My title pretty much sums it up. Other than my internal feelings of: AAAAAAAAHHHH!!! (excited) But yeah, I'm including Iceland in my Northern Ireland wedding trip in August/September.
Of the people I've told so far (which has not been many since I really didn't want to internet jinx it and then find that the plane tickets suddenly became out of my price range) there's been a mixed bag of sentiments. While mostly very positive and enthusiastic, I found the non-reactive responses kinda interesting.
Sure, the name of the country kinda brings up negative connotations - Ice-land. (Or as Sanka in Cool Runnings would say: "Ice? As in Eskimos, and igloos, and penguins, and ICE?") But, it will be summer when I go so I'm not too worried about it. Actually, I want to go back in the winter (I haven't even gone there yet and I'm already planning my next trip....yep) since they're known for a hotel made of ice and there's even a heated beach - but they're only open in the winter...I checked.
And, besides, anyone who has watched Mighty Ducks 2 (D2) knows that Greenland is actually full of ice (true story, seen it from planes) while Iceland is very nice.
I intend to find out if that is true in person, though.
I first started thinking about including Iceland in my trip when I read an article this past weekend about how it's been very cheap to go there due to their economy issues. Though, the article also warned that the government has started taxing a lot of items (sometimes up to 25 percent) to make up for the recent lack of revenue.
But I figured I would check the airplane fares to Iceland and go from there. The fares were Great. I'm flying from Boston to London for $404 one way using Iceland Express. Iceland Air was another option but a tad more expensive. And, on the way back, the flight from London to Iceland was $100 and $277 to Boston.
Throw in the $70ish I just paid for Ryanair flight round trip from London to Dublin, and I'm paying a lil under $1,000.
Know what most airlines wanted to charge from Albany to Belfast? At least $1,050, and usually a lot more.
So, now I'm not only excited about seeing a place I've always wanted to go, I'm also thrilled to save a bit of money in the process.
Now just crossing my fingers that there's not a volcanic eruption that will affect flights...again.