What a cold, rainy day in Iceland! I knew the forecast was calling for rain during our layover but I had some type of false hope that maybe it wouldn't truly rain while we were there..? Well, it did. A lot. And it was cold. And windy.

We arrived in Iceland around 6:30am and then went through customs (which was oddly very simple and short) because our layover was about 10 hours long and we werent going to sit in the airport the whole time. We knew about the FlyBus, which takes you from the airport into Reykjavik and back, so we quickly bought our ticket (about $20 USD) and ran out to the buses. As soon as we walked through the glass automatic doors, we were smacked in the face with ice cold wind and rain that I swear was moving horizontally. Mind you, when we left Washington DC, it was easily 90 degrees so this weather was a shock. It reminded me of a Nor'Easter. Not fun.

After getting on the bus and situating everything, Kristin realized she should have brought a hat (which she did but it was hidden away in her luggage at the airport), and I realized I should have worn more appropriate shoes (of course I packed 11 pairs of shoes and I wore the most inappropriate pair for the flight). I had on pair of sandals because as I said, it was 90 degrees when we left. I did have my favorite pair of Sperrys in my book bag but I specifically put them in my carry on so there'd be no chance of them getting lost or ruined, and if you saw them you'd understand why I'd never wear them out in such horrid weather. They're a pale brown suede-ish material with hand-sewn pink sequins along the sides, they're amazing and I knew they'd never survive. So sandals it was.

The drive from the airport to Reykjavik isnt that long but it does look like youre on the moon. Everything is flat and barren because the ground is covered in lava rock. Occasionally we'd pass a building that I swear was designed by Ikea, (actually all the architecture we saw looked like it was designed by Ikea), but that was about it.

The original plan when we first booked this trip was for us to meet up with my friend Matthias, who Trevor and I met in Costa Rica. But we hadn't heard from him so Kristin and I were just going to go the city and completely wing it. Our only mission was to find food and be back at the airport by 2pm. All the buses in Iceland have free Wifi on them, which is really awesome. So while we were on our way to city, Matthias messaged me (thank you FB messenger) and said he was at his University, which was only a few blocks from the bus station, so he'd meet us at the bus station.

Matthias met us at the station and we agreed we'd go downtown on the bus and get something to eat. We started walking across the street to the other bus station and the rain is coming down...well more like sideways. It's completely miserable out, I'm trying to put my hood up, Kristin is trying to put her umbrella up...which totally didn't work. The umbrella is flipping inside out, whipping everywhere, Kristin is trying to put it down but it's just flying every which way, the spokes are detaching from the fabric... This all happens within 30 seconds. Needless to say, the umbrella was thrown away. Haha

We ended up missing that bus. The next one wasn't coming for another hour so we decided to walk to downtown... In the rain. Haha
Matthias took us to this little coffee shop that we would have never found otherwise, Im pretty sure we were the only non-locals there. We hung out for awhile and then walked around the city. So funny how completely different things are, the "city" was nothing like a sky scraper skyline. We ended up eating at Iceland's famous hot dog stand, apparently Bill Clinton has eaten there (not why its famous). We got an Icelandic hot dog with Icelandic ketchup. It was... Different. Good! But nothing like a good ol hot dog with sour krout on it. Haha

Afterwards Matti took us to his University, which is the University of Iceland. It was so cool (Ikea all the way) and everyone there was so hip and trendy!! He told us that earlier today they has a beer drinking competition... At his college! Can you imagine?! Haha

We had to walk back to the bus station by the time we got done the tour of the Uni. By this point Kristin and I are completely soaked. Our book bags were soaked all the way through, my feet were bright red because they were so cold, we both had completely wet hair. When we finally walked into the bus station (after agreeing that the only thing that could make the weather worse is if it were hailing), we looked so so disheveled. Haha

Despite the dreadful weather though, Iceland was pretty awesome. It seems like itd be an amazing place to visit during warmer and drier weather! It was also really cool to see an old friend and get the inside scoop on Iceland! Can't wait to go back one day and check out the blue lagoon and do some whale watching... And maybe eat some whale or puffin (so sad we missed out on that this time around!).