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We went to Iceland for 6 days as a present for dans 21st birthday to try and see the northern lights as it was high on dans to do list.
Out first stop was the blue lagoon as you could do this ad a transfer from the airport and then be dropped to Reykjavik when you were finished. Our first views of Iceland was that it was very snowy! the landscape was just dried lava covered in snow which made it look really alien.
When we arrived at the blue lagoon the queue was massive as it was new years day lots of Icelandic people had also come to the blue Lagoon. after queuing for ages we got given wristbands in case we wanted to buy anything which we didn't as we left all our money in our suitcase that got left in a little hut where the coach dropped us off. Which definitely wasn't the smartest idea.
We went into separate changing rooms and then just before you get in there are signs everywhere telling you to go into the showers naked before you go into the blue lagoon. Well I had a shower but ignored the naked bit. To me it didn't make sense as my bikini would also be going into the pool ? Once I met up with Dan he also told me he had done the same thing! It was freezing here because there were doors to the outside that I would guess is minus 5? In a bikini. Very very cold. Luckily you could get into the lagoon inside and then go outside through a door in the water.
The lagoon is actually made from the water from a geothermal power plant nearby. It is very hot around 37 degrees and in some places we couldn't even swim because it was too hot. The lagoon is also rich in minerals and there is special white mud you can put on your face that's meant to be beneficial. However it is also damaging to hair so your meant to put conditioner in your hair to protect it but I forgot and my hair seems OK. The steam coming off the water because it is such cold air makes it feel like there's no one else there even though it was really busy.
There is a bar in the water but we didn't buy anything as Iceland is ridiculously expensive even without something being a tourist trap-hence why we saved so much money whilst we were in Iceland aswell . after spending a rather long time here we eventually got out and got the coach back. I'm pretty sure we pushed on because we were the last to arrive but still managed to get on the first bus, but that's other peoples fault for not queuing.
This was our first view of Reykjavik and one of the first things we saw was an iceland! An Iceland in Iceland! We dropped lots of people off before our hotel stop and realised that we were dead in the centre which was so lucky because it was too cold to hike into the city everyday and too expensive for us to get taxis.
Our hotel was literally right outside the main church of Iceland called hallgrimskirkja (I have no idea how to say that) but its very pretty and its meant to resemble lava flows. Inside is very plain though, however we a lovely full view of this right outside our window! Not bad for the cheapest city centre hotel in Iceland it also had a coffee machine that was free to use all the time so we got many a hot chocolate.
Every day we would wander round the city although there's not much to see and even though there was snow they have underground heating to heat the paths and roads of main streets so you can walk everywhere without feeling that you are going to fall over.
We went on our northern lights trip the second night in Iceland, there were about 8 coaches in our group all driving to there same point to try and spot the northern lights and to see them meant going to where there is no light pollution which meant standing out in the open in the freezing weather. The weather here literally does change all the time so it can be hailing or pouring and the next second it will be OK. Its the coldest we've ever been in our life and our guide was absolutely rubbish. We almost gave up hope of seeing them when on our last stop the clouds cleared and there they were!!! We actually got to see them!! It kind of looks like light pollution in not like you see on the telly. That's because on a good camera you leave the lenses open for about 8 seconds to get all of the light. Luckily we had brought Matthews SLR camera and Dan managed to get some really good photos with the eery green light.
The next day we were up early to go on the golden circle tour and luckily this tour guide was much better! First we went to a geothermal powerplant because like 70% of Icelands power is from renewable energy where it stunk of rotting eggs and our guide also told us that all the showers in Iceland smell like that. Whereas we just thought it was only ours that smelt! Next we went to gulfoss a waterfall in Iceland where we also stopped to have lunch and we tried a traditional lamb soup which was quite nice. Finally we stopped at a national park where two Tetonic plates meet on land. There actually growing farther apart each year so Iceland grows at about 1 inch a year. Here is also where the worlds first parliament took place.
We got a bit bored in Reykjavik its very small and very expensive which made us spend less money then we do in cheaper places. So we decided to book a whale watching tour even though we had been following their diary online and they hadn't been very successful. Just like the northern lights tour if you don't spot a whale (or the lights) you get to go on the tour again the next day for free and keep going till you see them or you leave. Unfortunately this was our last full day in Iceland so we wouldn't be able to try again. Fortunately however they had forgotten to pick us up so we had to rush on the boiat and they told us to pay later and then they never mentioned it again so we got away with not paying! Which saved us about 100 pounds! But we didn't manage to see any whales and I felt terribly seasick so it wasn't the nicest trip to go on!
Finally on our last night we tried to see the northern lights again as the other nights it had been cancelled for bad weather. We hadn't realised just how lucky we were to see it on our first try! We met two old women all the way from south africa who had come for 2 nights just to see it but I don't think they did in the end which is a shame. The second trip felt like it would be a good night to see the lights and we ended up getting the same first terrible guide from the first night! But it wasn't to be there were no lights to see. Although we couldn't be that disappointed as we had seen them at least!
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