Flight of fancy

Well my own personal journey has begun, we took off from Colorado yesterday night on an eight hour flight to Iceland on Icelandair.

An airline I highly recommend by the way. A flight to England can be quite an undertaking and a bad flight can be extremely stressful. A few years ago I was on American airlines in a flight to France and it was absolutely horrid. The air-conditioning wasn’t really working and the space between seat rows was absolutely tiny.

                Iceland air however was really nice. It had only one stop over and it was a free stop in Iceland. Which is were we are going to stay for a few days. With all the upsides, Iceland air does have a downside,  very strict carry on rules with both weight restrictions and odd size restrictions make it tough to only fly with a carry on, but that was the only down side I could find. There was plenty of seat room and the seats were very comfortable, even in the lowest section, economy class. As it’s the off season, the plane wasn’t crowded and many rows had an empty seat. The plane also had a nice feature that I really enjoyed. When the lights turned down the overhead aisle lights were a beautiful shifting aura borealis of blue, green and purple. A very nice touch.

We got to Iceland just as the sun slipped above the horizon, so not much of a view from the plane window, but as we rode the bus from the airport to Reykjavik, the capital, which was about an hour’s drive. The new sun slowly revealed the landscape to us.

The Icelandic landscape is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, As Iceland is the epicenter of geothermic activity the ground is covered in layers of black volcanic rock that flow along the ground in jumbled hills.

On top of this there are splatters of moss in every shade of green. It is awe inspiring to say the least.

Right after touch down we decided to walk around Reykjavik and enjoy the sights before heading to the blue lagoon. The town was different than I expected. When you think of England it’s easy to picture old architecture, but the same can’t be said for Reykjavik. Reykjavik holds a very industrial aesthetic with a modern twist. Many of the buildings are very simple and blocky with brightly colored veneers and roofs. The architecture on most buildings isn’t very interesting, however what’s on them is. There were very many brightly colored roofs in red, green and blue that matched very well with the colored paint on the houses.

Here graffiti has become an art form.

 It’s common to see graffiti logos and names on buildings, but the large murals found at least once on every block were a completely new experience for me. Huge graffiti murals covering the sides of buildings, walkways, and sidewalks are everywhere!

After touring the town we headed to the blue lagoon which is a natural hot springs outside of the city. The mixture of minerals and silica gives the saltwater an amazing baby blue color.  The spa provides large tubs of mud to pat on your face, which is why everyone looks like a mud monster, but it does feel nice. When in Rome, you know.

The water felt wonderful after a six hour flight and walking around town. We had to drift around a bit because some areas in the springs are hotter than others and the hot spots don’t seem to stick in one place for very long. However we found an amazing hotspot at the back of the pool next to a jutting honey comb formation that has formed over the years. A wonderful beginning to my study abroad I have to say.

I have three travel tips I learned today

1)      Check the airplane luggage guidelines very carefully because they might slip something very unexpected in there.

2)      In Iceland fur is very in fashion and found in all the shops so be careful what you touch if that kind of thing gives you the heeby jebbies. We found all kinds from the more common sheep’s and rabbit fur to fox and wolf. Usually on the label it will tell you so know before you touch. Rabbit fur can be on anything but it is almost always lining hats so be in the know. We also found more unusual ones than even that varying from cod scale necklaces to chicken foot leather!

3)      The front desk lady gave us great advice concerning the hot springs, rinse your hair beforehand and apply a liberal coating of conditioner before putting it in a bun (for longer hair). This will keep it from drying out because of the minerals while you are relaxing.

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

-Mother Teresa