absolutely loved it! I actually bumped into a lady I met on my Golden Circle tour and after the show we went for a nice meal and I headed back to the hotel around 9pm. I decided to have an early night and catch up on my social media as well as reading a little more.

Day 7: (Sunday 20th)
     
I woke up pretty early for a Sunday. I didn't have a lot planned other than shopping! I woke up and tried to call my dad to say happy birthday to my little brother but the wifi was really patchy and I didn't get through so I got a hot chocolate and waited for the free shuttle to 'Reykjavik's biggest shopping center' (Kringlan). I wasn't expecting much in terms of plus size fashion but Kringlan had nothing at all and it was no bigger than my local shopping center. I didn't spend long there and I actually got a taxi back because I didn't want to wait for the free shuttle. I got the taxi to Grey Lines office with was near my hotel so I could book my Northern Lights excursion but they're lights tour started too early so I went against it. I decided to book with the same company I used before (Reykjavik Excursions) and they picked me up dead on 9:30pm. Although the lights were high they were not as pretty as they were the first time I went, but as you can see I got much better picture, I finally knew how to use my camera. I got back around 1:30am and it was raining and freezing cold so I jumped straight in bed to wrap up warm.


So proud of this picture

Day 8: (Monday 21st)
 I started Monday off with a healthy breakfast of a hot dog! I say breakfast it was midday. I got my hot dog from Baejarins Beztu Pylsur. Baejarins Beztu Pylsur is apparently the best hot dog in town, it was pretty yummy but I wouldn't say the best hot dog I had ever tasted but damn it was the cheapest food I'd find in Iceland at 400kr (£2ish). After having my hot dog I had a bit of a belly ache but this wasn't due to the hot dog it was due to the fact it was the first thing I ate since 5pm the day before. Due to not feeling well I opted for a taxi to the penis museum rather than walking there, it was only 1.2km away but my belly was really bad and I couldn't even dream of walking it. Once I got to the museum I got an apple juice from the shop next door and sat down for 10 minutes and I was feeling much better. The penis museum gave me a laugh but it wasn't worth the money. I couldn't get over the fact someone donated their penis so when they die the museum gets their penis to display. 

Blur from my scratched lens
After the penis museum I went to the bus station which is next door and got a bus to the Viking Village. I had spotted it on my way from the airport and it looked like a cute little town. I only stopped there for an hour before getting two buses to Iceland's biggest shopping center (Smáralind). This one was much bigger and better than Reykjavik's shopping center and this one had two plus size stores, Evans and Dorothy Perkins. Both stores were tiny and only had one member of staff so you can imagine how small they were. I fell in love with one store called 'Ice in a bucket', the store is like a Claire's accessories upgrade. They colour co-ordinate their shop so each section of the shop has a diffrent colour and everything in that section from headbands to clothing is that colour. They had a sale on with 10 items for 1000kr which is 100kr each and that's about 50p each so for little over £5 I got 10 necklaces and hair bows. 

What do you think about everything I did during days 5 - 8?
Make sure you come back tomorrow for days 9 - 11. 
 

25 comments:

  1. Wow! Your photos are so amazing! I really want to go there!

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  2. Wow, the Golden Circle tour sounds fantastic! I'm sorry you were so tired all along and had a bit of a hangover on Saturday though.

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  3. Iceland looks great. The northern lights looks amazing, i'd love to see them x

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  4. My goodness what an absolutely beautiful place to explore - I would love to go myself. x

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  5. I've always wanted to go to Iceland and it looks amazing! I can't believe you got to see the Northern Lights too! Incredible!

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  6. I was talking to a friend about Iceland on Sunday - she went there once and said it's amazing. It sounds like you had a fab time as well, I really must go there some day!

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  7. Iceland looks like such a beautiful country and your pictures make me want to go there. I find it utterly disturbing that people would donate their penis to a museum for people to look at.

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  8. This sounds amazing I would love to visit this place, I really want to travel. Fantastic photos! Xx

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  9. Love this post and I love anything to do with travel ! You should be proud of that photo x Iceland was supposed toto happen this summer and got canceled so vexed now

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  10. I'm glad you recovered soon from a bad stomach. Anyway, I find the idea of a Penis museum to be very weird. I mean why would you do that?? But glad that your trip was fun and weird in Iceland.

    Coming Up - Bluestone Peacock Jewelry Collection

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  11. that waterfalls is gorgeous!!! but but but why would men donate their penis for exhibit? seriously why? :O it's interesting though. XD thanks for sharing your experience in Iceland <3

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  12. Amazing photos, they are inviting me to the place. Love it.
    -Heena, www.iCynosure.in

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  13. Iceland is so beautiful and your photos are so inviting. I wish Iceland is near. The waterfalls is gorgeous by the way.

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  14. It look like you had a great time! I would be. Iceland is really beautiful and gotta thank you for sharing this wonderful travel of yours here. xx Donah

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  15. oh god those aura......gaaaa i wanna goooo...

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  16. Oh girly !!! the placed indeed is so gorgeous <3 Beautiful pictures and it seems like you'd a really great time .. Thanks for the share x

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  18. OMG you saw the Nothern Lights!!! You're so lucky!! I really want to see that!! =D

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  19. those green light pictures are mesmerising. I kept staring for good two minutes .... thumbs up for your skill!

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  20. How to Become Icelandic in 60 Minutes sounds like an interesting store. Glad that you got a much deserved holiday in such a gorgeous place :)

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  21. Leesha, you had lots of fun in only a few days. Iceland is such a beautiful place to be. Love the waterfall. The pictures make me want to book my tickets now to Iceland.

    http://lamodeeternelleetc.blogspot.com.au/

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  22. omg so jealous! i really want to visit iceland and see the northern lights!

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  23. yayy excited to read more about iceland! I'm just still in awe of how well you captured the northern lights! x
    | Life as a Petite || Fashion, Crafts & Lifestyle Blog |

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  24. have always seen photos of iceland in winter.. but how the hell it looks so amazing all year round. AND THAT NORTHERN LIGHTS OMGGG
    http://popiahc.blogspot.com

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  25. Iceland seems such a beautiful place ! you're so lucky to be able to go there

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