Iceland, well yes it is cold!

We actually just arrived in Paris safe and sound. We have 3 hours of sleep in us, have each had 3 cups of coffee, and of course as I write this JJ is doing push ups (maybe he does not need any more coffee!) on the floor of Jean and Olivier's apartment (we are staying at their place, which is like a baby bed and breakfast in Paris). All smiles. Our plans today are to watch the soccer game (football damn it!) and take a long hike to the louve and then pass out early before my mom gets here tomorrow!

Iceland - well I can honestly say that the sun did not ever set the entire time we were there. JJ stated that it is probably the most North we will ever comfortably be. We arrived at about 2am but you could not tell. The sky honestly did not change the entire time we were there, which was pretty much doom like clouds and an occasional misty rain. We set up the tent at Reykjavik campground and in our delirious state we asked the Icelandic girl working there to tell us the name of the erupting volcano in South Central Iceland. The funny thing is that it took about 30 seconds each time for the girl to say it because the name is actually that long and we still can not even begin to pronounce the name. Here it is for fun..... Eyjafjallajökull (yeah try to say that! ha!)

The first day we were there we took a hike to Mt. Esja, which we were able to take the local bus to get to. It was so beautiful from literally the first few steps! There was an amazing amount of wildflowers and purple Alaskan lupine flowers literally everywhere we looked. There was a gorgeous little stream and as we hiked up this extinct volcano, the rain mist came down - but it was so unbelievable, we did not mind not getting the great view. After the hike we decided to check out the "pool" next to our campground. We later found out that it was the biggest and nicest pool in the country, complete with a water slide, about 10 hot tubs at different temperatures, 2 Olympic size pools indoor and outdoors, amazing showers, locker rooms, etc. etc. - all heated by geothermal activity (open year round) and costing us about a whopping $2.50. YEAH! We loved the Laugardalslaug pool so much and were so amazed by it (but not as impressed as the Icelandic people who apparently like to roll in the snow and then jump in the hot tubs called hot pots for fun in the winter) - we went back the next day after we took the "Golden Circle Tour" of Iceland - which was an all day sightseeing event to a geothermal power plant, waterfalls (surprising to see their size, power, and beauty), an Icelandic church with amazing stain glass windows, Icelandic horses, geysers!, and the most important cultural place in Iceland where their government was founded (and they have the oldest democracy in the world there). The coolest thing about that place, Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is that you can see where the North American Plate and the Eurasian plate are actually pulling apart from each other as a result of the Mid Atlantic Ridge (divergent boundary) Iceland was formed from and located on. Although the plates are moving apart only 2cm per year, in a million years, Iceland will grow about 20 meters wider (East to West). Oh yall know how I love my Earth Science!

The next day was our 2 year wedding anniversary and we really had the best day because it just keeps going on! After packing up the tent, we rented bikes and rode around Reykjavik for 4 hours. The ride was really fantastic and we were on separated bike paths the entire time through the forest and off the main roads! We even found waterfalls, a salmon river, and lakes on our ride! We went to the Perlan outlook on the top of a hill in the city with views of viking inspired Darth Vader churches (refer to pictures) and had ice cream at the top and then had a famous Icelandic hot dog (which is supposedly their favorite food) although it was not like an American hot dog at all. JJ describes the hot dog as a "weird, I don't know sausage and sauce combo with weird stuff - fried onions, raw onions, wasn't bad"..... ok whatever, I had it without the "dog" and I thought it was weird too - but it is better than trying the pickled shark, which is their national dish! Later that day we went to the famous, Blue Lagoon for a swim and relaxing time on the way the the airport. We rubbed down with this weird silica mud and swam around until we turned to prunes and had to get out. It was very blue water rich in minerals. A good once in a life time experience.

Okay so all in all Iceland was great and the people there were very friendly. I saw a gnome house when JJ was asleep but he believes me. It was easier than we thought to get around seeing as all of the names are about 20 + letters long. I have to go stop JJ from eating his 4th croissant~! Will write again soon! and thanks for reading!