Date post: | 04-Apr-2018 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | marcus-woolley |
View: | 217 times |
Download: | 0 times |
of 20
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
1/20
1
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
2/20
2
Chapter 1: A DRUNKEN BET
This little adventure that me and my friend Jim have decided to take was all because of a
little drunken bet on a typical night at university in the small market town of Carmarthen in
Wales, he knew I had a fascination with exploring new places and meeting new people so he
placed a bet, Jim didnt believe that I had the guts to just book a journey with him, so as I
am standing there barley seeing the room I got out a map of Europe and looked at it with
the one good eye I had left, we was trying to see what is the most random place we can go
too, we started looking at Eastern Europe with the countries such as Slovakia but there was
one that caught my eye the most, it was the strange looking island north of Scotland way up
towards Greenland, this country that I was looking at was Iceland.
Ok, go ahead book a flight to Iceland, I dare you Jim said with excitement thinking that he
has won a small bit of dosh in his pocket, and with a confident smile I said ok then pass me
that bloody laptop, as Jim handed over the laptop to me I started looking at Airlines from
the UK to Iceland and found one, a well-known company that many of their passengers have
mixed feelings off, this airline was EasyJet, there we go, booked done and dusted, the
sight of Jims face going towards a frown made me laugh until I realised where I have booked
the flight from, it was Luton airport, all away on the other side of the country knowing that I
will have to take the dreaded London Underground late at night, as Jim smiled at the little
mistake that I have made, he too booked a flight to Iceland so from then on we were off on
an adventure we were going to remember.
Chapter 2: LEAVING WALES
The night before departure I was packing my ruck sack for the last time, making sure that I
had everything from passport, flight tickets, train tickets and of course clothes that are going
to be warm enough to get me through the week that I will be there.
After having my last night at home with the family I will have to wait a whole day before I
can get going on my journey, the train departs Swansea train station at 20:28 which in a way
was good because I can have last minuet decisions on what I needed to bring, waiting for
mother to come home from work to give me a lift to the station was an exciting moment,
when she walked through the door I was ready with my coat on and my heavy ruck sack up
on my back.
At the train station I met Jim, Ay Up Marcus Jim says with a smile on his face and a fag in
his hand, alright Jim, are you ready for this now? I asked with excitement, with that hesaid no not really, I havent brought enough money with me, I thought ow no, how is he
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
3/20
3
going to get through Iceland with small amounts of cash in his pocket, I managed to save up
97,000Isk which is enough for a week holiday to Iceland.
As the whistle blows on platform 1 of the train station we said a one last fair well to Wales
as we made our way to Britains capital city London. As the train was passing through the
countryside, it had started to sunset over the rolling green hills of England and by the time
we made it to Reading it was pitch black, we can see London coming up as we stuck our
heads out of the door windows of the Great Western Trains seeing the light pollution in the
Sky, finally the words of the train guard saying London Paddington our next stop brought
nerves to our minds knowing that the Underground was coming up.
Chapter 3: THE BUSTLING CITY OF LONDON AND THE UNDERGROUND
We made our way down the platform of Paddington, we were already lost we couldnt find
where the tube starts, I bloody hate London Jim said with anger as we followed the signs.Yes there it is the tube accidently shouting because we
couldnt believe we found it after five minutes. Like lost
sheep in a big city, we made our way to the ticket
machine and couldnt understand the instructions, I
asked the gate guard if he can help us with them as it
was our first time using them, he gave us a sigh followed
with a fine ok, he seemed like a miserable old man like
he was in his midlife crises with a dead end job, what
made it even more awkward was as we made our way
through the gate, the cleaner gave a nod to the gate guard and
followed us down the tunnels which made me cautious, I asked Jim do we look
suspicious or something. We made our way through the rocking old trains of the
underground and I admit we did get lost slightly on the platforms which thinking back now
was funny, we finally got off at Farlington to catch a train to Luton Parkway, it wasnt the
best of journeys, Jim has caught a bad cough which started chocking him.
We were going along through the London suburbs when a group of four boys got on
wearing hoodies and trackies, they got on at Kentish Town and just stared towards me andJim looking at our pockets and bags but with a sigh of relief they got off at the next stop,
then a grumpy old business man at the back shouted towards Jim Why dontyou just die?
due to the cough that Jim has suddenly got, Jim kept going along with the Londoners little
joke by saying words like I would love to, but the situation started getting out of hand and
Jim just turned around and told him with a slight anger Look it nothing for you to worry
about, this is a classic example of a Londoner and a Northern Englishman happily getting
along..Not.
When we arrived at Luton Airport Parkway we had a 20 fine which was a real downer, a
large gate man said we had no excuse for not having tickets, as we didnt have tickets for
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
4/20
4
the train from Farlington to the Parkway due to the fact there was no ticket machine that
we can see, this was a real downer to the start of the adventure so we paid our fine and off
we went on the shuttle bus to the airport.
Chapter 4: THE FLIGHT TO ICELAND
As we made our way through Luton airport, we were in the departure lounge having
breakfast whilst waiting for our flight to be called; we decided to go to a caf which would
be good for energy as we havent slept a bit all night, Where should we go for breakfast? I
asked Jim whilst clenching my stomach hoping for some food soon, lets go here pointing
to a fine looking caf at the corner of the lounge. It was one of the most expensive breakfast
I have had I thought in my head, just for a bacon butty, a pastry and two pieces of fruit it
came to around 11.
FLIGHT TO REYKJAVIK WITH EASYJET IS NOW BOARDING, that is our flight ready andwaiting to go, so off we went and followed the signs towards our gate, we made our way
across the tarmac of the airport to the plane and then greeted by a friendly cabin crew
member who had a big smile on his face, we made our way to the seats whilst fighting over
who gets the window seat, of course I won.
The plane powered its way down the runway before lifting off into the clouds that hovered
over London, above the clouds we were met with a morning sun which shined right into the
plane and finally the plane was on its way to Iceland.
As our flight flew over the clouds looking like giant candy floss floating in the sky, we started
noticing that we were getting lower towards the cloud
level, it was now time for landing we were close to
Iceland, we can see the country through the gaps of
the clouds, and it looked flat, grey and barren. We
were now starting the decent down into the airport of
Reykjavik which is the capital city of Iceland, we can
see nothing for miles apart from old lava fields that, I
turned to Jim and said feeling uneasy what have we
come to?, the plane was now getting lower and
lower until the plane wheels bounced off the
runway and already happen to do an immediate stop due to a
bird on the runway, I looked out of my window and from under the plane a brown
feathered duck plodded its way off the runway on to the grass, I thought then only in
Iceland can there be a duck on the runway with a slight laugh to myself.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
5/20
5
Chapter 5: SHUTTLE TO REYKJAVIK
We made our way through Reykjavik airport, for the main airport of the country it is quite
small, it is nothing to compare with Heathrow in London. We booked on to a shuttle for
around 2700isk for a shuttle to the Reykjavik City Hostel which is the place we will be
spending the next five nights of our trip, the journey was an hour from the airport which
was actually a nice ride to the city, looking out of the window all you can see is miles upon
miles of lava fields, it started to drizzle with gloomy clouds covering the skies, we started
reaching Reykjavik through some of the small city suburbs, along the coast of Reykjavik
towards the city centre, getting excited that we are nearly there amongst the bustling city,
the coach started to drive away from the city centre which kinder made my heart sank a bit
thinking that we have made another mistake on booking a hostel out on the outskirts of the
city which actually only turned out to be a half hour
walk from the hostel.
We finally arrived at the hostel, it looked like a really
nice, modern looking building, with a yawn and a
stretch I said we are here, we finally made it to Jim
who had a smile but looked really tired with the eyes
only just managing to stay open, we tried to book into
the hostel but the only down side to the place was we
had to wait until two o clock to be able to book in
which was not for another four hours, we both looked at each other and left the hostel to
explore the city we have travelled miles to come to.
We were being curious about this building around the corner from the hostel opposite a
massive park where the locals like to cycle and walk the many paths that the park provides,
this large grey building that has risen from behind the trees was sticking out like a sore
thumb, we couldnt work out what it was used for, it was amongst the largest building in a
residential area and it just towered over the other houses so we just concluded it was a
house of a very lucky person who must
be living a life like a king.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
6/20
6
Chapter 6: EXPLORING THE VIKING CITY
From the large house we made our way through the park where we stumbled upon this
gallery within the middle of the field, I couldnt understand what it said on the boards but it
showed black and white pictures of what use to happen in the park, there is this long
bricked item next to the pictures with metal bars over it with a puddle of water at the
bottom, it used to be a place where the women use to wash and steam their clothes within
the local community, not far from this strange structure was a white statue of a woman
washing her clothes. I gotta say Marcus, this country is already beautiful Jim says with a
smile on his face and a fag in one hand as the sun has now appeared from amongst the
clouds. We picked our bags up and started walking towards where we thought the city was,
we walked ten minutes and we were already lost, with
my bag on my back which now started to make my back
ache, I found a map of the city centre which just looked
confusing as it didnt state where we were which was
quite funny really as we had ended up in a business
district of the city, I remember standing there thinking
its great to be lost in a place you dont know because
you dont know what will happen around the corner.
An old couple started walking towards us, I told Jim I
will ask them which is the way to the city centre, as
they got closer and closer I positioned myself on the
path to ask them excuse me, can you help we are
lost? the couple didnt speak English, only Icelandic
which was just playing unlucky when we needed
them most, I just repeated city centre, city centre?
all the old man managed to do was point in the direction he was heading in, so we
picked up our bags and walked the way we needed to go.
We walked through the city centre visiting a super market for something to eat, I managedto pick up these pancake looking cakes which were delicious and something I kept eating
everyday whilst I was there, we mainly did people watching and noticed something different
about the people of this country, Everyone is good looking here, even the tramps I told
Jim as he too was gazing up and down the street noticing the same thing. We headed down
to see the bay which is a long coastal path for walkers, runners and cyclist, the bay was
amazing, you had views of the water and the volcanoes in the distance, the clouds were
quite low across the water where they seemed to be covering half of the volcanoes in the
distance, my god that is amazing as I swung my video camera around at the bay needed to
catch this on camera, this city is like a village, its weird, the air is so fresh here Jim says tohimself as he cant get to grip by how beautiful the landscape is before his very eyes.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
7/20
7
We made our way up to a pub which at that point we found out that the drinking age in
Iceland was 20 unlike the UK where it is 18, but the lady gave us a wink and said she will let
us drink but really I just needed to use the loo more than anything and explore the place a
bit more, we walked back to the hostel as it was coming towards two o clock, we finally
booked in to our room and discovered that we weresharing the room with these two American men
from the state of Washington, they said they just
got back from there tour of the south coast of
Iceland which they told us was beautiful, after
being introduced to our new roommates, me and
Jim just crashed out on our beds near the
window.
We ended up sleeping for a few hours on thefirst day because of the all night traveling we
have done to get to our destination, we woke up around
eight in the evening and headed down the road to a small fast food takeaway
where I tried Icelandic sausages in a hot dog, I got to admit it wasnt the nicest of sausages I
have had in my time, this one had a soft skin on the outside, then a hard crust on the inside
along with soft meat in the middle but it still went down like it was the best meal ever made
for me, we explored another small park hidden behind large bushes near the main road
where there were weird statues and a colourful blanket
that wrapped around the tree.
We headed back towards the city centre where I visited a
shop on my own, it sold small little items that related to
Iceland, there was a beautiful Icelandic girl who was
working behind the till, she had long blond hair and blue
eyes and she had a full interest in British people so she
was constantly wanting to talk to me, on the way out of
the shop I wrote a little comment in the shops comment
book where I wrote thank you for making me feel
welcome for the pretty girl behind the till from the British boy, its a bit cheesy but it had to
be done, she gave me a hug goodbye and off I went to meet Jim again.
We walked up this hill towards one of the main landmarks of Reykjavik, and that is the
Hallgrimskirkja Spire which was a tall white church which had great views across the city, it
looked like the tallest building in all of Reykjavik, from the inside it looked bare as you walk
into the room the size of the place was immense with large windows that let the light of the
sun shine into the room, for 600isk we were able to take a lift up to the tower, thank god
otherwise there would have been thousands of steps up to the top, from there we saw
some of the greatest views I have ever seen. The room was full of tourists from all over the
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
8/20
8
world and up the top even though it was now warm and sunny on the ground it was cold
and windy up there but it is still worth a look whilst you are in the area.
We made our way down to the benches outside the church talking about what activities we
should do whilst we are here in Iceland until some of the most amazing sounds echoes
across the city in the evening sun which sounded like big ben, the sound came from the bells
of the Hallgrimskirkja Spire, people stopped and stared at the church in amaze but the only
thought that me and Jim had was imagine it, everyone is up there and I bet they got a
banging headache now after this, we giggled like little school boys in a school yard to our
little joke.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
9/20
9
It was now midnight and we couldnt believe it, the sun was still up, at this point I found out
the Icelandic call it the midnight sun where in the summer Iceland doesnt have night which
was crazy to think that whilst it was pitch black in the UK we were still basking in the sun
before we went off the sleep for the night..well day.
At this point we discovered that it was hard to sleep because of the light seeping in through
the curtains, ow bloody hell Marcus it is impossible to sleep in this country Jim says as he
is restless in his bed across from me, and I go yh I know but we are going to have to get
used to it, the two Americans were already fast asleep.
Chapter 7: BEASTS OF THE SEA
We woke up with the sun still blazing, it was weird to think that the skies of Iceland have
been lit up all through the night; this was a new experience which may seem like a struggle
to get used to.
After having breakfast we made our way to the old harbour to participate in a tour company
called Elding Whale Watching, before we departed for this 3 hour boat tour out into the
waves of the choppy Atlantic Ocean, next to the boat there were a group of young
teenagers wearing Whale costumes asking for people to sign their petition to stop Whale
hunting in Iceland, I found out that even though Icelanders eat seafood and Whale hunting
is one of the biggest markets in the country, only 5% of the locals actually eat the whale
meat, the other 95% are the tourists who are being tricked into eating it by local restaurants
saying this is what the locals eat so here is my bit to help with the this horrible trick to
tourists and to save the Whales of Iceland, I signed the petition where there a boy asks me
and Jim where are we from?, I answered him by saying I am from Wales, the boy also said
he was from Wales which was quite extraordinary just happen to be meeting another Welsh
boy on a whale charity in Iceland, I was happy for what these teenagers are doing and I
hope there is a change in Iceland sometime in the future. Before the boat set of we had a
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
10/20
10
tour of a museum that goes under the water in the harbour, the museum is about Whales
with bones and teeth on display, it is weird to be looking at the teeth of this humongous
mammal as they had what looked like thousands of teeth.
Me and Jim were both ready to board the voyage so we
waited by the door, for the first five minutes it looked likewe were the only two on the tour, I thought to myself they
must not be making money if it is just us to, then all for a
sudden out of the blue large sums of tourist came to
stand next to us, there were Spanish, Germans, Italians,
Eastern Europeans, Chinese but no British tourists, I
turned to Jim and told him there must not be many Brits
that come to this country along with that Jim replied, they are smart
enough to go down south towards Spain in the sun.
The tour was ready for boarding so we quickly rushed to the best benches on the boat so we
were going to get the best views, but then the better of us came and we gave our seats up
for older people and have to stand for the next few hours. As the boat sets off away from
Reykjavik harbour and out of the safety of the barriers that surround the area we were now
out at sea, the weather was ok but all for a sudden more cloud coverage came over us and
the waves started to get a bit rougher, the boat was rocking and it was a struggle to stay
standing without stumbling all over the place, we were quite a good distance out following
the coastline of Iceland with volcanic views in the
background, the thoughts that were going through myhead was the Only Fools and Horses episode called To Hull
and Back where Del Boy is standing at front of the boat
heading for Holland singing an old English song to make
him feel British, that song was Robin Hood Robin Hood
riding through the glen, this made me chuckle as I
thought about the episode a bit more whilst we wait to
see these huge beasts of the sea. I was watching where a couple was
standing, they were right at the front tip of the boat, they were reacting the Titanic moment
when Jack and Rose are standing at front of the ship holding each other, but what spoilt themoment for the two lovebirds was that a big wave came splashing overboard and absolutely
drenched them, they then retreated to the back of the boat to escape the large waves that
were now coming over the boat.
Our host was a German woman, she was speaking loudly down
the microphone as the Whales decides to show itself from
amongst the waves near a flock of seagulls in the area, this
means there are fish in the area getting hunted, this Whale
forced his way out of the water and went back under again asfast as you can even say the word Whale, then again he came
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
11/20
11
out of the water a bit further away, he was getting away from us and the boat can you see
him Jim says with excitement yh I see him he is huge with me looking forward to seeing
him once again, we made our way a bit further out at sea, we couldnt see the Whales for a
while as they are known to hold their breath underwater for around twenty minutes, then
all for a sudden they were coming up from everywhere, people were going back andforward on the boat to try and catch a look at the Whales, it
looked like the boat was going to rock from left to right. We
finally retreated from the cold and went downstairs into the
caf part of the boat, I was looking for some tea, none of
the tea I fancied was there until I saw English tea so I
thought this would have to do, Jim follows and looks at me
with a slight laugh to himself I reply what? and he goes
you look like a typical Brit, sailing on the seas with a cup of
tea and a chocolate biscuit, I laughed as I was struggling to
actually keep the tea in the cup due to the waves, we sat opposite an American girl who
looked a bit sea sick, she had her head up against the chair whilst covering her face, we
were later joined by her mother and father where they had got some of the local beer called
Viking, it did look delicious with its golden colour in the pint glass.
As the boat made its way back to Reykjavik we did a stop at Puffin Iceland, there we would
see Puffins skimming across the water whilst flapping there wings, there were hundreds
sitting there on the Island as well as many flying over our heads, they are funny looking birds
and what I believe are one of the cutest of all birds, with their multi coloured beaks but it isa shame that the locals do actually eat this animal.
We made our way back to Reykjavik were we were pushing through the waves whilst seeing
the city come closer, there was something great about this, the feeling of coming into town
by boat.
As we stepped off the boat and readjusted our legs back on
dry land, we made our way to the city centre and chilled
out in a square amongst people lying there on the grass
enjoying the afternoon sun.
There was a band of young teenagers playing songs with
many people watching them they were really good and
very talented, you can find this band play nearly every day of the week in the
down town area of the city, they play songs such like Top of the World.
We went into a tourist shop which was also part of a very posh woman clothing store, the
two girls that stood at the desk were speaking German, Jim was ears dropping as he spoke
German, they are cute these tourists, the two girls said, so we both turned around and
replied that with Dankishirn which is thank you in German, well I think that how you spell
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
12/20
12
it, the two girls behind the desk were now at this point blushing as they must of thought we
only spoke English, it was a be there moment to be quite funny.
As we was walking down the pavement just browsing at some of the shops, I was nearly ran
down by an electric scooter motorbike, in Iceland you are able to hire one for as long as you
like for a fee, of course it was a bit of a shock to find them on the pavement, the thing is
about electric scooters there are hardly any sound coming out of them so if you are ever to
go to Iceland look out for traffic on the pavement as well as the road.
Chapter 8: The Golden Circle tour.
Today we were planning to do one of the most famous activities to do in Iceland and that is
the Golden Circle tour, but we have missed the morning tour which was a bit of a pain in the
backside so we booked it in the evening, after spending the day in the town meeting the
people and having some herbal tea in a really luxurious caf out on the pavement, I metanother girl who was working at the caf, she was showing me how they do the different
pictures on top of the froth on hot drinks such as coffee, she showed how she drawn a
picture of a pig as well as a small chocolate heart, it was a very clever and talented to do
such things.
The coach was ready to pick us up from the Hostel it was only me, Jim and the driver so
once again we picked the best seats in the house, we sat in the front with view of the
windscreen window and our side windows, we met the other people at the city centre
where we were joined by many other Europeans and Americans. We made our way out of
the city with a tour guide and he told us lots of interesting facts about Iceland, like for
example Iceland is the second biggest island in Europe with Great Britain being the biggest,
and that it was one of the last places to have settlement in all of Europe.
Our first stop was an interesting stop and one of my top favourite views of all time, we were
standing on a platform looking into something which
shocked us both, we were actually in the North
American tectonic plate looking into the Eurasian Plate,
I turned to Jim telling him with a shock on my face I
thought we were in Europe already, he too was just as
shocked as me I thought we were as well, he replied
with a gobsmacked face, I told him then my insurance
only covers Europe as we laughed. It was a beautiful
site looking down into Europe, it was sunset and there
were lot of trees and green grass with a volcanic
mountain range in the distance, to the right of us was the largest lake in Iceland which
looked like the sea stretching for miles. Something you noticed about Icelandic forests are
that the trees are not very big, it is impossible to get lost in them as all you have to do is
stand up and you can see where you are.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
13/20
13
As we got back on the bus, we passed through this small village where locals from Reykjavik
go to escape the city for a weekend, there were many different holiday homes up in the
trees of Iceland forests, which we would actually call
back home some shrubs in a field, we were then
heading for this gigantic waterfall of Gullfoss, it wascrazy place to visit because you can get right up close
to the water and the drop, it is even possible to touch
the water, being there amongst the roaring sound of
the water crashing against the rocks before it
descends into a few hundred feet drop into the mist
of the canyon below, this was just amazing, it is I
believe one of the hot spots of the world to go and see before
you die, after we finished with the Gullfoss we headed up the stairways to get some lunch,
everything was actually too expensive to buy at this caf, so I just settled for a tuna
sandwich, as soon as I bit into the sandwich I turned to Jim and go ow my God, this is the
most nicest tuna sandwich I have had ever, of course he couldnt understand why I was
loving it so much as he is a vegetarian, so he just looked at me like I was some weirdo
getting of some thrill from a fish in some bread, but it was the most freshest fish I have ever
tasted, and the view we were staring at in the distance were just an emotional site, snow-
capped volcanoes in the distance along with an evening sun was just a site to remember,
and also a sandwich to remember as well.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
14/20
14
From there we got back onto the bus for our finale stop which was to see the Geysir of
Strokkur, around the spot there were a lot of old un-active ones where there were still
steam coming out of the ground, there was one that hasnt come out in years but back in
the year 2000 it decided to erupt because of an earthquake, but it doesnt do much
anymore except sit there and look hot, but we went down to see the active Geysir, we allwaited with our cameras to catch the moment it shoots up to the sky, as we wait the area
went silent, all you can hear is some of the birds whistle away to what sounded like a tune,
then all for a sudden the water started bubbling, here we go Jim this is it I said with a bit
of adrenalin kicking in, then the water sinks in to what looked like a bowl shape and finally
shot up into the air with a sound of a lion roaring, before the water finally slaps back into
the pool leaving only steam in the air, it was a great, one of the highlights of the whole trip.
At this point I met an American photographer who was from California; he was chubby, with
black hair that came down by his face, my God that was amazing he yelled in his Americanaccent, what yall think of that site he asked me and Jim, it was great, glad we came all
the way here now to see such a thing, we were then joined by another American who
name is Crystal from what I can remember who was from New York, she was there talking
about it with her large black camera, we left the two
Americans chat amongst each other as we headed back for
our coach for our trip back to Reykjavik.
Once again it was the midnight sun in the distance, hiding
in between the gaps of the two volcanoes, once again for
miles there was just lava fields with their different
shades of colours that bounce off from the sun, it was a
great place to be at this time of year. As we were
coming into the city the bus started having problems,
the driver was stuck in a gear and it was gear 6, he was
there hitting the gear stick trying to get it unstuck whilst he was still
driving, he turned to me and Jim with a face that looked like he was saying dont tell no one,
when he finally did get it out of gear 6 it got stuck again a bit more into the city which was
annoying for the driver as it was stuck in gear 1, he eventually managed to fix it but for a
short while, as we got off the bus at Reykjavik city centre the bus broke again, as the bus
went off to be fixed in the garage we went to see what Reykjavik had to offer at night.
We didnt stay out late tonight, we met up with someone who was a Liverpool fan as well as
a Swansea fan in football which was strange to meet in another country, she told us that she
loves the UK and for some reason once went on a night out in Brickston, which is one of the
roughest areas in London, she told us where all the best places our for a night out and one
that got by fancy was the rock bar around the corner from us, we didnt get asked ID as they
dont really care for the ID in Iceland which was great for us as we danced the night away
with a beer in one hand along to crazy rock music before closing time.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
15/20
15
Chapter 9: THE PENIS MUSEUM
We were walking down one of the main streets of the city
and noticed a sign outside on the pavement, the sign read:
The Icelandic Phallological Museum which actually means the
Penis Museum, we discovered that these sort of museums
are famous in Iceland where they hold many penises from all
sorts of animals, from Whales to Hamsters, there is one in
North Iceland where they even hold a humans. As we went
inside there was a very large friendly security man with a big
smile on his face, I asked him how much was it to come into
this strange place and he said it is a 1000isk, as we wondered
around the museum looking at the many Penises it was funny
to see some of the twice the size of what I am, these were mainly Sperm Whales, therewere also a lot of funny items around the place like penis coat hangers, penis cutlery, dildos
and pictures up on the wall of ancient pictures of Egypt evolving penises. I got to say it was
nothing like I have seen in all my life and I am not actually sure if it is a place I should
actually spread around saying that I have visited the place, there also seemed to be posters
up on the wall of donating your own which to be honest I quickly looked away just in case I
would do something I regret.
At this point when I am looking at the strange items around the museum, Jim is sniggering in
the back room at the comment book, of course at this point I dont know he is actually
playing a little prank on me, I go in to check on what he is actually doing and I catch him
writing in the comment book jotting down my address saying next to it, please send me
pictures of your penises with my name above the address, he pulled me away from the book
so I cant change what damage is done, so if you are to ever go to this weird museum in
Reykjavik, I am begging you now, please dont send me pictures of yourself with the address
in the book, I dont fancy seeing what you have got.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
16/20
16
Chapter 10: A NIGHT ON THE TOWN
We pulled out the best clothes we got from our bags which luckily I brought along a red and
black checked shirt, whilst Jim brought a grey shirt, we started walking towards the bars and
clubs of the city strutting our stuff as we walk down the pain road going into the town, we
only really went into two bars but the first one wasnt really as good as the second bar we
visited, there were a lot of Spanish in the first bar for some reason and the bouncer of the
bar next door was already hating me because I tried to sneak into a pub called The English
Pub which he patrolled, after being turned down at the door I tried to get in many times
with Jim but he as having none of it, so I went to the club next door where I bought a drink
and showed him around the back of the bar whilst Jim was smoking.
After that bar we headed off to a more rustic place where they were playing country rock
songs which was more my sort of place, we walked right past the bouncer with a smile to
him and thankfully he smiled and nodded back, the place was packed, most of the people in
this place were huge, they all stood there with big muscles and beards that stretched down
to their waistlines, you can tell these were the real Vikings, I made my way to the bar where
this giant of a man pushed everyone out of the way including me to get to his stool, he even
spread out his arms to show everyone that he is boss, but then me being me I put my arm
down next to him trying to look like a big man but actually I was like a match stick next to
him, he looked at me with an evil stare at first but I showed I wasnt backing down because I
wanted my pint, then he smiled and started gently laughing, he asked me in a strong
Icelandic accent where are you from?, I told him I am from Wales, he laughed at me about
that and said I am sorry for you whilst trying to hold in a laugh, I asked him what was so
funny and he just said because you are from the UK as he stretched out his arms a bit
more, and me being funny just turned spoke up and said yh but you are from Iceland so we
are both the unlucky ones, after that he just laughed and started patting my back, which
was actually cracking my spine, and finally as I was leaving the bar after getting my Viking
Beer on an American bar lady he whispers in my ear, I like you British, you are good
people.
Me and Jim headed upstairs to where there were people more our age, we met with a few
characters up there, we met a young guy who use to study at the University of
Bournemouth but has come back to Iceland, whilst Jim was speaking to him, I was speaking
to a friendly girl who name unfortunately I cannot remember, she had short brown hair,
with nice blue eyes and a slim body, she was very bubbly and always liked speaking to me
through the night, she wanted me to transfer from Carmarthen and go the university in
Reykjavik because she said I am the nicest tourist she has met, it was very nice speaking to
her, I enjoyed every moment of that night hanging out with our new Icelandic friends for a
few hours.
Afterwards the walk that would normally take half an hour to the hostel ended up being anhour and a half, we got back at half four in the morning and the sun was still up, when we
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
17/20
17
got back to the room we didnt realize that we had new occupants in the room, we were
now sharing a room with some elderly people who are going hiking early in the morning and
I can tell they didnt need me and Jim to stumble through that door, as everyone was
slightly woken up, we apologised and slowly got into our beds ready for the hangover in the
morning. Thankfully there were no pictures taken of this night.
Chapter 11: Last day in Iceland
The last day we went to see a Viking settlement which is under the city streets, it was really
interesting to see the old building with a computerised fire in the middle of the ruined
building, also around the place there were old artefacts such as Viking knives, door weights,
fire starters along with animated videos
about invasions that the Vikings have done,
one of the most famous battles to have ever
occurred with the Vikings was during 1066
called the battle of Stamford Bridge up in
North East of England, where there was a
giant that held the bridge by himself and
killed a huge amount of the Englishmen,
until someone from the English side was
sneaking under the bridge and pierced
the sword up into the Viking from his
genital areas.
I dared myself later on in the day to get a tattoo in Icelandic writing somewhere on my
body, I loved the look of the writing they had here, but when it was time to have the tattoo,
the lady at reception said we are running late, whilst holding a small dog and that I should
come back tomorrow, this however was impossible as I would be making my way back to
the UK, she apologised to me and I said farewell.
Chapter 12: THE JOURNEY HOME
Today is the day we make the journey back to Wales, we woke up early at 4:50 for the coach
transfer to the airport at 05:30, as we got ready for the day ahead we made our way down
to reception to check out of the hostel, the coach finally arrived and I remember looking
back at the hostel thinking its a shame that the trip has come to an end already, I climbed
up onto the front seat of the bus and peacefully waited with Jim napping on our way to the
airport, once again looking over at the lava fields and the blue lit sky it was quite sad leaving
such a beautiful country, we arrived at the airport and checked into the flight, whilst we
wait for the plane we chilled in the waiting area with a ham salad baguette and a bottle of
water for breakfast.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
18/20
18
Our plane was finally called for boarding, as we sat in our seats with Jim now in the window
seat we watched as Iceland was slowly disappearing in to the clouds. The journey felt like a
long one but tried shorting it down my snoozing every so often, all for a sudden the belt sign
came on, we were now coming to Land at Luton, as the plane was going lower you can hear
the other passengers who has never been the UK before say wow look how green it iswhich I got to admit I forgot how green Britain was after seeing the lava fields of Iceland, we
touchdown at Luton, me and Jim had the same thoughts going through our minds and that
were bring it on London, as we were passing through Luton airport the customs area was
full of people with long lines, the line I was in was the slowest, we had to but our passports
in the machine which wouldnt accept mine for some reason, a guy said behind me you,
you go to desk 9 at desk 9 there was a cheerful lady waiting to serve me by looking at my
passport, I told her get rid of those machines this is much more better, she just laughed as I
went along.
From the airport we had to then catch the crowded purple bendy shuttle bus to the
parkway, from there then we were back on the trains to Farringdon, there were a few ladies
on this train who seemed like they had a bit to drink, one of them was dared to speak to us
but I couldnt understand a word she was saying, as they left the train at St Pancras the train
went peaceful with only commuters on the train now, Farringdon arrived but we realized we
had to go up all the stairs to the top to get our tickets for the underground which I think is
stupid really, I believe that station is poorly done and there is not enough information for
what first time people have to do next.
We were now back on the London Underground, it was a lot more people than last time
which made it so stress full that it gave me a headache, one of the lines were closed which
meant we had to change at a station which was slightly confusing at first but then all for a
sudden we saw the words Paddington, we finally made it across London once again.
Our train back to South Wales was at 17:37 so we went to have a look around Paddington, I
got to say I do love Paddington it is a very posh part of London, we stopped over at Burger
King for some food where I thought I deserved a triple whopper burger which is three slices
of burger in one, then off to the pub for an expensive pint before our journey home.
We realised then that we havent changed our clocks back to British time and that we were
still behind an hour, we missed our train by three minutes which was just not what we
wanted to happen, the next train was in an hour time so we waited for the train by the
platform.
We realised that now this has happened Jim has lost his connection to Carmarthen but can
get as far as Swansea, the train journey was long and busy but it was nice to see the views of
Britain once again, out of a lot of countries Britain does have a really nice countryside to
look at on a sunny day. By the time we reached Neath it started to get dark now, we were
both happy to see the night sky as we havent seen it in nearly a week. Finally seeing
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
19/20
19
Swansea with all the lights that lit up the city was nice to finally see after hours upon hours
of traveling, when we finally arrived at Swansea train station mother was there waving to us
looking through the window on the other side of the gate, it was nice to see mother again
after a week.
To get Jim home to Carmarthen, instead of him waiting around Swansea for the next two
hours we offered him a lift to Carmarthen which is just over a half hour drive, we finally said
fair well at Carmarthen town centre.
When I got home to Swansea I shared my stories with the family along with the photos
which had become very entertaining.
When I was resting in bed about to go to sleep that night I thought back on what an amazing
adventure me and Jim had and all because of a stupid drunken bet, I am already now
looking forward to my next adventure.
7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire
20/20
20