Hello from Reykjavik!

Well, hello friends!  We have safely arrived in Reykjavik.  Actually, it has been a few days already, but this is the first chance I have had to update the blog.

We arrived here on Monday at about 7:00 am, and took a bus from the airport for about forty minutes until arriving near the city center.  Ivan found us a nice looking 2BR on airbnb, but we could not check in until 1:30 pm.  And so, we stored our luggage at the bus terminal and went to explore a bit of the city.  It is a good thing that I brought my new Patagucci, because this was the weather forecast for the entire week.  That said, the brisk weather was probably good for our tired souls at this point.  Definitely refreshing after a couple of long flights and little sleep.

Our first order of business was to grab a cup of coffee.  After that, we went to see the aurora borealis.  A turly incredible spectacle of natural light caused by cosmic rays, solar wind and magnetospheric plasma interacting with the upper atmosphere.  Okay,  so I had a little help from Wikipedia on the definition, but it wouldn't have been quite as impactful if I just said "We saw some cool looking lights."

And if we are going to get further into details and really be full disclosure here, this wasn't the real aurora borealis.  But at least it was a photo of the real one, which we saw in the Northern Lights musueum.  The real deal can be seen in the northern part of the country from the end of August through April.  Looks like we only missed it by a few weeks...maybe next time!

Next on the agenda was lunch!  And, when in Iceland, you opt for Danish food.  Well, that's what we did because the place seemed crowded and we were tired.

I opted for the lamb with mushrooms, fried parsley and gravy.  There are also some berries underneath.  The meat was served cold, but was very good, and with the berries and warm gravy, tasted a lot like Thanksgiving.  Ivan went for the special of the day, which was a bit different set up of cold meat, this time pork with potatoes and gravy.  It was accompanied by some homemade kraut and pickles.  Both meals were actually delicious.  Or maybe we were just really hungry.

After lunch, it was time to check in to our airbnb.  After getting lost on streets with hard to pronounce names, we arrived at 1:00 pm.  But we were early, and our host was still tidying up the place from previous guests, so we went to grab a coffee at a place appropriately named Mokka.  We learned that it was the oldest coffee shop in Reykjavik, at around 50 years old.  Evidently, constrution in the capital is all quite new.  The shot below is "pre-coffee," and don't let the smile fool you, we were quite worn out by this point.

After coffee and checking in to our very cool 2BR accommodations, we made a return to the bus station, where we had made arrangements to head out to the Blue Lagoon.  Not just the Blue Lagoon museum.  The real Blue Lagoon.  While we didn't run into Brooke Shields (turns out, she was at a different Blue Lagoon altogether), we thoroughly enjoyed our time at this geothermal spa, one of Iceland's most visited attractions.  The lagoon is filled with mineral rich waters, which have healing properties and are very relaxing to bathe in at a temperature of 99-102 degrees.  There were tourists from all over the world bathing there, and helpful attendants in the water who were eager to offer you face masks to try out in hopes that you might buy some at the gift shop afterwards.  The experience was really cool, and I would even say that I could one day see myself making a Return to the Blue Lagoon.

The terrain surrounding the Blue Lagoon, like much of Iceland, is lava-like, and how you might picture the surface of the moon.

A 45 minute bus ride, and we were back to our apartment, but not for long, because it was time for dinner.  At about 8:45 pm, we took a short walk from our place to a restaurant called Ostabudin, specialzing in local Icelandic cuisine.

To start, we shared a plate of cured wild salmon with buttermilk and roe on top, accompanied by some crusted housemade sourdough.  It was delicious.  For main courses, I went for the lamb (it was that kind of day), and Ivan had the arctic char.  Both were top notch, and our first real Icelandic meal was a success.

After dinner, we walked around the downtown area, and were a bit surprised to see a long line for a familiar spot from the U.S.  We found out from a couple of the locals queueing up that this was opening night for Dunkin Donuts in Reykjavik.  Apparently a big deal.  As a side note, a day later, we got a review from some other locals that was less than flattering towards the multinational fast food peddler of treats.

We walked around a bit more, and even though we had been up for almost two days straight (with a couple of naps during transport), it seemed odd to go bed.  It was still light out at 11:00 pm, as these local teenagers filled up on custard filled donuts and frappuccino like concoctions.  We did not join in, but instead headed to a recommended local hangout called Kaffibarinn.  Although it sounds like they would serve coffee, they did not.  At least not to us.  We met a few girls (not locals however, a Canadian and a German), and had some beers.  Our night was not over, as we headed to a few more local spots, until finally at around 2:00 am, put this one in the books and called it a day.  Not bad for our first one in the Land of Ice!  Stay tuned amici for more updates on our tour of The Golden Circle!