Plane Ride and Layover in Reykjavik, Iceland

After saying goodbye to my friends in Portland, OR, I got on a plane by myself and took off for 10 hours over the contiguous USA and the Atlantic Ocean for a couple hours of stopover in Reykjavik, Iceland. Although brief in the amount of time spent in the country, I know I would enjoy returning based on what people were telling me who were coming back from vacationing there. I flew Icelandair (which I would highly recommend) and enjoyed hearing all the flight announcements and signs in both English and Icelandish. As we unboarded the plane, we were lucky enough to be able to step outdoors and breathe the air which was the crispest, cleanest, purest air I have ever breathed; virtually unaltered by any sort of pollution. Their water was also amazing, being the cleanest and best tasting water I have ever had. Locals and tourists alike told me about the amazing hiking trails and coastal tours of the island which has a population of merely 323,000 people!! (Note: Greenland has only 56,000 people! That's about the size of my university!) 

Saying goodbye to my buddy before taking off. So lucky that she took me in and made sure all was well for my flight and the beginning of my adventure. Shout out to the lovely Sara Coito for taking this now-iconic friendship picture!! 

Icelandair really succeeded in enticing people to visit Iceland. With free stopover flights that allowed people to spend up to a week in Iceland before transferring flights to another location, and videos of the many activities you could do in both Greenland and Iceland shown on the plane, the tourist teams for their country work hard to get the word out about the fun things to do there.

Excuse the chipped nail polish (Mom, let's get manicures when I get home in December!!) and take a look at the complementary water they gave us on the flight. Best water I have ever had without a doubt. Their drinking fountains' water was just as fresh. 

Sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. 

Icelandic clouds 

Coast of Iceland from the plane. I saw very few houses from the flight over. 

I guess this is what would be considered an Icelandic neighborhood? Not quite sure... In the foreground of this picture shows really pretty purple wildflowers that were blossoming all over the countryside as we flew in.