When studying abroad the unexpected usually brings along the best memories and exciting adventures. If you asked me a few months ago where else I would travel to while studying abroad, I would not have ever said Iceland, but here I am about to fill you in on my Icelandic adventure from last week!
My sister and her friend’s planned a week-long vacation to Iceland and I am extremely lucky to say that I was able to crash their adventure for the weekend. It was so nice to see my sister considering I have been away from home for about 8 weeks now and I didn’t realize how much I missed her until I saw her in the airport Saturday morning!
Saturday afternoon was spent lounging and floating lazily around the beautiful Blue Lagoon. The lagoon is a man-made geothermal pool and spa. Pictures do not do this place justice and although I know it is a bit touristy, it is totally worth a day while in Iceland. If I could, I would start every morning relaxing in a geothermal spa complete with face masks and freshly pressed juice. After hours of relaxing and floating around the lagoon, we headed to out guesthouse in Reykjavik. We then had dinner and explored the extremely cute and picturesque city. The weather was pretty chilly with most days being 50-60 degrees.
Sunday was a once in a lifetime adventure. We arrived at a bus stop at 6am to take a bus a few hours outside of the city to go on a day tour in which we went inside of a glacier and walked through lava caves! The Langjökull Glacier is 953 sq/km and the second largest glacier in Iceland. We boarded these huge trucks which then took us on top of the icecap and led us to the main entrance where we would go into the glacier. This was unlike anything I have ever done and it was amazing. After we explored the glacier and learned about the effects of global warming on Langjökull, it was time to head to the lava caves.
Víðgelmir is 5250 feet long and is one of the largest lava caves in the world. The lava field that the caves are under was formed during a volcanic eruption in the 10th century that originated under Langjökull (the glacier I was in earlier that day). The cave is mentioned in a written source dating back to 1398, and evidence of human presence dating back to the Viking Age was discovered in 1993. While in the lava cave we learned so much about the history and the features of the cave and I really loved the experience.
Sunday ended in a cute dinner in a small restaurant in Reykjavik and then with my sister dropping me off at the airport so I could head back to Dublin for work in the morning. I know I’ll have to visit Iceland again and travel further into the beauty of the country, but until then it’s onto the next adventure for me in Europe – Berlin!