Iceland was our final stop on our Sisters Christmas World Tour. We enjoyed every city’s sights, food and most importantly fans of ours. Yup! All 2 of them! Ha, in due time. Upon arriving in Iceland, we arranged for our friend, Kristina, from the States to meet us there and then come back with us to Madrid for New Years. All of us were excited that we could finally let our hair down and relax in Iceland since we planned everything to a “T."
Once we landed, retrieved our bags and got something to eat, I quickly remembered that I left my jacket on the airplane. Yes, you read correctly. Out of all places, I.LEFT.MY JACKET.IN.ICELAND!
The name of the country has “Beware of Frostbite,” written all through it. What sucked even more, was I was unable to retrieve it from Lost and Found until the next day between a three-hour time slot. “Ok, no biggie, I can wait one day,” I said to myself. However, as soon as I stepped one foot out of the airport to walk to our driver’s car that would take us to our hotel, the wind literally knocked all of mine OUT.OF.ME! Gasping for air and trying to cover any part of my body left exposed, I felt every bit of blood in my body suddenly become non-existent. To say it was freezing is an understatement.
Not only that but right before we left we were told that our tour for that night was canceled and had to be made up the next day. The one thing I did not realize when it came to Iceland, is every activity is pretty much weather contingent. At this point all we wanted to do was get to our hotel, warm up, eat dinner and explore the city on our own. Our relaxing trip was not getting off to a good start, but “No worries,” we said to one another…what else could go wrong?”; that was, of course, until we arrived at our hotel or Chilligans Island as our Kristina put it.
When we opened the door to our room our low expectations of at least two beds and a cot were not met. Instead, we stood before the room gazing upon one bed that all three of us had to share and a sink. No bathroom. Sleeping head to toe was gonna be our position that night and a 50 ft walk down the hall when we needed to take a shower or go to the bathroom. “Well, isn’t this delightful,” I commented with sarcasm. Although we were all a little annoyed by the situation, our personalities allowed us to laugh it off, get dressed and just go to dinner. However, our laughing quickly decreased as the night went on and into the next day.
Our journey to our dinner was just that…a journey. A twenty-minute walk in negative 20-degree weather and an hour bus ride to the center of the city for another twenty-minute walk in the freezing cold allowed us to finally arrive at our destination. We began to gain our strength back when handed the menu, but I nearly fainted when I saw the price. For them to have served us something I could have gotten at T.G.I. Fridays there is no way on God’s green earth that they should charge a person $100 for a simple dinner consisting of only the main course. My funds were quickly depleting right before my eyes and all I could imagine doing at the end of the trip was opening my wallet and look at the flies that made a home out of it. Afterward, we walked around and made our way back to the bus station, unaware that the bus wasn’t going to come until 3:00 A.M. What time was it when we got to the bus station you ask? Let me check…yea about 11.P.M. We saw taxi’s parked outside and figured out best bet was to take one. “How much can an hour taxi ride split between the three of us,” Steph said. $300 was the magic number of the night! So with the little bit of dignity and money, we had left, split three ways we forked over the money, got out the taxi, took a shower and went to bed. Tomorrow had to better.
Our last day in Iceland and the skies were clear, the weather was as good as it was going to be and I finally was able to retrieve my jacket. THANK. THE. LORDT! So, on to the six-hour tour that lets us see the sun rise and set as the backdrop of beautiful landscapes, hot springs and wild horses running in the distance. The best part of the trip was by far seeing the northern lights. Although, I will warn you that it’s not as spectacular as you think, but they are still visible, just not as rich in color as one would expect. Unfortunately, when it came to the Blue Lagoon, we weren’t able to get in due to the fact that it was completely booked and had been for a couple months leading up to our trip. However, we were able to see it, which was like dangling meat in front of a Pit-bull…such a tease. (Sigh) Our flight back was smooth, but after planning and exploring three different countries, both of us were utterly exhausted. First world problems, I know, but no complaints.
After arriving in Madrid, our beds were calling us by our government names, and so we were obliged to meet it as soon as we got home. Five hours later, New Years crept upon us, but our plans were met with a screeching halt as we were scrambling to find one another in Madrid's block off streets. Our original plans were for us to spend N.Y.E in the middle of Sol on looking fireworks and giving each other hugs.
However, by the time we found each other, it was five minutes before the clock struck 12:00. So, we opted to go to the nearest fast food restaurant. Sitting in a fast food booth, popping bubbly is so sophisti-rachet, but it was definitely a stress-free way to begin our New Year, making the best of the situation. Looking on the bright side, we were still able to celebrate N.Y.E. in a different country with loved ones and ridiculous ass stories to laugh at later. So cheers to an even greater New Year with more adventures, misadventures and tackling goals that scare us.
Happy New Years!