I'm back (with a brand new laptop and a lot of photos)!

Seven weeks after my laptop died on me, and after endless hassle with Apple and Icelandic Customs, I have finally received my replacement computer. Words can't describe how happy I am to finally have it! So now it's time to update this - I must admit it feels weird to write a blog post again but I really enjoyed blogging before so I will get back to it!

My last month and a half has been busy, mostly with the two most important aspects of an Erasmus student's life: studying and drinking. Ok, I'm not kidding anyone: some studying, too much drinking. But I'm having fun and enjoying living in Reykjavik. I've done some interesting things and had some fun trips so I'll try and fill you in - but don't worry, I'll keep it brief (mostly pictures)!

Last month my parents came to visit me. It was great to see them and show them the city I live in and also explore some more of the countryside. We visited Jokulsarlon, a beautiful glacier lake in the southeast of Iceland.

We also spent a day exploring Snaefellnes Peninsula.

We found some fairy houses on the way.

Black church at Budir.

Wild landscape.

Black sand beach.

And of course, we did the Golden Circle. This is one of the most popular tourist routes in Iceland and consists of visiting a geyser, a waterfall and Thingvellir National Park, where the Icelandic parliament was founded. I have now visited the Golden Circle three times: once on a university organised trip, once with my parents, and once last week when a friend of Maarit let us use her car for a few days. On this final trip, we also visited Kerið, a crater lake.

Thingvellir.

The geyser at Geysir.

Gullfoss.

Crater lake.

Whilst we were borrowing the car, we did another very touristy trip; we spent an afternoon at the Blue Lagoon relaxing and smearing silica mud on our faces. 

Sometimes it's fun to be tourists in Iceland!

One of the best trips I have had so far in Iceland was a day out to ride to the top of Langjokull glacier in a huge ex-military truck. It was a fantastic day and we also got the chance to see some beautiful waterfalls and hot springs... oh, and did I mention that it was my birthday? Well, it was the absolute best way to turn 23. And of course I followed up the day trip with dinner with my housemates and a great party with my friends in Reykjavik.

We got to ride up front - because it was my birthday of course!

Lovely birthday cake from Enya and Maarit (but nobody else is allowed to call me Lexie!)

I also think I should mention two exciting weather events that have happened here in Reykjavik. Firstly, at the beginning of October it snowed! Apparently that's unusually early, even for Iceland.

The view from my bedroom window on October 8th.

Even more excitingly, last week I saw the Northern Lights. I won't upload my photos because quite frankly, they're embarrassing. But hopefully next time I will learn to use my camera properly and take some nice photos! They were absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to see them more over this coming winter.

And finally (thank you so much for sticking with me), last week we went whale watching. We were  lucky to see lots of dolphins and a minke whale.

Awful photo, but you get the idea.

Ah, that felt good to finally write about my last few weeks! Hopefully everything is back to normal; fingers crossed, no more technology problems and I will update this again soon!