Iceland

Alright I know I'm super late on this but I'm finally getting around to putting pictures of our December trip up.  I had some serious technical difficulties getting the pictures onto my computer (I have picture issues - don't ask) but YAY I finally got them.  Jeremy and I had a wonderful time and Eliza did great with Grandma (though I think she was a little sad to see us come back!)

Iceland was an absolutely amazing country and while it wasn't in the cards to see the Northern Lights, we were pleasantly surprised at all of the other amazing sights and felt a kinship with their culture.  There are so many amazing things I could rave about this country but I will try to keep it to a minimum.
Paris was of course amazing and I will get to that soon I promise!

We landed in Iceland early in the morning and took a shuttle to the Blue Lagoon.  We arrived just as the sun started coming up (10am ha!)  It was cold enough that even Jeremy enjoyed a soak in the mineral rich water.  It was a perfect way to wake us up and warm us to the core.  The water was a striking pale blue and was surrounded by snow-covered lava.  The pictures don't do it justice (as do most of our Iceland pictures thanks to low light.)

After the Blue Lagoon, we took a shuttle into Reykjavik.  We stayed at the Marina and I've never been so cold in my entire life.  Even living in Gunnison didn't prepare me for it.  The combination of low temperatures, icy wind and extreme humidity was insane.  Our hotel was right next to CCP Games, so Jeremy took a tour while I wandered the streets a bit.  We had an amazing Fish and Chips dinner, the seafood there was so fresh!  Then we headed out on our Northern Lights tour.  We spent five frigid jetlagged hours searching for the lights and were rewarded with one faint white band that I wouldn't have known from a cloud if it weren't for our guide.  We got back around 2am, exhausted and disappointed and tempted to cancel our 9am tour the next morning.  I am SO glad we didn't because it was absolutely amazing.  No one else had booked so we ended up having a private tour of the island.  Our guide was fantastic and took us all around the island.  We saw geysers, greenhouses, Parliament, the Continental Divide, Gulfoss - an amazing double waterfall, volcanoes and we drove onto a glacier.  Throughout the day our guide told us all about the culture and history of the island and took us out for the most amazing lamb stew I'm pretty sure in the world.

Geothermic pools

Geysir!

Gulfoss

Monster truck to get us on the glacier

Ok Ok I know this is just pretty much a white picture.  But it was a glacier I swear!

After our tour I had a bowl of the creamiest, most flavorful Lobster Bisque I've ever had and Jeremy ate whale!  Seriously!  Whale!!  Crazy man.  At least he didn't eat horse, which is a staple of the Icelandic diet.  Or rotten shark.

Sadly we had to leave the next morning but I am chomping at the bit to go back some summer.  Definitely summer.

I will be back with Paris pictures soon now that I finally got access to them!