Iceland - The Day that Never Ended

Hey y'all.  I have just survived a day of travel and adventuring in Iceland that felt like it last 72 hours!  So much happened on so little sleep. 

My crew arrived in Boston and we had eight hours to kill before our flight to Iceland.  Why not catch a water taxi over to downtown Boston to eat some dinner?  Seems a little risky for a girl who has already been late to the airport in one day, but let's go for it. 

We took the #66 bus over to the water taxi.  

The boat pulled up as soon as we got off the bus.  The lady boat driver was a hot, angry mess.  She was in a hurry and throwing out luggage, bossing us around.  It was hilarious! 

She dropped us off and we roamed around Quincy Market looking for a place to eat.  We decided on Wagamama, which was a fusion kind of place.  Look at this delicious bowl of spicy soup I had.  It was so good! 

After lunch we strolled along the harbor area.

Took some pictures. 

If you don't know these fabulous faces, let me introduce you.  In the back are the boys.  On the left is Esra, he is Megan's boyfriend, our resident Icelandic native and tour guide for the trip!  On the right is Brett (Malarie's husband), Megan is in front of Esra,  then Callie, me and Malarie in the front.  

Callie found some fried bread. 

This girl loves some fried bread. 

We made it back to the airport by 6:00 p.m. and checked in for our flight. 

Then we ate again!  Just french fries and dessert!  Getting ready for the five hour flight.  We all planned to sleep on the way over, since it would be 6:00 a.m. in Iceland when we arrived. 

The best laid plans don't always work out. I only slept for 15 minutes and everyone else was about in the same boat.  Ugh!  Sleeping on planes is the worst. 

First glance at Iceland from the plane!  We are here!!! 

The drive from the airport looked like we had arrived on the moon.  The country is covered in lava rocks and moss.  Shockingly desolate looking between the airport and the town where we were staying.  Interesting. 

The apartment we are staying at is a friend of Esra's family.  It is adorable!!  

View from the little patio.  We all crashed for a two hour power nap to see if we could regroup and fight the jet lag! 

Once we woke up, we felt a little refreshed and ready to hit the town.  This is our rental van!  Perfect for transporting our party of six and all the luggage that includes.

This is the apartment building from the outside. 

We had a short drive to arrive in downtown Reykjavik and were in search of coffee! 

Cafe Babalu was just what we needed!  Coffee and a sandwich gave us new life. 

We walked and shopped all over downtown. 

This is a handmade Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus made out of Icelandic wool I found in the Christmas store.  I had to have it and think it is ADORABLE! 

More downtown walking. 

A couple things to note....tulip street lights are precious.  The name of this street....Iceland loves at least 16 letters in naming of all things!  Incredibly long names. I am butchering the heck out of trying to pronounce some of these words.  

We stopped for a juice with Joe. 

We went back to the apartment to watch some soccer and rest up. 

We met Esra's family for pizza at 8:30 p.m. It was delicious! 

Esra drove along the coast to take us back to the apartment.  This is 10:00 p.m and the sun is still out.  

The right of this lighthouse is a glacier way off in the distance.  

Snow capped mountains. 

The tour guide extraordinaire.  We are giving this poor Esra a workout with all our questions!  

Back at the apartment, I took this picture off the patio at 11:00 p.m. at night.  Seriously, I don't think the sun is ever going to go down! 

We finally went to bed about midnight.  

I think I have been awake for three days with just a two hour nap.  At least it feels that way!  

The people of Iceland are lovely.  All speak amazing English and we have felt very welcome!  Today is the first game ever for Iceland in the World Cup!  We are going downtown to watch it with the rest of Iceland.  Should be amazing and I hope they can pull out a win!