Day 2: Keflavik, Iceland (Saturday, August 9th)

So far so good! It's still hard to believe we're actually in Europe and living this dream of a trip we've been planning for so long. Our flight from Salt Lake to Denver was super quick but the next one to Iceland obviously wasn't as easy. It actually wasn't as long as many flights to Europe--only 7 hours or so. As expected, it was much tougher sleeping on the plane than we hoped. I got about 2.5 total hours but it definitely wasn't good or consistent sleep. We landed around 6:30am, picked up a car at the airport, and took off for the day!

Iceland was wonderful! I had heard a bit about Reyjkavik but didn't really know what to expect.  When we pulled away from the airport, Logan's comment described exactly what our first impression was: "It looks like we're on the moon!" It totally did! All of the flat land and lava rock definitely didn't make for the prettiest first sights. After driving further into the city the scenery completely changed, as did our opinions of this place. 

**All of these pictures were taken with a phone and sometimes through the window of the car so forgive the lack of quality!**

There's something in Iceland called "The Golden Circle" that's popular for tourists because it consists of several neat things to see. We didn't visit every attraction but we saw a few of them and they were so cool!  It truly is beautiful here!

It was nice having a car so we could do everything at our own pace and most things we did were free so that was great too. We started with breakfast at a cute café and it was delicious!

This was a very traditional Europen breakfast that we shared and loved. On the right is a super soft bagel-type bread with ham and cheese and on the left is a cinnamon pastry with a caramel like glaze. Naturally we were talked into getting the chocolate milk which topped it all off nicely!

After breakfast we made our first stop on the "Golden Circle" to the National Park, Thingvellir. On our way there we started discussing whether or not Iceland is part of Europe. In the end we settled for the Google explanation: 

Also on our drive we came across this funny little stonehenge lookout:

At the park we were actually able to see where the North American and European tectonic plates split. We technically walked from one continent to the other today. Super cool! 

After visiting the park we went to the geyser called Geysir. It was funny watching everyone sit still for minutes at a time hoping to catch the perfect picture. 

A giant waterfall, Gullfoss, followed the geysers. It wasn't quite as big as Niagra Falls but it really reminded me of that. The mist hit us as soon as we got out of the car. 

After seeing the waterfall it was just about time for dinner so we decided to save some money by going to the first grocery store we saw and buying something cheap. I'm not sure what the odds were but we just happened to find the Iceland version of Costco (they even sold Kirkland brand)! See this Tide you would find in the states?

That price is the equivalent of $78.00! We even looked up the average income and it's not very high so I have no idea how anyone can afford to shop there. It really helps you feel close to home when you walk in and see everything American at the store! We definitely didn't stay there for dinner but drove down the street to find some gourmet PBandJs.

Our after dinner activity was by far my favorite! We drove back towards the airport and swam in the geothermal pools Iceland is famous for. 

It was quite chilly outside and the water is the perfect temperature so you can sit in it as long as you want without getting too hot but you still stay warm. 

As a way for us to remember what the weather was like, I'm going to post a screen shot of it each day. 

Weather Today:

The 57 degrees wouldn't have been too bad if it hadn't been so windy but unfortunately the wind made it quite nippy!

Our hostel is...an adventure! 18 people sleeping in bunk beds and sharing bathrooms is not my type of ideal but it's what we signed up for! Poor Tom drove us around all day so he didn't get a single nap but Logan, Chelsie and I all got a power nap which I couldn't have lived without. We have to wake up around 4:00am tomorrow so fingers crossed we can sleep on the plane in the morning!

Overall, we loved Iceland! We would definitely recommend everything we did to anyone that asked and even agreed we could have used another day here to see things like the Volcanoes and Glaciers that were a bit further out. Maybe one day we'll return but until then, so long, Reykjavik!

Tomorrow: London, England

Both my mom and dad served missions in London so I can't wait to visit the city where they met!  Even better: My dad is leaving to guide a church history tour in England tomorrow and his "free" days just happen to be the same days we'll be there!  I can't wait to see him on Monday!