the golden circle

today we did something that i have never done before....we took a bus tour! why did i decide to go on a bus tour??? well, i really wanted to see some of the countryside, and i just didn't think that it would be all that fun or relaxing to navigate the roads while trying to see the scenery. originally, i had contacted a guide who had been recommended to me by a friend who visited iceland. the guide was going to take us on a private tour in a jeep to all of the best sites in iceland. which sounded great and all, until he told me the price -- $700!! so that's how we ended up on a bus tour.

it was awesome and i'm so glad i did it! we got on the bus at 8.30am and got back to the hotel around 5pm -- a full day for the bargain rate of $80 each. the tour took us through the "golden circle" which is a very popular tour route, due to the high concentration of historical and natural sites.

we started out at pingvellir, a national park which was home to the worlds first parliament, dating back to 930AD. the parliament was held completely open air in pingvellir until 1789. i know there is much more about this but, to be honest, i missed a lot of the historical information because it was snowing and all i could think about was getting back on the bus. i got some pictures though.

this is the fault line between the north american and eurasian tectonic plates, also near pingvellir:

we went on to gullfoss, a huge waterfall.

next, the bus took us to haukadalur, where there are a bunch of geothermically active geysers. this is strokkur:

and this is litli geysir:

we were so tired by the end of the tour. we saw a couple more sites like another waterfall and a church, but i was ready to get back to the hotel.

the guide was icelandic, of course, and she was pretty good - although.....she sang about 5 songs into the bus microphone at various points throughout the trip. the first time it was kind of funny, but by 5.00, it was making us a little crazy. evan got video of both her singing and the geyser, and if i ever figure out how to upload video, i will include it on here.

indian in iceland

since i love to stuff my face so much, i researched a few restaurants before we left boston. iceland is home to the northernmost indian restaurant in the world, and we both love indian, so we had to try.

we got ready to go out:

it has been so freaking windy that we had to buy more warm stuff, so we got cute icelandic hats & gloves:

we bundled up and walked a few blocks to Austur-Indíafjelagið. i didn't really know what to expect with this restaurant, but the minute we walked in, i knew it was going to be awesome. everything smelled phenomenal, and the decor was a combination of traditional indian and contemporary. we got lots of food and ate everything, and still could have eaten more because it was so good.

blue lagoon

if you ask anyone who has been to iceland, the one thing they will tell you that you MUST do is go to the blue lagoon. i have been looking forward to it for the past couple of months, and today we finally went. i thought it was going to be nice, but it exceeded my expectations so much that i can honestly say that it was one of the best experiences of my life.

first of all, the drive out there was beautiful.

parts of iceland look a bit alien -- there is so much volcanic rock!

the blue lagoon is a geothermic spa. the water comes form 6500ft below the earths' surface and has all sorts of minerals in it that are supposed to have health benefits. the water was around 113F despite it being -2C outside.

i was excited about going to the lagoon, but, since i hate all things touristy, i was a little concerned that it was going to be a tourist trap -- kind of dirty, heavily chlorinated, and not very authentic. i was completely wrong! first of all, like everything in iceland, it was immaculate. the locker rooms, showers, sauna were all spotless and tastefully decorated. second, all icelanders go to the spa. it is a very important part of icelandic life. we got to the lagoon around 2pm and stayed until about 6. by 5, the lagoon was full of icelanders drinking beer in the lagoon and unwinding after the work week. it was so social! lastly, the water is not treated with any chemicals. it's totally natural.

there was a nice area to relax after being in the water:

it was freezing by the time we left:

anyway! the blue lagoon is amazing and certainly not to be missed! we might go back on sunday before our flight leaves....

we've arrived in iceland!

after a year-long hiatus, i have decided to resurrect the blog so i can chronicle our trip to iceland!

i still can't believe that we are actually here. the trip was incredibly easy. we left from boston last night around 8.30. the flight was uneventful, although a bit turbulent. i managed to sleep for most of the five hour flight, so when we arrived in reykjavik this morning at 6.30am, i felt pretty refreshed.

reykjavik airport is the cutest airport i have ever seen! it is tiny, but has wonderful scandinavian design. it has been voted the best international airport in europe and i can see why. it was very organized!

this is our rental car:

it's a suzuki swift and it drives surprisingly well! the drive from the airport to reykjavik is about 40min, but iceland is so small, that there is only one road that leads there. they say here that all roads lead to reykjavik and it makes it very easy to get around.

we got to the radisson 1919 at 9am, expecting to have to wait until 2pm to check into our room. but the staff was more than happy to let us check in right then, and, thank god, because we needed some more sleep!

some quick facts about iceland:

• it doesn't get light here until about 10am this time of year!
• the whole country is about the size of kentucky
• only 300,000 people live here, and every native icelander can trace their ancestry back to the vikings
• the PM's phone number is listed in the phone book!

so far, we absolutely love it here!! the only downside is that we have arrived on the coldest day that they have had all year -- today it was about -5C and super windy. but, we have tons of warm clothes so we will be fine AND we can always pick up some beautiful icelandic wool sweaters if we need more warm clothes!