Author: Caroline Dienes
Program: Cambridge, England
Let’s face it, layovers can be a drag for many reasons. First off, they can be nine hours long. Second, you have to trudge around the airport with your multiple carry on bags. Third, the thought of boarding another plane is simply annoying and stressful. Fourth, you can misplace some very important documents you need for that next flight. And lastly, the layover can be in a strange place that you’ve never been before, like Iceland.
Layovers can be a drag, but in my case, it was a tiny trip before I actually arrived at my study abroad location. Three other students in the Cambridge program and I landed in Keflavik, Iceland at 6:30 in the morning and, almost immediately, things decided to go off the rails. My passport and boarding pass somehow vanished from my purse, and I instantly went into panic mode. I frantically ran to the service desk, told an employee my predicament, and they made a phone call to see if I could get back on the plane to search for my vital pieces of paper. While they were on the phone, I began rummaging through my backpack to see if I accidentally placed them in there. And guess what…they were both there. Crisis averted.
Pictured: Shannon O’Keefe, Becky Valek, Alec Chase.
After we finally got out of the airport, the four of us started our nine hour adventure in Iceland. We decided to go to Viking World in Keflavik, because, you know, why not. It was a petite museum that told the history of the Vikings and included a complimentary breakfast of croissants, oatmeal, and fruit. There were also plenty of rocks outside for us to climb and walk on, thus confusing the other museum goers inside because apparently no one else found the rocks interesting. Granted, we got there the moment the museum opened, it was a perfect place to spend four hours. I highly recommend it to be a layover/stopover/actual destination in someone’s near future.
After the Icelandic journey came to an end, I eventually got to my final destination – Cambridge, England. Now, I am here until December, but I can’t help but think that I am going to miss Iceland. So many rocks. So much Viking trivia. So little ice, yet so much land. Good thing the four of us have another layover in Iceland when we fly back to the States, but this time…it will be 17 hours.
Stay Fresh,
Caroline
Blogger: Caroline Dienes 
ing on rivers in underground caves. These caves are known for look like stars above glowing on the walls.r having these species called glowworms exclusively found in New Zealand. Up close they resemble maggots but from a distance they glow like stars. After our adventures in Waitomo, we hopped back on the bus to head to Rotorua.
as how our food was prepared. They used However, here, the accommodations were a bit different. We slept 30 to a room in the most comfortable beds imaginable. At the village we were introduced to the culture and lifestyle of the Maori natives. The one thing that stood out that was the traditional Maori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven, called Hāngi.
which is known to by an outdoor city, Wellington is known as the indoor city with many museums, cafes and amazing restaurants. Here we we stayed a couple days so we could have some time to relax and catch up on laundry and sleep. We also got to ride on wellington cable car. A railway the connect the city to Lambton Quay, a suburb that overlooks the city. This cable car has been recognized as a symbol of Wellington for over a century.
waiting for us. We got back to the house and his family wanted to know everything we had done. One question after another. What’d you do? What type of people did we meet? Favorite part? They wanted to know everything. That’s when I realized that we just made memories that will last a lifetime. Its not everyday that one gets to backpack the beautiful country of New Zealand and meet such great people along the way. It was definitely a trip to remember that will bring great memories for years to come.
