Made it!!

9:19 PM Icelandic time

MADE IT TO ICELAND!!! My last flight from Seattle was a bit delayed, but we made it! I met one of my fellow Snorri’s at the Seattle airport. Her name is Danielle and turns out we have a lot in common and talked for a bit while we were waiting for our plane to start boarding. Upon arriving, we were all pretty tired, and all of us 16 out of 17 Snorri’s made it. The last Snorri missed their flight and will be arriving tomorrow. I am having a hard time remembering everyone’s names, but we are all getting to know each other, and they are all a pretty awesome people! Asta picked us all up at the airport, and we took a shuttle bus into Reykjavik. The drive over was gorgeous! Miles and miles of lava rock smothered in thick layers of moss with beautiful little purple flowers. The contrast of colors is breathtaking. The ground is mostly black from lava rock, and the thick green moss is very vibrant, and the purple flowers add a nice splash of color into the landscape. A few fun facts that Asta taught us on our drive into Reykjavik was that Iceland has no army, and their police officers don’t carry any guns- very different than the heavily militarized America. Upon reaching Reykjavik we checked in to our hostel, Gamli Gardur; which in the winter months is the dorms for the University of Iceland. It’s very homie and cozy, I ended up rooming with Danielle! After checking in we ate a little breakfast and then we took a bit of a nap to try to get over some of the jetlag. Then Asta picked us up and we walked over to her office a few blocks away. It was a really nice walk through a park with a duck pond, lined with vibrant yellow daffodils.

Hostel room

All the houses have bright roofs and trim, and moss grows everywhere! We even walked by one of my favorite Icelandic bands Sigur Ros’ house! When we got to Asta’s office, we had a little orientation, and then headed over to a new restaurant called “Bastard” for dinner. It was a nice little restaurant with lots of funny paintings on the walls. I had the “Skinny bastard” burger which was a delicious veggie burger with portabella mushroom. Now I am getting settled in the hostel and am trying to rest up before Icelandic lessons start tomorrow! Stay tuned for more updates!