Day 5

Today we are taking a guided tour of the Golden Circle. This trek includes Þingvellir, the waterfall Gullfoss (meaning "golden falls"), and the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur. Early morning pickup and then a 1.5 hour drive later, we got to see the tectonic plates of America and Europe meet and the rift valley is clearly visible. Next we walked through the geothermal home of the one and only Geysir. Pretty cool. First geyser either us have seen.

Another van ride and we were at Gullfoss, the undisputed queen of Icelandic waterfalls. Gullfoss is an amazing sight, the water rushes down three steps of lava layers with breathtaking power and grandeur. Couple more longarms and its off to raft.

We head to basecamp to prep for white water rafting. Did I mention it was freezing cold and rainy? Good thing we were equipped with smelly wetsuits and piled into a 1970's school bus and taken to the drop point. All in all, rafting was fun but definitely need to upgrade the difficulty level next time. I dont think we experienced anything tougher than a class II.

Once done - we were pooped and called it an early night.

Click here for photos.

Day 4

After unsuccessfully booking a Self Drive Super Jeep Tour of the southern coast, we decided to do a the next best thing. A Self Drive Economy Car Tour of the southern coast. We picked the car up after a nice little jog thru the city and started our journey down Route 1 in hopes of finding waterfalls and black sand beaches.

Our first discovery is that Iceland can be just as barren as it is beautiful. Not within 20 minutes of leaving civilization did we find large spanning dried lava fields for miles and miles. Cool to look at - but not cool to live on.

As we drove on, we came across the Eyjafjallajökull glacier area. At the top of this 'small' ice cap is the volcano that has been causing so much trouble lately. As we approached, the top of the mountain disappeared into a cloud of what looked like ash. Not 100% if it was, but sounds better than fog.

Next up, Seljalandsfoss. Beautiful waterfall. After that, Skógafoss, another huge waterfall. It's like they grow on mountains around here.

After about 3.5 hours of scenic driving, we reached our main destination, Vík í Mýrdal, the southern most city in Iceland. Quaint little town with breathtaking black sand beaches that are bordered with rugged tall cliffs that span for miles.

Back to Reykajvík and dinner. After walking around at 10pm with sunglasses on, we found a local favorite (cant spell or pronounce it now) that had leg of lamb to die for. Finished the evening with another stroll by the bay watching the locals starting to come out for bright nightlife.

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Day 3

Nothing like waking up @ 3am thinking you might have overslept for your 9am pickup! With 22+ hrs of light, it's hard to adjust to time. Anthony cooked breakfast and we geared up for kayaking around a fjord. Only one problem - we never made it kayaking! Mollie made our pickup at a hotel, but not the one we'd hoped. How can they expect us to pronounce CenterHotel Skjaldbreið and CenterHotel Thingholt correctly. Oh well, so much for a perfect honeymoon. What do to do now with an unexpected day off?

So, we spent the day exploring Reykjavik. A walking tour of the city from a starving artist/comedian/propagandist tour guide that dislikes the Icelandic politicians. It was quite the entertainment. We did get a peek the new mayor, Jón Gnarr, a comedian that is about 40yrs old who has never held a public office before. I guess when times get tough - get someone in office who will make you laugh. All in all, we saw most of Reykjavik downtown which only has a population of about 120,000. This is included city hall, parliament, a big curch and the town square. Really cute city.

Afterwards we caught a taxi to The Pearl which has great views of the city and ocean. We then hiked along the beach to a geothermal spot where people were bathing everywhere! Anyone ever heard of personal space? We did lots of walking and exploring today. Most importantly, we got our next 3 adventures planned out. To make us feel better, the sweet chic at Iceland Adventures did tell us that our street is the hardest to pronounce in the city... Guess it gets Mollie off the hook for the AM mishap.

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Day 2

After 24hrs of traveling, there was no better way to arrive in Iceland. We landed, hit customs with one question - "How long are you here?" Next! We thought for sure that there was a second security gate or screening. Nope!

We took a bus to The Blue Lagoon. The sun was out & it couldn't have been a more perfect day. We were tired, but wanted to stay awake all day & fight jet lag. I forgot to mention it was 630am when we landed!!

We got a private suite with our own indoor lagoon & lounge. It also included a waterfall shower, high powered massager and heated bench. Perfect for loosening up after an uncomfortable flight.

The outdoor steamy lagoon was full of interesting characters. Old drunk men heckling us at the swim up bar, lots of non-English speaking children, and loads of women seeking spa treatments. We did it all - the steam cave, silica mud masks, waterfall, and swim up bar for Viking beer. Oh, how could I forget the lunch buffet with whale meat and other gross assortments called food! Not the best idea for 2900 kr each and empty stomachs. Time to head to our accommodations.

Another bus ride, and Fridik, our landlord pickup us up at the bus terminal and brought us to our apartment in old town Reykjavík. This place is full of young hipsters that all belong in rock videos - just what I expected! We explored the area briefly and ate dinner at a small pizzeria & made our way back to crash. The jet lag has set in. We need sleep!

Photos - click here

Day 1

After 3 hours of sleep - we woke up and had a wonderful goodbye breakfast at Toast with family and friends. We then trekked to the airport and got this escapade underway. For those that don't already know, we are creating our own Adventures in Wedding trip. 5 days in Iceland, 2 days in Nice/Monaco, 1 day in Dijon and then 6 days in Paris with us tying the knot on the 16th at a surprise location in a Parisian garden.

We'll do our best to keep this up to date with photos and stories so the ones who couldn't make can still share the experience. Feel free to chime in with ideas or suggestions because whats more fun than an interactive wedding?

Wish us luck!