My First Solo Trip
Going on a trip alone may seem intimidating to some who aren't familiar with it, heck it was to me until I conquered it. While, I am somewhat of a loner and enjoy my alone time, I didn't just decide to go away some place by myself. The plan was to visit Ghana for one of my friend's birthday party and of course see some family members. Finding a ticket within my price range with a good layover was proven impossible, some of the layovers were over 18 hours in Istanbul and Paris and those are two places, I would like to avoid if i can help it. So I had to look into other options. Iceland has been on my list for a while now because I am obsessed with seeing the Northern lights. So I decided to add Iceland as a stopover to my Ghana trip when I saw that wow air was running one of their sales from Newark to Reykjavik, one way was about $200. Wow is a budget airline so I expected nothing more than basic and they did not disappoint. Basic is all we got but all I needed was to get from point A to B. It did the job with a 6 hour flight straight to Reykjavik.
The flight was two hours delayed so we arrived around 8 am. Imagine my surprise when it was still pitch black outside. I was confused! What time is sun rise? Upon, deplaning, going through immigration and getting my bags, it was now 9:30 am and still dark outside. At this point, I wish I had done more research on their daylight times. In order for me to enjoy my time here, I need some day light. My hotel was in the heart of the city which is about 40 minutes from the airport. My research said the most economical way to get there is to take the fly-bus. It was about $15. Arrived at the hotel around 10:30 am, at this time some daylight was trying to peak out. I had planned to go on the Golden circle tour when my original arrival time was 6 am but since the flight was delayed, I had to move it to the next day. I then decided to book the blue lagoon but that turned out to be a joke because it was booked until the end of the year. At this point, the only option left to do is to explore the city. The main event for me is tonight when I go to see the Northern lights!
When people say Iceland is expensive, please believe them! I read everywhere that it was expensive but i guess I did not expect it to be that expensive. Finding affordable food was exhausting too because who wants to walk around looking for hot dog stands. lol After walking around for 15 minutes looking for a restaurant I found on yelp without success, I finally settled on a random restaurant (I really wish I could remember the name of the restaurant). I didn't care much what they served because I was hungry. Icelandic food consists of fresh seafood, all kinds of meat, potatoes, rye bread etc so I thought my first meal pretty much contained enough of it. It was Cod mixed with rice, sweet potatoes, broccoli and their famous rye bread. I got a glass of white wine to wash it all down. After all, life is short. Either I was very hungry or the food was delicious! It only cost about $50 for the food and drink.
With the energy that I gained from that Icelandic dish, I walked to Hallgrimskirkja, the largest church in Iceland and one of the tallest buildings in Iceland. It was not a long walk however it was snowing and the wind...that disrespectful wind made that walk awful. Nevertheless, the church is beautiful! For a small fee, you can go up to the top to get nice 360 views of Reykjavik (if the weather behaves).
I quite like this solo travel thing because after this, I walked around for bit then went back to my room to rest then came back out again to walk around then back to the room. It wouldn't have been this simple if I had been traveling with someone else.
After another delicious and pricey dinner, it was time to head on out to see what I came to Iceland for.
Our tour took us outside of Reykjavik, basically away from light pollution. Light can affect how we see the northern lights. I was just praying that I see them because it is not guaranteed that you will see them on any given day but the odds were in my favor. I saw them with my very own eyes. I was so happy! My heart was full! God be looking out! Its important to note that not every camera can capture them especially phone cameras. My pictures would have been better had I known how to work my camera. That day was my first day using my new camera so I didn't know what I was doing I am just glad I was able to capture something. My pictures will be better next time I promise.
I spent the next day on the golden circle tour where I got to see a volcano crater, gullfoss waterfalls, tectonic plates, geysirs and more in the southern Iceland area. It was a whole day tour. It gave me a glimpse of how magical Iceland really is. It was much colder in that area than I expected though so I skipped out on seeing a few things. lol I am not a fan of winter at all.
Oh when in Iceland, you must try a hot dog. I guess I ended up walking around to find that hot dog stand after all. lol They have the best hot dogs on the planet. Another must try is skyr...the taste is a mix between Greek yogurt and cottage cheese but it is actually cheese. I tried the organic unflavored skyr at a local farm while on the golden circle tour. It was good but had to flavor it up with some sugar as the organic is very tart and sour. They are sold in the city with different fruit flavorings but of course its not organic. Their ice cream was also very good...very fresh. If you are a drinker, try their famous black death drink. Its strong but very good. I got my entire life in Iceland. I shall be returning soon but probably when their weather is a bit warmer.
