Land of Ice and Fire (part I)

First stop- Iceland!

My cousin Matt and his fiancee (now wife!) Kara decided to have their wedding in Iceland, so I set off from Hawaii with everything I own and got on my first flight of eight in two weeks.  I met up with my parents in NC, my aunt at JFK, and my cousin Katie and the rest of the family in Reykjavik.  We went straight from the airport to a 10 hour bus tour, the 'Golden Circle' where we saw waterfalls

The Ilardos in Iceland

the geyser for which all other geysers are named

Did you know it's pronounced gay-ser?

and ate a lot of lamb.  Apparently vegetables aren't too big in Iceland.  The sights were incredible, but by the end of the tour jetlag caught up with me hard...

It's hard to be grumpy with a view like that

Day two was more relaxed, with a trip to the Blue Lagoon (a naturally heated geothermal spa!) 

and then a few hours by bus to the wedding location, Hotel Budir, in a remote part of western Iceland. We made one stop on the way, and I ran a little ways to a bridge down the road to get a few pictures of this...

Iceland is the kind of place where every picture you take looks like a painting.  Hotel Budir was every bit as stunning.

They certainly picked a scenic spot!

The locals were friendly

As everyone settled into the hotel, the wedding coordinator/bus driver/lead vocalist took my cousin Matt, his father-in-law to be, and me out for a drive.  We were looking for a cave famous for its echos, but when that proved difficult to find (and as it got closer to time for the rehearsal dinner) we stopped at a scenic fishing village to see what our guide called 'the true foundation of Iceland'.

Villages like these dot the coastline and were once the lifeblood of the nation (if you're ever bored, read up on the history of Iceland! Depressing, but truly interesting).  After a delicious dinner (more lamb...) we headed out for a beach bonfire.  This time of year in Iceland the sun never sets, which is a really bizarre experience (especially on no sleep and a 10 hour time difference!)

They call it the land of the midnight sun for a reason!

It was a beautiful night for a bonfire.  We combed the beach for interesting rocks (which in the spirit of Ilardo competitiveness turned into a game, which Katie and I tied), roasted some marshmallows, and called it a night.

That's all for now, in part 2 I'll get to glaciers and the actual wedding!

My Year Off

Aloha!  As some of you already know, I've just started a year off between my Masters and PhD.  It will be the first time I've had more than a month away from an academic setting in over 6 years! I'm hoping to use this year to the fullest and step far beyond my comfort zone.  I've had a few requests to document my adventures, so here it is, my travel blog :) Hope you like it!