mschoen202 Iceland, man.
Well first – I’ve officially been in Ireland for over a month! It has absolutely flown by in the best way and I cannot believe it has already been that long.
Okay.
Instagram yesterday. It’s almost like I
liked Iceland or something.
Iceland, man.
I’m having trouble putting into words exactly how in awe I am of the natural beauty this country holds, which probably explains the 20 pictures I posted to Instagram yesterday. Since this is a blog of words and I am the writer of the blog with words, however, I will give it a shot. You’re probably wishing right about now that I had just womaned up and kissed the Blarney Stone, huh?
The Cast
This was a group trip and a major contributor to my overall experience was the wonderful company I held, so let me first do some cast introductions:
Chappie – trip planner extraordinaire, moss rock loop party pooper (also known as a loop pooper), one half of the dynamic car-singing duo
Wayfish (formerly known as Salt n Peppa) – stole a silver spoon from the café in the Icelandic gas station so he could eat his soup, warm soup enthusiast
Germy – has a drone named Icky (short for Icarus), also a top-notch car vocalist
Handyman – holds a concerning fascination of Reykjavik museums and Icelandic chocolate bars.
And of course me, your tragically funny, fly-ingesting narrator.
Day 1
Our first day in Iceland is a good example of the absolute insanity that became our normal for the rest of the trip. We arrived around 1pm on Saturday, retrieved our rental car – Chaotic Orange Carl – and then set off for our first adventure.
Chappie said, “why don’t we check out the hike to the volcano?” and we all said, “okay.”
The Volcano
Now, I’ve actually been to a volcano before and while it was very cool and beautiful landscape, it was also just…rock. What I was hearing from Chappie was that we would be hiking 8 miles to see some cool-looking rock. Having done no actual research myself, however, I wasn’t in a position to dissent, so to the volcano we went.
While cool-looking rock, expectations were low.
“You know, none of the people coming back the other way seem to be all that excited about what they saw. I’m starting to think this hike is going to be very anticlimactic,” Chappie lamented as we neared the volcano we hiked so long to find. I tended to agree with her and prepared myself for the real possibility that we hiked through four miles of rock only to see more rock.
We trudge over the crest of a hill and in unison Chappie and I let out sounds that probably resembled a cross between a gasp, a yelp, and some type of animalistic screech. Handyman, Wayfish, and Germy started laughing as we just stared at the sight in front of us.
It was a volcano, yes, but it was an erupting volcano. Red-orange molten lava spouting up 50+ feet in the air and spilling out on the ground around it. I have never seen anything like it before in my life. We sat up on a hill next to the volcano for at least an hour, completely mesmerized by what we were witnessing.
When I sent pictures to my parents to tell them that their daughter, their baby girl, was next to a volcano that was shooting real-life LAVA into the air beside her their reactions were… frankly lacking the concern I had hoped for, me being their favorite child and all.
Mom: You better close your mouth or another fly is going to get in.
Dad: Very cool. I think I saw that on 60 Minutes.
It’s cool guys, it’s not like I could be burned alive at any minute or anything.
Despite my parent’s disappointing nonchalance about the whole thing, the volcano was probably the coolest thing I have seen in my life, but also only the beginning of a string of unbelievable sights the weekend would hold.
Day 2
but no one ever said not to frolic near
waterfalls
I’m aware there is universally acknowledged advice to not go chasing waterfalls but rather stick to the rivers and lakes that I’m used to (thanks TLC). I would have to argue though that, when in Iceland, chasing waterfalls is exactly what you should do. And so we did (sorry TLC).
Sunday was an impeccably planned, jam-packed day of adventuring from our departure time of 7am to our return at 11pm. Fun fact: our Airbnb was right next to the largest prison in Iceland. Second fun fact: the largest prison in Iceland holds a whopping 106 inmates.
Waterfall-waterfall-cliffs-beach-lunch-cliff-valley-moss rock loop-glacier-sunset pics off the side of the road was the cadence of the day as we packed ourselves in Chaotic Orange Carl, sang our hearts out, and pilgrimaged to each stop on the itinerary. Every attraction somehow managed to be even more amazing than the one before.
The Glacier
should have turned around.
Towards the end of the day we hiked down to a glacier, which was basically a really really really big piece of ice. As you approached the glacier there were increasingly intense warning signs about how you should not walk on the glacier unless you had a guide and were very prepared. Naturally, we were not very prepared. But, like Nemo, I really wanted to swim out into the open ocean and touch the butt. And by that I mean I wanted to touch the really really really big piece of ice.
We proceeded cautiously, walked just far enough onto the glacier to reach a block of ice, touched the butt, and then hightailed it out of there before any of the terrible things on the warning sign came to fruition. I was content.
Driving home after the glacier we pulled off on the side of the road for a mini photo shoot, because when the sky looks like this:
The only thing you can do is pull off on the side of the road and have a mini photo shoot.
Day 3
On Monday we visited what I could only imagine is an exact replica of the Garden of Eden and then drove the Golden Circle, visiting a massive waterfall, some active geysers, and finally the National Park in Iceland. We made our way into Reykjavik for dinner, and then ended our trip in the best way, at the famous Blue Lagoon. After a weekend of bundling up with all the layers, hiking all the miles, and chasing all the waterfalls, a bright blue, hot-spring pool complete with clay face masks and a swim up bar was the perfect R&R before the final leg of our journey.
face masks (you’re welcome)
Our Blue Lagoon reservation was from 9-11pm, our flight was at 6am the next morning, and the Airbnb we had booked was 45 minutes away from both. Multiply by 2, carry the 1 and you come to realize pretty quickly that we would have about all of 2 hours at the Airbnb before having to leave for our flight. Logically, the plan that made the most sense was to forgo the Airbnb all together, and head straight from the lagoon to the airport. As Germy, Wayfish, Chappie, Handyman, and myself are all engineers, we know logic when we see it. That doesn’t mean we have to like it though.
The Airport
Fueled by granola bars and gas station pizza, the team made our way over to the airport, said a sad farewell to our trusty steed Chaotic Orange Carl, and embarked on our airport expedition.
does it just make me not very smart?
If you had asked me a year ago where I thought I would be today, I can say with absolute, 100% confidence that I would not have said sleeping on a bench under the fluorescent lights of the Keflavik airport at 2am. I probably would’ve looked you in the eye and asked with a straight face what a Keflavik is.
The whole sleeping in the airport thing wouldn’t have been that bad either, except past Megan was not looking out for future Megan when these plans were made. No, past Megan really said, “It’s totally possible to sleep on an airport bench, take a 6am flight, drive 2.5 hours back to Sligo, and then go straight to work for a 1:30pm meeting and work the rest of the day.”
The Day After
I can stand here and say while it is (almost) possible (there was a rather stressful 15 minutes of me trying to log into the meeting from the car), I wouldn’t say it’s ideal. Each one of the team members checked in with each other to make sure, even if not alive and well, we were at the very least logged on to our computers. If that isn’t true friendship I don’t know what is. I think you ask any one of us who went on the trip, though, and we would all agree that we would do it again in a heartbeat. Iceland was that cool.
So with that comes list time, in which I will give an in-depth analysis of my favorite pictures taken of Chappie this weekend:
My Favorite Pictures Taken of Chappie This Weekend
- Villain Chappie – we are all honestly still confused how she was even able to make this face. If she was a villain in an anime film, though, this is what she would look like. 10/10
- Kindergarten Chappie – when I picture what someone with the name Chappie would look like in my head, it is this exact picture. Long live the bucket hat. 9/10
- Round Chappie – everything in this picture is round. The hood, the face, the eyes, the mouth. Extra points for symmetry. 8.5/10
- Annoyed Chappie – we think she was talking to Wayfish when this was taken. It checks out. 7/10
- Banana Chappie – it’s the small things in life. Like getting this excited to eat a banana. 8/10
- Field Goal Chappie – THE EXTRA POINT IS GOOD! 6/10
- Hipster Chappie – In her own words, “I’m going to be frank with you. I’m very pleased with how I look in this picture.” 100000/10
