After getting lost for about 20 minutes, and turning around in circles, and one minor meltdown on my part, my sister and I found Olga's place. It was 8:30 a.m. by this time and we were early for check in. Olga answered the door, let us drop our bags off and then we were on our way to explore the city despite our exhaustion.
First we walked along the water front and saw lots of really odd art (like 2D blocks that look 3D) until we reached the downtown area.
The first place I wanted to stop was a store called Woolcano, solely because of the name. Turns out its just a clever little tourist shop, not so different from the other 100 tourist shops that can be found downtown. We continued to wander aimlessly until we were so hangry (hungry and angry) that we stopped at a cute little café for a sandwich, some baked goods and a warm dry place to sit. As we sat and warmed up, the rain began to fall even harder. We decided to duck in and out of shops until we were close enough to Olga's then we would go in for a nap and dry clothes. The last store Rachelle insisted we duck in was a poorly marked Ice Limo Tour Company. When we came in we were greeted by an overly enthusiastic Icelandic man. He introduced himself as Aronolafsen, and I called him that string of letters for the next 3 hours only to find out when he gave me his contact info that his name was actually Aaron Olafson, nailed it!
Anyway, rewind a tad, we meet Aronolafsen and he asks us how we like Iceland so far. We mention something about the rain, and he replied with what would become my mantra for the trip: "People don't come here for the weather." It is unpredictable and never accurately forcasted, if I based my opinion on the weather alone, Iceland would be the bottom of my favorite travels. Thank goodness, I later discovered the better things it had to offer.
Aaron asked next what our plans were for the week. We said we had no idea and asked if he had any suggestions for us. He then began pulling out brochures and asked us to have a seat. "We will compile a list and make a timetable and cost spreadsheet of the things you want to do." Some of the things we suggested he dismissed immediately "You won't like that." He would say. After four hours, meeting his boss and a very strong cup of coffee, we had a spreadsheet complete with cost of each excursion and we had booked something for the whole week.
First we walked along the water front and saw lots of really odd art (like 2D blocks that look 3D) until we reached the downtown area.
The first place I wanted to stop was a store called Woolcano, solely because of the name. Turns out its just a clever little tourist shop, not so different from the other 100 tourist shops that can be found downtown. We continued to wander aimlessly until we were so hangry (hungry and angry) that we stopped at a cute little café for a sandwich, some baked goods and a warm dry place to sit. As we sat and warmed up, the rain began to fall even harder. We decided to duck in and out of shops until we were close enough to Olga's then we would go in for a nap and dry clothes. The last store Rachelle insisted we duck in was a poorly marked Ice Limo Tour Company. When we came in we were greeted by an overly enthusiastic Icelandic man. He introduced himself as Aronolafsen, and I called him that string of letters for the next 3 hours only to find out when he gave me his contact info that his name was actually Aaron Olafson, nailed it!
Anyway, rewind a tad, we meet Aronolafsen and he asks us how we like Iceland so far. We mention something about the rain, and he replied with what would become my mantra for the trip: "People don't come here for the weather." It is unpredictable and never accurately forcasted, if I based my opinion on the weather alone, Iceland would be the bottom of my favorite travels. Thank goodness, I later discovered the better things it had to offer.
Aaron asked next what our plans were for the week. We said we had no idea and asked if he had any suggestions for us. He then began pulling out brochures and asked us to have a seat. "We will compile a list and make a timetable and cost spreadsheet of the things you want to do." Some of the things we suggested he dismissed immediately "You won't like that." He would say. After four hours, meeting his boss and a very strong cup of coffee, we had a spreadsheet complete with cost of each excursion and we had booked something for the whole week.
The itinerary included: Free Friday (a free walking tour), Snorkeling Saturday and Hangover Sunday (complete with the number to order pizza after the bar.). We then headed out into the rain once more and made our way back to Olga's. It was 5 p.m. we crawled into bed and slept about 18 hours... Jet lag is a bitch.
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