First stop Iceland! Day 1

 

After a full day of traveling, we arrived in Iceland at 6 am on Tuesday. Tired but full of excitement to check out our first stop, we rolled out of the airport in our manual (yes, manual, it had been at least 20 years since I drove one of those) Hyndaui I10. Freezing and hungry, we went around Reykjanesbær looking for some coffee and breakfast. It is one of the biggest towns in Iceland, with about 13,000 people. We found a cute Bakari or bakery only a few minutes away. Ella and Miles were a little skeptical of the options as they looked different from things back home, so they stuck to croissants. Sean and I tried a few of the local donuts; they were delicious! Fun Facts: We couldn't pronounce any town names in Iceland!

After breakfast, we headed to our cottage. Only 40 minutes away in the town of Garðabær. It was right on the sea. It was perfect! Quaint, Quiet, not too close to the action but close enough to be there in just a few minutes. We were also told, it was near the President's House.

After checking out our new digs, we decided to check out Miles's pick for Iceland, the Blue Lagoon. It is a pool-sized hot tub heated with geothermal heating. It was lots of fun!

After all that swimming everyone was a bit tired and hungry. 2 minutes into the ride the kids were out! We decided to check out some Icelandic hot dogs, which everyone had been talking about. Sean ran out to grab the takeaway(English for to-go) I tried out the Icelandic mustard which was similar to a honey mustard. We ate in the parking lot just barely waking Miles up, but he still managed to devour half his dog.

Once we finally arrived back at our cottage, Sean and Miles were out! The traveling and jet lag got to both of them. Ella and I checked out the beach at the end of the block. There were some great Icelandic horses there. After a full day of traveling and sightseeing, it was time to hit the hay. At 8 pm local time, the sun was still high in the sky. It eventually set at 10 pm, just to rise again.