Strasbourg, France

The distance Terre Haute, Indiana is from Oblong, Illinois is the same distance that Strasbourg, France is from Eschelbronn, Germany (which is where my sweet friend Jana and her family lives). Eschelbronn is very close to the beautiful city of Heidelberg - more on that in a later post. 

The main difference between the two distances is that as soon as one crosses the border Germany to France, all the language changes. And even though these two countries are so close, people do not speak both languages. So interesting!

Jana, her mom, her dad, and I went to Strasbourg for the day and it was so perfect! Our first stop was no other than Galeries Layfayette, considerably the best department store I have ever been to.  So fun, so fancy, so French! Jana bought two coats, and I bought one coat (after falling in love with it, deciding not to, and then going back to get it right before we left! So glad of my decision).

The next stop was Au Brasseur, where we went to eat the famous flammkuchen that comes from the Alsace region of France.  Flammkuchen is a very thin piece of dough that is baked and topped with creme fraiche.  The original way to eat it is then topped with bacon and onions, but I ordered mine with tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and corn.  (And yes, I ate the whole thing). For dessert we ordered two: one with apples and cinnamon and the other with bananas, chocolate sauce, and vanilla ice cream (YUM)!

After that we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral of Strasbourg, in which we climbed 332 steps to the top to see a magnificent view of the city. 

Considerably the best part about the day was walking around the cute streets of France with Jana and her parents and seeing all the little bakeries and stores.  So many fun memories and lots of laughter shared!

Xo,

The Northern Lights

I had read so many things about the northern lights before I came to Iceland. Most blogs I read warned not to get one’s hopes up of seeing the northern lights due to the fact that so many factors have to be just right and the conditions have to be just perfect for the lights to make an appearance.

But leave it to me to really get my hopes up (and pray so hard that I could see them!)...

I checked the aurora forecast daily, and on my last night some friends I had met on the south coast tour decided to book a northern lights tour and hope for the best. The skies were supposed to be free of clouds, but on the forecas, the visibility and activity of the lights was a 1 on a scale of 0-9, meaning if we did see them that they wouldn’t be very colorful or noticeable to the naked eye.

We drove 40 minutes out of the city of Reykjavík, and even on the drive the tour guide started to point out a few very faint rays in the sky. I honestly couldn’t tell if I was looking at the northern lights or a glare on the tour bus window...But I was getting so excited nonetheless.

When we got to the site, we hopped off the bus and were greeted with two pale green coronos (crowns)  across the entire sky, similar to the shape of rainbows but much wider.. It was so neat and exciting! Of course everyone was setting up tripods and cameras and taking long exposure pictures (myself included)!

THEN once we were contently admiring them, the most supernatural and ethereal experience I have ever had in my ENTIRE life took place: The northern lights became MUCH more colorful and vibrant. They began to move across the entire sky, dancing up and down and side to side. The pale green was now vivid green and it had lines of PINK in it! It even escalated more and the lights started swirling right above us. We were jumping up and down and squealing with pure joy and excitement! If one didn’t know what was happening, it would have been really freaky.. Actually it was a teeny bit scary still, but in a wondersome way!

Wow, what a PERFECT way to end such an awesome day and such an great stopover in Iceland.

P.S. I was so confused about how the northern lights occur but I learned essentially that when charged particles from the sun collide with atoms in the earth’s atmosphere, the electrons in the atoms travel from a low state to a higher state. To go back down to the low state, they release photons in the form of light, causing the most magnificent auora borealis! (google.com)

Once again, so in awe of God.

Love,

Iceland's South Coast

Before coming to Iceland I booked a two day tour of the south coast, with stops at waterfalls and glaciers, and lagoons, and the hopes of exploring a glacier and going in an ice cave on day two.  However, the weather in Iceland is more unpredictable than the weather in Illinois, and an incoming storm cut our second day short.  But, the tour was amazing.  We went to so many beautiful places, and I met some wonderful people I can now call my friends (shout out to y'all!). Even the drive to and around the south of Iceland was beautiful with views of snowy mountains, rocky hills, and moss covered lava rocks all around.  Breathtaking.

Anyways, oh my goodness I didn't even know that places this beautiful existed, and pictures don't even do them justice!  The first place we stopped was to admire is a view of Eyjafjallajokull Mountains.  I have no idea how to pronounce that (or any other Icelandic words of places I've went), but it was stunning especially with the sun shining.

From there we stopped at one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland, Skogafoss. It was magnificent. Thankful again for the sun because there was even a rainbow!

Then we stopped at Reynisdrangar, a black sand beach that had MASSIVE and fierce waves that were at least 20 feet high!  (I still prefer the white sand beaches of the Caribbean (and warm weather))...

Next we went Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach.  Since Iceland only has roughly 6 1/2 hours of daylight currently, it was unfortunately quite dark at these places.  I adored the ice crystals on Diamond Beach, though! 

On the second day, the group met up for breakfast still disappointed that we wouldn't be able to explore the ice cave (one reason being that wind gusts were expected to reach up to 100 mph!!).  We loaded up our mini bus and started back towards Reykjavik.  We did make some stops at some amazing places, and even drove up to a lookout spot (which probably wasn't too wise since it was so windy, but it was pretty)! (Follow me on Snapchat if you want to see videos of the wind haha)!

Then the BEST part of the day was walking/hiking with three other people on the tour to the beautiful Solheimajokull glacier (against the warning of our tour guide, since the path was almost completely covered in ice and the wind was sooo strong...)! But how could we not...

I took my coat off for this one because I am so tired of wearing black in every picture I take...

The 4 who made the trek:

 IT WAS AMAZING! I never knew I wanted to see a glacier until I saw this one today.  I definitely would love to hike on the glacier, but that will have to wait until another trip! 

The last stop we made was at Selljalandsfoss waterfall - which was very picturesque! Typically visitors are able to walk behind it, but the path was closed due to so much ice.  

But wow God is good, and His creations are so awesome!  

Off to hunt for some northern lights! Xo,

Reykjavik, Iceland

Upon arriving in Reykjavik, I was immediately enthralled with the cute, colorful, and intricate Scandinavian style houses and restaurants.  In my opinion, all the restaurants houses resemble beautifully decorated gingerbread houses or doll houses!  

My favorite street so far is Laugavegur,  which is lined with cute restaurants adorable little shops.  Some are touristy shops, others are just boutiques with neat (and expensive) clothing. One of the first destinations on my list in the city was Hallgrimskirkja, the largest church in Iceland.

My favorite part was going to the top of the church tower to look out over the city.  So pretty with the pops of color and houses with roofs laden with snow! 

So many pretty places.  Although it's a big city, all the shops and cafes are so quaint and cozy.  It kind of reminds me of a setting of a Hallmark movie, because of the places, colors, lights, and happy people walking around shopping.

In Reykjavik, I also wanted to see the Solfar Sun Voyager sculpture, which in my opinion was nothing spectacular, but behind the sculpture lies Mount Esja - the volcanic mountain range.  I was so excited because I've never really seen mountains before!

 And I of course wanted to see what is considered one of the city's most distinguished landmarks - the Harpa concert hall.  (When I was walking to and from here, the wind was so fierce that I literally almost fell over multiple times!) 

Iceland is quite expensive, so I have been eating mostly Clif bars throughout my stay, but I did stop to warm up and eat lunch at a cozy little restaurant called Meze, and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu (besides soup), which was a grilled vegetable tray - and IT WAS DELICIOUS. 10/10 would go back and order the same thing. 

And I don't even like hotdogs, but Iceland is famous for their hotdogs from Baejarins Beztu Pylsur which are made mostly from Icelandic lamb, pork, and beef (which are 100% organic).  The Icelandic way is to get them "with everything," which means it is topped with raw white onions, crispy fried onions, ketchup, sweet brown mustard and remoulade (a sauce made from mayo, capers, mustard, and herbs). It was actually pretty good (and cheap!) 

Reykjavik has been neat, and I feel like I have had more than sufficient time to see and do all that I wanted to in the city.  Next up: a 2 day tour of Iceland's south coast! 

Love,