things to do in Iceland

Let some steam off :)

1. Take a relaxing bath at Blue Lagoon
Blue Lagoon is probably the most advertised and the most famous place in Iceland. A light breeze of luxury  is worth its price though. And the mud mask you are supposed to smear onto your face really makes your skin look radiant and soft to touch. If you are looking for  cheaper alternative or want to avoid crowds, go to a mini lagoon in Myvatn. Its much further, but also inexpensive. Minus the mud musk unfortunately.

2. Watch Puffins at Hælavíkurbjarg

I find Puffins one of the most beautiful birds in the world. At Hælavíkurbjarg you can not only enjoy picturesque views but photograph those birds in the close proximity as they are not afraid of people. Splendid location.

3. See nothern lights paint the sky!
Available only in the winter period when darkness takes over Reykjavik. Outstandingly beautiful views will get you enthraled! Visible also in Reykjavik, so you don't have to go far off, nevertheless to experience it more intensified head off for the countryside.

4. Paint the town red!

Reykjavik offers you a variety of choices in the party department! Unfortunately be ready to stand for some time in line! P.S Don't forget to make some shopping in the duty free at Keflavik's aiport first...If you are in for buying alcohol in the city, remember the prices will make your eyes grow two sizes at once and your jaw will drop.


5.  Encounter fireworks show at Jökulsárlón (the glacier lagoon)
This is the shit! I mean the view is totally breathtaking! One of the most amazing thing I've seen during  26 years of my existence. Takes place 23th of August next year! What are you waiting for? Book your ticket now :P

6. Let your thoughts be silenced by the sound of waterfall!

Iceland is packed with waterfalls! Two of my favorites are : Detifoss and Svartifoss.

7. Meditate in Vik!
Trickle the black sand through your fingers! Just sit down and enjoy the view :) Swedish singer Laleh happened to shoot there her videoclip for "Some die young" . Take a look :

8. Go caving!
Don't forget the appropriate equipment!(I did). Very exciting experience to go through the cave jumping onto slippery ground with cave icicles falling down. In the end you just turn off the light helmet to face the eternal, infinite darkness. Awesome

9. Eat beer flavoured ice cream at Kaffi Karling in Akureyri!
It contains no alcohol just for the record! Apart from that it tastes of hop-plant.

10. Walk around the old volcanic crater that turned into a lake!

Greenland is not green and Iceland is not the land of ice?

All of you might be wondering, why Iceland is actually being dubbed as the land of Ice, when its apparently greenier than Greenland itself. “Greenland is not green, and Iceland is not cold”- some people keep on grouching around. Pardon me ladies and gentlemen for I do not concede. I find Iceland to be rather frigid. Maybe temperatures rarely drop below 0, but when the oceanic wind is stirring around, one gets this impression as if Iceland was the severest and coldest place on earth. “Reykjavik on a dark winter morning, a small town in Siberia” – Hallgrimur Helgason writes in his novel “101 Reykjavik”. 

After I had been studying geopolitics, I realized that the weather conditions we live in, shape our mindset as well as the way we react to certain things happening to us. For instance Latin people seem to be much more open and cordial than those living in Scandinavian countries. Let’s have a glimpse at the Icelandic cinema. Even comedies are “dark-humoured” here. Icelanders are not effusive at all, rather aloof and coy. In case you would like to forge friendships with them,  keep in mind its required to be armed with patience.

 They are not walking with their heads high in the clouds. During the day, a typical Icelander would try to get a grip on every move he makes, not even looking you straight in the eye. They all put their masks off to come out of the closet  at night and gather together like wolves in the streets, storming widely into pubs. Searching for a partner to perform the act of copulation with. Daydreaming at night, because as soon as the sun rises up on the horizon everything gets back to normality. Just as in a dream. Everything was gone after you woke up in the morning. 

On the other hand how can you be able to immerse yourself in fantasies if this severe climate forces you to be always vigilant in order to figure out how to survive. Vikings’ descendants got used to the moody weather and they are doing pretty well. Never in a hurry , cherishing every day. 

Iceland is full of contradictions. You don’t need much of observations  to notice it. I would say a short walk up the Laugavegur street over the weekend will do. Timid and shy they change radically…under the influence of alcohol.  Alcohol makes them buoyant, having them eluded ,they possess an ability to do everything. Regardless, Reykjaviks’s inhabitants consider themselves artists. They play, sing, paint, write poems. One day at open jazz stage session people from the audience stand up from their chairs and join the band.  They all sing outstandingly good. I don’t think there is another country in the world so rich with people endowed with talents that run the gamut. Anyway , mind you, Iceland can be icy cold.

Iceland -> Turkey->Italy-Poland->Italy->Poland->Italy->Poland-> Iceland-> Hungary->Poland->Germany uff

 Since I came back from Iceland the first time, I've been leading quite a turbulent life , that I can compare to a long haul flight. During that year I left Iceland, went to Turkey, lived in Rome, flew back to Iceland, embarked upon a trip to Budapest, just to find myself in my hometown again.
Eventually. Where from I set off to Berlin for a short stay. I tried to build something, but I tried too hard in a little time and as we all know it's almost impossible to create sth unshaken in a snap of a finger. Again the best thing is to chalk it up to experience anyway. Sounds so damn smart but it's the only alternative. It's like in that old wisecrack, that experience is like a comb to bald person. Indeed. You know what I've been pondering about of late? We consider ourselves to be so damn smart but we believe in stupid things. I mean for instance if Jesus had been born today, he would have probably been taken to the hospital and labelled as a psycho. Yet we use religions, politics that is a side effect of religion as a net of excuses we use and also fall for in our live. In my mind the only moment when I'm free it's when i travel. I go places and behold the reality around me, the people and their reactions. I'm not confined, I'm not judged because people I encounter on my way are not the same old neighbours to whom I say 'good morning' every day. Of course without 'stability' this world would be a big mess *but anyway it seems to be so*. So I'm in Gdansk leaping on a path to 'stability', hoping not to be stuck for so long, and be able to travel more in order to feel free again. I'm no longer residing in Iceland, albeit one says that if something happens twice , will happen thrice.

NEVER WORK HARD!

I wasn't born as a hard worker that's for sure , rather a thinker though. I think constantly too much. Anyway I just lost the track of time, devoured by my own problems and engrossed in trying to figure out things that can't be figured out and sorted out only by thinking because of that there is something called empirical sphere of life. You will never know if you don't try. Indeed. The people that tried are giving you advice though, but you never listen as they did not obviously. They tell you follow your heart but what if  heart is rebelling against the common sense. I'm totally devastated by working, just couple of days left. This cold island made me miss summer, energy and everything similar. Working in a hotel is exhausting. Cleaning the rooms, some people are quite decent but others messy above average. Not that I'm pedantic or so. But there is always an opportunity to find some useful stuff, like I bumped into an Icelandic criminal book I'm reading now. Iceland makes me also miss myself. Monika that came here for the first time, was crazy, easy going, curious, persistent and hungry for new experiences. Monika who went to Istanbul for 4 days alone by her self, Monika who decided in one minute to go to Iceland. Monika who was fond of traveling and wanted to go to Iran also by herself. Everything by herself. Monika please come back!

The little story of a 'Piccolo Italia'

So I went there again!obviously to eat. I don't know why Italian guys have an urge to share the stories of their lives with people they don't know, but I experienced it also from a Neapolitan girl. Anyway the same guy who drooled over life in Iceland now is complaining about Icelandic girls, that they are cold and lack passion, on the other hand he hates Italian girls cuz they are only about money. Geez Let me have my holidays please.

No pain no gain

This time I came to Iceland with purpose to gain money ....Well I haven't realized that all of the good things require patience and pain. After that you can enjoy the good ones. I work my ass off , like crazy with almost no day off and I'm becoming weary and angry etc. 3 weeks left. It's not exactly hell but sometimes the temperature is close. Yesterday as usual I was waiting for the bus at 6.44 and one Icelandic guy accosted me. I knew him before - We always wait for the damn bus. But this time it was unexpectedly not late. We had a little chat about Poland. As a fan of heavy music he adores Nergal , and says that Polish alternative music rocks. He recounted also a story of an Icelandic man who hated Poles so much, he moved to Greenland not to see our ugly faces. Yeah it seems that Greenland is the only place in the world totally deserted not only of people but of Poles in particular. Not an easy lot to be a Polish person. Well now I'm in Laundromat, a cozy coffee and 'burger' place munching on my oven baked salmon and sipping mango juice. 24 days and I will be in a different reality. In Budapest,where are two people that I'm craving to see and this thought makes my day - everyday. Cheers

Icelanders and their 'little?' knowledge of Italian

After I had left Iceland I started learning Italian for some reasons I don't want to disclosure. Apparently me and my Italian friend were talking about 'Italian restaurants' in Reykjavik and we came to a conclusion there are no 'real' Italian ones here. What cracked us up? That many of the restaurants ,which supposedly should be Italian, are not thereof and the way we deducted it, was by their names. For instance 'Pisa restaurante' instead of 'Pisa ristorante' and so on. But one name enthralled us in particular.'Piccolo Italia', even those who just begun to learn Italian, can notice a major grammar mistake. To our surprise it turned out a restaurant with a mistaken name, is actually 100 percent Italian! How come? So the other day me and my boyfriend went out to dine there. The waiter and the chef were Italian. Still kinda shocked we asked them why they called their restaurant Piccolo Italia instead of Piccola Italia? Here is the answer - The restaurant was called actually Piccola Italia before, but as the manager changed they decided to alter at least one letter of the name, as according to tradition , it brings fortune. Anyway the food wasn't that bad :)

Iceland is sex friendly

One day at work, on the break 'smoking time', my co-worker told me that at 2 in the morning, he spotted a couple having sex in a park, near the area where he delivers newspapers. He mentioned that once he encountered akin situation in the toilet at the club. Do the Icelanders have no shame? LOL
Iceland let's make it clear is a sex friendly country. Sex is a need that often is quenched downtown Friday's or Saturday's night. I remember reading the 'Lonely Planet' travel's guide advising to always carry condoms, if needed. Maybe in Iceland you find it the easier than anywhere else to get laid. Sex is not so associated with love, unless the result of it is a kid. Icelanders adore them, which is good and beautiful at the same time to see spruced up fathers pulling babies in prams. This fashion trend should spread up the whole world. Anyway the 'Lonely Planet's advice might be very useful, as Icelanders shy away from buying condoms, or they just feel an incentive to become fathers so firmly, they cannot resist. Well alcohol maybe makes them dumber and courageous  when normally they are shier than a 5 year old kid...
Iceland is a sex friendly country what makes it a baby friendly country as well.