Þetta reddast - Iceland Day 1

We're in Iceland! Sleeping through the night on the flight worked better as a theory than a practice, but there was one point when I woke up during the flight to look below me and see Greenland... Wowzas!

We landed at 6:30AM (Reykjavik time) feeling energized by the incredible, rocky, green landscape all around us. Everything looked just like the Bjork video - but in real life!

Based on a tip from a friend who had been to Reykjavik not to long ago, we headed to a cafe called C is for Cookie. We walked in and they were playing Bjork's album Biophilia. So, basically my first experience in Iceland was sitting down to a delicious and much needed cup of coffee while listening to Bjork. It was like the city was welcoming me personally. There are no words to describe this level of contentment.

After breakfast, we headed to the one piece of architecture that dominates Reykjavik - Hallgrimskirkja Church Tower. There are no sky scrapers in Reykjavik, so this church up on a hill is a very clear landmark. It turns out that it is the home of an organ boasting 5,225 pipes and some incredible architecture. Oh yeah, that's Leif Eriksson out front looking pretty heroic.

On our free walking tour of Reykjavik, we learned that the architecture of the church (and the Reykjavik theatre, right) is inspired by the basalt columns - rock that comes out of the earth along the shoreline in square/octagonal columns.

Most enjoyably, on our walking tour we learned the Icelandic phrase Þetta reddast (th-eh-tah red-ahst) which essentially translates to "eh, it'll fix itself," the Icelandic viewpoint on anything that goes wrong. Thus, we are starting out of trip with a Þetta reddast mindset, and it feels very freeing.

For lunch, we had some Icelandic hot dogs (with "everything") and took a nap for way too long! We've been wandering around Reykjavik ever since, but now it's time to try and fall asleep under a bright blue sky.

#Iceland