Copenhagen

Next stop- Copenhagen, or København in Danish (pronounced Kuben-hown... where did we get Copenhagen?)

I loved this city.  With its bright colors, delicious food, and brisk pace (while also somehow remaining laid back) Copenhagen quickly became one of my favorite places.

Nyhavn in Copenhagen

We left our apartment in Reykjavik at 3 in the morning... it was painful (and confusing, the sun was so high already it felt like mid morning).  My mom, the eternal optimist, wanted to be sure that we were able to squeeze every last minute out of our first day in Denmark.  And that we did!  We crossed pretty much every item off our 'A' list of things to do in Copenhagen in that first half day.  Our efficiency was largely thanks to our fabulous tour guides Paul and Judith, family friends who moved to Denmark from North Carolina a few years back.  They walked us all over the city and gave us a taste of life in Denmark.

A tour guide with flair

Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with socialist leaning social and economic policies.  It doesn't take long to see that the people who live there are healthy and happy. What's incredible to me (and what I loved) is that the reason this system is able to work so well is the attitude of the people themselves.  It's an attitude of personal accountability... instead of trying to beat the system  everyone is just trying to play their part.  The same was true in Iceland.  A few examples... In Iceland, there are pools of boiling hot water with little to nothing to keep back curious tourists.  That's because if you stick your hand in the boiling water and burn yourself, the reaction is, well, I probably shouldn't have done that instead of reaching for your phone to call your lawyer and find out who you can sue.  In Denmark, bikes flood the street at rush hour.  If a bike mistakenly goes against the right of way and gets hit by a car, they will limp away dragging their broken bike and apologizing to the driver!  They feel accountable for their actions.  I could go on, but that's enough of that...

Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses

We saw palaces and castles, had coffee in the sun and took a boat ride through the canals.

We even saw cute little baby ducklings! 

...and not so cute papa ducks

My parents celebrated their anniversary while we were there, 31 years and they're still best friends!

d'awwwww

It was so much fun after two years of living far away to get to spend time not only with my parents but with my cousin Katie and my Aunt Sophie.  I'm not sure how they put up with our shenanigans for that long, but I hope that they enjoyed the trip as much as I did.  

The whole Ilardo gang

After three and a half ridiculously full days, it was time to leave.  We walked so much while we were there I ended up with holes in my shoes! It was a fantastic trip and I would love to go back.  Although, it is nice to be back home, if only to finally see the sun set again.

Land of Ice and Fire (part II)

Day 2 at Budir, the day of the wedding!

View of the glacier from Hotel Budir

We started off the day by going to the top of the nearby glacier, Snaefellsjokull (Icelandic is not at the top of my list of languages to learn... although it's fascinating! It's the only language in the world to use certain letters because it has been more or less preserved since the middle ages).  We were promised snow-suits for the snow cat so we all dressed lightly, only to be given instead what was basically airplane blankets.  It was cold!

Katie, me, and the groom

Are we doing it right?

It's not a green screen, I swear

Our faces and feet frozen from the wind and snow, we rode the snow cat back down to meet our bus, which seemed to be running on Icelandic time (it is an island, after all).

Two beach girls and a Viking

Then, it was back to the hotel to prepare for the wedding! The ceremony was held outside where the temperature was brisk but the scenery was beautiful. Navigating the volcanic landscape in heels was a little tricky, and the bride's brother-in-law almost disappeared into a sink hole, but we made it.

Matt reading his vows to Kara

The Icelandic minister had a sense of humor, and when the ring bearer (unwillingly) brought his pillow up for the exchanging of the rings the minister put it on his head.

The traditional Icelandic wedding cap

The ceremony ended with everyone joining hands in a circle around the bride and groom and singing "and everyone had lots of fun, lots of fun..." to the tune of London bridge is falling down.  It was certainly a memorable occasion!  Dinner was 6 courses of fish, all fresh caught that morning.  And there were vegetables!  I've never been so excited to see vegetables in my life.  The last course and wedding 'cake' (another unique aspect of the wedding, I wish I had a picture!) didn't wrap up until after 1am.  Looking outside the eternal sun made the early morning indistinguishable from any other time of the day.  The next morning we said farewell to the bride and groom and headed back to Reykjavik, where our  next adventure (Copenhagen!) awaited us.

Overall, Iceland was a mind-blowingly beautiful place.  It reminded me a lot of the Hawaiian landscape, but tremendously more vast.  The water was unbelievable (glacial run off? yum) and the bread was some of the best I've ever had.  My only complaints were that it was cold (I'm a Hawaii girl now), every meal was meat or fish and potatoes (can I get a pepper??), and the hot water at our apartment smelled like farts.  The people in Iceland were polite but not especially warm.  Given their history (centuries of economic depression, including the recent banking crash of 2008) and the often bleak weather, even in the summer, I can't say I blame them.  Complaints aside, it was an unforgettable trip and I'm glad I had an occasion to go there!