Velkomið to Iceland!

Have you ever wanted to go to Iceland so badly, and then you get the opportunity to go, and your flight is delayed for an hour, but you don't even care because you're going to Iceland, and then you finally land in Iceland, and you're like... "This is it. This is where I'm meant to be", and then you walk through the airport and spot countless tall, blonde, beautiful Scandinavian fellas, and you're like "Oh my gosh I have hit the jackpot", and then you walk outside of the airport, and you're like...

...Oh.

So we had a bit of a monsoon meet us in Iceland, but it was the best monsoon I've been in! Whipping winds and drizzle in all directions! GOOOOOD AFTERNOON!

We got all checked in to our first stop in Reykjavík (ray-kyuh-veek), which is the capital of Iceland. Under 150,000 people live there!

We walked around downtown Reykjavík and I had my eyes open for all the sights I've been dreaming about.

 

This is the inside of the church, Hallgrímskirkja (the very first picture is the outside of the church). It is the largest church in Iceland standing at almost 240 feet tall.

It's such an amazing feeling to see something in real life instead of just pictures.

 

 

I bought a beautiful hand knitted lopapeysa, which is a traditional Icelandic sweater. It was over 21,000 krónur which made my lungs collapse, but a coke is around 300 krónur so it's no big deal. They just use bigger bills here!

After walking around, I was determined to find authentic Icelandic food. AND I DID!!!

This here is a nice bowl of Kjötsúpa which is lamb soup with root vegetables. It was so tasty. But the real winner was the rye bread, rúgbrauð. I read all about the bread! Honestly, it was the most delicious piece of bread I've ever eaten. The texture was kind of dense, and there was a hint of sweetness to it as well... maybe some molasses is in there. Absolutely wonderful smeared with Icelandic butter.

It's official. I fit in. I'm pale, and I love the food. I have spent less than a day here and I am ready to book my next trip.

Lets learn some íslensku shall we? The first word I wanted to learn was thanks, as a southern belle should. Thanks in Icelandic is takk. You say it more like "tahk"! When somebody brings you some rye bread you say TAKK!!!!!

P.S. I've actually had the courage to say takk when I'm checking out and it's super exciting and usually I receive "you're welcome" in Icelandic but I haven't learned that word yet, but it's still really exciting.