Semester at Sea really came full circle for me the morning that we ported in England- this time, instead of it being our first port, it was our final port – so instead of nervousness and excitement, there were tears and goodbyes.
For me- it represented the end of the voyage- my collegiate journey that had wonderfully taken me from semester to semester – sometimes into new and distant lands. I was going back to the familiar, at this point for an unquantified amount of time.
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I had booked my flight via Iceland Air, which I heard would let me extend my layover for free if I wanted to spend more time in Iceland. Unfortunately, since I had booked it with Expedia and not directly through the airline, this wasn’t the case, but I had already done enough research on the country to get me excited about going, so I did!
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Fun/ Cool / Enlightening Stuff done:
Day 1
After waiting over 4 hours at the airport, where our shuttle dropped us of, Stephanie and I set off to our quaint Z Hotel in Soho, where we had our luggage picked up to be shipped home. We planned, among all things to have dinner and to meet up with our friends for one last ‘SASsy night out’. We ended up having the complimentary wine and cheese at our hotel – eating at a Japanese restaurant – and royally passing out until the next day. There is no doubt in my mind that the past 4 months caught up to us. If it had been a few months, or even a few weeks back – we would’ve been able to stay up all night and get up for an early tour. Nope, not anymore.
Day 2
On my last day in London, I was able to meet my friends who studied with me in France. We ventured through the vibrant Camden market, where we ate and sat by the river as we recounted stories. Catching up really made the time feel so fleeting, but so connected. At the time that we were together in Paris, I had no idea that I would be doing another Semester at Sea…
I left them to meet up with my friend Heather from the ship, whose hand I held tightly as she gripped with fear the needle that would leave in her a nose piercing. There weren’t any pictures allowed to be taken, but I can tell you that I absolutely love the way that it came out.
No one else was really interested in going, but having seen the film 5 times, nothing was stopping me from seeing Les Miserables in theatre. It was totally worth it: even after someone was in my seat with a ticket that we were both sold on the black market, and the performance had to pause 3 times due to technical difficulties.
At night, I went with Stephanie to Ministry of Sound, which is supposed to be one of the world’s top nightclubs. Fred, who’s studying in London from Ghana joined us as well. It was a good night – not an overly crowded night, but one with enough people dancing, and certainly good sound.
Day 3
On my last day in London – I decided to say goodbye to Heather and Christina, whom despite our plans to hang out, I did not see until today. That meant saying goodbye to Stephanie – with whom I had spent most of my time on the ship, and in country with – just like that, a hug later, I said goodbye to one of the most influential people of the voyage, and at this moment in my life. It’s crazy what traveling does to your mind and your spirit — one day you’re attached by the hip, and the next, you don’t know when you’ll see each other again.
I met Heather and Tina briefly at Hyde Park, splitting off at the Big Ben – where Christina and I headed towards the river, eventually having a heart to heart over wine.
Almost out of a movie – we split at the Waterloo train station, with no time for emotional reflection, since I had to run to the airport – taking a train there with my three gigantic luggages.
I made it to Iceland, where I was welcomed by what I will consider the Midnight Sun, that is, until I see a better one. It was 11:47pm, and I could still see beautiful streaks of sun scattered across the sky ❤
I checked into my suuper hipster hostel, KEX, which I learned was just a microcosm of the entire city…
Day 4
I met Alexa Stroh for lunch, who I met through Couchsurfing and who sailed on the SAS ’12 voyage. Currently, Alexa interned at the American embassy in Reykjavik, where she would live for the next month. Despite our birthplaces and our current locations in life – SAS really has a way to connect people – the shared experience made everything else that was foreign about each other seem oh so familiar. Within minutes, I felt like I had known her forever.
Together, we explored the area, had amazing Thai food, and ended up at a super quaint coffee shop, where she left me to go back to work. I entertained myself booking things for my next few days in Iceland and walking around where I purchased a snow globe to add to my collection.
I contemplated getting a tattoo, decided against it, and got the famous Skyr yoghurt-like concoction Icelanders are famous for instead.. which was absolutely delicious.
I met up with Alexa and her friend at another coffee shop after work; they drove me to a beautiful lighthouse, which was just awesome as the sun set.
Goo, as I amiably called her friend recounted the story of the 3000-person island where he was from – where the puffins would crash into following the glow from the sun. They wouldn’t be able to fly again until the children resuscitated them and helped them to regain strength.
They drove me back to the hostel, where I joined the two guys who I was sharing a room with at the hostel for a walk. They got the world-famous ‘Reykjavik’ hot dogs, while I took in the view.
Day 5
I woke up early for the Gulfoss /Circle tour, which I was told was a must in Southern Iceland: I could see why.
The entire day was spent going to beautiful places and taking in beautiful sights – waterfalls, mountain ranges, earth splits, geysers, and a greenhouse which cultivates tomatoes and cucumbers.
Nature at its finest.
I met up with Alexa again who joined me at the hostel for dinner before meeting up with three Couchsurfers at another super quaint coffee shop. Iceland really is great with them! We talked with the three ladies, who equally shared a passion for travel, and whose lives had all brought them to Iceland.
The night ended early, beautifully so – with a peaceful rest and a hostel room for 4 all to myself.
Day 6
I woke up ‘early’ to go to the thrift shop up the block from the hostel – I was able to find a dress for graduation and a pair of shoes before my tour came to pick me up for whale watching. I didn’t see any whales, but I did meet a super nice Italian girl who is conducting research in Iceland on whales and who offered to hang out with me that night.
I got back to Reykjavik to say goodbye to Alexa, but not before going with her to the world’s only Penis museum, where despite our concern only had one human penis – and it was, in fact donated. The same cannot be said about he hundreds of animal penises, including those of whales, horses, lions and the like.
The night ended at the ‘English Pub’, where an old English entertained me with really great conversation and reflective questions about the end of my voyage. It was all great until I saw him trying to roofie my drink… I was about 95% sure, but I didn’t want to cause a scene, so I didn’t say anything about it… I heard it was a thing in Iceland, but jeezzz.
Day 7
My last day of the trip and of the voyage could not have been spent any better: on my way to the airport, I accepted a package deal to go to the Blue Lagoon, which is a lagoon created from the geothermal waters of a nearby plant.
There, I ran into the two Singaporean guys that I had met the day before whale watching: talk about serendipity? No, Iceland is probably just way too predictable… we spent the next few hours chatting it up about the US/Singapore, until they left for the airport.
I relaxed a bit more on my own, contemplating my going home- not wanting to wait any longer to.
Graced by calm warmness, I was ready to go home.
Best Food Had: Vegetarian ‘Steak’ in Reykjavik
Favorite City: Both were equally awesome; I’d like to see London in the winter and Reykjavik in the summer
Favorite Thing Done: The Golden Circle Tour in Iceland
Interesting things learned about Iceland:
On Economy:
Iceland changed my whole perspective on expensive. I felt like what it must feel like for a person coming from an underdeveloped nation visiting the US; it wasn’t that the places that I frequented were touristic and expensive, or that the exchange rate made them so; they were expensive because Iceland is relatively expensive compared to the US, in part because they have to import so many of their goods as an island. I paid the equivalent of $44 for a drink…
Iceland’s mission it to be self sufficient, mostly because they’re so isolated
Their exports consist of fish and aluminum
The unemployment rate was 1% before crisis of 2008 financial vs. 10% a year after the crisis – 8000 people left to work in Norway; in 2014 it has gone down to 4.2%
Iceland is plastic based- it runs on a ‘no cash’ system; it’s a place where it is difficult to find an ATM- there were about 2 that I saw in the entire city of Reykjavik
Icelandic farmers supply 50% of all of their produce, the goal being to be completely independent and sustainable in the coming years
Icelandic farmers supply 50% of all of their produce, the goal being to be completely independent and sustainable in the coming years
Religion:
Farmers would get money from the state if they built churches on their land, so there’s a lot of churches scattered throughout various farm lands: the country is 99% Lutheran, 1% Catholic.
60% of people believe in elves hidden in stones —- when building roads, they go around the stones
Culture:
Swimming: children have swimming tests every year until 16 because sailors would constantly drown in the Atlantic not knowing how to swim; swimming is a huge cultural thing: there are over 173 public swimming pools in the country, at least one in every village/town
Reykjavik is so safe that people leave their children in carriages outside: Alexa warned me about this one
Miscellaneous:
Reykjavik is one the most spread out cities in the world
Despite it being so expensive overall, Iceland is relatively cheap when it comes to rent and buying land, partly because they have so much.
People with kids live in apartment buildings right in front of the kindergartens – this avoids kids missing school because of snow; these apartments are located near the city, so parents can go to work and kids can walk home
Volcano eruptions occur every 5-10 yrs — no one has died since the 18th century, so people are actually excited when they occur
Iceland powers their energy with many geothermal plants that provide hot water and electricity, making electricity really affordable in Iceland – hot water only loses one degrees centigrade when it travels from the plants to peoples’ home because it’s so well insulated. Iceland has the biggest geothermal energy in the world, exporting its knowledge of the industry to over 49 other countries, sponsored by the UN.
Because of the use of clean energy and its geographic location, Reykjavik is considered to be the cleanest city in the world
Icelanders really love their horses. There are about 320,000 people in Iceland and about 80,000 horses. – that’s a 1:4 ratio! They love them so much that there’s a law that says that Icelandic horses are not allowed to mix with horses of other races, so when people bring their horses out of Iceland for competition, they can’t bring them back to the country.
Because of the geothermal power, hot water in Iceland is really hot!!
On books: Icelanders are the only people who can still read their folk tales because the Icelandic language is so well preserved; books are still the #1 Christmas gift to give
Earlene at Sea 