Last night, I arrived at the airport three hours early.  After going through security, I still had a couple hours before boarding.  During this time, I spoke to Michelle, Abigail, and Gabriela.   Before I knew it, it was already 9PM and I was one of the last people to board the 9:50pm flight to Reykjavik.

I sat down in a middle seat and proceeded to talk to a free-spirited, hippie, outgoing girl from San Clemente, who was traveling to Frankfurt to visit her boyfriend of 3.5 years.  Lexi Kookoo had a fun personality, was easygoing, friendly, and a great companion for a long, drawn out, tiring day.  Here’s some more information about her:

• She worked/lived at the Piedras Blanca lighthouse near Big Sur, when she’s had breaks while attending university in San Luis Obispo.  She’s 21 year old and just graduated from SLO
• She becomes extremely excited when noticing mundane plants along trails.  She runs over to the plants, touches them, and talks about them like they’re pets
• Her background is greek and she has 7 siblings, multiple step siblings, multiple ex-step siblings, step parents, and ex-step parents
• She’s traveled to India, Thailand, Peru, and more

What can I learn from her?

• She’s a great conversationalist (friendly, interested, non-judgmental)
• She’s witty, sarcastic, adventurous, open minded, free-spirited
• ollows her passions including botany, environmentalism, traveling, etc

She also had a 16 hour layover in Reykjavik, and after talking about our backgrounds for a couple hours, we decided to hang out during the layover and try to find a tour to go on.

At around 2PM, we arrived in Iceland, picked up our luggage, and bought roundtrip bus tickets from the airport to downtown Reykjavik.  We also reserved a spot on the Golden Circle Late Afternoon Tour, which costed about $80.  The tour would begin in Reykjavik at 5:30PM and end in Reykjavik at 12:30AM.  Until arriving in Iceland, I didn’t fully realize that we would be experiencing 16 hours without night/darkness.  During our entire 16 hour layover (1:35PM-6AM) Reykjavik was consistently lit up as if it was just after sunset or just before sunrise.  This definitely helped me stay up by tricking my mind into thinking that it was too early to sleep.

The Golden Circle Tour was conducted in a 12-seater van, and we visited the following three attractions:

• National Park Thingvellir
  • https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g315853-d276576-Reviews-Thingvellir_National_Park-Thingvellir_South_Region.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Þingvellir
• Geysir
  • https://www.extremeiceland.is/en/information/about-iceland/geysir-geothermal-field
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geysir
• Gullfoss Waterfall
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullfoss
  • https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g7940590-d1740559-Reviews-Gullfoss-Blaskogabyggd_South_Region.html

The first two attractions were fascinating, but a bit underwhelming.  This may have had to do with how high my expectations were.  The third attraction, Gullfoss Waterfall, was incredible and awe-inspiring.  Quite possibly the best view I’ve ever witnessed.  The strong/raging multi-tiered waterfall with a lush, green backdrop could have been worth sitting and enjoying for hours, if the tour company didn’t limit our time to 1 hour.

 

 

https://youtu.be/ya9VkKO0T5ghttps://youtu.be/OuVsbY9jdNUhttps://youtu.be/XLwMaXTQTXI

At the end of the tour, Lexi and I were dropped off in downtown Reykjavik at 12:30AM.  The downtown area was empty and almost all the businesses were closed, but the entire Downtown area was lit up as if the sun had just set.  We decided to spend a couple hours in the Downtown area before catching the 2:30AM bus back to the airport.

We ate a sandwich at a late-night shop, walked around a little bit, met up and conversed with some fellow Layover-ers, and boarded the bus to the airport.  It was a long day, and other than a few naps on the plane and bus, I still haven’t slept in a bed since Sunday night.

 

Interesting Links:

Geology of Iceland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_Iceland

Wow-Air’s business model: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2014/11/transatlantic-flying