Iceland - Reykjavik

We arrived in Reykjavik Iceland at 5a this morning. Got up early, had a nice breakfast in the dining room, then sat around waiting for our luggage color to be called. Guess I was pretty tired!

After checking into our hotel we headed over to Messinn. This is our third time eating there. We love it so much.

After lunch we walked around downtown enjoying the sun, the beautiful weather, and the sights.

We saw this Icelandic Street Food sign and had to get a picture for Mitzi's dad. Lambs - Icelandic Street Food - Yes!

Mitzi found her favorite black licorice chocolate bars.

When we visited Iceland with Lizzie there was a funny joke going on with the Lava Bars and Lion Bars. We had the Lion Bar then couldn't find it. Then we saw the Lava Bar and thought it was the Lion Bar and we tried to pass it off to Lizzie as the same thing.

She didn't buy it! But it became a standing joke and it was so fun today to find both in the same store and sent the pictures to Lizzie :)

In the evening around 9p we walked around the water front. The sun was lighting up things so beautifully and we were able to get some wonderful pictures.

Back at the hotel we relaxed in the lobby. I felt right at home in the Eames Chair they have there. And an amazing book shelf rises up to the ceiling. Very impressive.

On our second day in Reykjavik, we walked a couple miles to the Fly Over Iceland. On the way we saw this fishing boat being dry-docked and cleaned. It seemed so short for such a large ship, like it was cut in half. My guess is that it holds a lot of water for the fish they catch to keep them alive and fresh.

We saw another lamb street food restaurant. Another proud moment for Mitzi's dad, Don.

The Fly Over Iceland was a wonderful experience. They reminded us at least 5 times to not take photos. Usually I'm the contrary one but right before the flight Mitzi pulled out her camera, surprising me, and snapped a photo. Living on the edge, she is! We had a good laugh.

This troll was part of the presentation, pretty cool.

In the afternoon we biked over to a camera store that sells Leicas. I've been wanting to buy the new Leica Q3 so I popped in and asked if they had it. Nope, won't be in for a year or more. Then I asked if they have the Leica M11. I've had my eye on this for a while.

I was concerned I might not like it because manual focus and very expensive. I checked it out and was tempted to buy it. Mitzi encouraged me to do it and gave me some very good reasons why. I could see her logic and decided to buy it. Very exciting!

It cost 2,007,880 króna. The current exchange rate is $1 for 132 ISK, you'll have to figure out how much it cost haha. The good thing is that we will get a refund of the sales tax which is a few thousand dollars so that'll be nice.

As we rode our hotel bikes back the hotel we saw the 1800s looking house out by the sea.

Mitzi had a vision for getting a picture with the new camera. It was a good one!

Back at the hotel I unpacked the camera (very exciting moment) and started the battery charging.

Then we walked over to Krua Thai and had one of the best thai meals we've ever had. Every bite delicious.

We found some ice cream and they had bubble gum, one of Mitzi's favorites.

The picture of Mitzi resting is the very first picture taken with the new M11! Almost all the rest of the pictures are M11 pictures as we went out at 9p for a walk to get pictures in the softening light.

A Hurtigruten ship sails out. Someday we might take one of these to the north or south pole.

Mitzi was very patient as we waited for people to clear the viking boat art work. As you can see in the picture she took of me taking a picture of the ship, there were people around. However there was a moment when it was clear and I snapped it right up!

We walked around more and Mitzi found a waffle truck – with black licorice waffles!

And to finish off our walk here are two pictures, one from outside the hotel and one from a wall in the upstairs lobby. I'm loving this camera!

All told we walked 7 miles today (14,390 steps)! I have never walked that far in a single day in my adult life. This was a very proud moment for Mitzi – I might be a little traumatized haha. She walked 12 miles in Boston with her family in 2016. 7 miles may be baby steps for her but for me, well, it's a big deal!

All joking aside I'm so grateful my body is healthy enough to do it. I feel strong, my heart is working well, I'm very grateful.

And I should mention, we also rode our bikes for 3 miles today. Patting ourselves on the back now...