By: Samie

Travel Date: June 7th, 2023

Total Honeymoon Travel Days: 10

Day 5

(Relaxing Morning in Airbnb, Coffee & Breakfast, Lunch & Dessert on Rainbow Street, Airport)

Our time abroad had gone by way too quickly as we woke up on the very final day of our trip. Our flight home wasn’t until 4:45 that afternoon, so we fortunately still had another morning to experience and enjoy Reykjavik. We also started by sleeping in a little bit because we knew we had a long flight ahead of us. We didn’t wake up until about 8:50 and then still decided to do some relaxing around our Airbnb before heading out.

We had a wonderful morning packing our things up just to have our suitcases all ready for the airport, watching one of our favorite comedian’s comedy specials on Netflix, and spending time with our new best friend Mia. When we first arrived and checked in, she hid the entire evening and seemed very uncomfortable having us in her space. Our host had informed us that she was shy but that once she got some cuddles, she would warm up quickly. This fortunately proved to be true! I can’t think of a better way to start our last morning than with some comedy and cat time!

Once our kitty time was fulfilled, it was time to head out and about to hit up any of the last places we wanted to visit before our adventure came to an end. We had an amazing Airbnb host that said she was working until 5 that evening so we could just check out whenever. This allowed us to make our way around the city without needing to roll our suitcases around with us or having to find a place to store them. We were able to keep them at our Airbnb while we walked around and just grab them and check out before heading to the airport. It was absolutely amazing and gave us some wonderful flexibility and freedom.

Our first stop was of course to grab some breakfast and coffee. We didn’t have anywhere in particular in mind, so our plan was to walk around until we found some place that looked good! This place just so happened to be a very well-named place called Te & Kaffi. We each got a hot latte, and then I got an almond croissant while Luke got a ham and cheese croissant. Even though our lattes were hot, they came in clear glasses, so we could see the stunning separation of the coffee and foam with the ornate decoration on top.

Once we were officially fueled with some caffeine, we made our way over to visit Rainbow Street again. There were a couple of food and dessert places we had seen the first time we visited that we wanted to try this time around. The first days we had spent in Reykjavik were just the beginning of the summer season. It was cloudy and brisk (only about 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit) almost the entire time we were there. By the time we were passing through this time around, summer was in full swing! Although not too much warmer since Iceland has temperate summers, the clouds had cleared, and the sun was cheerfully shining. It almost made Rainbow Street seem like a whole new destination, and we kind of got to experience it all over again!

Our first official stop after shopping and perusing around was for some lunch at 101 Reykjavik Street Food. We had enjoyed our first taste of lobster soup so much when we had visited Seabaron that we decided to sample another portion from a different location. We each ordered a cup of their lobster soup which came with a roll (2250 ISK or $16.40 each) and a small, hot drip coffee (500 ISK or $3.65 each). The soup was just as fresh with a just as savory and nicely spiced broth. The rolls weren’t freshly made in house, which definitely affected the quality, but it was still overall, an amazing final Icelandic meal!

After a real meal, it was obviously time for dessert. We popped over to a place called Eldur og ís. We had attempted to stop in the first time we were on Rainbow Street, but they had just closed for the evening. We intended to amend that before departing! This delectable dessert shop not only had a large array of colorful ice cream choices, but the entire store carried a mouth-watering aroma of freshly made crêpes. The smell was far too tempting and with a little extra room in his stomach than I had foolishly left available in mine, Luke ordered one of their crêpe specialties called the El Classico (2650 ISK or $19.32). This tasty order included a crêpe with Nutella, banana, whipped cream, and one scoop of an ice cream of your choice. Luke elected for a classic coffee flavored coffee to accompany his sweet treat. Since I definitely wanted dessert was still pretty full from lunch, I ordered a single scoop of ice cream in a cup (650 ISK or $4.74). I genuinely don’t remember what I got because I inhaled it so quickly. It was creamy and delicious and worth every spoonful I forced into my expanding belly.

By the time we finished up our dessert, it was sadly time to start getting ready to head to the airport to check in for our flight. We made our way back to the Airbnb to grab our suitcases, say goodbye to Mia, and check out. We walked over to the bus stop by Hallgrimskirkja Church. As we waited for the bus, several other travelers came rolling in with their luggage to wait as well. We hopped on the bus for the 45 minute trek to the airport at around 1:30.

At this point, we had flown into Keflavik Airport twice and flown out of it once, so we felt pretty comfortable with the airport. Since it was an international flight, we still wanted to get there at least 2 hours early just in case something unexpected popped up or we had to go through the process of weighing and sizing our suitcases again like we had flying out of Minneapolis. Fortunately check in and security went quickly and smoothly, and we were relaxing in the airport before we knew it. The one unexpected thing that happened was that while we were sitting on a bench while waiting to head to our gate, a couple airport security members approached us and asked to see our passports and asked us a couple of questions about our travels. After they deemed us unthreatening, they handed our passports back to us and moved on. They were very friendly and conversational, but we still weren’t expecting to be approached once we were through security!

Despite the world seeming so big, we are often reminded of how small it can be. We had an example of this on our return flight. We have flown out of the Minneapolis airport, a much more local airport, several times and never crossed paths with a familiar face. Yet, flying out of the foreign and small airport of Iceland, we learned that we were on the same return flight of an old friend of mine! Her and her sister had been traveling around Europe and just so happened to be returning home the same day as us with this flight being their connecting flight to get home. Such an unpredictable and crazy coincidence!

Once boarded, we settled in for another 6 or so hour flight back to the United States. However, whereas last time we had lost about 5 hours, we were now gaining 5 hours back. This meant that we we were leaving Reykjavik at 4:45pm local time and still managing to touch down at about 6:00pm local time after a 6-6 1/2 hour flight, which honestly seems like time travel. Returning, when we were beginning to get close to landing in Minneapolis, we had to complete a Customs or Declaration Form. This form required us to fill in our personal information (names, birth dates, address, passport number, home country, countries visited) and then why we were visiting, description and estimated cost of items purchased while abroad (gifts, souvenirs, etc.), and finally if we had anything to declare like plants, livestock, or specialty food items. It seems like a very stressful process because you don’t want to mark something incorrectly and be fined, but we learned (after definitely stressing about it) that it really isn’t something to be concerned about. We had bought Icelandic chocolate to bring home and were worried we would get in trouble for not declaring it as good. Not the case. Things bought in souvenir shops or commercially wrapped/packaged are most likely fine.

Coming through U.S. customs was long but easy. There were a couple flights that got in at the same time, so it was a very long line, and we weren’t about to elbow our way to try and get to the front. We really weren’t in much of a hurry now that we were home after all. The customs agent asked us a couple questions, checked our passports, and since we are U.S. citizens and not just visiting, quickly let us on through.

Although technically now about 7:00pm, our bodies were telling us it felt more like 12:00am, so we figured we would be ready to crash soon. Instead of pushing to make the 5 hour drive home, we had booked a hotel in Chanhassen, about 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis (more affordable than in the city itself). We had flown right through supper, so we stopped for some Chick-fil-A before getting real cozy and winding down in our hotel room for the evening.

After waiting 3 whole years, our honeymoon adventure was already coming to an end. We couldn’t believe how quickly it had gone, but we will be forever grateful for this wonderful and once-in-a-lifetime experience we got to share as husband and wife! So… when is the next international trip? Because we can’t wait!