Iceland...A Trip of a Lifetime!

Iceland.

Wow.

It sounds terribly cliché to say it left me speechless -- especially for a Journalism major -- except that I've been flirting with the first sentence of this blog in my head for days and still just can't put to words how this startlingly beautiful and eerie, windswept land affected us. It felt like we vacationed on Mars...like we had discovered an unknown planet.

Iceland wasn't even on our radar as a potential place to visit before we moved abroad. But it quickly rose to the very top of our list; we took a family vote and it was everyone's #1 place we wanted to visit before Caterpillar moved us back to America....a transfer we knew could come at any time. Charlie's very best friend, Sólon, is Icelandic, and I had befriended several Icelandic women. So when the first whispers of a transfer home started to surface, we dug deeper than we ever have before and decided to fly to Iceland from Helsinki -- a direct flight -- at the end of our Baltic Cruise. For me, this meant I would travel through seven countries and travel across the Atlantic twice in a matter of two weeks.

I'm so glad we did.

We landed in Reykjavik, the northernmost capital of the world. It was a long travel day. I caught Bitsy's barf in my bare hands and Rob lost his coat (eventually retrieved while I circled the parking lot for an hour!), but it was worth it. The two-hour drive through the Icelandic wild to our Airbnb in Ulfljotsvatn, near Selfoss and the Golden Circle, was other-worldly....steam vents, lava fields, wild Icelandic ponies, snow-covered mountains, gushing streams and ice cold lakes that glittered against the stark volcanic landscape. I read my lovely friend, Kate Ballbach's blog post about their trip to Iceland (read it here), and took her advice to heart: The beauty of Iceland is in its wild. So at greater expense and output of effort, we struck out from the capital (where you can take all sort of day trips on tour buses...a tempting option with four young kids) and instead, opted for a house on a lake in the middle of nowhere.

We loved it.

The first thing we did was jump into our swimsuits and take a geothermal hot tub on our back deck. The water filtering out at our feet was literally bubbling from the center of the Earth and it was HOT.

The next morning was Easter Sunday. The kids were delighted that the bunny found us! After opening their baskets and waiting for Bitsy to wake up, they searched for chocolate eggs throughout the house (not outside for fear that they would blow away!). The Icelandic church we tried to attend was locked for both posted services, so we enjoyed His majesty in the natural world around us. First, we hiked into the Kerio Crater, walking alongside the upper rim and then right down into the groundwater-fed lake.

I loved the Icelandic flag on this church we tried to attend.

Hiking the upper rim. You can't tell how high we feel here!

Next, we drove to Thingvellar National Park, where we straddled the Continental Divide, a huge gash in the Earth where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are slowly ripping apart a few centimeters a year. I can't wait for the kids to see these pictures when they're old enough to understand how COOL this experience was!

Straddling the Continental Divide!

The next morning, we drove to Hveragerdi, a sweet little town known for its hot springs. We enthusiastically began the steep hike past steam vents and mud pools, charging forward to the point at which two streams meet -- one cold and one practically boiling -- the perfect place for a swim and views all the way to the ocean. We started early because we knew a storm was predicted for the afternoon. Well...that storm moved in FAST when we were about 1 km up the mountain! Charlie and Madeline put their arms out, laughing at how the wind carried them....and at that moment, Rob and I realized the situation was potentially dangerous. The storm got stronger and stronger as we safely and quickly doubled back down the mountain -- Bitsy was crying in her Thule backpack as sharp icy snowflakes pelted her face. We made it.

We tied John's change-of-clothes around her face!

After a nice long hot cocoa break, we decided to go check out Reykjavik. We parked and were careful not to let our car doors smash into other cars and people with the whipping winds (this is a big thing!). Rob found a stylish grass-roofed restaurant named Rok, directly across from Hallgrímskirkja (the famous Lutheran cathedral that looks like a rocketship), where we ate traditional Icelandic dishes like reindeer, Plokkfishur (fish pie) and fried cod.

The wind gusts were so strong that a red-bearded, 6-foot tall local told us he wouldn't dare take the southerly road along the Atlantic back to our house. We followed his advice, especially after watching a car go off the road earlier that day. I didn't know it at the time, but both of my Icelandic friends wrote, telling us to take care as they watched the news from Luxembourg! Our new friend told us it was safe to take interior roads (which are more sheltered from the wind and ocean torrents) to the geysirs at Haukadalur. They were steaming and sulfurous, and fired off so suddenly that I dropped my cell phone!

We kept seeing the same people as we made our way to Gulfoss next, a thundering waterfall that disappears into a 105 foot crevasse.

The volume was deafening! We could barely hear each other. 

On our final day, we drove to the famous Blue Lagoon through a lava field along the Atlantic Ocean. It was fabulous! We checked into the spa and entered the 100 degree bright blue waters, churning out of the Earth from 6500 feet below, rich in silica, algae and other healing minerals. We soaked for hours, rubbing the muds on our faces until our skin stung and we were wrinkled prunes.

And that was a wrap. Spring Break 2017. As we waited for our flight in the airport, I noticed bumper stickers that said, "I Survived Iceland" -- the adventure of this place was off the charts, and though we made safe decisions across the board, I COMPLETELY agreed that we had survived Iceland. I hope to survive it many more times. What a trip it was!

Cruising the Baltic Sea: St. Petersburg, Russia!

We woke up in RUSSIA after a beautiful few days in Stockholm and Helsinki. We were so eager to explore!

After a two-hour disembarkation process through passport control (gigantic mob, no lines, zero crowd control or assistance, and extremely thorough and intimidating guards), we finally stepped onto Russian soil in St. Petersburg. Weather reports predicted it might be a little rainy and in the 40's, but WHOA! It was snowing hard with driving winds and freezing cold temperatures.

We pushed off in our less than adequate clothing and started our adventure after a bit of a bumpy start. While the masses waited for a tiny shuttle, Ning found us a couple of taxis, who dropped us off at St. Isaac's Cathedral...not exactly where we thought we were going, but all the sights seemed close enough (or so we thought). The wet snowflakes drove into our faces, freezing tiny fingers, running mascara and truly shocking us with its ferocity as we walked down Nevsky Prospekt until we finally made it to the imposing and vividly turquoise Winter Palace, which sits in Palace Square -- big enough for 50 battalions to march in formation. We were the only people on the entire square (which is saying something!), besides one random hot dog vendor, and you better believe we bought the kids a Russian hot dog to help get them to our next destination!

Russian hot dogs? Sure, we'll take it!!!!!

We hid on this corner while we gained the strength to run across the square

The Alexander Column

We continued on towards the river. Then, like a beacon of light, we saw a doorman wearing a Russian fur hat, and I asked if there was a restaurant in the hotel he represented so we could get out of the cold and dry off. We zipped up a warm elevator to the 9th floor, overlooking St. Petersburg's rooftops for an elegant, upscale Russian lunch of caviar, beef stroganoff and Venison Pelmeni. Other than Charlie getting locked in the bathroom (we thought he seemed gone for a long time....), it was absolute perfection. They handed us buttery hotel madeleines as we walked out the door, preparing ourselves for the whip of wind that greeted us.

Caviar

We braved the snowstorm as we made our way to our intended destination, the Church on Spilled Blood, which was absolutely worth the effort! It was splendid with its colorful onion domes and resplendent mosaic interior, depicting scenes from the Bible.

Church on Spilled Blood

Outside of the church was a year-round, all-weather outdoor market selling matryoshka dolls, hand-painted chess pieces and fur hats. Vendors would quickly roll up their stand as they saw us approach. We bartered for a few fun souvenirs before jumping in a cab and paying way too much for home.

Lots of bartering....

We had ballet tickets to see Swan Lake in the Hermitage Theater that night, but sadly, we just couldn't rally. Early dinner, early bedtimes.

John and Bitsy walking to our table in the dining room

Russia Day Two
Svetlana, our fabulous Russian tour guide, picked us up and took us around St. Petersburg with our driver, Alexander. From the warmth of our car, we learned about the Admiralty building, St. Isaac's Cathedral (again! ha), Peter the Great statue, a Russian submarine and the first ice breaker, before piling out at the Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace. When the Czar's of Russia were building this palace and collecting its art, they hoped to surpass Versailles and the Louvre. It was magnificent with its gilded gold interiors, ornate columned staterooms, gigantic green malachite vases, paintings by every master through the ages and ancient Egyptian artifacts.

Going in.....

She fit right in!

Reenacting the painting behind us!

We walked from the Hermitage to the Belmont Grand Hotel Europe for Russian tea. We were served caviar and warm blinis on three tiered trays with salmon finger sandwiches, tiny Russian meat pies, and of course, two pots of tea in gorgeous traditional china. There were four real bunny rabbits in an Easter-decorated pen besides our table, to the kids' absolute delight!

We stopped by a souvenir shop on the way home to pick up a few more matryoshka dolls as gifts, then hopped in a cab after a very full day. That night, the adults had "Negroni-fest," and caught part of a pretty hilarious and entertaining live show where Ning and I danced on stage when the audience was invited. We had a friendly debate about whether the performances were lip-synched or real. Rob and I finished the night with a competitive round of air hockey.

The next morning, we let the masses push and shove their way off the ship while we had a leisurely breakfast. We reflected on our incredible trip so far, and laughed at several hilarious moments....like John hanging out with a group of co-eds in the ship's hot tub (little tiny ladies man) and Bitsy's funny run-in with a Russian trucker (our cruise served as a ferry) who exclaimed, "Danc-ee, danc-ee," as she spun to the music piped over the ship's audio system.

Coming out of passport control, we found ourselves in an industrial and out-of-the-way part of Helsinki. As we fumbled to figure out Finnish Ubers for our large group, a deluxe taxi van pulled up out of nowhere and asked if we needed a ride. We could hear angels singing! First, we dropped off my dad and Ning at their Finnish sauna spa where they would spend the next day until they pushed off for Tallinn, while we went on to the airport for our departure to ICELAND!!!!!!

Bitsy napped on the go this entire vacation! Bless her little heart!!!