🇮🇸Reykjavík, Day 1

Arrival:

We got to the Berlin airport around 8:00 AM today and, after two flights and a short layover in Amsterdam, we arrived in Iceland (Yay!) the last destination on our trip before we head back to the U.S. It’s bitter-sweet, but I think knowing that this is the last week I’ll be in Europe has given me a renewed source of energy (that and the hot water never runs out here because our host uses geothermal water).

First Impressions:

There must be some Clovers in the atmosphere because (You guessed it.) Brr! It’s cold in here.

We rolled into Iceland in approximately 17 layers of shirts and pants and socks and, even though it’s snowing, it actually felt colder when it was flurrying in Vienna or windy in Berlin. The AirBnB where we’re staying is about an hour drive (or bus ride, for us) from where we landed, so we got to cruise past miles of rocky fields covered in a gray mist that were only interrupted by pops of color when we passed through smaller towns. One short taxi ride later, we arrived at our place (with the key the host left for us at the bus station).

We dropped off our luggage, walked six minutes to the square nearest us and spent about an hour exploring the shops and eating dinner. We each got an Icelandic-style hot dog (regular dog with a steamy, toasted bun topped with chopped white onions, crispy fried onions, ketchup and a local mustard called pylsusinnep). A-MA-ZING. Imagine if an Independence Day dog and your favorite Thanksgiving Day casserole (sans green beans) had a sweet, savory baby and then you got to eat it. Are you picturing it? Is it delicious? Good.

What’s Next?

We have seven days in Reykjavík, including today, and tomorrow is the biggest one of all. At noon, we’re leaving on a tour to see geysers and, if we’re lucky and the weather cooperates, aurora borealis. Please send love and good vibes and, if you’re in good standing with the universe, clear skies.