Gallery Restaurant

Our dinner tonight was at a nice place called the Gallery Restaurant (which is inside the Hotel Holt). It also happens to be Eric's birthday today so it was fitting we ate out somewhere nice for his day!

The restaurant (and hotel) has an amazing art collection (Elfa told me one of the best and most expensive private collections of Iceland) which you can see all around the dining room pics.

As always, good food but even better company! 👌🏼 Happy birthday to Eric!! 🎉👏🏼👏🏼

Seeing an old friend

We slept in pretty late today, since we were out so late last night. When we woke, we went out to find brunch (hard to do - we're wondering if "brunch" exists in Iceland?!?) and then after, the guys went to shop for some new ties (for dinner tonight, see next post), while I met up with an old friend of mine who is from (and lives in) Iceland!!

Elfa and I went to graduate school together at Georgetown - we were pretty good friends in school but after we graduated, she returned to Iceland and I returned to California. She's never been to California and up until this week, I've never been to Iceland!! So, SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER, we had a mini-CCT (our grad program) reunion. 😂😂😂

Elfa gave me her own personal tour of the Reykjavik area which was really fun for me, and then we sat at a locals coffeeshop and caught up on life! It was really so nice to see her and visit after so long - it made me miss my days of being a young starving graduate student in D.C.!! 😜

Northern Lights!

We stayed up ULTRA late last night to chase the Northern Lights!

We were fortunate to see a little bit of them for awhile, on the beginning of the tour, but weren't as lucky for the remainder of the night - no matter how far we drove (far!) - as it was super windy and very cloudy.....Bummer.

Still! We have a couple shots that are fun to share, and an experience to remember for a lifetime. :)

Snorkeling!!

We got up so early the coffee shop across the street wasn't open yet!! 🤣🤣 Drove to Thingvellir National Park and spent the morning snorkeling between 2 tectonic plates in icy cold water!! 😱😝❄️❄️   It was truly amazing and out of this world.  

Once back in Reykjavik, we found a really yummy burger joint (literally a hole in the wall, hidden behind some bar!), did a bit of shopping, and are now relaxing back at the hotel before our late night tour tonight! 👊🏼

 

The Blue Lagoon

Today Jon turned 40!! 😱

We spent the day in complete relaxation, exploring the Blue Lagoon, getting massages, and topping the evening off with another extraordinary meal!!

Happiest of birthdays - love you mucho!! 😘😘😘

Town Center

We spent the afternoon and evening walking (and eating and drinking) our way through Reykjavik. So much character here - loving it!!

But, I can't help noticing that most of my pics are of things I want to show, and share with, my boys. 🤣🤣❤️🤷🏻‍♀️

Heading to Iceland

Jon's birthday is tomorrow! We've just landed in Iceland with a couple great friends (Eric and Ryan) to celebrate!

Can't wait to explore this beautiful place. ❤️