Reykjavic, Iceland, March 2013

Rumor had it that the winter of 2013 would present the best sightings of the aurelius borealis so we we just couldn't resist the chance to see this phenomenon. Off to Iceland we went!

Mylo got to use his brand new buzzy bee "trunkie" which proved to be a great source of entertainment (as well as a very handy suitcase!)

Despite having a nasty stomach bug that lasted the whole trip with daily vomiting, Mylo soldiered on and was an absolute joy on the whole trip, we were so proud.

He also got his first taste of a smoothie - his cravings have not stopped since! 

Reykjavic is a gorgeous city with a port that is utterly captivating. These shots were taken early in the morning when everything was quiet, it was so peaceful and calm and VERY cold

There was also a lot of beauty to be found in the back allies with this fantastic graffiti adorning a skate park. J may not have had his skate board but he pulled some pretty gnarly moves with the buggy! 

Ok so this one actually looks pretty scary! Hopefully the image wasn't as clear for Mylo close up! 

  

You can take the man out of the park  .... 

This was a very differnt looking church to what we are used to. I think Wikipedia will describe it better than me: Hallgrímskirkja (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈhatlkrimsˌcʰɪrca], church of Hallgrímur) is a Lutheran (Church of Iceland) parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres (244 ft), it is the largest church in Iceland and the sixth tallest architectural structure in Iceland after Longwave radio mast Hellissandur, the radio masts of US Navy at Grindavík,Eiðar longwave transmitter and Smáratorg tower.^[1] The church is named after the Icelandic poet and clergymanHallgrímur Pétursson (1614 to 1674), author of the Passion Hymns.^[2]

We took a night trip to see the Northern lights and we were successful! The sighting was pretty faint but the were there :-)

Pretty darn chuffed!

Mylo was our lucky charm (even though he slept through the whole thing)

We had to wrap up really warm for a day trip to see some regional sites. Mylo's snow suit was an absolute savior. His cheeks were the only things to be get a little bit chilly 

 Problem solved! 

This big crevice above is the Atlantic Rift, the geological dividing line between the continents of Europe and America. While we were there divers were in the water just beyond here. There is one gully called the Silver lady or "Silfra" which apparently is one of the best dive sites in the world with water as clear as gin. I think you'd need to be breathing Gin to cope with the chill of diving here. Brrrrrr. 

There were some incredible stories about battles that had been fought in this area, such amazing history.

 Thankfully no battles from us :-)

Just lots of warm snuggles. 

Our tour included a visit to a fabulous geyser field

Simmering....

bubbling ....

 Whoosh! 

Just chilling :-) 

One of the highlights was a trip to the blue lagoon!

Mylo was a bit unsure to start with

But absolutely LOVED it once we were in!  

 We took the opportunity to cover ourselves in blue lagoon mud which supposedly had incredible properties.

But mostly we thought it was yuck! 

 Beer and an iceream? Why not?! 

A secret underwater door! 

 It was a wonderful day but we were exhausted by the end of it 

And were lucky to have a nice warm shower in our hotel afterwards.