Ísland

48 hours after we received our BYU diplomas, Drew and I peaced out for our highly anticipated Tekulve Post-Grad European Extravaganza 2k16! It's especially fun for me to share these pictures because Drew brought along his Nikon FG and I was so excited to see how the film developed. With the exception of using our phones for videos and a few pictures (for the gram), the rest of the trip was captured on film and I am so glad that it was! I was even inspired by a few friends to throwback to the 90s-early 2000s and brought three disposable cameras--including one of those funky waterproof ones!--to use myself. And I don't regret it! There were a few that didn't develop that well (or even at all), but that's the fun of it. The images may turn out quirky, incidental, and grainy, but each one is full of so much personality. And that's the point!

We first spent six glorious days in Iceland, or Ísland, as you say in Icelandic. We have been dreaming of going to Iceland for quite some time now, and even took an Icelandic 101 class last fall semester. Partly just to take a class together before we graduated, and partly because we knew we wanted to travel to this beautiful country one day.

Our first day was spent exploring downtown Reykjavík and it is just the cutest little city! I got a lot of Georgetown vibes from all of the colorful townhouses lining the streets. We marveled over one beautiful building after the next: Hallgrimskírkja, Fríkirkjan, Harpa, Perlan, and so on. There's also tons of street art all over the city, ranging from hardcore graffitied walls to those cute murals pictured above. Between the stunning architecture, cleanliness, and friendliness of the people there, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with Reykjaviík! 

Day two consisted of visiting the famous Blue Lagoon. This geothermal spa is fed from the water run-off of a nearby geothermal power plant and is rich in silica and sulfur, which gives it that gorgeous opaque-blue color. One thing I love about Iceland is how environmentally friendly it is as a country. Not only is it so clean over there, (I literally saw zero pieces of trash on the streets the entire week) but they are big on renewable energy and preserving the natural beauty of the land, while still managing to harness it for other purposes. I found it all so fascinating! Much like a lot of the buildings in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon facility's design was so sleek and modern. We definitely enjoyed our Treat Yo Self 2016 day here, mud masks and all!

In my opinion, the only way to see this country in all of its glory is to road trip it. We rented the cutest little Suzuki Jimny for the whole week and drove all over the country. Well okay, not all over the country, but sometimes it felt that way because we drove a LOT. The landscape is unREAL and you can drive for 50+ miles of mountains, valleys, and farms without even seeing another person. And when you do, it's in a teeny town that consists of maybe 10 buildings with nothing else around it for another 50 miles. It doesn't come as a shock at all that so many movies are shot here, because the scenery is second to none. I finally get it, Jbiebz. It was all so beautiful I'll never get over it. Our third day was definitely my favorite day in Iceland, as we ventured along the southern coast to stay in the tiny beach town of Vík. It probably took us double the amount of time to drive there because we stopped on the side of the road to take pictures every 15 minutes.

After dropping off our bags at an adorable little hostel in Vík, we hit one incredible landmark after another. From the breathtaking waterfalls Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, to the wreckage of the U.S. Navy aircraft DC-3 on the black sand beach of Sólheimasunder, to the basalt columns of the Reynisfjara shore, southern Iceland was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Sometimes I felt like I was on a different planet!

After saying goodbye to Vík, we drove back up north through the Golden Circle and stayed in the little village of Flúðir. The Golden Circle is a driving route that loops from Reykjavík into central Iceland and back which has been made popular since it hits a few major landmarks in the southwest. The first of which was Geysir, which as you may have guessed from the name, consists of a gigantic geyser that erupts up to 70m high every 15 minutes or so. Up next was probably one of the most impressive sites I have ever seen: Gulfoss. It translates to "Golden Falls," and is so immense and beautiful that pictures don't even do it justice! 

The next day was probably one of the low points of the trip. I say that only because it just consisted of driving. All day long. On unpaved roads. Those roads are no joke, and even though we were in that trusty little 4WD, it was still the bumpiest and and most treacherous drive. Our final destination was Látrabjarg: the largest bird cliffs in Europe, located on the westernmost point of Iceland. To get there you have to drive along the Westfjords for several hours. Despite the dangerous drive, the scenic views from the car and from the top of the cliffs once we finally arrived made it all worth it!

Leaving Iceland was so bittersweet. I already miss the inspiring beauty of the scenery, the 15 hours of sunlight, and feeling like at some points, we had the whole country to ourselves. I was so entranced by this magical land and will definitely find my way back. However, my sadness was over pretty quickly because our next stop was London! Stay tuned for more stories and even more pictures from the next leg of our trip!