Nothing like a good snowball fight!
Ryanair really force you go to great lengths to avoid paying those annoying extra charges (I’m pretty sure they would charge you to go to the toilet if they could). Walking on to the plane with about five or six different layers on, we must have looked like right idiots. But who wants to pay for luggage, when you can just wear everything you need for the next five days on your back? Oh the joys of booking Ryanair flights…luckily, what was waiting on the other side of their cabin doors, was paradise.
Reykjavik. I’m pretty sure I had no idea how to say it, and today, I still have to ask Google how the hell to spell it, but wow…if there was one place in the world that I’d recommend for a winter escape, this is it. So, what’s the first thing you do when you arrive in a country where the temperature is sitting anywhere from -5 to -10? Two words: Duty Free. If we were going to make it through to Christmas without losing someone to hypothermia, filling our stockings with vodka, whiskey and various other alcoholic delights was an absolute must.
Like a lot of European breaks, Reykjavik’s airport is situated right in the middle of nowhere, 45 minutes from the city. By this stage, it was quite late (or did it just feel late because the place only gets about five or six hours of sunlight in winter?!). Anyway, we jumped in a cab and made our way into the city and our home for the next five nights: Reykjavik Hostel Village. At this point, I’m not too sure whether I was happy or scared about sharing a room with four girls!
Over the next few days, we pretty much ticked off everything on our Icelandic bucket list. Snowmobiling was definitely a key highlight, even though it was our backup option with dog sledding already booked out for the season! Just don’t trust Nikki behind the wheel - she pretty much almost killed me. The Blue Lagoon, which is plastered over every Icelandic tourist video you’ll see, is also an unmissable (yet costly) swim. I actually have no words for its beauty and you can’t really go wrong with swim-up bars. Let’s not forget the Northern Lights and a genuine ‘White Christmas’. Yes, it actually snowed for real on Christmas Day! The more adventurous people in our group even tried reindeer soup…well, everyone except Nikki!
It didn’t all go to plan though. Preparation wasn’t exactly our strong point back then, which is why we got to Christmas Eve and realised that 99% of the city was completely shut down. With nothing vaguely edible in our hostel room (other than booze), I’m pretty sure we spent half of Christmas Day just searching for somewhere to eat. I guess that’s what you get in a city that has pretty much banned international fast food outlets. Yes, that’s right – no McDonalds, BK or KFC here.
You know those places that you go to and think “yeah, a couple of days will be more than enough”. Well, Reykjavik isn’t one of those places. Providing your wallet can handle it, there’s enough to keep you occupied for as long as you want to stay – a true winter wonderland. Now I just need to learn how to spell it!