As promised, here is the first post in the series regarding the famous trip my hubby and I took from San Fran to Reykjavik-Paris-Nice-Strasbourg. Obviously, I begin here by our stay in Iceland.

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After two nights spent in planes, we finally arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland around 6 a.m., local time, on December 3^rd (Friday). We were completely jet-lagged, and the fact that even at 8 a.m. – when we took the bus to the hotel – it was still pitch dark, giving the impression it was midnight (what it definitely was, but  back home in San Fran) didn’t help at all. On the other hand, I don’t think I had ever seen a more beautiful sky than the Icelandic one.

Around 9, we got a quick breakfast at the hotel and then took a long nap.

Finally, my husband and I managed to drag ourselves out and around noon we started visiting Reykjavik. I absolutely loved the city and was really glad we had decided to stay for a couple days before heading “home” to France.
To begin, it wasn’t nearly as cold as I expected it to be. I thought it’d be freezing. Instead, I didn’t find it to be even as cold as NYC would be around this time of the year for instance. And there was barely any snow. (Yes, to my surprise it seems that “Ice-land” is not to be confused with “Snow-land.” My bad I guess.)

We were located exactly in the centre of the city, so it was perfect to get a quick impression of it. It was truly charming with many, many shops. (Shopping, anyone?) Women in Iceland have a really good sense of fashion, and the cold definitely doesn’t prevent them being trendy: I could spend half an hour talking about the wonderful boots and booties they’ve got there. Of course, for the sanity of the male audience of my blog, I will skip that.

Sunset at 4p.m.

For day two, I had organized our first “real activity” in Reykjavik. After a long trip, there was nothing more appropriate than spending a morning at the Blue Lagoon: the world famous geothermal spa in Iceland.

Unfortunately, I had decided not to carry my camera there, afraid it’d end up dropped in the lagoon. Colossal mistake. It turned out to be quite easy to simply put aside your camera or to keep it safe in one of the lockers, only taking it out when needed. I guess I’ll have to take some pictures next time we go there… because believe me, I am definitely going back to that place!  In the meantime, check out the pictures on their website or on Wikipedia. They can give you at least some sense of how amazingly relaxing it is to be bathing in completely pure and blue 40° C/ 104° F waters while the air outside is 0° C/ 32° F. (Just in case you are wondering: nope, your head doesn’t freeze… perhaps just your nose and ears a bit.)

After a couple hours at the Blue Lagoon, we headed back to the centre of Reykjavik where I took advantage of the daylight to take more pictures while doing a more extensive visit of the city. And guess what I found there!

Yes, that’s right. A BULGARIAN restaurant. In the centre of Reykjavik. How great is that? Despite it being well past lunch time (3 p.m.), we were not particularly hungry. However, there was no way for me to miss eating at that place.

My hubby obliged, and the two of us sat to share two different dishes there after I had a small conversation with the waitress in Bulgarian. Seriously, Bulgarians are everywhere to be found around the world

We had a plate of kebab and kiufte, as well as “Sirene po Shopski”: sirene – the Bulgarian feta, the Shopski, or villager’s, way. That is, sirene baked in an earthenware pot with tomato sauce and an egg on top of it: when prepared properly, it’s extremely tasty.

Of course, the Bulgarian food didn’t keep us away from the Icelandic ones. The first day, we had some “flatkokur” – some type of flat, thin bread which I didn’t particularly like, but my husband enjoyed. The second day we had some Brennivin – the Icelandic schnapps which is considered as “the country’s signature beverage.” Finally, on the third day, we had a traditional lamb soup while on a 7-hour tour.

In fact, our third and last day in Iceland – Sunday – was mostly taking by this 7-hour tour of the Golden Circle during which we saw the national park, the waterfall Gullfoss, and the geysers.

Oh, and some banana trees grown in greenhouses. Yes, astonishing, but Iceland grows bananas.

On the next morning – Monday, Dec 6^th, we left Iceland and arrived in Paris. But more about that in another post, really soon…

PS: For more pictures, please check out my galleries here.