
In the early spring of 2019, Chloe and I (Paula) traveled to the frigid land of Iceland with our families for a quick trip. The now dead airline WOW (r.i.p) offered wildly cheap tickets and we took the leap! We arrived early in the morning, gathered our luggage, and hopped into our tiny rental car. Our destination: the Secret Springs. My mom had been to Iceland before and found that the famed Blue Lagoon had become too commercial and overcrowded, and found the Secret Springs as a great escape from tourists, and much more calming. The drive from the airport took about two hours, and we unknowingly stopped at Iceland’s best rated bakery along the way. While enjoying bread baked in the ground, we watched the scenery slowly light up, and the wind quietly push the snow around. The springs were hot and watery – what can I say? Very relaxing.
The next few days we tried to do as much as we could: go on a northern lights tour, eat at renowned local restaurants, learn about the splitting tectonic plates (we stood over a real-life schism!), explore the indoors flea market, and traverse the ancient lava tunnels. The people were very kind, and all the tourist locations were extremely concerned with maintaining the sites and not harming the local scenery. Overall, we had a fabulous time exploring and relaxing on this small, cold ancient – yet modern – island.