Ms. Hen reviews Iceland

Iceland

Ms. Hen doesn’t know the exact reason she went to Iceland. It might have been because the airfare and the place she stayed was inexpensive, or it might have been the fascination with the movies she watched and music she listened to. Or it might have been the fact that she’s never been so far north in the world. Anyway, she went, and she came back. She survived nine nights alone in Iceland, which she thinks is a little too long to stay in a foreign country by herself. During her last two days there, she pretended that she lived there, she did ordinary things that a hen would do if she were home: she did some writing, she walked around, she went out to lunch.

Ms. Hen thinks that not everything about traveling is wonderful. Her first day in Iceland, the gentleman who owned the Airbnb where she stayed, told her that the shower had an odor. He told her that the water comes from the ground and you can take a shower for as long as you want because it never runs out. When Ms. Hen took a shower, she was appalled by the fart-smelling water. She knew it was sulfur, but she thought it was disgusting! Every day, she took a shower, and hurried up to use her Lavender and Honey body wash to get rid of the stinky smell. Some days, she gagged when she first smelled the water.

The hot water in the sink smelled, too

But that was the only bad thing Ms. Hen experienced in Iceland. She went on some tours: The Golden Circle, The Game of Thrones tour, which you may have read about, and a trip to the Secret Lagoon, with dinner and a northern lights hunt. She thought the Golden Circle Tour was touristy, but she liked the geysers the best, because she had never seen any. And she saw the Northern Lights! Ms. Hen was lucky because it rained most of the week, and the night she went on the tour the sky was clear. She went swimming in the hot springs and she loved being in the hot water. It was about 40 degrees F outside when she went in, but the pool was like going in a hot bathtub.

Ms. Hen at the geyser

She thought she would have been better off having a car, but since Ms. Hen is driving impaired, and she always takes the subway and walks at home, she didn’t feel comfortable driving there. The only rude person in Iceland was the bus driver who wouldn’t let her on the bus because she didn’t have exact change. After that, Ms. Hen gave up on the bus. She knew there was a way she could pay with her phone, but she is a hen who doesn’t like to get too technical.

A cute truck parked at the hospital, which Ms. Hen walked by

So Ms. Hen walked around the city the days she didn’t go on tours. The city is full of art and murals. And it’s also full of gift shops and hotels. There are so many tourists! Ms. Hen thought the food she had was good, but it was expensive. She ate in a lot to save money. She ate a lot of fish and chips when she went out. She also ate Thai food twice, since those places were near where she was staying. One of her favorite restaurants she went to was called Vinyl, which was an all-vegetarian cafe that also sold records and featured a gramophone.

Ms. Hen at Vinyl

Ms. Hen tried to understand the Nordic way when she was in Iceland. The Icelandic people are soft-spoken, polite, and don’t let things bother them. One example of how things work in Iceland: when Ms. Hen was on the shuttle bus to the airport on the way home, one person on the bus had a ticket for the wrong bus company, but the driver said, “Don’t worry, we don’t kick people off the bus. We’ll get you to where you need to go.” Ms. Hen was amazed by this. If that happened in the U.S., the person would be booted off the bus. But Ms. Hen admired the Icelanders for being kind and genuine.

Ms. Hen had a wonderful time in Iceland. She would recommend going there to anyone. She would have liked to see more of the countryside, but she thought what she saw was beautiful. She is an adventurous hen, and enjoys flying out of her coop sometimes.