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Our first day in New Orleans, we wandered around the French Quarter, took in the sights and enjoyed the food. The city was a lot different than I had anticipated. I was expecting it to feel quaint and almost fairy-tale like after seeing photos of the French quarter, but that is not how it is in real life. I was surprised by how dirty it was, how many drunk people there were, and the overall aura of the area. With that said however, we did end up finding little areas in the French Quarter we really enjoyed (staying away from Bourbon Street). We really enjoyed wandering down Royal Street and Chartres Street and areas of others. We liked Jackson Square and the little area around there.
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We ended our time in Iceland on a high note, exploring Reykjavik on our last day. We left early afternoon for the airport, but before then, we used our last morning in Iceland to explore more of the town around us (since we’d been out in the country the previous couple days). Reykjavik was definitely different than I had expected and while most of it was very sprawled and industrial, the little “downtown” section had some cute areas with the colorful “Scandinavian” type style buildings I was hoping for.
We walked all around the main section of Reykjavik, then up to the Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral, which stands up on a hill with architecture meant to mimic the Icelandic landscape. It was a pretty spectacular architectural site and we ended up there right as the sun was rising and the sky was all shades of gorgeous colors. From there we headed down the hill on the main road through town to the “Pond” which happened to be frozen over. While it made me incredibly nervous, people were riding their bikes, playing soccer and ice skating on it, so we wandered out on the ice for a while (Nick farther than me). We enjoyed the local scene and then took a little break at a bakery with some hot chocolate and free Wifi and then headed back to our hotel to head to the airport.
Reykjavik was all in all very different than I had envisioned but we still very much enjoyed the main area of town. Overall, our trip to Iceland was very memorable and we hope to go back sometime in the future at a different time of year to see the landscape differently. There were many moments that I will forever remember as some of the best travel experiences of my life so far and this was a trip that touched me very differently than our usual travels, some for good and some for bad, but at the end of the day, I am so thankful and proud to have marked Iceland on my list of travels and its beauty will remain in my mind for a long time.
Our second day in Iceland was definitely the most memorable. We had booked a tour with a British guy that lives in Iceland and is part of the photography circle there (Nick found him via the photography community online) and it was the best thing we did on our whole trip. While expensive, it made up for it threefold, as it was a pretty incredible day. He picked us up from our hotel at 8:30 and we headed out into Iceland in the pitch dark before the sun rose and didn’t drop us back off until 5pm that night.
We saw so many sights that day, many of which I’ve documented below with my own photos (Nick is still editing his and I’ll do a post for them on their own later). The landscape in Iceland is truly extraordinary and its natural beauty and uniqueness are truly incredible. I was blown away so many times that day by how rugged the land is, how you can be driving on totally flat land and next to you a mountain springs up out of nowhere, how it can be snowing, raining and whipping cold all at once, and how in some of the harshest conditions I’ve ever been in, I was still so overtaken by the beauty of the land. For once in my life, the bitter cold didn’t take anything away from my experience in Iceland.
Iceland for me was so different than any trip I’ve ever taken and I reveled in the beauty of the land that was before me. There were so many moments standing up on mountains, or above waterfalls, or on the rocky lava strewn coast covered in olive green moss with no one else for miles, that I was simply just stunned at what was before me. So many times I really needed a moment to gather myself after we left places and I found myself totally overwhelmed by the rugged and stark beauty of Iceland.
It was a place that really is hard to explain, a place that is very hard to detail to other people who haven’t been there. It’s a country and a land with a very long history and a place that touched me in a very different way than anywhere else I’ve been.
Our first day in Iceland was a short one. We arrived at 7am local time, however when we arrived at our hotel around 9am, we were so tired that we went right to sleep for a few hours. When we woke up, we only had a couple hours left of daylight (sunset was around 4pm). So in that short time frame, we wandered around our are of downtown Reykjavik and down near the harbor.
Reykjavik was different than I was expecting, and definitely wasn’t the cute little colorful town I had envisioned. Nevertheless, we explored the area by the harbor, had lobster soup and fish and chips and then returned to the hotel to go to sleep again. That night we woke up around 10pm wide awake (damn jet lag) and proceeded to bundle up again and walk over in the dark to a pizza place near our hotel to get some dinner. It was delicious pizza and kind of a random adventure to finish off our first day in Iceland.
On our last day in New York, we had to leave our hotel around 2pm to head to the airport, so we stayed close to our Midtown hotel on Park Avenue. We started our day with New York bagels at Daniel’s Bagels, toasted bagels with mounds of whipped cream cheese. When we’d had our fill, we walked up to 5th Avenue and did a little bit of final shopping, then wandered around past the New York Public Library once more, then down near the Empire State Building to pick up a few little souvenirs.
We ended our day with a late lunch at Dos Caminos, then headed back to our hotel to grab our stuff and grab a cab to the airport. New York was one of those trips for me that I didn’t know what to expect, I wasn’t sure I’d like the chaos of such a huge and famous city, but I ended up falling in love with it. Of course, some areas were not my cup of tea, but others, I found myself drawn to, like the West Village, Dumbo in Brooklyn, the Flat Iron area (which will all be ending up on my {Favorite Places} list soon)…. these places for me, made a real impact and I’m so glad I got to experience New York the way we did, the way we love exploring a new place, walking around, feeling part of it.
I found myself falling in love with all sorts of things about New York and can’t wait to make another trip back there in the future.
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Our third day in New York, we woke up very sore from walking so much and started our day slowly with a trip to Midtown for Nick to check out B&H Photo (a huge photo superstore) and I had coffee with a friend of mine that lives in New York. Afterwards, we wound down through the city toward downtown. We went through Chelsea, Meat Packing, then on to Tribeca and Soho.
In Soho, we walked around a bit and then had brunch at the trendy Balzathar restaurant. After brunch, we headed West through the NYU campus and up to the West Village. We stopped at Carrie’s brownstone (from Sex and the City) and then wound our way just around the corner to the famous Magnolia Bakery. We grabbed cupcakes and meandered over to a park across the street, enjoying our treats and taking a quick break.
After that, we grabbed a cab down to the Financial district and walked around the Freedom Towers and the Ground Zero site, Battery City Park along the water and then through the downtown area over to the Brooklyn Bridge. Right at sunset, we started our trek over the bridge (which takes way longer than you think it’s going to). When we got across to Brooklyn, we found a spot down on the water and I took in the fabulous Manhattan skyline across the water while Nick took some gorgeous photos.
That evening, we actually met some friends of ours from Oregon who were also visiting at the same time. We had dinner with them at Boqueria, probably our favorite meal of the trip and totally worth trying if you’re in NYC. It’s a Spanish restaurant that was amazing!
Our third day in New York covered a lot of ground and we were lucky with gorgeous weather which made it even better!
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
Copyright Nick Nieto |
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Our second day in New York City, we slept in and started our day with breakfast at Pershing Square restaurant at Grand Central Station. It was just a short 2 blocks from our hotel and was delicious with a very cool interior. After breakfast, we headed toward the Chrysler building, then on up to the Upper East Side and Central Park.
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Our first day in New York City began around 4pm when we arrived at our hotel after traveling. I had booked our hotel so long ago, I had sort of forgotten where exactly it was located and what sort of decor it would be, but when we arrived, I remembered instantly and it was a perfect little boutique hotel for us with a fabulous location on Park Avenue in Midtown. It was out of the hustle and bustle but close to everything!
Our second and final day in Victoria was another lovely one. We got blue skies that day, with beautiful big fluffy clouds out over the water. The weather was wonderful but very cold still, so after sleeping in, we bundled up and went out for another day of exploring.
We began our day at the famous John’s Place just down the block from our hotel (which has been featured on many TV shows and the Food Network) and then headed down to Beacon Hill Park. This is the city’s large in-city park and it was beautiful, full of fall leaves, duck ponds with lilypads and my personal favorite, peacocks! One of the peacocks followed me around for a while. The park was lovely and so nice to just wander around amid the locals on their Sunday morning jogs.
Then we headed to the Royal BC Museum and checked out their exhibits on everything from prehistoric animals that lived in the region to the native tribes and their cultures that had lived there many years ago. After the museum, we grabbed lunch and then headed back to our hotel cafe for a cup of afternoon tea before heading back to the airport and heading home.
Our trip to Victoria was very enjoyable and I’m really glad we went as it’s given us a new perspective on Canada after our previous trips to the country. This time of year truly was lovely in Victoria and I would recommend it to anyone for a quick getaway.