trixipaws
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well, here is my review of our weekend break if anyone wants to read! piccies will be added later on, most are on my boyf's mate's super-snazzy-expensive camera atm, and we dont hav the cable to transfer them to the pc, will post them as soon as.
and im very tired as iv had a busy day today, been enjoying spending the day with milliepops who i missed LOADS, also there was quite a bit of laundry to do, and tidying up- so think this will be my only post today just to say hiya, im back! i look forward to catching up tho, i missed u guys and spared a thought for y'all!
here-ee, sorry its long!
general summary
VERY beautiful- the whole land is craggy rocks, hills and slopes, mountains and volcanoes, everywhere is covered in snow, and when its cloudy somehow it gives the illusion that the land is very near to the sky- out of town it really looks like the arctic or something!
i saw hardly any babies or children (a good thing i didnt really as they'd hav set me off pining for mine hundreds of miles away! lol) and i can see why really. i wouldnt say i'd reccommend taking kids there, any kids under about 10. the ground is slopey and uneven even in town, and its icey so its very slippery and dangerous for little ones. and of course its very, very cold. its probably ok in the summer but while we were there it was like minus 1 or 2 degrees even at midday, and i felt chilled to the bone most of the time i was there even with several layers on and scarf and mittens- i just wouldnt hav liked taking waa-waa out in it.
i was suprised that there were no other young tourists. the others we saw were all over 50! explains the lack of babies i guess lol.
the local people are lovely and friendly, they dress like eccentrics tho! lol i saw a lot of women wearing baggy calf-length pants with black boots, a bit like early star trek uniforms! and its very, very quiet. there arent many people- even on a weekend the streets are nowhere near bustling!
reykjavik nightlife
the flight from manchester to keflavik was almost empty, and we were the only english people on the plane, it seemed the rest were icelanders going home. it was a novelty not needing to queue for check-in and baggage reclaim tho!
we landed near midnight, so we decided to go out and get drunk as soon as we'd found our room at the hotel! we literally found our room, dropped our cases and headed out. i wouldve been REALLY suprised if i hadnt already been 'forewarned' on the internet while researching- i had been expecting it to be like a cold version of ibiza- it is NOT!! i'd read that so i was prepared, but tbh was still a little suprised at how quiet it is. it is lively, but in a quiet way! we only visited 2 bars tho- as the drinks were VERY expensive, i got drunk very quickly as i hadnt eaten and we were tired from travelling. but had a fun time at them. they were really quaint! the clubbers are soooooo not like ibiza clubbers! they are the opposite lol, it was really cute and refreshing actually. it all seemed really innocent and sweet, the girls we saw dancing were doing it in such a kooky way; idk how to describe it apart from that it was so innocent! the first club was like a rock bar or something, the second one i preferred they were playing hip-hop and stuff. i liked it lots but i cant remember the name it was too hard to remember as icelandic words generally are and i was drunk anyway! oh, and we got ID'd on the way in! LOL my boyf is 30!! the bouncer looked well embarrassed and told me i could put my drivers licence away before he even saw it, after seeing my boyf's! he was well pleased tho.
tbh we didnt sample it any more than that- we kinda ran outa time i guess. if we go again ill hav to venture the bars some more!
the blue lagoon geothermal spa
on saturday we decided to visit there. we caught a bus there at 11am, and had a drink first, before we went in. after taking about 20 minutes to figure out how to use the lockers (lol, it seems in iceland they dont use mechanical keys, these were electronic keys built into these plastic bracelets we all had to wear, that also contained credits for drinks and snacks- also at the hotel our key was a swipecard. altho locker instructions were on the wall, i didnt realise i could choose any number- there was a symbol on my bracelet that looked like a 3, so i thought i should use locker 3 which was taken! lol im so dumb) i finally got my swimsuit on and went outside. at first u step out into a bar, where my boyf was waiting for me- then we ventured out! my gosh it was chilly! its so surreal running outside in minus one degrees snow wearing only ur swimsuit! we got into the water- it was HEAVENLY! it was warm- when i say warm, i mean REALLY toasty- like a hot bath! the water was cool milky blue colour, and the "sand" beneath our feet was black ash. further out it became slimey underfoot, we scooped that up too it was pinkish-white mud, which people were putting on their faces as a face mask. in the middle of the water was a volcano! all smoke was coming out of it and the water felt really hot near there, and it smelled of sulphur. further back there was like a "beach" where it got shallow and we could lie on the rocks. so we lay there for a bit with our bodies in the water still and just our faces in the air, which was breezey and chilly! my boyf said i had white dew on my eyebrows and lashes like a fairy! after awhile my face became too cold, also the sun was very bright and low and reflecting on all the water and snow and mountains was quite dazzling so we went inside for refreshments. there was a relaxing room in there with like sun loungers, so we lay there for a bit. then we went back outside to find the other features. we had to run across some bridges- again in the cold but this time we were already wet- omg! and the bridges were wet and had turned icey, the ice burned my bare feet a bit like sand does in hot countries- shoulda worn jelly beans! lol. we went under the waterfall (also hot) and tried the sauna and steam room (also heated by the volcanoes!) but i didnt like them coz i felt like i couldnt breathe! haha anyway we spent pretty much all saturday there. it was so relaxing, we were really tired when we got back! but there was no time for napping, because we were off to see the lights!
the northern lights
it was a clear night, so we booked on one of the northern lights tours. the lights are supposedly quite hard to find unless u got knowledge on the subject, and cannot be seen in the city due to the pollution. the deal with the tours is they have scouts out around the country, to contact the coach tour guide and inform them where are the best places to go. so for about £50 each we went on the coach at 8pm. the guide was really optimistic, he said the conditions were ideal for them, so we were really excited! we stopped at the first place which was on some dark mountain! we all got out and were looking around at the sky hopefully for about 45 minutes. alas, i just got very very cold indeed and saw no lights. so, we got back on the coach and went somewhere else. this time i stayed on the coach i was so cold, but peered out the window, and again we saw nothing! we had been out for hours and i was tired. i dozed off on the coach after that. basically we stopped at several places, but did not see the northern lights. we felt SO disappointed. the coach came back to reykjavik at around 2am, and had already dropped off half the tourists at their hotels, when the guide said "u gotta be kidding!" (he was american) "why did i leave the city?!" and we looked out the window, and there they were! in the city where ur not supposed to be able to see them! the guide said it was exceptionally late for them to be out, and they mustve been exceptionally bright to be able to see thru the pollution. we only saw the green colours, and it was like 3 swirly liney shapes. we got no pics as it was thru the window and we were all half asleep and fed up! but at least we saw thewm hey! but on the whole, disappointing and we wasted our money on that tour!
we went straight to bed after that, had been a tiring day.
the golden circle tour
on sunday, i had wanted to go shopping, but its a christian country and all the shops were closed. we didnt wanna do nothing, so we boooked on another tour, one where u go to see all the sights during the day. first, we went out to the mountains and saw some craters and took piccys. then we went to this waterfall- i cant remember its name sorry, but its the largest in europe. it was very beautiful! we got piccys of that too. next, it was the hot springs. they were scarey! my boyf loved them, but i ran away lol! it was holes in the ground that suddenly erupted boiling water out several meters high! after that there was lots of driving around sightseeing. the country is very, VERY beautiful, as i mentioned earlier.
during the evening we went to eat out, but couldnt find anywhere at first to cater for my fussy-eater tastes and when we did they got the order wrong, so we couldnt be bothered and both felt starving hungry by 10pm, so we bought crisps, salsa and chocolate and went back to our hotel room to eat on the bed, watch tv, then have sex so we tired ourselves out again- and did not go out to sample the nightlife any further! lol we acting like parents now we are parents!
shopping in reykjavik
we had to check out the hotel at 10am, and the bus collected us to take us to the airport at 1pm, so we thought we'd look around the shops and stuff. but not before my boyf made us go on a mission, looking for the headquarters of this geeky online game he's addicted to where people hav a virtual life on the internet with spaceships and a virtual galaxy and stuff. it was a blimmin mission too coz we got lost tryna find it and were walking for an hour the wrong way, then went the other wrong way before we found it! but he was proper buzzing bless him and he got his pics and after that we mooched around the shops. it was nice, altho quiet as iv said!
thats it really! when i got back i was SOOOOOOOOOOOO pleased to see waa-waa, i'd missed her so much! she wasnt so pleased to see us tho lol she wasnt impressed that we'd woken her up in the middle of the night! (well it was 9pm but middle of night to her, bless!) she fell asleep in the car tho and went straight off to sleep after the transfer from carseat to her own cot.
ill add the pics when we get them onto the pc altho it might take a few days! i look forward to catching up with y'all
x x x
and im very tired as iv had a busy day today, been enjoying spending the day with milliepops who i missed LOADS, also there was quite a bit of laundry to do, and tidying up- so think this will be my only post today just to say hiya, im back! i look forward to catching up tho, i missed u guys and spared a thought for y'all!
here-ee, sorry its long!
general summary
VERY beautiful- the whole land is craggy rocks, hills and slopes, mountains and volcanoes, everywhere is covered in snow, and when its cloudy somehow it gives the illusion that the land is very near to the sky- out of town it really looks like the arctic or something!
i saw hardly any babies or children (a good thing i didnt really as they'd hav set me off pining for mine hundreds of miles away! lol) and i can see why really. i wouldnt say i'd reccommend taking kids there, any kids under about 10. the ground is slopey and uneven even in town, and its icey so its very slippery and dangerous for little ones. and of course its very, very cold. its probably ok in the summer but while we were there it was like minus 1 or 2 degrees even at midday, and i felt chilled to the bone most of the time i was there even with several layers on and scarf and mittens- i just wouldnt hav liked taking waa-waa out in it.
i was suprised that there were no other young tourists. the others we saw were all over 50! explains the lack of babies i guess lol.
the local people are lovely and friendly, they dress like eccentrics tho! lol i saw a lot of women wearing baggy calf-length pants with black boots, a bit like early star trek uniforms! and its very, very quiet. there arent many people- even on a weekend the streets are nowhere near bustling!
reykjavik nightlife
the flight from manchester to keflavik was almost empty, and we were the only english people on the plane, it seemed the rest were icelanders going home. it was a novelty not needing to queue for check-in and baggage reclaim tho!
we landed near midnight, so we decided to go out and get drunk as soon as we'd found our room at the hotel! we literally found our room, dropped our cases and headed out. i wouldve been REALLY suprised if i hadnt already been 'forewarned' on the internet while researching- i had been expecting it to be like a cold version of ibiza- it is NOT!! i'd read that so i was prepared, but tbh was still a little suprised at how quiet it is. it is lively, but in a quiet way! we only visited 2 bars tho- as the drinks were VERY expensive, i got drunk very quickly as i hadnt eaten and we were tired from travelling. but had a fun time at them. they were really quaint! the clubbers are soooooo not like ibiza clubbers! they are the opposite lol, it was really cute and refreshing actually. it all seemed really innocent and sweet, the girls we saw dancing were doing it in such a kooky way; idk how to describe it apart from that it was so innocent! the first club was like a rock bar or something, the second one i preferred they were playing hip-hop and stuff. i liked it lots but i cant remember the name it was too hard to remember as icelandic words generally are and i was drunk anyway! oh, and we got ID'd on the way in! LOL my boyf is 30!! the bouncer looked well embarrassed and told me i could put my drivers licence away before he even saw it, after seeing my boyf's! he was well pleased tho.tbh we didnt sample it any more than that- we kinda ran outa time i guess. if we go again ill hav to venture the bars some more!
the blue lagoon geothermal spa
on saturday we decided to visit there. we caught a bus there at 11am, and had a drink first, before we went in. after taking about 20 minutes to figure out how to use the lockers (lol, it seems in iceland they dont use mechanical keys, these were electronic keys built into these plastic bracelets we all had to wear, that also contained credits for drinks and snacks- also at the hotel our key was a swipecard. altho locker instructions were on the wall, i didnt realise i could choose any number- there was a symbol on my bracelet that looked like a 3, so i thought i should use locker 3 which was taken! lol im so dumb) i finally got my swimsuit on and went outside. at first u step out into a bar, where my boyf was waiting for me- then we ventured out! my gosh it was chilly! its so surreal running outside in minus one degrees snow wearing only ur swimsuit! we got into the water- it was HEAVENLY! it was warm- when i say warm, i mean REALLY toasty- like a hot bath! the water was cool milky blue colour, and the "sand" beneath our feet was black ash. further out it became slimey underfoot, we scooped that up too it was pinkish-white mud, which people were putting on their faces as a face mask. in the middle of the water was a volcano! all smoke was coming out of it and the water felt really hot near there, and it smelled of sulphur. further back there was like a "beach" where it got shallow and we could lie on the rocks. so we lay there for a bit with our bodies in the water still and just our faces in the air, which was breezey and chilly! my boyf said i had white dew on my eyebrows and lashes like a fairy! after awhile my face became too cold, also the sun was very bright and low and reflecting on all the water and snow and mountains was quite dazzling so we went inside for refreshments. there was a relaxing room in there with like sun loungers, so we lay there for a bit. then we went back outside to find the other features. we had to run across some bridges- again in the cold but this time we were already wet- omg! and the bridges were wet and had turned icey, the ice burned my bare feet a bit like sand does in hot countries- shoulda worn jelly beans! lol. we went under the waterfall (also hot) and tried the sauna and steam room (also heated by the volcanoes!) but i didnt like them coz i felt like i couldnt breathe! haha anyway we spent pretty much all saturday there. it was so relaxing, we were really tired when we got back! but there was no time for napping, because we were off to see the lights!
the northern lights
it was a clear night, so we booked on one of the northern lights tours. the lights are supposedly quite hard to find unless u got knowledge on the subject, and cannot be seen in the city due to the pollution. the deal with the tours is they have scouts out around the country, to contact the coach tour guide and inform them where are the best places to go. so for about £50 each we went on the coach at 8pm. the guide was really optimistic, he said the conditions were ideal for them, so we were really excited! we stopped at the first place which was on some dark mountain! we all got out and were looking around at the sky hopefully for about 45 minutes. alas, i just got very very cold indeed and saw no lights. so, we got back on the coach and went somewhere else. this time i stayed on the coach i was so cold, but peered out the window, and again we saw nothing! we had been out for hours and i was tired. i dozed off on the coach after that. basically we stopped at several places, but did not see the northern lights. we felt SO disappointed. the coach came back to reykjavik at around 2am, and had already dropped off half the tourists at their hotels, when the guide said "u gotta be kidding!" (he was american) "why did i leave the city?!" and we looked out the window, and there they were! in the city where ur not supposed to be able to see them! the guide said it was exceptionally late for them to be out, and they mustve been exceptionally bright to be able to see thru the pollution. we only saw the green colours, and it was like 3 swirly liney shapes. we got no pics as it was thru the window and we were all half asleep and fed up! but at least we saw thewm hey! but on the whole, disappointing and we wasted our money on that tour!
we went straight to bed after that, had been a tiring day.
the golden circle tour
on sunday, i had wanted to go shopping, but its a christian country and all the shops were closed. we didnt wanna do nothing, so we boooked on another tour, one where u go to see all the sights during the day. first, we went out to the mountains and saw some craters and took piccys. then we went to this waterfall- i cant remember its name sorry, but its the largest in europe. it was very beautiful! we got piccys of that too. next, it was the hot springs. they were scarey! my boyf loved them, but i ran away lol! it was holes in the ground that suddenly erupted boiling water out several meters high! after that there was lots of driving around sightseeing. the country is very, VERY beautiful, as i mentioned earlier.
during the evening we went to eat out, but couldnt find anywhere at first to cater for my fussy-eater tastes and when we did they got the order wrong, so we couldnt be bothered and both felt starving hungry by 10pm, so we bought crisps, salsa and chocolate and went back to our hotel room to eat on the bed, watch tv, then have sex so we tired ourselves out again- and did not go out to sample the nightlife any further! lol we acting like parents now we are parents!
shopping in reykjavik
we had to check out the hotel at 10am, and the bus collected us to take us to the airport at 1pm, so we thought we'd look around the shops and stuff. but not before my boyf made us go on a mission, looking for the headquarters of this geeky online game he's addicted to where people hav a virtual life on the internet with spaceships and a virtual galaxy and stuff. it was a blimmin mission too coz we got lost tryna find it and were walking for an hour the wrong way, then went the other wrong way before we found it! but he was proper buzzing bless him and he got his pics and after that we mooched around the shops. it was nice, altho quiet as iv said!
thats it really! when i got back i was SOOOOOOOOOOOO pleased to see waa-waa, i'd missed her so much! she wasnt so pleased to see us tho lol she wasnt impressed that we'd woken her up in the middle of the night! (well it was 9pm but middle of night to her, bless!) she fell asleep in the car tho and went straight off to sleep after the transfer from carseat to her own cot.
ill add the pics when we get them onto the pc altho it might take a few days! i look forward to catching up with y'all
x x x
Hiya!
