I haven't done a love list in a while. Today I am choosing to share my love of Iceland. I just returned from my second trip to Iceland a few weeks back. Here is some of the highlights . Enjoy!
My husband and I were graciously given gift vouchers for Iceland Air from my parents and Dear Aunt and Uncle. They were about to expire and we were ready for a vacation! The last real vacation I had was with my best friend Tara www.inkandwit.com two years ago to Iceland. I have been wanting to go back ever since.
So this is how I do Iceland! We drove to JFK because the NY winter has been so harsh we couldn't take the chance of missing a flight. The car ride with the Hubby was fine until we got to NY and were running late "my family will laugh at that". Any of you who are married can understand this! We were perfectly on time as our flight was delayed for two hours because of strong winds. I had my parsley and was ready:) The flight was lovely they put us in the emergency row without us having to ask or pay extra because of Daniel's height. The flight was quick only 5 hours. When we landed it was still dark about 8 am in the morning. Then we got on a bus to take us directly to the Blue Lagoon. Heaven! This is the way it is done get off the plane go directly to soak! http://www.bluelagoon.com/Geothermal-spa/
We checked in to the Blue Lagoon Clinic where we stayed and I highly recommend! You have your own private lagoon the rooms are breath taking and it includes free passes to the Blue Lagoon Spa which is a beautiful 5 minute walk through the moss covered lava rocks! Of course there is fresh free fruit all day as well as free Scandinavian breakfast and free espresso bar with rice milk !
The private lagoon at Blue Lagoon Clinic
The first day at the lagoon within our first hour of soaking and swimming in the warm healing waters we saw a rainbow over us! Sorry, no pictures. The night of our stay we were hungry but we did not rent a car and were in the middle of nowhere. The woman at the clinic called another hotel called the Northern Lights Inn http://www.northernlightinn.is/ for us knowing that they offered a vegan option for dinner. She arranged for them to pick us up and bring us back after dinner. When we arrived there was a dog waiting to greet us by the door and I had realized that my friend Michelle has stayed there a month ago. She had told me about the dog and the great food. I recognized the dogie right away! The food was amazing and prepared fresh. We had a cauliflower blended soup and vegan ratatouille and an amazing Salad! The next day after another soak in the Lagoon we caught a bus to Reykjavik the capital of Iceland and headed to our hotel, Centerhotel Anarvohll . You should hear me try to pronounce that one. http://www.centerhotels.com/pictures/?album=1&gallery=2
There are some pics of the hotel on the link above. Of course they were all super nice , helpful the hotel restaurant over looked the mountain view and harbor of Iceland. We only enjoyed the free breakfast but got to enjoy the view anyway. The hotel also had an amazing quiet spa downstairs. Both times I was there I got to enjoy it all by myself. It included a Finnish sauna,a lava rock steam room and a lava rock whirlpool . That day we took a walk around and decided to go feed some animal friends we passed on the way to our hotel. It was a nice walk the sun was out . We stopped at a bakery got a loaf of fresh bread and went to the pond. Here are some of our friends. We spent a good amount of time there.
His pink feet are just the cutest and he was full of personality but so sweet.
That night we went on our first Northern Lights tour. We all packed into a bus and headed out about 10pm to the highest altitude point. The conditions have to be just right to see the Aurora Borealis no clouds, below zero and solar flares. The first night we were out till about 2 am no luck it was just to cloudy and snowing. The next day was Valentine's Day we don't really celebrate but I found a raw food restaurant that I wanted to check out. So we walked the endless mile to get there but it was totally worth it! The atmosphere was not only stunning and food nothing short of amazing but there was a yoga studio as well! We got there to late so no green juice was left but plenty of raw food . The restaurant is called Glo. I had my choice of two different salads and some raw canneloni. Daniel had a coconut curry soup and salads.
We walked all the way back to Reykjavik center. Where we stopped in my favorite shop in Iceland a photo shop arcticphoto.is/. We bought two prints one for our home and one for my sisters new apartment. She was watching all of the animals we live with after all,it is no easy task! This shop is amazing ! I met the sweetest friend and photographer. Looking forward to purchasing some more prints for the home and centers. Our friend Mai from the shop is very into photographing the Northern lights and helped us by looking up the forecast for that night. Mai said we would defiantly see them that night. We got back on that bus and before we even left the parking lot in Reykjavik I looked out the window and saw green lights in the sky! We had great success that night seeing the Northern lights in many locations. We arrived back home after 2 am. I must admit I am a little crazed about the Northern Lights now even more so. I have found this great website that I can watch the Northern lights live from home every night after dusk.http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/auroramax/ It will do until we can go back to Iceland. Yoga retreat in Iceland anyone? I am working on it!
So this is how I do Iceland! We drove to JFK because the NY winter has been so harsh we couldn't take the chance of missing a flight. The car ride with the Hubby was fine until we got to NY and were running late "my family will laugh at that". Any of you who are married can understand this! We were perfectly on time as our flight was delayed for two hours because of strong winds. I had my parsley and was ready:) The flight was lovely they put us in the emergency row without us having to ask or pay extra because of Daniel's height. The flight was quick only 5 hours. When we landed it was still dark about 8 am in the morning. Then we got on a bus to take us directly to the Blue Lagoon. Heaven! This is the way it is done get off the plane go directly to soak! http://www.bluelagoon.com/Geothermal-spa/
We checked in to the Blue Lagoon Clinic where we stayed and I highly recommend! You have your own private lagoon the rooms are breath taking and it includes free passes to the Blue Lagoon Spa which is a beautiful 5 minute walk through the moss covered lava rocks! Of course there is fresh free fruit all day as well as free Scandinavian breakfast and free espresso bar with rice milk !
The first day at the lagoon within our first hour of soaking and swimming in the warm healing waters we saw a rainbow over us! Sorry, no pictures. The night of our stay we were hungry but we did not rent a car and were in the middle of nowhere. The woman at the clinic called another hotel called the Northern Lights Inn http://www.northernlightinn.is/ for us knowing that they offered a vegan option for dinner. She arranged for them to pick us up and bring us back after dinner. When we arrived there was a dog waiting to greet us by the door and I had realized that my friend Michelle has stayed there a month ago. She had told me about the dog and the great food. I recognized the dogie right away! The food was amazing and prepared fresh. We had a cauliflower blended soup and vegan ratatouille and an amazing Salad! The next day after another soak in the Lagoon we caught a bus to Reykjavik the capital of Iceland and headed to our hotel, Centerhotel Anarvohll . You should hear me try to pronounce that one. http://www.centerhotels.com/pictures/?album=1&gallery=2
There are some pics of the hotel on the link above. Of course they were all super nice , helpful the hotel restaurant over looked the mountain view and harbor of Iceland. We only enjoyed the free breakfast but got to enjoy the view anyway. The hotel also had an amazing quiet spa downstairs. Both times I was there I got to enjoy it all by myself. It included a Finnish sauna,a lava rock steam room and a lava rock whirlpool . That day we took a walk around and decided to go feed some animal friends we passed on the way to our hotel. It was a nice walk the sun was out . We stopped at a bakery got a loaf of fresh bread and went to the pond. Here are some of our friends. We spent a good amount of time there.
That night we went on our first Northern Lights tour. We all packed into a bus and headed out about 10pm to the highest altitude point. The conditions have to be just right to see the Aurora Borealis no clouds, below zero and solar flares. The first night we were out till about 2 am no luck it was just to cloudy and snowing. The next day was Valentine's Day we don't really celebrate but I found a raw food restaurant that I wanted to check out. So we walked the endless mile to get there but it was totally worth it! The atmosphere was not only stunning and food nothing short of amazing but there was a yoga studio as well! We got there to late so no green juice was left but plenty of raw food . The restaurant is called Glo. I had my choice of two different salads and some raw canneloni. Daniel had a coconut curry soup and salads.
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