Then we took him to a cave of a popular Icelandic children's character (a giant) that lives inside. There was the actual giant inside and giant-sized furniture to sit on, but I wasn't feeling it (the giant was kinda creepy). The giant had sound connected to it, and would periodically snore (& fart). However, they did have one very sweet element- a little tree inside covered in baby pacifiers! My guess is that reluctant children are herded there by their parents to deposit their pacifiers there as part of a ritual connected to the story. I guess the giant likes them.
From there we headed over to DusHuus, a cultural center that three different components to it- a historic boat museum, a museum of artifacts from the former US military base and an art gallery. Since I have an attention span of a 2-year old (with ADD) at these types of places, we didn't last all that long. :-) I'll be honest, due to our looming flight, our last day there we were having to dig pretty deep for entertainment.
However, I couldn't miss this great work of art at the gallery, which Rich entitled, "The Inviting Vagina." Aptly named. It will not be gracing my home anytime soon. I know the beauty of art is subjective, but um...really? A happy vagina? I guess its better than an unhappy vagina...
After our final few meals (I think we ate out 4 times over the last 2 days in an attempt to get our fill of the local cuisine), we took an evening flight back to Seattle. Our flight route took us right over Greenland, which was THRILLING for me. I've flown over icy territory before (Russia), but there's something about Greenland that just fascinated and captivated me. It looked so utterly harsh, desolate, unforgiving...and yet...beautiful. I would love to visit there...for a day. I can easily handle temps in the 40s & 50s, and I could even handle three cold winters in Japan in a freezing, drafty old apartment. But I draw the line at daily sub-zero temps. I just don't think it would be all that fun, day after day. Once I built an Igloo, made a snowman and got to see my boogers freeze, I'd be over it and ready to head to the mall or something. ;-)
The only downside of this trip (and its hard to come up with anything), is that I was initially sick (cough! cough!), and we had an ah...little snafu in Seattle at our first hotel. I will not name it here because I've already exacted my revenge with a scathing, but honest Travelocity review (Joey did the same on Yelp while it happened...love social media!). In a nutshell- we had printed, confirmed reservations for two rooms made back in December. However, after presenting them, we were told that they were already full, and to basically scram. Without apology. When we politely insisted that they could do more (by honoring our reservation/rate and booking us with their nearby sister property), we were told to beat it (again), or the cops would be called since I was being "hostile and pushy and rude." Though I was definitely insistent, I never raised my voice, name called or resorted to any type of so-called hostile behavior (my father was standing next to me the entire time). After a few minutes of the manager's howling to leave or the cops would be called, we figured we were wasting our time with a complete cuckoo bird and left. Thankfully, we found other better accommodation for those three nights quite easily and quickly. It did cost more, however, and I briefly debated writing a letter to management in an attempt to recoup the difference, but wisely decided to move on with my life. I will say though, that in all my years of travel (nearly 20 years), I've never had a confirmed reservation lost. So this hotel is a real class act.
I have a few more photos of the trip I'd love to post that didn't quite make the cut the first go 'round, so this isn't the end of the trip photos just yet. :-) I would rate this vacation as one of the best ever- the flights were short and on fantastic carriers (oh, it makes a difference!), the weather was spectacular, we didn't encounter a SINGLE tout (heck, we barely saw anyone outside of Reykjavik), we discovered skyr yogurt (puts Greek yogurt to shame...why is this not their greatest export?), enjoyed some swank accommodations (by OUR standards), we accomplished everything we wanted to see/do (and more!), and even though it was more expensive than Tokyo in many ways- we made it reasonably affordable. Children's t-shirts were about $33 everywhere, a child's wool hat was about $42, a third of a tank fill up ran us $91 US with a $6.50 foreign transaction fee... Thankfully, I'm not a souvenir girl (the same cannot be said for my other half), and Ryan never asks for stuff, so the high prices didn't bother me much. I get it. It's an island, everything is shipped from Europe, which is already pretty pricey. We know how that feels. :-)
Iceland was a unique combination of Hawaii (volcanoes), Alaska (glaciers), California (think Yellowstone ambiance) and of course- Iceland. ;-) The Blue Lagoon, Jokulsarlson (glacial lagoon) and the turf houses all made my top three list of things to do there. I loved the country (and company!) more than I ever thought I would, and would love to go back...except that there is always so much more I want to see/do before I begin repeating destinations.
In fact, we already decided on the destination of our next international trip (eve before we got to Iceland). In November of 2012, if all goes well, we hope to be rockin' the kasbah (or riyadh) in Morocco. Joey's definitely in (he's always in, he loves not having to plan, and we love having a manny!), but my parents are waffling (they will be convinced, trust me). ;-)
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