Iceland
Name: Katie Savastano
Age: 22
Location: Iceland
Duration of stay: from July 2008- May 2009
Occupation/activity there: I had a negative experience as an au pair for an Icelandic family for six months. After I quit, I milked my au pair visa for the last four months and lived downtown with a friend on the main street, Laugavegur. Things were really cheap for me, as an American, after their economy collapse in October of 2008. So, I didn’t worry too much about money and focused on making my time in Iceland an overall good experience— to redeem the first six months.
Why iceland?: I knew I wanted to go live in a different country for a while. I’ve been friends with a lot of exchange students, and I just wanted to know what it’s like. I was inspired to go to Iceland back in 2007 after I saw Múm in concert. Soon after, it was like I kept hearing about the place. NPR mentioned their geothermal energy plan, a friend made me see the music documentary Screaming Masterpieces, and it was around the time Sigur Rós released their Heima dvd, which had a lot of breathtaking footage of Iceland’s landscape. All of these random mentions and peeps about the place happened in less than a week or two, and I had to go check it out. It was calling me.
Transportation in Iceland: When you live in Reykjavik, you can take the bus anywhere. I rarely had to take the bus once I moved downtown 101. Because it’s a small city, you can walk everywhere. Though, most Icelandic people have cars, and most of them drive everyday.. huge gas-guzzling SUVs.
Best food spot: Eating out in Iceland is ridiculously expensive. Don’t be surprised to spend $15 on hot chocolate and a croissant. My roommates and I usually made soups. We always cooked together. As a tourist without a kitchen, I would suggest getting a burrito at Santa Maria, an authentic Mexican restaurant downtown on Laugavegur. There’s also a decent vegetarian buffet called ‘A Naestu Grosum’ very close to Santa Maria. Sandholt Bakarí is a decent bakery down the street, and you can get a sandwich for about 700 ISK, which is pretty rare. All of these places I’m suggesting are in 101 (downtown Reykjavik).
Drink spot: Kaffi Hljómalind for the best hot chocolate. I can’t remember if they had decent coffee. I don’t drink coffee. Drinking at the bars is not a cheap activity, but you can share a cheap bottle of wine with a friend at cafe Hemmi & Valdi.
Chill spot: (Kaffi) Hljómalind or Babalú. My friends and I would kill hours/days in these places. Hljómalind is right on the main street (Laugavegur), and for as many regulars there are there, a lot of curious tourists who enjoy local hotspots wander in. It’s a wonderful place to meet people, and it had a community space in the back for anyone to use. It’s probably the most laid back international hang outs in Reykjavik. I will always miss it. Babalú is owned by a great guy from NYC. It’s a friendly atmosphere with cozy corners to sit in, and a few streets up from the busy street.
Shopping gems: Kisan, which is a French store actually, but they do sell a few products from an Iceland line, Farmers Market, which makes Icelandic wool hats and gloves. Beautiful things, but a little on the pricey side. The best place to shop cheaply is at the flea-market by the harbor, every weekend. There are a ton of booths selling anything from second hand clothes to vintage postcards, and fish. Also, there’s a Red Cross store and a Salvation Army (run by really nice women) all in 101. If you’re willing to dig, you can come out with some good lightly worn wool sweaters— they make for the best souvenirs from the North.
Favorite Icelandic food: The dairy was phenomenal in Iceland (except for the cheese). 4.9% milk was the tastiest. Nothing in the States can compare. My friends and I would heat the milk up on the stove and stir in honey, watch a movie and eat pecans. It was the perfect combination. Skyr is this delicious yogurt-like snack. I had a cup of the blueberry every other day. We would get plain Skyr and mix granola, oats, raisins, chocolate, banana and whatever we had in it. Other than that, traditional Icelandic food wasn’t that great. Oh yeah, and the hotdogs were delicious too. I rarely am okay with eating processed meat, but this was a weak spot for me. The ones wrapped in bacon at the convenient stores were the best, served with deep fried onions and a honey mustard sauce. About the most unhealthy thing to eat for a few bucks, but oh so good!
Icelandic people: Most of them speak English really well. Most are educated.. You know, there are good and bad people everywhere. The thing is, I rarely met an Icelandic person I liked. They are guarded by a thick brick wall that you can look in but you can’t get through. And even though the crime rate is really low in Iceland, I’ve never seen so many rude or aggressive drunk people. But that’s mostly on the weekends. If you’re in 101 on the weekends, look out for flying glass and cans and shouting men in tuxedos. Also, if a guy grabs you, whatever you do, don’t hit him. He will hit back. I was told by a mellow Icelander that the cool ones don’t go out to 101 on the weekends, but it’s really hard to get in that “cool” crowd, unless you’re dating an Icelandic person. I’ve know a lot of non-Icelandic people that have dated Icelandic people, and it usually never works out. Overall, I had some bad experiences with Icelanders but I think most would never know that unless they stayed there long enough. However, because I was a foreigner, I got to be with all the other foreigners. That was amazing. We were all kind of in the same boat: inspired to go there and being far away from everyone we ever knew. That made us bond instantly. If you know what CouchSurfing is, I recommend doing it there. There is an awesome community there- most of which are made up by warm foreigners willing to take in other foreigners!
The landscape: The quality of the Iceland’s nature overrides anything bad about the country. When you go visit Iceland, you better spend a lot of time outside, no matter how cold it is. When I first arrived there in the summer of 2008, a new friend took me out to Þingvellir (Thingvellir Nathional Park), only a half hour drive from the city. We were wandering around in between the two continental plates, hopping on soft beds of moss, gawking at the richest blue water, all in the wee hours of the morning. It was still light outside at 3AM. I recommend Iceland in the Summertime. Though the Spring is cold, you can at least still see the Northern Lights at night if you go outside the of the city in early March. Must-see places: It all depends on how much time you’ve got. If you’re only there for a week, only give the city two days. It’s small, and it’d be a waste of time if you spent most of your trip in 101. Go to Hljómalind to meet people or find people on the CouchSurfing website (there’s even a Reykjavik group) and coordinate a road trip or a day trip. A perfect day trip would be to hit up Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss (the Golden Circle). If you go during the right time of year where you have a lot of sunlight, you should make your first stop by Álafoss to buy yourself a nice traditional sweater (also it’s located right next to Sigur Rós’s recording studio). My favorite part of Iceland was the South. Take Hwy 1 south for a day trip and drive towards Vík. On the way, there are a few famous waterfalls to stop at and who knows how many little ones you will see just from the road. If you have a lot of time in Iceland, I’d catch a ferry to Vestmannaeyjar (the Westman Islands) for a few days. Heimaey, the main island was devastated by a volcano back in the ’70s but most of everything was rebuilt, and it’s surreal to walk through “The Pompei of the North” and learn about this beautiful island with its cute colorful houses.
Tourist tip: There’s a tourist company called Reykjavik Excursions that can take you to all the right places, but what I suggest is finding some new friends and splitting the cost on a rental car from BSI. All you need is a good Subaru, which can cost you only about $80 a day (split between 3-5 people, it’s nothin). Driving in Iceland is incredibly easy. They have the same road systems only with fewer stoplights and more roundabouts.
_____
Katie currently resides in Eugene, OR.
