On our second day in Iceland, Clayton and I were feeling like native Icelanders. The city layout was getting more familiar to us, we’d discovered some really great restaurants, and we found just about every record store in town. We were feeling pretty brave.
It’s possible that this bravery is what did me in.
Our first night of the infamous runtur was good, but not wild. We did some dancing, talked to a few people, but for the most part the locals left Clayton and I to ourselves. We vowed to change that this time and set out to be Icelandic social butterflies. We hit up the bar Jacobsen to see some Icelandic DJs and a touring act, Hudson Mohawke. We pre-gamed a bit, so I was already feeling pretty good before we even left the hotel.
The bartender came up to us and asked us what we were drinking. Before I had a chance to respond, Clayton said “Two Red Bull and vodkas. Doubles.” And right then I knew, I was going to have a ridiculous night.
Now, before I continue, I’d like to state a few things for the record. I told my mom to read my blog so that she could follow our adventures and now I’m slightly regretting that decision. At 29 years of age, I can count the number of times I’ve blacked out from drinking on one hand. Considering the amount of drinking I’ve done in my life, I think that’s a pretty good track record.
This was not a good night for my track record.
Here’s what I remember:
- Asking the bartender to drive with us to Vik the next day (she declined)
- Meeting various Icelanders
- Lots more drinks
- Dancing (vaguely)
- Making out with an Icelandic girl on a park bench (even more vaguely)
- Tripping and falling on the walk back to the hotel (barely remember this – but I have proof)
Here’s what I don’t remember:
- Leaving the club
- Making it back to the hotel
- How I met the Icelandic girl
- Where the Icelandic girl went after we made out
- Going to bed
So, the next thing I know, I wake up in my bed and it’s morning. I look at my watch, which is totally wrong because it says 1:00pm. We have to be downstairs in the lobby to get picked up for our car rental at 9:00am, so I run to the kitchen area and see that the oven also says 1:00pm. HOLY SHIT. WE SLEPT TILL 1:00pm!!
So not only did we miss our rental car pick-up, but we were way late for check-out as well. Clayton and I get up, dazed, and shower and pack as quickly as possible. I took a bunch of aspirin and prayed to the hangover gods to cut me some slack. For the most part, they did. I should have been way more hungover than I was.
This is also when I discover my injuries. I have a big bruise on my left foot, a scabbed up knee, road rash on my hand, and a slight scrape on my face. This was quite the fall apparently. What is hilarious is that on my last Facebook status update before I left, one of my old co-workers left a comment saying “Be sure to pack band-aids” and I remember laughing about it and thinking that was weird. Now I totally needed them.
We quickly set about fixing our mistakes. We checked out and called a taxi and got a ride to the rental car place where they had our car waiting for us. We had planned to head to the Golden Circle that morning, but that plan was quickly scrapped and we just hit the road to Vik. We decided we’d do the Golden Circle on the way back.
Once on the road, and with some caffeine and food in our stomachs, our hangovers faded away and we got to see some truly incredible landscapes. More on today’s adventures later.
I’m happy that I can now cross off “make out with an Icelandic girl” from my to-do list. I’m not so happy with how it all went down, but I’m still alive and in one piece, so I can’t really complain. I was hesitant to even put this on the blog because I’m a little embarrassed about getting so drunk, but I feel like this is a story that needs to be told, for better or for worse.
Mom, if you’re still reading this, I promise to never get black-out drunk in a foreign country again.
