Epic European Cycle : 2015-05-02 : Reykjavik and Blue Lagoon

Trip Log Trip List Calendar

< Previous Day
Next Day >
Travel
Type Name Service Provider Origin Destination Cost Notes Actions
Bus Bus to Reykjavik Flybus Airport Reykjavik $0.00
Activity
Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total Notes Actions
Tour Blue Lagoon Reykjavik Excursions $0.00
Accommodation
Type Name Service Provider Confirmation Location Cost Notes Actions
Hostel Reykjavik City Hostel Reykjavik, Iceland $0.00 2 nights. $99.40/night


Trip Log

Notes Actions
Approximately six-hour flight. I slept most of the way. Brent got maybe one or two hours of sleep. The area around the airport was a lot flatter than Brent had imagined. The mountains are all off in the distance.

We walked down to the grocery store and picked up a few things then walked back to eat and "Facebook". We can officially check in at 2PM and then the bus to take us to the Blue Lagoon comes by at 3PM.


I had planned on putting our boxes into storage while we're in Iceland, but the storage was a half a km away from the terminal, which is no big deal... until you're trying to transport four enormous boxes. So, instead, we paid the 10,000K fee (approx. $100) to bring the junk with us to the hostel (round trip). We got to the hostel way too early to check in, but they let us put our junk in storage while we explore a little.


When we came through customs at Iceland, the customs agent there informed us that we can't just stay six months in Europe. The Euro Zone is like one big country and we need a VISA if we're going to stay more than three months. That will be first on the agenda when we arrive in Paris.


Iceland has public washrooms that remind me of the ones I saw in the UK years ago. Really nice and clean, and each stall has proper walls and a proper door. It's a little claustrophobic, but man is it nicer than north American washrooms with the flimsy little tin walls with doors that start far enough off the ground for inquisitive youngsters to peer underneath, and gaps wide enough for anyone to peek through to see if someone's in there. Ahhhhh... sweet privacy!
I chatted for a few minutes at the hostel with an Iceland native. She was saying that they've had a terrible winter here - very volatile and stormy. She says she's never seen a winter like it. It's making her contemplate leaving the country... but then the sun comes out and everything is beautiful, like today, and we get so excited and forgive everything! And I thought 'how very like Canadians'.
Laura, who's coming to meet us to cycle the Danube in July, has been contemplating changing her strategy for bringing her bike. She has a fancy bike box that she's planning to bring, then, after she lands in Frankfurt, I think she's planning to ship the box to Budapest to wait for us there. Now she's thinking about using a cardboard box instead, like Brent and I do.

It looks like it's a really common practice. Since I left home yesterday I've seen three (non RnB) bikes packed in cardboard boxes (from bike stores). Since we got to the hostel, I've seen three people assemble their bikes out of cardboard boxes, and there's a special shelf in the storage room for empty cardboard bike boxes. The biggest problem is that the boxes really take a beating. We've used some Styrofoam padding (like from computer boxes), towels, and cardboard supports to make the boxes a little stronger. Ours are still taking a pounding (but holding up so far), and one that we saw at the Edmonton airport was in tatters, although the bike inside looked to be ok.
We went to the Blue Lagoon. It was nice. Interesting. A very good hot spring, to be sure. The lava field surrounding it was extremely cool.


Photos

< Previous Day
Next Day >