{memory lane} honeymoon in paris

five years ago we were on our honeymoon in fabulous paris, eating more than our fair share of baguette sandwiches and singing les poissons in our very best french accents as we strolled along the champs elysees...it was in paris that we were bitten by the travel bug - and the rest, as they say in france, c'est de l'histoire!

{adventures abroad} anniversary-moon V: iceland

to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary, A and i booked a trip to iceland! in honor of their newly-opened denver-to-reykjavik nonstop route, icelandair was offering a fantastic "essential iceland" package that we simply couldn't pass up. and so we packed our bags {and my fancy new camera!} and headed to the land of fire and ice...

{adventures abroad} iceland: day one - we have arrived

we arrived at keflavík international airport early early in the morning and caught the flybus for the 45-minute trip to reykjavik. we passed through endless lava fields that make you feel like you're on another planet or the surface of the moon {the jet lag doesn't help either}, stopped along the way at some charming viking village, and finally got to our hotel, where of course we couldn't check in yet. and so, after a leisurely breakfast, we headed out for our traditional first day walk-about... 


we wandered into the sculpture garden of one of icelandic sculptor asmundur sveinsson, where i fell head-over-heels in love with a be-sweatered tree. nearby was the laugardalur sports complex, with olympic training facilities and reykjavik's largest geothermal pool. we walked and walked and walked and when we thought there might be a room waiting for us at the hotel we headed back.


no such luck.


but they did feel guilty enough to offer us a free pass to the hotel's super-famous spa, so we seized the opportunity {and our swimsuits}, acquainted ourselves with the proper spa etiquette, and basked in sweet geothermal bliss for an hour or so.


after that we grabbed a bite to eat and finally, gratefully, retired to our lovely room with its lovely view and took a lovely nap...

...we woke up with just enough time to get freshened up and have a drink at the hotel happy hour before catching the bus to reykjavik city center for the evening. we wandered around the old town for quite a while, found a grocery store {i don't know why but i love foreign grocery stores!}, and squeezed our way into a crowded british pub to watch some of the big munich-chelsea soccer game.

we poured out of the pub and into the still strangely sunny streets of reykjavik, headed for the famous hot dog stand bæjarins beztu pylsur {apparently iceland is the hot dog hot spot, and these are the best hot dogs in the best hot dog country in the world}. you're supposed to order "one with everything" {everything = ketchup, mustard, mayo, onions, and fried onions} but we passed on the mayo. oh, and a "bill clinton" is mustard only {yes, he has eaten a bæjarins beztu hot dog.


after our life-changing hot dog experience, we wandered around the old port and into harpa, reykjavik's fancy new concert hall and events center. we were starting to get pretty tired, so we took a {very long} walk along the coast toward our hotel, where we fell asleep around eleven marveling at the lightness of the sky.

{adventures abroad} iceland: day two - western iceland jeepery

on day two of our trip we left bright and early in a giant super-jeep for an all-day tour of western iceland.


our first stop was Þingvellir national park, home of the mid-atlantic ridge and Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in iceland.
from the lake we headed up to higher ground toward langjokull, the second-largest glacier in iceland. if you've never driven around on a 600-square-mile glacier, i highly recommend it. i've never seen such an expanse of pure white nothingness. we stopped for a while at the the top of a snow-covered crater to take in this incredible view of the icelandic highlands. also, our guide did a bunch of crazy tricks in a {highly successful} attempt to scare the crap out of me. we all had a good laugh {*not me}.
after our glacier shenanigans, we crossed a small river with a sweet little waterfall. then we crossed a really big river {sans waterfall} many times, just for fun {i could see the bridge}.
we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere with a four-item menu: vegetable soup, meat soup, hamborgar, sandwich. we'd been informed that this restaurant was known for its traditional icelandic meat soup, so we went for it. and it kind of tasted like...nothing. oh well. at least it didn't have any pig hairs in it.

after lunch we ventured back out into the world and into the  hallmundarhraun lava fields. we ended up at surtshellir, the largest lava cave in iceland, which also happened to be almost entirely covered in snow and ice {surprise!}. we donned our doozer-ific headlight helmets and climbed as far into the dark icy tube as we could without disturbing the many elves and fairies that obviously lived there.
miraculously our entire company made it out injury-free. so to celebrate we all went out for more meat soup!
{no we didn't.} but we did go to the most beautiful waterfalls i've ever seen in my life. hraunfossar {"lava falls"} and barnafoss {"children's waterfall"} are right next to each other and they took my breath away with their aqua-blue waters and all-around gorgeousness. i could've stayed there all day.
as it turns out, we had one more stop: deildartunguhver, a natural above-ground hot spring with the largest output of any thermal spring in the world. it was hot {200 degrees}. and stinky. and you could totally buy tomatoes {on the honor system of course} from the little greenhouse next door.
after that {and some icelandic horse sightings!}, we headed back to reykjavik for a drink and some sleep.

{adventures abroad} iceland: day three - whale-watching & blue lagoon

on the morning of day three we headed back to the old port to go whale-watching in faxaflói bay. it was a perfect morning for it: sunny and clear and yes, a bit brisk, but that's what hot cocoa is for! on our way out of the harbor we stopped at lundey island, a popular puffin nesting site, to sneak a peek at what must've been a million puffins and other seabirds flying, swimming, fishing, and doing whatever else it is that seabirds do. later on, out in the bay, we were lucky enough to spot about 7-10 very sociable minke whales who stuck with us for the better part of an hour {i don't know if i've ever seen A so excited!}.

back on dry land, we got some lunch at a burger joint {seriously maybe the best burger i've ever had in my life} and then made our way back towards the city center for a stroll around tjörnin pond.

from the pond we walked up laugavegur to hallgrímskirkja, the tallest church in iceland {a stark contrast to the little white church at tjörnin pond}.  the concrete exterior, designed by state architect guðjón samúelsson, was inspired by iceland's distinctive basalt lava formations. we peeked inside for a bit before heading back to the hotel for a mini siesta...

later that afternoon we caught the bus to the blue lagoon, a surreal little geothermal oasis in the middle of the moon rock lava landscape outside of reykjavik. it's the by-product of a nearby geothermal power plant, and we had an amazing time: champagne, silica masks, waterfall massages, relaxation, rejuvenation. it was the absolute perfect way to end the day.

{adventures abroad} iceland: day four - more exploring

late on the morning of day four we walked over to fjolskyldugardurinn: reykjavik's little zoo & family fun park. with only animals that are found in iceland, it's more or less a glorified petting zoo, but it was quiet and i happen to love arctic foxes.

a couple hours of petting icelandic horses {and wishing i could pet arctic foxes} left us famished, so we caught the bus to city center and went in search of food. what we found was the laundromat cafe, and it was delicious. and SO cute: books lining shelves along the bar, walls hung with graphic posters and papered with vintage maps. oh, and an actual laundromat downstairs.

after lunch we wandered over to hólavallagarður cemetery. a few blocks from the pond, it hosts the grave of jón sigurðsson, the hero of iceland's independence movement. the "old churchyard" is quiet and green and somehow magical, spotted with daffodils and filled with trees {whereas most of iceland is not}.

we left the cemetery and headed towards Þjóðmenningarhúsið {the culture house}, home to ancient viking saga texts and other treasures of icelandic history {in addition to some interesting contemporary art on the top floor}. on our way, we stopped at a coffee shop-slash-bar called prikið, which claims to be the oldest cafe still in operation in iceland. all i know is they make a damn fine cappuccino foam heart.

we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering up and down laugavegur admiring shop windows, street art and colorful buildings. when it was time for dinner {you can always tell when it's time for dinner because we turn into very grouchy viking types}, we consulted the guide book and decided on geysir bistro & bar. a few glasses of wine and some seafood crepes later, we had full bellies and a new friend at the next table who was visiting from houston on her way to ireland. the three of us left the restaurant and headed over to the english pub for shots of black death {iceland's signature drink which isn't quite as bad as it sounds but okay maybe pretty close}...