Iceland Adventures - Part 1
I keep putting this off because I was panicking about work the whole time so - here we go. :'D
Day 1
We landed at Keflavik at around midnight, which meant we had to navigate an entirely new country in the dark. No problem, says Nicholas. :P So we took the Flybus to the bus station (BSI) in central Reykjavik, then found our way, by walking some pretty deserted streets, to the host who agreed to take us in for the following two nights. . It was only about 1am, so I was pretty surprised to see not a soul around - and texted Baldvin - who said it was common on weekdays, hmm. We couchsurfed through Reykjavik for the length of time we were there (for those who don't know what it is, Couchsurfing is basically a scheme in which people offer their couches/mattresses/homes for strangers to sleep in, for free), and we stayed with two hosts in total so there was probably a huge saving on that part ^^.
It was a really pleasant first couchsurfing experience for me, personally - our host, Setta, had mattresses and pretty comfy blankets for us laid out in the living room, and her cat was adorable, cuddly, and kept snuggling up to me. ;;
Woke up at about 10am the next morning to the sunrise, and started walking around Reykjavik. We visited the church first, the Hallgrímskirkja, because it was pretty darn close.
Quickly skirted round the corners, went for a bit inside, then went out again. We wandered around the town center, the shopping street Laugavegur, and spotted cute shops like this:
The town has loads of cafes. Like, loads. :'D We ate at a really quaint fish buffet store somewhere near the harbour, though - that was quite a find ^^. Cheap food that tasted quite good, with soup included!
Oh yes, I was also half deaf half the time while I was there thanks to the pressure in my ears failing to equalise :/ But that didn't stop the rest of me from walking around ^^;
Icelanders also have a wonderful sense of humor!
Among others, we visited the museum and a couple of other things before Baldvin texted at about 5pm asking if we wanted to meet up. But of course it was a yes :P
We met him at the 1011 (something like Malaysia's version of the 7-11 convenience store) and he looked pretty darn drained after his exam, so we went to the pub to celebrate it ending. He brought us to the English Pub (LOL, considering where we'd just come from) and we tried a selection of Icelandic beers. I quite liked the Egils Gull - nice and light, compared to the Danish ones. (That said, I sucked horribly at alcohol :P it was pretty embarassing).
It was quite a nice chat, and quite timely too since, well, I was due to stay at his place the next day :D ...haha. When we parted ways after about two pints, I went to the supermarket and got some salmiak liquorice, while Nick got coffee. We then walked about a bit more and bought an adaptor for my phone charger, etc...
Upon going home, I started feeling feverish so we pretty much just went to bed. That night was pretty horrible for me - I woke up more than once, first trembling from cold so badly I had to wear four layers before I could stop shivering, and then when I woke up again my back hurt because I'd somehow sprained a muscle sleeping in an awkward position.
Day Two
The next day I spent at home trying to sit in a way that wouldn't hurt, while also trying to rest my fever, and it was pretty shit :/ Nick bought some traditional Icelandic stuff for lunch though - Skyr, a kind of curd-like yoghurt, and hangyot (hung meat) with some traditional Icelandic leafbread/flatbread - it probably tasted awesome, but my sense of taste was pretty much gone with the flu, so I couldn't really tell.
We then went to the airport to catch the local flight to Akureyri, which was just a really small terminal with a really small plane :'D so cute. Upon arrival I met up with Andri geraldta, who was really HUGE :'D I have never seen..anyway - this is how I look like up against him.
From left to right, Baldvin, Styrmir, Andri, and me.
...Do I look like I just melted into his shirt and became part of his shirt's design? Yeah. XD
He drove us to Baldvin's house, where we met Styrmir and settled down a bit - really nice room, with a sofa bed. It had two bookshelves filled with Icelandic/English books, so that interested me for a bit. Then Styrmir and Andri decided the time was right to drive us to the liquor store to pick up some beer for the night's partying, so we did - but by the time we got there it had closed :/ (6.30pm). So we went back, and Styrmir made spaghetti for dinner which we all had :'D it was pretty good even though I could taste very minimally. Baldvin came back a few hours later - and I promptly welcomed him home XDD pretty ironic
Then we settled in our room with the case of beer they had somehow managed to obtain. Andri chilled it outside by chucking the case into the snow (lol), and reaching out of the window whenever he needed a pint. It was pretty amusing XD Styrmir had his laptop and basically we played Youtube stuff and talked and drank, and at some point Nick decided to demonstrate my amazing kneejerk reflexes.
All the boys then proceeded to try their hand at it. I think they were pretty amused :P Andri now has my number saved as 'funny leg girl', ahaha. I don't even know orz.
Anyway, after that we headed to the pub-cum-sushi place called Kaffi Karolina, where we sort of hung out with two other friends of his and talked. I remember lots of penis conversations, haha. They were quite nice - when talking about something particularly interesting in Icelandic, either Baldvin or Styrmir would translate. I learnt about the traditional Icelandic Sagas (Viking lore, etc), and it was generally quite entertaining ^^;
We went back only when the pub closed at 1am, and went to bed.
-To be continued-
Day 1
We landed at Keflavik at around midnight, which meant we had to navigate an entirely new country in the dark. No problem, says Nicholas. :P So we took the Flybus to the bus station (BSI) in central Reykjavik, then found our way, by walking some pretty deserted streets, to the host who agreed to take us in for the following two nights. . It was only about 1am, so I was pretty surprised to see not a soul around - and texted Baldvin - who said it was common on weekdays, hmm. We couchsurfed through Reykjavik for the length of time we were there (for those who don't know what it is, Couchsurfing is basically a scheme in which people offer their couches/mattresses/homes for strangers to sleep in, for free), and we stayed with two hosts in total so there was probably a huge saving on that part ^^.
It was a really pleasant first couchsurfing experience for me, personally - our host, Setta, had mattresses and pretty comfy blankets for us laid out in the living room, and her cat was adorable, cuddly, and kept snuggling up to me. ;;
Woke up at about 10am the next morning to the sunrise, and started walking around Reykjavik. We visited the church first, the Hallgrímskirkja, because it was pretty darn close.
Quickly skirted round the corners, went for a bit inside, then went out again. We wandered around the town center, the shopping street Laugavegur, and spotted cute shops like this:
The town has loads of cafes. Like, loads. :'D We ate at a really quaint fish buffet store somewhere near the harbour, though - that was quite a find ^^. Cheap food that tasted quite good, with soup included!
Oh yes, I was also half deaf half the time while I was there thanks to the pressure in my ears failing to equalise :/ But that didn't stop the rest of me from walking around ^^;
Icelanders also have a wonderful sense of humor!
Among others, we visited the museum and a couple of other things before Baldvin texted at about 5pm asking if we wanted to meet up. But of course it was a yes :P
We met him at the 1011 (something like Malaysia's version of the 7-11 convenience store) and he looked pretty darn drained after his exam, so we went to the pub to celebrate it ending. He brought us to the English Pub (LOL, considering where we'd just come from) and we tried a selection of Icelandic beers. I quite liked the Egils Gull - nice and light, compared to the Danish ones. (That said, I sucked horribly at alcohol :P it was pretty embarassing).
It was quite a nice chat, and quite timely too since, well, I was due to stay at his place the next day :D ...haha. When we parted ways after about two pints, I went to the supermarket and got some salmiak liquorice, while Nick got coffee. We then walked about a bit more and bought an adaptor for my phone charger, etc...
Upon going home, I started feeling feverish so we pretty much just went to bed. That night was pretty horrible for me - I woke up more than once, first trembling from cold so badly I had to wear four layers before I could stop shivering, and then when I woke up again my back hurt because I'd somehow sprained a muscle sleeping in an awkward position.
Day Two
The next day I spent at home trying to sit in a way that wouldn't hurt, while also trying to rest my fever, and it was pretty shit :/ Nick bought some traditional Icelandic stuff for lunch though - Skyr, a kind of curd-like yoghurt, and hangyot (hung meat) with some traditional Icelandic leafbread/flatbread - it probably tasted awesome, but my sense of taste was pretty much gone with the flu, so I couldn't really tell.
We then went to the airport to catch the local flight to Akureyri, which was just a really small terminal with a really small plane :'D so cute. Upon arrival I met up with Andri geraldta, who was really HUGE :'D I have never seen..anyway - this is how I look like up against him.
From left to right, Baldvin, Styrmir, Andri, and me.
...Do I look like I just melted into his shirt and became part of his shirt's design? Yeah. XD
He drove us to Baldvin's house, where we met Styrmir and settled down a bit - really nice room, with a sofa bed. It had two bookshelves filled with Icelandic/English books, so that interested me for a bit. Then Styrmir and Andri decided the time was right to drive us to the liquor store to pick up some beer for the night's partying, so we did - but by the time we got there it had closed :/ (6.30pm). So we went back, and Styrmir made spaghetti for dinner which we all had :'D it was pretty good even though I could taste very minimally. Baldvin came back a few hours later - and I promptly welcomed him home XDD pretty ironic
Then we settled in our room with the case of beer they had somehow managed to obtain. Andri chilled it outside by chucking the case into the snow (lol), and reaching out of the window whenever he needed a pint. It was pretty amusing XD Styrmir had his laptop and basically we played Youtube stuff and talked and drank, and at some point Nick decided to demonstrate my amazing kneejerk reflexes.
All the boys then proceeded to try their hand at it. I think they were pretty amused :P Andri now has my number saved as 'funny leg girl', ahaha. I don't even know orz.
Anyway, after that we headed to the pub-cum-sushi place called Kaffi Karolina, where we sort of hung out with two other friends of his and talked. I remember lots of penis conversations, haha. They were quite nice - when talking about something particularly interesting in Icelandic, either Baldvin or Styrmir would translate. I learnt about the traditional Icelandic Sagas (Viking lore, etc), and it was generally quite entertaining ^^;
We went back only when the pub closed at 1am, and went to bed.
-To be continued-