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We took an overnight flight to Keflavík Airport from Newark Airport which was about 6 hours long. We all had middle seats which did not help my in-flight antsy-ness and also did not help me to get any sleep. We arrived in Iceland while the sun was still down and hopped on the bus to be brought to our hostel. The darkness added to the strange feeling of being in a foreign country. As we approached the city, the sun started to rise and I was able to see some of the landscape for the first time and it was so different, but so intriguing.
We went to our hostel (Bus Hostel) to drop our things off, but we couldn't check in yet even though we were all exhausted and sleep-deprived, so we ended up heading out to explore a bit and that's where the first photo was taken. The mountains across the ocean looked so cool, like something out of a post card. We also saw the iconic Hallgrimskirkja church in the heart of Reykjavík.
We got back to the hostel and almost immediately had to depart for our first excursion which was to the well-known Blue Lagoon. They are pretty strict about having everyone shower before entering the lagoon, and you're instructed to put the provided conditioner in your hair and leave it in because the minerals in the water, while beneficial to your skin, can be harmful to your hair. The walk from the doors leading outside to the lagoon itself was very short, yet very cold. The air temperature was around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, but once in the lagoon it was very comfortable. I promise you, the lagoon is way more exciting than any hot tub you'll ever be in. We also got mud face masks and free drinks the entire time we were there and chatted with an Iceland native after we roped her into taking way too many pictures for us. The Blue Lagoon was a truly magical, other-worldly experience and I'm so glad I was able to check it off my bucket list.
When we got back to the hostel we changed and then walked downtown where we got some noodles for dinner (which I must say I wasn't a fan of), and then went "grocery shopping". The hostel had a small kitchen on each floor so we figured we should buy some food we could eat for breakfasts and whatnot, but shopping in another country is a bit of a challenge, especially when everything is in another language and another currency. (Somehow they had Oreos though, so I was pretty happy about that).
