How to be a complete idiot in 30 steps

Firstly let me set up the scene. I’m in Lugo, Galicia for 10 days now and I decided to visit something outside the city too. So today I choose A Coruña. It’s two hours away by bus. I arrived around 2 pm, I had bus back at 8 pm. 

1. When you get into the new city, don’t trust google maps when it’s saying you’re going farther away from the spot you were meant to head to. Keep on going in the wrong way for at least 40 minutes.

2. When you do realise you went wrong, don’t take the city bus to save the wasted time. Walk randomly in such a way that it will take you even longer to get back to square one.

3. After 2 hours and more than 8 km later, when you do get back, rest for literally 5 seconds and keep on walking. You’re not tired anyway.

4. Ignore being hungry and just eat some light snacks you brought with you.

5. Take your time to shot videos and photos by the ocean.

6. When you finally get to the main point of attraction, don’t check the time to see how much you have left until you need to catch the bus back in the other city.

7. After climbing 234 stairs and enjoying the perfect view from Torre de Hércules don’t bother to look up exactly how to get to the bus station.

8. When google maps says it’s gonna take you one hour to get there on foot and  the bus leaves in one hour and a half just shut down any thoughts of taking a bus and keep on walking. 

9. Also don’t bother to check exactly how to get there. You clearly know where you’re going. Right? Right?! 

10. Being too hungry (it’s been 6 hours since your last proper meal) decide on the spot to buy a sandwich from one of those vending machines.

11. Be amazed by how the sandwich actually is being warmed up and when to take it out.. block the fucking little door that would give you acces to the sandwich. Close the door again just to get 0 sandwiches. And 0 money. 

12. Decide to call the number written on the machine. You moron, like you’d be able to explain in Spanish what happened! 

13. Talk for 10 minutes with the person explaining there’s no point being called later for someone to bring you the money tomorrow since you’re leaving in one hour from this city. Explain? Fail in explaining since again.. You don’t speak Spanish!

14. Leave the place losing €2.20 and still being hungry.

15. Buy food 3 minutes later from a bakery and start eating on the street once again not paying attention to the road.

16. Pass by a bus stop, look at the three buses waiting for people to go in and keep on walking down the street.

17. Five minutes later exactly when you started to doubt the way you’re going be back in front of the tower. Panic.

18. Panic some more and decide to take the first bus that’s coming towards you since you conveniently were in a bus stop.

19. Ask the bus driver „estacion del autobus”? And follow his instructions to go one more bus stop up, where you just came from, and take number 4.

20. Only now look at the clock: 40 minutes to reach the bus leaving the city.

21. Be happy the bus number 4 comes in the next 2 minutes. Pay €1.30 and then, at the next bus stop, the one you ignored before, panic again when the bus driver stops the bus completely and goes out of it.

22. Bus is leaving in 5 minutes or so says google. It takes around 25 minutes to get to the bus station and it’s exactly 30 minutes until the main bus leaves. Math was never your strongest point, but from all your calculations the result is the same: you’re fucked.

23. Panic the fuck out.

24. Exactly when the bus driver returns, see on the other side of the road some taxis. Leave the bus just in time to make the bus driver very confused and take the first taxi.

25. Breath. You forgot to do that in the last 15 minutes.

26. When the taxi driver asks you what way do you prefer for him to take just use the only bit of Spanish your brain can still remember: „mas rapido, por favor”. Pay 8 euros for taxi.

27. Arrive to the station in time and finally breath happily you made it.

28. Five seconds later panic again. Your bus is nowhere to be found.

29. Ask a bus driver. Ask a girl. Ask another bus driver. Ask another woman.

30. Finally find the bus and forget to eat because it’s for sure forbidden to eat in the bus. 

P. S. You can see the nice part of the trip on my Intagram stories.  😊

P. S. I walked around 15 km today. 

Anunțuri

Românul afară

M-am tot gândit dacă să scriu despre asta sau nu. Nu vreau să fie un alt articol scris de o româncă plecată din țară care îi judecă pe alți români întâlniți pe drum.

Acum câteva zile eram la lucru. Probabil că numele lipit la piept și faptul că purtam o ie au fost de ajuns ca tipul care era în fața recepției să mă întrebe direct în română, după ce m-a salutat în engleză, dacă sunt româncă. Îi răspund că da.

Întâmplarea face că hostelul era plin în ziua respectivă și următoarea deci nu aveam paturi libere, așa că am încercat să îl ajut. Îmi zice că va merge să stea cu cortul dacă pot să îi spun de unde poate cumpăra sau închiria un sac de dormit sau ceva. Îi arăt pe hartă, dar nu apuc să îi explic bine că îmi răspunde:

– Nu mă trimite în centru că nu vreau să merg atâta!

Și apoi îmi cere parola de internet, îi arăt că era scrisă fix în fața lui și începe să îmi explice:

– Doamne dar cum am ajuns eu aici, că era ultima țară de nu o văzusem. Lasă că o sun pe Mi’aela să îmi cumpere un bilet de avion că nu m-am tâmpit să stau aici.

Între timp o sună pe tipă și evident că telefonul era pe handsfree. (De ce au oamenii nevoia să aibă conversații personale să fie auziți de o clădire întreagă?!) Prin urmare am auzit toată conversația. O femeie cu voce îngrijorată răspunde, el îi spune că are nevoie să îi cumpere un bilet de avion cât mai curând pentru Anglia, în următoarele două trei zile. Ea îl întreabă unde este, îi spune că în Islanda și îi menționează că îi va da banii mai târziu. Închide telefonul și mă întreabă de orice alt hostel ar fi prin apropiere, dar din nou, să nu îl trimit în centru.

Îi arăt pe hartă că într-adevăr este un alt hostel la vreo 15 minute distanță de noi și îi explic că nu știu prețuri sau disponibilitate. Pare că se mai liniștise din sperietură pentru că începe să îmi explice.

– Știi numai în Islanda nu fusesem din toate țările, am fost și în Groenlanda. Și acum poate că trebuie să dorm la cort, eu la vârsta mea!

– Dacă vrei poți să îți cauți cazare online, poți folosi laptopul nostru fără problemă.

Îmi ignoră complet sugestia și începe să mă întrebe:

– De cât timp ești aici?

– De doi ani de zile?

– Și ai venit direct în Islanda? Dar ai venit la lucru?

– Am început ca voluntar și apoi m-am angajat.

– Nu că așa am fost și eu în alte țări și sunt de mult plecat din România. Dar lasă că îmi ia Mi’aela bilet și plec, ce mi-a trebuit! Poate apuc să văd ceva în două zile. Auzi dar aici la cort e în siguranță sau se fură din corturi? Că doar Islanda e țară sigură.

– Nu e niciodată bine să lași lucruri valoroase în cort.

– Da, deci zici să mă duc la hostelul celălalt. Dar oare au paturi libere?

– Cum ziceam, nu știu. Dar poți merge să îi întrebi că e aproape.

– Bine, lasă că dacă e mai vin aici că e internetul gratis.

Leaving myself for myself

Do you honestly think I’m not scared?

You call me brave, I feel more like desperate. I can’t breathe. I’ve been struggling for too many months now. I can’t inhale and exhale without hurting. And I’m terrified. This new challenge is all about me and trusting myself. No safety net. 

Eastfjords trip – day 4

I  woke up in a gorgeous place with an incredible sunny and warm weather. After having breakfast and talking a bit more with the host, I packed my stuff and off I went. 

It was 9:30 am and my flight was at 20:30. Plenty of hours.. I was sure I can make it in 10 hours to the airport. After all I was only around 80 km away. I walked a lot but because there were not so many cars I had time to snap some pictures after my own liking. There were 5 cars in total passing by me and again there were more cars in the other way. Luckily the host of the hostel actually had to drive someone somewhere close by and he happily picked me up when he saw me by the side of the road. He drove me around 10-15 km. Any kilometer matters. He told me to not take route 1 because the other one is a bit more crowded. 

After walking for almost one hour, it started to be really windy and I could barely hear the cars coming. Not that they were too many to begin with. I was almost reaching the intersection of the route 1 and And so I missed a car and I kinda waved only after passed by me. Still they stopped. But there were three sheep on the road, so I assumed they stopped for that. Nope, they stopped for me. Haha, suck it sheep. I’m the one. 

Two girls and two guys from Finland. They were not going to Egilsstaðir, they were kinds with no plans just wanted to see some spots around the fjords. But after I told them about my plan they actually decided to drive me all the way to the city and to go and try the hike I missed the previous day in Seyðisfjörður. 

And like this I was in the city around 12:30. Way, way, way too early. I decided to treat myself to a nice and expensive lunch. Then to go on a hike towards a viewpoint and finally to go to the swimming pool to finish the trip in a very Icelandic manner. 

The hike was great, so many trees around me filling again my soul with anything that was still missing. Also the river around me had some spectacular view points and at the end I found a playground where I stopped for few moments. Give me a swing and all the problems in the world disappear. 

The hike was around one hour, then I went to the swimming pool where they had a sauna so of course I went for it. I even did some rounds in the big swimming pool and by the end of my chill out session I was completely serene. 

Going out and heading to a Bonus to buy some snacks I found out my plane was going to be late for about one hour. I walked to the airport a bit disappointed because in total I had to wait probably more than 3 hours for my flight. I was way too early in the airport. Everything faded away when I saw the amazing Askja mountain with huge blocks of ice chilling in the lake. And of course the unforgettable full circle rainbow. 

I landed in a very dark, rainy, gloomy Reykjavik. I was picked up from the airport and home never felt so good. Since I moved here. 

For photos and videos please watch my IG and YT account (Alina Ioana) . Uploading soonish.

Eastfjords trip – day 3 (part 2)

So again, here I was starting my hitchhike towards Egilsstaðir first and then Berunes. I walked a bit, but not too far to be attacked by birds again. And I stopped. A lot of cars passed by me, but no-one would stop. And so after 20 minutes of waiting the same Bulgarian-Turkish guy stopped and drove me all the way to Egilsstaðir. We had a nice chat about Bulgarians and Romanians in Europe. 

From there I walked for 30 minutes more outside the city and stopped in a safe place, where car were able to stop too. And I waited and waited and waited some more. So many cars would pass through, two of them actually slowed down, but nobody picked me up. One hour later I was already deciding what to do. If I should just try to get accommodation in the city or keep on waiting. I said I’ll give it half an hour maximum and I’ll think about where else to sleep. 

About 16:30 two Icelandic women picked me up. Unfortunately they were going somewhere else and they left me 10 km away from where I was. And like this the walk started. I didn’t want to stay put because to be fair it drives me nuts. Unfortunately this route was not that common for cars, or at least not at that time. And the few cars who passed by me wouldn’t even stop. I was starting to feel I’m getting in trouble. The place where I was supposed to go was 70 km away. Not that far by car, but for sure crazy to get there on foot. 

I was walking for an hour trying to sing songs, talking with myself to cheer up, but truth to be told my feet were killing me. I was actually starting to feel tired. Which is never good. I was even considering to maybe sleep somewhere in the grass if really no car will stop for me. First solution being to hitchhike my way back to the city and find accommodation there. 

Well, with all these thoughts in my mind, really trying to decide what’s best for me a car stopped. I couldn’t believed it. And they were going all the way to Höfn. Farther away than where I was going. But they were taking my route. Incredible and I was so happy I wanted to hug the British couple. Also, the route we actually went through.. Again no words. Stunning, incredible, remarkable. Snapped some pictures, as I could. But really those views fed my soul for a long while. 

Somewhere around 19:00, I think, we got to my accommodation, Berunes Hostel. They drove me all the way up to the reception. Another incredible place. I said goodbye to my British heroes and this time I actually hugged them. And I went to check in, and to take a shower as soon as possible. 

The best surprise was still to come. When I went to the guest kitchen a colleague was making diner. He knew I’m coming so he prepared extra food for me, too. So,  so kind. Always kind. He used to be my boss here in Iceland. So after diner we had plenty to talk about. Nice, lovely chat for more than an hour. Then I headed to sleep, I was really exhausted from a tiring but still fulfilling day. 

Following day would be last day, also the one in which I was going back to Reykjavik. 

Trip to Eastfjords – day 3 (part 1)

The adventurous day was this one, for sure. 

I woke up around 7. Too early I would say, so I decided I wasn’t in a hurry. The guy from reception told me about three hikes and I wanted to try at least one. But two of them were starting about 17 km away,  so I would need a car. Which by now you understood I was in no position to have that. But then I thought about renting a bike. The hike itself was about one hour so normally I would have plenty of time. However when I found out the price (4 hours – 4500 ISK), I kinda gave up. So back to hitchhiking. 

The weather was stable as in no wind, but rainy and quite gloomy. And I started walking around 9:30 for about one hour outside the city until I realized nobody actually goes where I want to. So luckily I caught a ride back in town and from there I stopped and talked with an Icelandic man. He was preparing to chop down a tree that was a danger for the house close to it. So I asked him where to go for another hike (heading towards a lake) and he told me. But my brain already decided where to go, so I didn’t listen to him. I was heading outside the city, walking again for like 30 minutes when I realised I wasn’t heading to where my hike would start. And right when I was trying to figure it out where to go, I got attacked by two birds. Note to self: screaming doesn’t help. Running away from the place is. I was quite bummed out how I wasted so much time to not go anywhere. And while I was getting sad, I called on my own bullshit. More about it, on the vlog. You know I’m gonna have vlogs about this trip, right?

And like this I headed back in town. This time going in the correct direction. Around 12 I started the actual hike which was the most beautiful hike in a long while. I was hiding in between mountains and even though it was drizzling, I had a great time. Two hours into the hike.. I decided to stop. To eat and then head back. Even though in front of me there was Ana amazing waterfall but I’m pretty sure it was one more hour until getting there.  And for the last 30 minutes I was walking in a bit of a swamp. Or anyway.. My shoes were completely soaked and I was starting to be tired. And I was feeling a bit cold too. 

So I went back and around 14:30 I was outside of the city, direction Egilsstaðir trying to catch a ride to take me all the way to Berunes. Well, this time nothing was that easy. 

Eastfjords trip – day 2

So my day started with me having breakfast at the hostel. A bit too pricey for what they had to offer. And the awkward moment when a man tried to take a second piece of bread and he was told it’s just one person kinda made me regret I had breakfast all alone. 

But I was planning to hitchhike my way to the East and since outside it was kinda rainy I decided to make myself some tea for the road. 

Surprise, surprise in the guest kitchen there was a guest that I talked about one hour back in Reykjavik. And I suggested to him to go to Westfjords or North. But he would need to rent a car for that. I never knew what he did, until I saw him standing at the table. Long story short he was heading towards my direction, not all the way to the East, but I joined him for the ride. 

So I got to see Goðafoss and see again the little wonders around Mývatn. We left Akureyri a bit earlier than 10 am. We split apart at the supermarket in Rejkahlið around 14:30. He was heading to the natural bath, I was still trying to get to Eastfjords. 

I walked for like 20 minutes when a Dutch man stopped and he told me he can take me to a parking lot where there’s filled with tourists. He was coming from the place where I was going. And he told me indeed yesterday was very stormy. Anyway, after 5 minutes he left and here I was. One amazing place where I’ve never been before. That’s when it hit me from now on everything is new place. I snapped some pictures and I decided to go a bit more down the road where there was an intersection. And basically stay there until someone will pick me up. 

I had the first guy as a backup since he was heading towards Detifoss, the strongest waterfall in Europe. So I thought worse case scenario he can pick me up if nobody will in more than an hour. I think 15 minutes passed until a couple from Slovakia stopped and said they are going to Egilsstaðir, but first they want to stop to Detifoss. Well, that was just perfect since I haven’t seen the waterfall myself. 

And so I went with them for about three hours. Almost 200 km. And the waterfall was as strong as they come. A real powerhouse. The couple was kind enough to even drive me to the intersection where would be easier for me to get a ride. And luckily in less than 5 minutes another guy picked me up. 

A Bulgarian guy living exactly where I was heading to Seyðisfjörður. Just brilliant. Well, when I got to the hostel my surprise was over the top. This place looks stunning. Iceland never stopping to amaze me. It’s more than one can imagine. Mountains still have snow, there are waterfalls everywhere, the hostel is in an old hospital. And in the basement they have free sauna. What else could I ask for? I know what.. Pizza. Since that was my dinner. 

Now I have to head to sleep because the adventure continues tomorrow. I need to try at least one hike and I’m heading South, sleeping in Berunes. It’s less than 2 hours drive from here. But hitchhiking is not the best friend of timing. 

P. S. Today’s math: around 300 km with 4 cars in about 10 hours. But with plenty of stops to visit as many things as possible.