We’re in Chicago tonight, and wanted to try the infamous liqueur, Malört. This is how it went.

[WOW Air Flight Attendant discussion]

Me: I’ll have the pizza.
Her: The baguette is fine.
Me: What does that mean?
Her: We’re out of pizza.
Me: I’ll take the turkey sandwich.
Her: The baguette is fine.
Me: So you’re out of both?
Her: Yes, the baguette is fine.
Me: Okay, the baguette is fine.

#thebaguetteisfine

A hashtag was born. The baguette was indeed fine.

Originally, this trip was built around attending All Tomorrow’s Parties Iceland 2016. To our dismay the festival went belly-up; cancelled at the last second. When life gives lemons, the best response is to throw a lemon party. So we rented a car, driving all over Iceland via Route One. If you’d like to see what this is like, check out Sigur Rós’ 24 hr road trip around the island, slow tv style, here.

We flew out of Boston on WOW Air, and it was an acceptable experience for a deep discount airline. The thing with low fare carriers, is the additional costs involved with every facet of the flight. From baggage, food, drink, and retails goods. A couple of years ago, Ryan Air even went as far as selling a “Girls of RyanAir” calendar. All in all though, it’s hard to argue with short, cheap flights.

Soon enough, we arrived in the sleepy little town of Keflavík. There’s not a lot going on in old KEF, besides a nice coffee shop and a couple of bars. For Sigur Rós fans who pay attention to song titles, there’s the 50’s style diner, Olsen Olsen. We hit the road the next morning.

 

After a long day of the most beautiful scenery on earth, we began our return to Keflavik. First stop was Hotel Anna. As it happened, they were just closing. They took mercy on us, however, and offered us some traditional Icelandic meat soup. This place was about as cozy as it gets, and had we a need for lodging, would have been an awesome option.

Seljalandsfoss is just off route 1 in the southern region. Never pass up a chance to walk behind a waterfall. This famous waterfall was recently featured on an Apple Macbook ad. So, there’s that.

 

The world’s most famous waterfall. It doesn’t get much more picturesque than a single rainbow and a double waterfall. #goldenfalls

 

Kim’s not from Iceland, but she looks it, and she fooled most of the natives. Until they assumed she could converse in Icelandic.

 

Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík. A lutheran church that took 40 years to build. The Deftones posted a photo on instagram a few days prior, so we recreated it and posted ours as well. #tonedef

 

#PUSSIESBEWARE! Reykjavík

 

Tried a couple of new things this time around; this is smoked Puffin. Very tangy.

 

I seemed to be the only one out of our group who was interested in trying the Horse Carpaccio. It was outstanding, and made me realize that beef has a definite aftertaste, which was notably missing from these equestrian morsels. #sentientsnacks?

 

This photo took place at the same time that France’s football team beat Iceland’s. Things were about to get dicey. Out of the many Icelandic brews we encountered; Einstök White Ale was one of the most enjoyable.

Ashley took this insane photo at Öxarárfoss in Thingvellir National Park. Unreal.

 

MAR | Reykjavík

Geysir “There’s a bigger one up top, but it doesn’t go off regulah”

Exploring fairy dwellings

Friendship flows like lava around here

Black Sand Beaches

Our favorite bar/venue in Reykjavík, Hurra

There are tons of touristy, not overly awesome things to do in Reykjavík(the penis museum is a good example), but there are few gems. Hurra stands out as a place with which I was immediately comfortable. The headlining band that night was Milkhouse, and they were great.

At this point, lots of people know that Iceland is awesome. It’s only going to get more crowded from here on out, so think of it like Cuba; get in while the getting’s still good.

…the utter definition of a cocktail bar, minus the bullshit.

Read More...

…Italian classics, but somehow free of the weightiness associated with old world cuisine.

Read More...