So- my short but sweet trip to Iceland began this time last week. We touched down on what looked like another planet, or even perhaps heaven, with the fluffy white mountains, bright blue skies and Persil-clean coastline. Although I was only in this surreal Christmas land two nights, having cut my time there short due to the law of sod saying my new job would start in the middle of my booked dates, I still managed to see some of the northern lights, swim in the Blue Lagoon, wander around Reykjavik, buy an Icelandic Yuletide decoration and eat raw puffin. The geysirs, ram's testicles, snowman building and crazy Reykjavik nightlife were sadly missed, but I have decided I'll be revisiting to take Sadie there one Christmas when she's old enough not to complain about the cold or drown in the misty thermal baths. Iceland is a very expensive destination, with house red wine costing us -now you might need to sit down for this- £30 per bottle (!), so some forward planning involving duty free gin and shop-bought bread and cream cheese ensured we still managed to eat and be merry without coming home skint. I even had the hilarious experience of falling into a snow hole, much to the amusement of my travelling pals, Su, Ellie and Roger. We would later hear a similar tale from other tourists, and it seems that I was lucky enough to be able to stand up after this experience and get myself out, as many other not-so-fortunates had to roll sideways to manouvre through the white sludge, causing their companions to wet themselves laughing even further. This being the funniest moment, and thankfully we were on our way to bathe so I defrosted pretty quick, the highlight of the whole weekend was relaxing in the rocky, snowy-edged, warm cloudy waters of the Blue Lagoon as the sun went down, supping an extortionately priced pint of lager (well- it had to be done on the more than one occasion) with my good friends.
Soundtrack: Super Furry Animals-Northern Lites
