Iceland - Part 1

I believe that travel is good for the soul. It is VERY good for my soul. Every time we travel, I come back a brand new person with brand new perspective on life and what really matters. Prakhar is a perfect travel partner. Together we make a good team and we make good decisions (at least when it comes to travel). He keeps me grounded and I keep him adventurous. I remember watching a special on Iceland few years ago with him. I had made him pinky promise me that one day we will go there. Work is always crazy busy for him and taking time off is really difficult. So when Prakhar told me that he can take a week off, I was so excited, I didn’t know what to. We couldn't decide on a destination. I started looking at my notes, and my pretend vacation itineraries (one of my hobbies...long story). We checked for flights to Iceland and within 30 minutes,

Iceland was better than good. It was probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. I fell in love with this country. Doing a self-drive tour was probably the best decision. I loved the fact that we can manage our own time. We didn’t have much time to plan our trip. We booked our flight and then didn’t know where to go from there. I did so much research on hotels, things to do and trying to create a perfect itinerary so that we can make most of our time there. Then things got so busy with work and seeing houses that I thought we would cancel our trip. I came across the travel agency Nordic Visitor on Trip Advisor. They had fantastic reviews and so I decided to contact them. I got a response the very next day from their travel consultant. Sigfus was fantastic. He knew the country. I sent him our list of things we wanted see. He took those ideas and turned into a fantastic itinerary. He helped us plan our route, book hotels and rent our car. As we were booking this trip, Barbathbunga happened! We decided to go anyways. Best decision ever!!

Did I mention that we got upgraded to business class?? Yes! Nice way to start the trip. Free unlimited champagne served in real champagne glass sure is nice way to start your vacation!

We arrived in Reykjavík, and breezed through the immigration process. A representative from Nordic Visitor was waiting for us. He helped us with our luggage and handed us our travel bag. That travel bag had our personalized itinerary, cell phone with a charger, map, vouchers for all of our activities, car and hotels. On our way to the hotel, he gave us an update on the Volcano and assured us that it won’t be a big deal. Since we were going to drive on our own, he answered all of our questions on the roads, speed limit etc. He even pointed out some structures and features in the city before arriving at our hotel.  Our hotel was really nice. It was situated in the perfect location with close proximity to major attractions in Reykjavík.  

landed safely, only to find out bardarbunga volcano had erupted over nice.

What can I say about this city? It is quiet and yet busy. While the weather was overcast, it was warm enough to walk around. I do wish, we had more time to explore more. The streets are full of small cafes and cute little shops. The first day, we decided to explore the city on our own. The map that Nordic Visitor provided to us was extremely useful and accurate.  Since we had an option to meet Sigfus in person and go over our itinerary, we decided to take advantage of that service. We also wanted to thank him in person for helping us plan our trip. He was one of the friendliest people we met in Iceland. He was very professional and explained everything. We might have gone a little overboard with questions but he answered them calmly.

I do have billion pictures to share with reviews on hotels, restaurants etc...so I think this trip deserves multiple posts. One of the reasons I started this blog was to capture and document our travels, so that when I'm 90 and can't remember what I ate for breakfast, I can come here and read about how wonderful this world is and how lucky I was to see a small piece of it.

Can I get a high five for blogging after what 5 months???? ;)