It was the weekend of H’s 28th birthday, which also sort of marks the 2nd year we’ve been together (we don’t have an date when we first started dating, but it was some time around his birthday). This called for some sort of celebration, and I planned a mini vacation for the 2 of us for Sunday/Monday. We left Vancouver on Sunday afternoon, battled traffic through the Upper Levels, somebody had also had an accident while cliff diving off the Chief, and finally made it to Whistler:

We slept at 10PM on Sunday, I was exhausted from running 5km in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge and H was tired from training at work (and the beer he had in the afternoon).

Monday - after a very satisfying meal at Riverside Cafe of eggs, meat, beans, and waffles:

We were stuffed. Perfect waffles – fluffy and crispy on the edges. Super greasy meats that would’ve been fantastic for a hangover. Friendly servers and a beautiful view of the campsite surrounding the cafe:

We then wandered up the path to Whistler’s Scandinave Spa to spend a relaxing day soaking in the hot tubs and Eucalyptus steam rooms:

I’ve heard a lot of my coworkers talk about the wonders of this place, where no cell phones are allowed and nobody makes a sound. Complete and utter silence to help calm the mind.

We also used their RMT services, with 2x $50 gift cards from Costco that we paid only $75 for. Deal.

It started getting cloudy right before we left, so we hurried out of there... H was kicking those yellow pylons that are cemented to the bridge and it bounced back and whacked him in the belly:

Do we spend too much time together? Probably, but even though I'm an introvert, I wouldn't mind too much at a place like Whistler with H.

We woke up early on Day 4 to do some driving along the Golden Circle where all the tourists go. Cave tours on Day 5, then more driving to chase them waterfalls. Glacier tours on Day 6 (more on this later). Finally, horse riding on Day 7, and a quick dip in the Blue Lagoon before heading home to pack…

View from Skogafoss, which I want come back to for camping and hiking the full trail that goes behind it (Fimmvorouhais or Five-milestone-ridge):

Skogafoss (so grey from this view, but it’s actually very green and full of life all around it):

Seljalandsfoss:

Fish soup at one of the tourist traps to warm up after a windy adventure around Gulfoss and Geysir:

Picked this up at a grocery store to try at the Blue Lagoon:

Excellent yogurt! This apparently can now be found at City Market and other stores around Vancouver. Chock full of protein and flavour:

I actually was looking forward to going home. Finished reading this joyful book about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, while sipping on California red wine (H also bought a Spanish one that I just did not like) and eating Japanese ramen soup:

I almost lost my passport – after locking up the AirBNB house behind us, and before piling into the car, I checked for my passport one last time and realized the passport was GONE. Panic ensued at least for me for a good 30 minutes as we tried to break into the house (fish hook style twig, Go Pro stick with gum on the end, plastic bag tied to the end of a stick…). Finally, the owner came and opened the door for us. The darn passport was under the bed. How did it get there? H will know best, and I won’t talk about it anymore. Good thing I love him…

This city is just fabulous, even when its cloudy and gloomy. The houses are a cheerful colour, and make the grey sky just a little more bearable.

Some shots of our Icelandic dinner after hiking at Sæta Svínið. Local food including:
Puffin meat… Whale meat…

Horse Carpaccio… Salmon… Char…

Lamb…

and the winner, cream cheese Skyr!

The next day, after picking up B, we toured the city some more (Scout house, penis museum, shops), and ate some more at Cafe Loki:

See above for fermented shark meat (gross) next to coffee and Icelandic flag, and rye bread ice cream (not bad).

We wandered a bit more around the streets, went up Hallgrímskirkja

This was a day for all of us to recover. We went to a bath in the city and just relaxed in some of the 38°C - 47°C pools. (T also got lost as we were lounging around outside of the pool, but we found him.)
The next day was lava tours…

After hot dogs, we went to find Glymur, the second tallest waterfall in Iceland (it used to be the tallest until a taller one formed on Morsárjökull). We got lost along the way, which stressed me out, but in the end, we made found the sign that we were supposed to turn at:

…we found the sign behind the gate at the head of the trail…

 

…we found the other little signs pointing towards Glymur…

…going down the steps…

…sitting on a precipice (can you spot T?)…

…going into the dark and heading back into the light…

…crossed the log bridge that actually is not available in the winter to discourage the faint of heart…

…up the rock steps…

…found it!

And here’s the view with your back facing the waterwall. I find this a bit more fascinating:

Then, be greeted by animals all the way home:

We tried this licorice chocolate that I got for half price because it was expired at the tourist trap that we visited:


Pretty fucking gross. End of Day 2.

We started off the day pretty late, recovering from our plane ride and whatever jet lag we were experiencing. To help us feel a bit better, we decided to explore Old Reykjavik, grab a quick bite, and go hiking. What else could be quicker than hot dogs?

These are the famous Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (literally translates to The Best Hot Dog in Town):

They were OK. Fried onion, mayo, ketchup, mustard toppings. All the boys seemed to like them, but TPL and I both weren’t really feeling it.

After lunch, it was time to start the real adventure.

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Side bar to real time:

Baked some cookies tonight because I got bored and hungry. Tried out Tara O’Brady’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, which according to Buzzfeed Food is one of the best out there. Crispy outside, soft inside. I should remake these – the butter got heated up too much:

Continuing Day 1 from the previous post...

We wandered over to Reykjavik Roasters next to get some coffee and wake ourselves up:

H picked up one of the bags of coffee, and they were kind enough to grind up half the bag of beans for us so that we could have it every day at the house. TPL got a hot chocolate to warm up:

Where else would this look be acceptable?

Check out their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reykjavik_roasters/

They have great coffee, and it was another amazing little shop to hang out in. If I had more time, I would’ve loved to just sit here, people watch, and read the novels I’ve been trying to catch up on (Northanger Abbey is on my list right now).

Moving on…