Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire

7/30/2019 Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire

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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


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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


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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


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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.


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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


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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


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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


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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


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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.


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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


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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.


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Iceland The Land of Snow and Fire