... and then we went to Iceland: cuisine

Our culinary tour of Iceland was fascinating. There's really no better way to describe it.

We'd read in our trusty guidebooks about the country's infamous specialty, hakarl (the short version for those who aren't clicking through for a description: aged, putrified shark). Call me crazy, but we steered clear, although one vendor at a fish market offered us a sample. Tempting, but no.

We also bypassed menu offerings of whale and puffin. What we did try was Icelandic lamb, which -- lemme tell ya -- was delicious. (Interestingly, I've heard no fewer than three people react with alarm to the prospect of eating puffins -- "but they're so cute! -- and not bat an eye at the idea of eating lamb... which is odd because lambs are pretty darn cute as well, no?) I also took full advantage of the plentiful, fresh, and affordable smoked salmon supply.

It wasn't all native fish and meats, though. We also kicked off our first day of exploring Reykjavik by stopping at a random deli and stumbling across The Best Pizza We've Ever Tasted. It was so good that we had to (a) take a picture of it, and (b) order another one on the last day of our trip.

Pesto. Parma ham. Parmesan. So good.

We stopped at a bakery for lunch another day, ordered a sandwich and baked good each, and people-watched for a couple hours (turns out, high schoolers are pretty much the same in any country).



That sandwich there, the one that looks all unassuming and full of lettuce and tomatoes? It actually had your standard lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers... plus three strips of bacon and a fried egg. It was tasty, but highly unexpected.

Probably the most fascinating of all the Icelandic cuisine (and I know what you're thinking -- "more fascinating than rotten shark?" -- but stick with me here) was the obsession they as a nation clearly have with Coca Cola and hot dogs. One of our tour guides said that Icelanders drink more Coca Cola per capita than any other nation; if supply is any indication of consumption, this could plausibly be an accurate statistic. Hot dog, or pylsur, shops were everywhere.

Iceland gets bonus points for the cute glass bottles, for sure.

One hot dog vendor in particular, a little free-standing cart on a streetcorner, is what Icelanders proudly cite as the most popular restaurant in the country and the home of the best hot dogs in all of Europe.

So of course we had to check it out.

Taking a self-portrait and not ending up with ketchup all over myself = victory.

I'll say this, while the food we had in Iceland was delicious, we could almost feel our blood pressure getting higher each day (did I mention that breakfast included ham, salami, and cheese?). Walking several miles each day provided a perfect and necessary balance.

What's that, you say? What about the beverages? Yes, we sampled Icelandic beer made -- according to the label -- with Icelandic barley.

I'm classy.

... and then we went to Iceland: urban aesthetics

Sure, the waterfall and the volcanic crater and the geysirs were all great, but one of the things I liked and noticed most about Iceland was the societal emphasis on aesthetics. While I may not share the fashion sense of most Rejkyavik citizens -- skinny jeans and 80s boots were *everywhere* -- I do give them credit for putting in the effort to wear what they find stylish. More to my liking, there was an impressive array of museums and galleries within the city limits; most were free of charge, and were presumably run by the government. It warms my heart to see art valued so highly by a society.

Throughout the city, even, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a sculpture. It would have been hopeless to even try to photograph them all, but here's a sampling:

Viking ship, near the harbor.

In a beautifully landscaped park, next to a duck pond.

It was everywhere, I tell you. Everywhere.

My favorite part, though, was the architecture. Many of the buildings in downtown Reykjavik are made of corrugated iron because of its availability in Iceland, its resistance to damage by salt air and wind, and its strength in earthquakes. Especially when most of the buildings have been painted with vivid colors, the effect is quite different from any city block I'd see at home, and (perhaps because of that?) quite charming. The buildings that weren't made from sheets of wavy metal seemed to be carefully designed and interesting to look at.

Reykjavik's city hall. And look, another sculpture (the anchor coming out of the water).

Gorgeous. This church took 40 years to build.

Somehow I don't think this look would work quite as well on our street.

This is at the geothermal power plant we visited, for crying out loud. Everything was pretty!

... so have I convinced you to go yet?

... and then we went to Iceland: Golden Circle

There are several bus tours available in and around Reykjavik, but the one that seemed by all accounts to be a must-see was the Golden Circle tour. So we signed up. By the time we got to Iceland, were picked up at our hotel for said tour, and were about ten minutes into the journey, we realized that the marketing hype was legit. I think it was about the time that we looked out the bus windows and started seeing stuff like this:



The first major stop on the tour was a national park and UNESCO world heritage site called Þingvellir National Park (that first character is pronounced like a "th," I believe). It features a canyon and wall of rock created by the shifting of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Thanks to the acoustical features of a great deal of vertical rock next to an expanse of flat ground, the area was the location of Iceland's parliament when it began in 930 AD (it's the oldest functioning parliament in the world, although it now convenes in Reykjavik).

It really does reflect sound quite well. The flag, I suspect, is a more recent addition.

If I were a chieftan, I wouldn't have minded meeting here.

The next stop on the tour was Gulfoss, a massive, impressive, seriously-you-should-have-seen-this-thing waterfall.

A little soggy, but happy.

We picked our collective jaws up off the ground, got back on the bus, and headed off to go look at geysers. One of them, called Geysir, was the source of the English word "geyser." It's no longer active, but others certainly are.

Fields of near-boiling ponds and puddles. Crazy.

The day wasn't over yet, though! We stopped at a church -- the second oldest in Iceland, I believe -- where excavations have uncovered tombstones and a cement coffin from the middle ages. I, personally, found most fascinating the tunnel entrance to the museum portion of the building, formerly used for worshippers to get from their homes to the church.

So much better than walking in through the front door.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

And then, our collective tourist saturation points drawing near (as I'm sure your attention spans are as well, you lovely readers, you), we stopped at one more fascinating locale: a volcanic crater.

Yes folks, it's dormant.

It was an overwhelming but fantastic day. And I've had a few of those recently, so I should know.

... and then we went to Iceland.

Most of you probably know what phrase goes before the ellipsis there:

We got married!

... and then we went to Iceland.

We don't have pictures of the former yet because our awesome photographer is so awesome that she's got lots of clients and lots of other weddings to shoot and process these days. We do, however, have the pictures we took on our Icelandic honeymoon. That means the recounting will be a little out of order, but I suspect everyone's ok with that, yes?



That's us on the plane the day we left. Thankfully, it's only a five hour flight, so the eagerness didn't drift toward antsiness too much. Sleeping for much of that time probably helped a bit, too.



We got to our hotel at about 8:00am, local time. In a pleasantly surprising departure from what we'd likely have seen in the states, rather than telling us that check-in would be several hours away, the gentleman behind the front desk (a) apologized for not having our room ready by then, (b) directed us toward the hotel's complimentary breakfast for guests (which was delicious and substantial), and (c) ended up being able to check us in by 9:00. Hotel Fron: highly recommended.

Here's more:

Home sweet home for 8 days.

Clean lines! Simple design! Throwing away half of our possessions is very tempting right about now.

The kitchenette we didn't expect to have (bonus!).

View from our window -- spiral staircases were common, and corrugated iron was *everywhere*

Of course, we saw lots of cool stuff during the week, but I think any more photos in a single post would be a tad overwhelming (and really, how else am I going to stretch this out until the wedding photos are ready?). There'll be more soon, don't you worry!