Iceland, pt 1

27 Oct.
We arrived at the Keflavik airport, and we were immediately amazed by the sleek architecture and cleanliness of everything. The bathrooms were actual rooms with their own sinks!

Our bus driver welcomed us with a sign that read my name. I felt fancy and a little famous. As he drove us to our bed and breakfast, we got an education. He was hilarious, giving us all sorts of pointers and comedic and well-meaning advice.

He warned us that there was a serious disease spreading in Iceland: everyone who visited gets infected and always wants to come back to Iceland. I told him that I was already infected.

He was from Lithuania, so we chatted in Russian. He referred to Putin as "Putlin," drawing a comparison to Hitler and told us all about Icelandic bananas, some WWII barracks, and the one and only McDonald's burger in Iceland. Apparently this burger has been televised online for the past four years. He said he would never eat one now that he's seen how long this one has lasted.

When he dropped us off, he said (in Russian), "Thank-you for speaking in Russian! I'm going home and telling my brother!"

Our room at the Blue Guesthouse B&B is in a side house they call a bungalow.  We get breakfast in the morning, but this night/morning we just had some cereal. We were exhausted, so we went to bed.  The beds are so comfortable, warm, and smell welcoming and delicious. I don't know how to make a bed smell delicious, but Iceland does!

We slept until 4pm, which is a bummer, but at least now we're well rested!  I woke up with a headache, but a quick walk up the hill with a powerful wind and misting rain. Cleared it right up!

The air smells like sulfur and the ground is soft to walk on. Ascending the hill, we jumped over volcanic rock and puddles of melted snow. At the top we could see the city of Reykjavik to west, mountains to the north, and the Arctic Ocean to the southeast.

We walked back down the hill and happened upon Bus 11, which took us to Laugaveger Street, which is a long brick road with cafés, bars, boutiques, souvenir shops, hostels, and everything in between. The walls are painted with intricate and bright graffiti.

Everyone speaks English here (95%!), so travelling was easy. We stopped at a place called 73 Restaurant and ordered Icelandic beers, Arctic cod, and lamb steak. Everything was delicious! The potato fries were especially yummy.

We ended the night at a coffee shop to use some WiFi and update you all about our trip...

...and to eat waffles. Tasty tasty waffles...