Reykjavik, Iceland

Although Southern Iceland was a blast, we were ready to head to Reykjavik, the largest city in Iceland! We checked out of the lake house and headed an hour west to the Blue Lagoon, a huge hot spring with gorgeous blue water. A must see in Iceland for sure! It’s a pretty touristy place so we had to stand in a long line to get in even though we had bought tickets online ahead of time. Once we got to the changing rooms, we were told we were required to take a shower completely naked before entering the Blue Lagoon! Are you kidding? There were no doors on the showers so anyone could walk by and see me naked. Heck no! I don't even let my mother see me naked, let alone some random stranger. I’m generally a rule follower but I was perfectly fine breaking this rule.

Once we all had our swimsuits on and “showered”,  we met back up in a big room where you hang your towels and enter the Blue Lagoon via a long ramp that takes you into the water and outside. We thought it might be too cold once we were outside but since the water is so warm and steamy you can’t even feel the cold air. I brought my cell phone into the water with me because there was no way I was going to be  swimming in the Blue Lagoon without taking a zillion pictures. I definitely got the stink eye from people thinking I was crazy bringing my phone, but unlike them I came home with some amazing pictures. So take that! I couldn't believe how much the kids were enjoying this place. Tyson was floating around on his back and relaxing with his eyes closed. Wesley loved it too, although he just wanted mommy and daddy to carry him around most of the time.
 
After exploring the lagoon’s various areas for a while, we eventually made our way over to the mud mask bar. We all dipped our fingers into the white goo and covered our faces and of course took a ton of goofy pictures. After about ten minutes we washed off the mask and our faces were all silky smooth. We then made our way over to the swim up bar. Our tickets came with a free drink so the adults either got beer or wine and the kids all got slushies.  We were all having such a great time that we didn’t want to get out, especially the kids who were splashing around on the steps. The kids then found a ledge that they wanted to jump off of into the water over and over.  After a while we were all starving so got out and grabbed a snack at the little café at the entrance. Not the cheapest place to buy some cheese, fruit, chips and sandwiches ($85), but at least we got a free drink, right?
 
We got back in the van, cranked up the local music (which we pretty much had all the songs memorized at this point) and headed 45 minutes north to Reykjavik. Literally everyone fell asleep except Marshall (driver). He said we drove through some of the most Mars looking terrain and we missed out on some pretty epic ocean views along the way. The price we pay for beauty sleep, am I right?
 
When we got into the city, we brought all our bags to the front area of the rental apartment office. They gave us a code in an email to a little outdoor box to get our key, but when we opened the box there was no key inside! It took us a good hour to locate a maid and figure out a way into the apartment. Lots of fun when it’s sprinkling outside and the kids have a mind of their own on how to spend that hour. We made it through and eventually got inside. Our apartment was on the top floor and had a beautiful view of downtown Reykjavik. Although the hotel was not the fanciest place we’ve stayed (a black hair on my pillow, questionable bathroom cleaning,  and there were like 8 opened boxes of stale cereal on top the fridge). However, the view and location which was a block away from the main walking area made up for it. Once we were settled, the guys returned our minivan to the airport since everything else would be walking distance for the rest of the trip.
 
That evening we planned date nights for each couple. Marshall and I planned to go out on an earlier date night and then Emilie and Matt planned to go out when we got back. I had researched the best restaurants and bars to check out in Reykjavik ahead of time and was super excited about our date night because it was the only one on one time Marshall and I would get the entire trip. We started our evening at a classy, modern bar called Apotek.  It had some of the most unique cocktails we’ve ever had! I ordered a fruity drink that had a beautiful flower on top as a garnish. Heavenly! The first drinks were so amazing that we had no choice but to order another one. 

We were starting to get hungry so headed over to a place called Sæta Svínið for dinner… yeah, say that three times. There were three floors that all had different themes. The first floor was just a casual bar that was completely packed. The second floor was fine dining with white linens and candles on all the tables. We kept going up a small staircase to the third floor where there was a super cool little loft style lounge area with a farm house feel. The vaulted ceiling had twinkle lights so it felt like we were outside looking up at the stars. They were also playing old school American music with some Christmas songs mixed in. Jackpot!! We decided to spend the rest of our evening there and had a great time jammin’ out and enjoying the atmosphere. Our mouth watering dinner was just icing on the cake. I had a delicious chicken meal (surprise, surprise) and Marshall had this ginormous slab of lamb that came with six unique sides. Food and drinks are outrageously expensive in Iceland, but this was SO big it was almost worth the price. Seriously, I probably could have gotten full just on eating one of his side dishes. This place was an epic find, but it was time to walk a half mile back to our apartment to take over watching the kids so Matt and Emilie could head out on their date night which they had a blast on as well.
 
The following morning we thought it would be nice for each of our families to explore the town on our own. We’d experienced almost everything together up to that point and it was much more manageable navigating the streets with four people as opposed to eight. When our family set out we started our morning at a little creperie café down the street.  We walked to the back of the café and found this little nook with a couch, a table and a little rocking horse. It was the perfect spot for to hang out and start the day. We ordered a caramel pear crepe and a chocolate banana crepe and we all shared the two. The boys were in heaven!
 
Marshall noticed someone had left their passport on a table near the front of the restaurant and went to turn it in to the creperista’s (that’s what they should be called anyway). The employees looked at him like they had no idea what to do, so he took off down the street to see if he could find someone that looked Russian (as it was a Russian passport) and matched the age and picture. He spent about 15 mins running up and down the street, poking his head into stores, but unfortunately couldn’t find him, so he gave it back to the employees at the creperie in case he came back for it. Really hoping he did!
 
After the delicious breakfast we headed toward the main part of town. Along the way we found a little playground for the kids to play at. There were a ton of school kids when we first got there but left within a few minutes so the boys could have the playground to themselves. Although it was tiny, the park had just enough toys to get the kids energy out. Towards the end, Marshall went up and tagged Tyson to start a spontaneous game of tag, but when he turned around to run away, he tripped over a cement block, fell and hit his head on a curb! He said he felt like he blacked out for a split second and had ringing in his ears for a while and had to walk it off for a bit. Poor guy!
 
We continued walking towards town and came to a huge pond. There were tons of ducks swimming next to gorgeous white and black swans which made for beautiful pictures. The boys were having fun feeding the swans some of their snacks. Next to the pond was a big building that happened to have a little craft market going on inside. I found a warm beanie for my sister that was pink with cats all over it and a fluffy fur ball on top. Not something I’d be caught dead wearing but she loves that kind of stuff, so I got it for a Christmas present.
 
At this point, we were getting hungry so stopped at a pizza place that looked kid friendly. They actually had a play area in the back of the restaurant with a few toys. We purposely sat at the table closest to them so the boys could play while we ate. We love finding places that have some type of entertainment for the kids.
 
After lunch we continued walking and found another playground up at the top of a hill that looked over the downtown area. This playground was much bigger than the last one so the boys were excited and wanted to hang out there a while then we headed back to the apartment to meet up with the Hart family. It was a good two miles back to the apartment, but it was good exercise for us all and a pretty walk through the town. Marshall was definitely feeling the effects of that fall in his neck and shoulder but made it back in one piece.
 
That evening we planned an early evening girl’s happy hour before dinner and the boys planned a late-night happy hour. Emilie and I didn’t have an agenda so we just started walking towards town. We stopped at a random hole in the wall bar for a drink. They didn’t have a cocktail menu which is a big thumbs down for me but they at least had various juices so I had the bartender make me a drink similar to a Mai Tai. After finishing our drinks, I wanted to take Emilie to a place I was certain had amazing cocktails, so we made our way to Apotek where Marshall and I went the night before. I ordered the same heavenly drink I had previously and Emilie ordered one that was just as unique and delicious. We weren’t quite ready to head back to the apartment after that so we stopped at one more bar that looked hoppin’. We grabbed the last open table and walked over to the bar to order a drink. I asked what the locals like to drink and they told me an alcohol called Brennevin was popular with the (older) ‘kids’ because it tastes like black licorice. I like licorice so I figured why not try it out. The bartender poured me a shot and Emilie had ordered a beer. We brought our drinks back to our table and I took a tiny sip of the shot...as most of you know I've never had a shot in my life. It tasted like something they trudged up from a bog behind the bar. Seriously the worst thing I’ve ever tasted! Regardless, Emilie and I continued to hang out for a while chatting while she finished her beer. I just left my full shot of death on the table for some unlucky victim looking to sling a free shot.
 
It was time to head back to the apartment to get ready for our last dinner in Iceland.  There was a Viking themed restaurant that we knew the kids would love about a twenty minute drive from our apartment so we had a taxi van drive us there. When we walked in the restaurant, we noticed several rooms with various Viking style themes. Any of the rooms would have been cool to sit in but we were sat in the bar because it was dead that night and that’s where the entertainment was centralized.  However, the boys were handed some cool Viking hats (like cheesy paper Burger King ones) so they were pretty excited. Although it wasn’t as lively as we had hoped, they at least had a man dressed as a Viking who sang traditional Icelandic songs which was entertaining. We were celebrating Julian's birthday that night so he sang Julian an extra special Icelandic birthday song. What a treat! While we waited for dinner all the kids explored the various rooms in the restaurant and played hide and seek. The kids seemed to have fun so that’s all that really matters…oh, and the fact that they had fermented shark to try. Finally! We all got to try a little piece, just to say we did. Nothing to write home about (unless this counts?), but one of those experiences you can’t pass up for sure.
 
The next day was our last day in Iceland. We wanted to take it easy since we had an eight-hour flight home that evening. We all walked a few blocks to a nearby coffee shop that also served breakfast. Our family ordered yummy chocolate banana waffles to share. We could tell by the amount of chocolate covered on the boys’ faces that they were in waffle heaven. Even afterwards they could not stop talking about those waffles.
 
Our families decided to venture off on our own after breakfast to explore the town more. We stopped at the little playground again to play and grabbed a hotdog at a famous hotdog stand to tie us over before the excitement of heading home started.
 
In order to get to the airport, we needed to catch a shuttle at a nearby pickup spot. Before we could do that we had to go back to the apartment to grab our suitcases. That’s when we realized we had 4 kids and about 16 things to carry a good 5 blocks uphill. We decide it’d be best for the moms to walk the kids to the shuttle stop and the guys to hail a cab to bring the luggage. Gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. A $25 convenience fee was a no-brainer this time.
 
Once we got to the top of the hill, there was a tall beautiful church called Hallgrimskirkja right next to the shuttle stop. We wanted to check it out so we dropped all our bags in a corner of the church lobby (which I'm sure they appreciated). Marshall watched the bags while the rest of us took an elevator to the top floor of the church that had a gorgeous view overlooking the city. It was a little cold and windy at the top so the boys didn’t want to stay up there too long. I quickly snapped a bunch of pictures and then headed back down. Shortly after, the shuttle arrived to take us to the airport. 

As we pull up to the airport we see a big cloud of black smoke coming from the runway. We thought a plane had crashed so we were all freaking out. We headed to our gate and asked various employees what was up with all the smoke on the runway and nobody seemed to know. We even Googled it to see if there was a news story on it but couldn't find anything. Such a mystery, but it must not have been anything serious.  We had enough time to eat a quick dinner and then boarded our long eight-hour flight back to Seattle.  All the kids did amazing and we made it back home safe and sound.
 
Overall, Iceland is an incredible place to see! We later found out it’s known as the layover country, which makes sense as it’s a hub that a lot of airlines fly through on the way in and out of other countries in Europe. We highly recommend extending your layover next time you happen to have one in Reykjavik. It’s worth spending a few days and taking an excursion or two out of the city to see the awesome sights and take a dip in the Blue Lagoon! We’re excited to be home, but already planning our next adventure in the new year. Stay tuned, until next time!