Reyking Havoc in Reykjavik

View from the highest view point in Reykjavik: Hallgrímskirkja church

Okay okay okay. We can’t deny having had the time of our lives traveling Iceland. (photo evidence can prove that). But pictures aren’t always worth a thousand words; sometimes you need a good ole’ itinerary to really make you feel all the vicarious feels you're looking for. Sara, fellow traveler, culled different itineraries (we really liked the one that said to grab beers and bitches) and curated ours to *perfection*. Everything went so smoothly (until we came home to find a $500 speeding ticket land in our emails.)

can't even tell you what this speeding ticket says

Scratch that travel itch and start packing your bags!

Before the Trip:

Reina, Sara, and I were sitting around my jacuzzi in the beginning of the summer speaking of potential destination spots, not even seriously planning a trip when Richie and Ezra (shoutout for making our travel dreams a reality guys), told us about this magical place called Iceland. Fast forward a few weeks and we were booking a plane ticket to that very place. Note: We booked and planned everything just shy of two weeks before we boarded the plane.

Summer Packing List Essentials:

Layers on layers on layers. The famous Icelandic slogan goes, “You don’t like the weather? Wait 5 minutes.” We prepared for rain, heat, and cold all in one day.

Hat and gloves
Eye mask (there is only 4 hours of darkness during the summer day. You’ll be experiencing 21 hours of day light.)
Hiking boots (Reina will contest to this and is currently writing a strongly worded review on yelp about why you don’t need em’ but I think these are way more sturdy than sneakers for volcano caves and glaciers).
Rain pants and rain jacket cuz rain
All the medicine, ALL OF IT (we got sick AF there but also it was my fault but also weather change y’know?)
Leave sleep at home. You won’t be needing that.
Sweaters! T-shirts! Long-sleeves! Layers are your friend.
Bug spray (hiking)
A reusable water bottle (the water there is so clean you can drink it from the ground basically which is what we did when we went glacier hiking/ snorkeling)

Day 1, Thursday August 3rd:

Jacq and I flew from Newark while Sa and Reina flew from JFK but we all landed the same time @ Kevlavik airport. Our Icelandair plane ticks weren’t on the cheap but hey, it was tourist season. We didn’t fly with WOW air b/c they add on fees such as your actual seat, water, luggage, breathing air etc. It would’ve came out to the same price as Icelandair essentially.

Fun fact: Iceland is a popular stopover country, they will basically let you stop over for 24 hours for free.

Another fun fact: Jacq and I got a free leg room upgrade and free extra luggage space b/c Jacq is a sweet talker and I want to travel with her always and forever and I will probably bring her with me on my honeymoon just so I can get extra leg room.

Landed at 6am (2am NY time) Took free shuttle bus from airport to car rental
Picked up car rental which we booked in advance from Cars Iceland website
Dropped off luggage at air bnb which was dirt cheap and 15 minute walk from the main Reykjavik town so we never really needed cabs
Road tripped the Golden circle including: Thingvellir, Geyser erupting, Gulfoss waterfall, Fridheimar (an indoor greenhouse cafe where everything on the menu is made of tomatoes), skogafoss waterfall, Seljavallalaug (a man-made hot spring where we made some friends from Montreal), and Seljalandsfoss waterfall.
Clearly ^^ we got really ambitious and went to see everything. Hence, we arrived home at 12am. Exhaustion levels 100.
Along the way we stopped on the open green road to make friends with the breathtaking horses and sheep and take yogi pics of Jacq.

Day 2, Friday August 4th:

Happy birthday Jacqueline!!

Sa bought birthday crowns and a bunch of other cute stuff which got us all lots and lots of free shots at the bar. Pro tip: Wear a birthday crown every time you got to a bar. EVERY TIME.

We did the Kerio crater today which is part of Golden Circle because we didn’t get to it the day before.
***A MUST** Hiked the Hot river trail Reykjdalur (a hike leading to a natural hot spring). Most magical enchanting place; def was high on nature and geyser fumes.

Bar night out: Shabbat started at 10:40pm and ended 12:40am. We went to B5! It was popping! We got home at 6am after roaming the city and sitting out on the water. We were also chased by a lady who claimed she would cut our hands off if we did not run for our lives. Hence, we ran for our lives..

Day 3, Saturday August 5th:

Lunch @ Laundromat Cafe. Chic lunch spot with laundromats to do your laundry, (We did not do our laundry, we used one towel the whole trip. We are barbaric.) They encourage “Babies and Boobies” AKA breastfeeding. They even have a whole playroom downstairs.
Free walking tour around the city. Cool history stuff!
Went up the Hallgrímskirkja church which is the highest view point in the city.
Sat. night out: Austere night club woooooooo. What’s cool is you get there and it’s daylight and you leave and it’s daylight and I just love day light don't you just LOVE daylight?!?!

P.s: Todd, if you're out there we are sending our love.

Day 4, Sunday August 6th:

Exhausted but we keep on, keepin’ on!
Realized we booked this tour for tomorrow after waiting outside for a bus that never showed. SO we payed a billion dollars to cab our way to the tour’s next stop. Fun times!
South tour of glacier hiking with the tour bus!
Glacier hiked Sólheimajökull glacier
Walked Black sand beach of Reynisfjara
Sunday night: Bar hopped and heard live music. Ran into some hipster club, wish I knew the name.

Day 5, Monday August 7th:

Strange human walks the land of fire and ice

Emerges out of 30 degree water unscathed

Snorkeling in Silfra and Volcano caves.
The water was so clear and clean that no fish inhabited it/we were able to drink the water.
Night: Reina finally got her fish and chips we are so thankful for that. We stared at her eat and then got waffles in town.