Day 2 in Iceland

Day 2 is in the books and it started off a little slow. We are still adjusting to time!! I forced myself to stay awake most of the first day so I slept through the night- but Brett went to bed at midnight and was wide awake from 3am-6am. It is definitely hard if you've never done it before!! I made coffee "this morning" around noon... and then I passed out at 1pm. Coffee is pointless for me clearly. Haha!

Once dad returned from work we headed out to Perlan (The Pearl), which are the water towers in Reykjavik. Rather than having big ugly water towers in the middle of town they decided to doll them up and make them an attraction. It now has a little water fountain/souvenir shop inside, and a cafe, along with rotating retaurant at the top.

We walked along the deck outside above the towers, although it was windy and freezing cold!!! Brett and I agreed- next years summer vacation will be a TROPICAL spot! The deck is nice because it wraps all the way around so you have 360 degree views of the city and all the colorful roofs!

Brett found some art outside. We decided that it was a 4 man band without instruments (the guy in the back right has drum sticks in his hand). Can anyone spot Brett in this picture? ;)

After the water towers we went to my Uncle Helgi and Aunt Debbies house for dinner. When I came to Iceland 5 years ago, I stayed with Debbie and Helgi for about 10 days. :)

Helgi cooked up some DELICIOUS monk fish. The texture is very similar to lobster. So good!! If you've never seen a monkfish before, Google it. Ugliest thing I've ever seen. Good thing it tastes good!!

I also got to see my cousin Andrew who was 5 last time I was here- now 10 years old!! How fast things change!! He was fluent in English/Icelandic last time I was here and I was laughing about how he used to look at his mom and say "what do I speak to her??". Haha!! We also had some good dinner conversations tonight about the different systems used here compared to the US. I am used to miles, gallons, pounds and Fahrenheit. Almost everywhere else in the world is kilometers, liters, kilograms and Celsius. I made Brett drive to the store earlier today- at least he is more familiar with kilometers per hour than I am!! :) He was just excited to be able to say he has driven in Iceland now. ;) I purchased my favorite pastry- kleinur!! Yum- it is kind of like a sweet bread I guess. Will definitely be buying a few more bags before I leave.

Talking Brett into trying shark was unsuccessful. It is probably the nastiest thing around. I tried it 5 years ago and my aunt told us we'd have to eat outside because the smell is so strong. They bury it in the ground for 3 months and then hang it to dry for another month or so. The only way to describe it is rotten. When I ate it, I had to plug my nose and choke it down with a full glass of wine. Debbies nephew at the time didnt fare so well, and spit his out in the toilet. Helgi said it was a good "real mans" test... good thing I passed. Hahaha. World renouned chef Anthony Bourdain has described it as the single most disgusting thing he's ever tried in his life, and in a challenge, famous chef Gordon Ramsay spit his out. Hahaha. I've still got about 11 more days to convince Brett to try it. Lol!!

Tomorrow will hopefully be a trip to some waterfalls if the weather holds out. Goodnight for now!!