The Geysir Girls And The Tales Of Rotten Eggs (Iceland)

Name: jenni_a

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Product:	Iceland
Date:	25/05/04 (1451 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: gorgeous scenery, plenty to do, memorable

Disadvantages: rotten eggs, fish, expensive

My visit to Iceland lasted a week in October of 2002 and was organized through my school. I thought that not only would a holiday with all of my friends be a great way to relax before the stress of year 10 GCSE syllabus kicked into full swing but also a great learning experience as a studier of GCSE geography.

The trip set me (or my parents) back a mere £500 for my travelling and accommodation expenses which I thought was reasonable but since I?m not a frequent traveller I may well be wrong. Also it must be taken into account that it was a school organized visit and so the costs could be lower as it was a group of children. Also to keep the costs down we spent the week in a youth hostel rather than a hotel but more details will be given later.

Just when you were thinking that £500 was reasonable (or at least I was) after consulting with my Mam whilst writing she so happily informed me of all of the additional costs such as spending money and clothing that I required before venturing across to my holiday destination. All in all my Mam reckons that the trip cost roughly £1000 but the clothing may not apply to you again more details later.

~*~ Before The Adventure ~*~

Since the trip was school organized there was a lot of preparation involved but in this section I?m going to tell you about the additional £500 that suddenly appeared in the equation above.

Along with our code of conduct (yes school trip so we were automatically branded irresponsible animals) we were given a suitable clothing list. On the list we were advised to take with us suitable walking shoes or wellies, a warm outdoor and waterproof coat, waterproof over trousers and hat, gloves, scarf etc. I would advise that if you plan on visiting Iceland that these measures are taken. I would advise walking boots rather than wellies though and don?t think you?ll get away with trainers, I ruined mine. Also, over trousers and a waterproof coat will come in handy if y
ou plan on visiting the beautiful scenery such as the waterfalls and geysers. We were also warned that the temperatures in Iceland are freezing and so we should always wrap up however I didn?t really notice a huge temperature difference from that we have here in sunny old England. Obviously taking these measures will not add up to £500 if you budget, unlike myself, a fashion conscious teenager who would only wear a coat who?s designer I had heard of (how vain do I sound, I?m ashamed)

~*~ The Journey ~*~

To get to Iceland from Washington (near Newcastle not in the USA :p) we had to get ourselves to Glasgow as Newcastle airport does not have flights to Iceland (or at least this was the case then). In order to make our way to Glasgow we hired a coach and left for Glasgow.

From Glasgow the journey to Iceland was quite pleasant. We travelled using Icelandair flights and since by the time we boarded the plane it was lunch time we were provided with a scrumptious plane dinner (yes please note sarcasm). The flight itself only lasted around an hour maybe a little more. We landed in Keflavik which I must admit was rather scary. Having the window seat I could watch us landing and it really was as if we were going to land in the sea as the airport is so close to the coast.

After collecting our luggage we were greeted by our new coach, tour guide and driver (the driver was gorgeous, but then again all the young Icelandic men were gorgeous) and we set out on our holiday. Unfortuantley unless you are travelling on a tour package or in a large group you're unlikely to have the pleasure of a fully written out itinery of the tourist hotspots and so will have to decide for yourself. Also since the trip was organised through the school I'm a bit unsure on a price for a coach tour but obviously it was included in the £500 along with accomodation and flights and entry fees so I would imagine its a reasonable price per person.

~*~ A
ccommodation ~*~

For the first three days the group stayed in youth hostel in Reykjavik as we were obviously on a low budget so that costs remained low for paying parents. However this was nothing like the sort of youth hostel I was expecting, it did in fact have many of the features that would be expected of a hotel: private bathroom facilities (only shower no bath) private key cards for room access but also the rooms were separated by corridors which could only be accessed through the use of a key card that fits a room on the corridor which was extremely beneficial for us as a group of overexcited children. The rooms in the hostel were small but satisfactory for what we required. Inside the room were two sets of bunk beds along with a quilt and pillow however we had been advised to take sleeping bags. I didn?t see any fault with the provided quilts and pillows apart from they appeared quite thin and so it could have been quite cold during the night and so for that reason I chose to use my sleeping bag (not because I wanted to make sure I was making use of the things my parents had so kindly bought :P) Since there was a large group of us 8 people managed to cram themselves into our room despite there only being room for 4 people in a bed.
After a nights break from the hostel which was spent in a farmhouse (described later) we returned this time to a different corridor in which the rooms were slightly smaller however an extra two sets of bunks were placed inside and there wasn?t a private bathroom and so the facilities in the main hall had to be used but these were only toilets there were no showers to my knowledge. Don?t let this put you off considering a youth hostel however as I put the lack of shower down to the one night stay idea and there may well be shared facilities but me being a lazy tired scruff didn?t notice them!

Taking a shower in Iceland will remain the most memorable experience of all. I can remember waking up to a smell of ro
tten eggs and thought good God what the hell is that awful stench?! To find it was in fact my fellow peer taking a shower. It was later brought to my attention by my teacher who was pissing himself laughing at my complaints that the smell in fact comes from the sulphur content in the water. The first day of showering made me want to puke but after 8 people in a row have showered the smell begins to grow on you.

Breakfast was provided by the hostel but I am unsure as to whether main meals are because we ate out every night we spent there. The breakfast was not to my taste but I?m not in fact a breakfast sort of person and so my opinion can?t be valued on that too much. There was however a wide spread of choice ranging from fruit to biscuits to cheese and ham (I didn?t understand the cheese and ham for breakfast either) As well as these basic features the hostel also offered a social room, laundry facilities, internet access and payphones.

One night of the stay was spent in a farmhouse as I mentioned above. I am unsure of the exact location of the farmhouse we stayed in but there are lots of details to their whereabouts at http://www.farmholidays.is/. The farmhouse was very pleasant this time with an evening meal provided and single beds rather than bunks. In the farmhouse there was only two people placed in each room and as well as a private bathroom there was storage facilities which I didn?t take advantage of on account we were only there one night. I did notice though that the shower in the farmhouse did not host the welcoming smell of rotten eggs which was a nice factor. Since I only stayed in the farmhouse I didn?t become very well acquainted with its facilities but as I mentioned before a lot of detail is given in the website above.

~*~ Itinerary ~*~

In Iceland we spent a week visiting many places of great interest although many aren?t famously named so to avoid ruining possible surprises for eager visitors or boring you w
ith boring ?oh yeah and by the way we saw this waterfall? sentences I?m just going the highlight the main visiting spots of Iceland.

On arriving in Iceland straight after the flight we made our way to the Blue Lagoon. We had packed our cossies in our hand luggage. The Blue Lagoon is an outdoor pool which is warmed by geothermal energy. Since the trip?s activities were all paid for in the £500 I?m unsure of an exact entrance price to the blue lagoon but after some brief research I have concluded it is roughly a tenner. On entering the changing rooms to get changed you must shower naked which to us was a bit of a surprise and an embarrassment but luckily for us there were curtains. The lagoons showers luckily did not smell of egg! The pool itself was a powdery blue colour and was very warm. Surrounding the pool at regular intervals were buckets filled with a gooey slush which was also at the bottom of the pool and it felt very queer against my feet it almost sent shivers. The purpose of this greyish white slushy substance was sort of that of a moisturiser and I must give it credit my skin was feeling particularly silky smooth that week. If the bottled version in the store wasn?t going to set me back twenty quid I would have bought it but what can I do I?m a stinge! If you change your mind later and want to buy it, it can be bought online. Because the pool is heated by geothermal energy it?s hotter in some places than others (geography moment shining through) but a visit to the lagoon is well worth it and it?s an amazing experience.

As well as the Blue Lagoon during our stay we visited Geyser. This was one spectacular show. The geyser itself is surrounded by a barrier in order to indicate how near to the geyser you can stand before getting soaked. Well the barrier man that measured the safe distance was very wrong. I can remember myself and my friend standing near with our cameras held up ready to take the picture when suddenly we were soaked with the
boiling water that shot up from the ground. The teacher we were with caught the whole thing on tape and to this day we are still nicknamed ?the geyser girls?. Anyway, enough of my personal details a good visit would be the geysers!

We also visited the glaciers. This is a place where I?d advise you really do wrap up warm although that might sound obvious considering the glaciers are ice. When you get to walk around the glaciers (or take a snowmobile ? too expensive for us) be careful not to hit your head! Yes again sounds obvious but some fools manage cough, cough but hey what can I say not many people can say they?ve hit their heads off a glacier.

Other popular attractions in Iceland are whale watching, which was a great experience but don?t expect to get photos! Take a camcorder or like me you?ll end up with a film full of whale?s tails and water. Although, if you?re a good photographer and run out of film they can normally be bought on the boat. Whale watching normally lasts around 2 hours and is a great afternoon if you see a whale although be warned you run the risk of seeing nothing! Also when in Iceland you might want to go pony trekking however, I?d advice being a horse lover or experienced rider because if you?re not then you might be scared shitless and crying like me! Or maybe I was just unlucky and ended up with the naughty pony!

These are just some of the tourist hot spots that we visited during our stay and there are so many places that we unfortunately didn?t have time to visit but more details on things to do such as bird watching, golf or cycling can be found on http://www.goiceland.org/

~*~ The Food ~*~

Do you like fish? Yes? GOOD! Lol. Obviously as you might have guessed fish is a big thing on the menu in Iceland and its one of the cheapest things to buy there. If, however like me you detest fish either take a supply of mars bars and rich tea biscuits in your suitcase or a massive wad of cash. As I me
ntioned in the accommodation section of this op we dined out most nights of our stay. Night number one we walked to a nearby restaurant which looked lovely but as predicted by myself consisted of a fish buffet as was night number two and three so I began to thank God for my embarrassing mother who had sent me packing on Monday morning with a suitcase full of mars bars and rich tea biscuits. During the day we stopped off at various cafes or fast food outlets however be warned, prices are horrendous. I paid roughly a whopping figure of £5 for a slice of pizza and a coke! Real food in Iceland doesn?t come cheap! A KFC set me back nearly £7 and so by the end of the week two thirds of my spending money was in fact spent on what I call ?real food? Don?t get me wrong though its not like I starved and its not a factor that would put me off ever returning to Iceland.

Our final night in Iceland was spent in a shopping centre where we were given the option of either visiting their food court for a dominoes pizza and MacDonald?s or visiting Reykjavik?s very own Hard Rock Café. Yes I made the right decision in going to the Hard Rock Café because come on how many people can say they?ve been the Reykjavik Hard Rock Café? (Probably slightly more that can boast they hit their head off a glacier) Anyway that was probably the best £15 I spent all week even though all I got for that £15 was in fact the burger. Yes for that sum of money each bite was savoured as if it was the last burger I?d ever eat. My only regret was not saving enough money to buy a hard rock café shot glass. For desert I decided to go to MacDonald?s in hope that Iceland had McFlurrys and oh yes they had them but Iceland have mastered the heavenly taste of mixed flavours and dime bar McFlurrys. Well I thought to myself what the hell I?m going to spend my last three quid on an ice cream! Gorgeous nuff said!

~*~ Overall ~*~

Overall this was a top class holiday. I would recommend this holiday
to anyone who likes fish! No just kidding I would in fact recommend it to anyone because Iceland really does have something to offer everyone. Although I would recommend taking a lot of money if you plan on buying souvenirs or gifts of any kind because I found that things over there were much more expensive. There are familiar shops in the shopping centre as well as designer outlets and original Icelandic shops. Throughout the visit not a lot was spent shopping but from what I saw there were some good shopping opportunities. I'm unsure about the nightlife opportunities due to my age but there may be details on the website I mentioned earlier. My only disappointment was I didn?t see a troll when we went to their home land (or maybe I?m just too gullible and shouldn?t believe everything the teachers tell me!). Despite their love of fish I honestly can?t think of a reason not to visit Iceland it?s gorgeous! I hope all you readers out there haven?t fell asleep and have managed to read all this but either way thanks for the read!

Jenni xx :O)

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