Bread & Brulee: Iceland!

Well, it's been a while since I've had a chance to blog, with the craziness that was year-end at work, and then getting ready for my girls' trip to Iceland. It was definitely perfectly timed in the sense of getting away from the hustle and bustle of here and enjoying mother nature. Granted it wasn't the most relaxing of vacations since it was basically nonstop activity on a 5-hour time difference, but the views and experiences were totally worth it.

We flew out of JFK on Thursday night, and then landed in Iceland 5 hours later at about 6:30am in the morning their time. We couldn't check into our rooms yet, so we ate at the hotel restaurant. Then we napped for a few hours before exploring Reykjavik. Later that night we had dinner at "Fish Market," with it turning out to be "Food & Fun" week in the city, which I suppose you could say is the equivalent to New York's Restaurant Week. After dinner, we went searching for some nightlight, and ended up in a club that played great music. It was funny to see how non-judgemental Icelanders were in their clubbing - you had all ages on the dance floor and dancing like nobody was watching. But we definitely were! It was kinda refreshing though - to see that they can let loose and just have fun.

The next day begin all the excursions we came there for. First, a glacier hike that lasted about 2 hours, and while snowing at that. It was a beautiful site, but a little tricky with these metal contraptions tied onto our hiking boots, a back pack, my SLR, and an ice pick! We then went searching for the Northern Lights, but unfortunately it was too cloudy, so we weren't able to see anything. Most of the girls were pretty determined to see it before we left, so the next night, we paid for another Northern Lights-specific tour. Thankfully it was a crystal-clear night, and we had great, albeit freezing, views of the natural phenomena. I didn't bring a tripod, which supposedly a requirement for photographing the lights, but I just stood as still as I could for 30 seconds so that the slow shutter speed could do its thing. My shots were more than I could've hoped for!

Before seeing the Northern Lights, we snorkeled at Silfra, where the water is the clearest and stillest you'll ever experience. Unfortunately there's no underwater life, just volcanic rock formations - still beautiful though. After that we continued on the Golden Circle tour with Gulfoss (Golden Waterfall) and then the Geyser Park, where there's activity about every 10 minutes. Such beautiful sights, and the sunset too - loved it. The next day, our last, before heading to the airport, we went to the Blue Lagoon, a spa where there's geothermal pools to relax in. It was about 25 degrees and snowing and windy that morning, but once you get into the water, instant relaxation. Really nice - wish they had that here in the States.