Home safely-synopsis of last day

July 22, 2018

8:13 PM HST

Sorry I didn’t blog for the last day; we had so many things going on and I wanted to absorb as much of Iceland as I could rather than use up my time blogging. I made it safe home, but before I go into all of that I will pick up where I left off.

We left Hofsos early in the morning on Friday and headed back to Reykjavik. We stopped along the way to see Grábrók crater, which was really pretty and had an amazing view. We walked around for about 45 minutes since we had been driving for about 3 hours. We took a few pictures and then made the final stretch to Reykjavik.

 

When we got back in town we grabbed the luggage we had left behind at Asta’s office, had lunch and then headed to the hotel we were staying at; Hotel Hlið which was not too far away in Álftanes. It was really nice! It was right on the water, and the buildings all had turf roofs. It looked very cute and the rooms were really nice. We hurried and showered, got all nice and headed to Bessastaðir.

 

Bessastaðir is where we got to meet the president of Iceland! There was pretty much no security; just one body guard- very different from the white house in the US. He greeted us each individually, and then brought us in for coffee and cakes. He was very very kind, and was very happy to have us. He made sure that we knew that we are always welcome in Iceland! Then he gave us a tour of the house and a brief history of the land it was built on. Some of the original settlers lived at Bessastaðir, and they found some old foundation and bones underneath the house when they were trying to redo the floors a few years back! They decided to keep it as is, and they made the basement into a little museum to preserve the historical value. After the tour we headed back to the hotel where we had our graduation ceremony. All of the Snorri participants had presentations that they had prepared, and we each got certificates, a rune necklace and a Snorri T-shirt! I personally did my presentation on Icelandic art since I am an artist and I worked at an art museum. I also drew a little drawing and printed off copies for everyone to have J After the ceremony we had dinner, and then headed to the blue lagoon.

The blue lagoon was MAGICAL! It was very fancy. The lagoon is really really blue- all the pictures you see of it online aren’t photoshopped- it really is that blue! It was HUGE. I think its actually the largest natural hot tub in the world. They had stands that you could swim up to and get a complimentary silica clay mask for your face, and they had different ones for purchase. There was also a bar you could swim up to and get smoothies, slushies, soda, beer or wine! We all sat and relaxed and enjoyed the last night we all had together. It was so perfect; the sky had been very blue all day with minimal clouds, and we got a wonderful sunset that painted the sky as we were wading in the lagoon.

 

 

After the lagoon closed we went back to the hotel and hungout until we couldn’t open our eyes anymore. Most of us stayed up until 3-4 AM. It’s really been amazing being able to make such good friends with everyone I have met in Iceland. Though I LOVE Iceland’s nature, the most powerful part of this whole experience has been making connections with family. All of us participants are cousins; most pretty distant but family nevertheless.

Going to the airport the next morning was very emotional. I didn’t want to leave. Not going to lie, I cried. This has been the most amazing experience of my life. I have met some amazing people whom I have made lifelong connections with, was able to experience and see the land of my ancestors- the list goes on. I really cannot express how amazing this has been. I left a huge chunk of my heart in Iceland, and I cannot wait until I get to go back. I know for a fact that I will go there as much as possible. I am hoping that maybe I can do some study abroad program there in the near future, but if that doesn’t end up working out I still am going to go back to visit family and friends.

The journey back home was LOOOOONG. I traveled for a total of 28 hours. I took as many naps as I could and drank a lot of coffee to get through it. I am still thrown off from jet lag; Hawaii is 10 hours behind Iceland so I’m not 100% yet. It’s nice to be home, I do love Maui, but I am already missing Iceland. I will never forget all the amazing times and people I met!!

Till next time Iceland… Ég elska þig á Íslandi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!