Day 1- Monday Iceland Adventure/ OUR HONEYMOON!!!!

Our honeymoon has officially begun!  We were dropped off at the airport by Mom and Dad Martin and as we were checking our bags we heard two women behind us talking about how we must be going to Iceland like them since we had our coats and boots on us.  We became instant friends and I told them about how we are going on our honeymoon and that it was my second time there and Brian's first.  Brian and I were very early getting through security so we decided to grab a bite to eat at Friday's and fill our belly's for the long day of travel.  Our flight took off at 5pm and we flew to JFK which took about 50 minutes.  We rode on a VERY small plane to JFK and our pilot must have been some kind of military pilot because he could whip that bitch around and do some serious banks that made me so motion sick.  Once on the ground we decided to grab a drink at buffalo wild wings.  It was much deserved though we were short on time as I realized the boarding time was an hour before the flight was to depart.  We payed our bill as the waitresses congratulated us on our marriage and the start of our honeymoon.  We arrived at the gate at the perfect time as they were boarding our section on the plane and we ran into our friends from Pittsburgh, they were seated in the same section as us.  We chatted as we boarded the 757 to Reykjavik.  Brian took the window seat as I sat in the middle waiting to see who I was to sit beside as a young woman with a huge smile sat next to me.  She made a quick joke about how she was so happy I wasn't a smelly old man and I agreed that I was happy to that she was not either.  We got to talking and I asked what she did for a living... she said she was a medical inspector and worked on ships.  Brian started talking about the Navy and how he worked on the Eisenhower and how he is now a vet.  I asked her how she started with working on ships and found out she is actually currently in the Navy and is a (HMC) CHIEF! It was awesome, all three of us got along great.  I say that there are signs in life you have to pay attention to that show you things are meant to be.  The sign that was brought to our attention was that she had a small, plastic Bear with her that she takes on her trips and photographs it with different people or place (It's such a fun idea and we may adopt that idea as well). Brian LOVES bears, I mean our dog's even named Bear.  We had to laugh and even snapped a few photos with it.  I mean, Navy, Bears... it gets better later too.  I'll point it out when I type it up.  You just have to be open and you will see the signs. Trust me! I am afraid of takeoff and the woman was so funny and kind she had me hold the toy bear for comfort as we took off the run way. She also showed me photos of her two dogs- she also had a brindle pit bull mix.... yeah, more signs right!?
    We took off around 9:30pm.  The flight was great and very quick at about an 4 hours and 45 minutes from JFK.  It flew by and we got to watch our planes flight path on the screen in the airplane.  We were so tired from the wedding, I truly thought we would fall asleep right away.  They served dinner first and Brian got some Chicken with kale, cashews and cranberries with a brownie and sea salt.  I chose the lo-mien noodles with a salad and a slice of cheese with cracker and also a brownie.  Our new friend hates brownies so she gave that to Brian since he loves sweets, I gave her my knife since she lost hers and Brian gave me his slice of cheese since he didn't want it.  We worked great as a team. Brian fell asleep eventfully on the plane but I never did get to shut my eyes, I was too hyper and uncomfortable.  We arrived in Reykjavik a bit early, 7 am Iceland time and 3 am Pittsburgh time, and sat on the runway for a short while until the gate was ready for us.  We got off and walked down the stairs outside and then into the terminal.  We then had our passport stamped and were off to baggage claim and customs.
     Customs was fun...
We then went to exchange our currency to Krona/ISK and pick up our rental car.  The exchange was easy but I was at the point of exhaustion as I had no sleep since I woke up on Sunday at our hotel in Butler after our wedding.   It was about 4am at that point for our bodies and I was starting to see double and was getting pretty crabby.  We had been awake for 21 hours... We finally found, after walking around aimlessly on the wrong side of the airport, the information lady to help us find where we picked up our rental.  We had to walk across a rather large parking lot to pick it up and when we got there it was so sunny and beautiful and not too cold.  We went into the rental place and as Brian handed the gentleman his license (here's the other sign) the kind man told him he had an awesome Birthday and that it was the same as his.  They hit it off instantly and we got our small rental car that is a Toyota Yaris.  Brian barley fits in it but we fit everything and were on our way- DRIVING IN ICELAND!!! They do drive on our side of the road too, if you're wondering!

We drove about 45 minutes into Reykjavik and the day looked beautiful! We were not suppose to check into our hotel until 2pm and it was about 10am when we checked to see if they had a room available since I was ready to just sleep in the car if they didn't.  LUCKILY! THEY DID!  We are staying at the Hilton Nordica in Reykjavik and absolutely love it so far! The bath tub is huge, the room is a decent size and the service has been wonderful.  I hit the bed and was out like a light.  We slept for about 6 hours and by the time we woke up the day had turned from sun to rain and wind.  We decided to get ready and find a place for dinner.  I had planned on eating at 73, which was my favorite from last time but when we walked there it was closed for renovations.  I was so bummed.  We decided to walk further down and see what we could find off of the main drag and found a restaurant by the name of sushi samba.  It had the Icelandic food we were looking for.  We both had smoked puffin and it was SO SO SO good but they do come in small sizes so she suggested we order something else with it.  We decided to add some sushi with our puffin and Brian ordered tuna as I ordered salmon. The entire time we were also trying to figure our Krona and how much our 2,450 Krona meal was in USD.  That's always a good time ;)!!! We decided to get a drink- I ordered Wine and Brian went all our and got a Viking Lager.  Our drinks came and shortly after our food came.  The service as amazing and even through the restaurant was very VERY fancy, we made sure to ask that it was okay if we were undressed.  The host that sat us laughed after I asked and said, "absolutely not we are all just overdressed!"  It was so fun! We did stumble in with our red cheeks, jeans, boots, coats, hats and gloves.  Brian loved the smoked puffin with goat cheese, blueberries and a wonderful sauce just as much as I did and when our sushi came we couldn't wait to dive into it.  We absolutely loved the meal and decided to splurge on desert.  We ordered a skyr desert with berries, some type of sugar and almost granola type crumble on top.  Skyr is a cheese that has yogurt consistency that is very tasty!!! We both shared a bowl as they brought us two spoons.  We had so much fun eating some Icelandic foods along with some not so Icelandic foods.  We will order the smoked puffin again for sure! You can really taste the smokey flavor.  The walk back was awesome as we made a quick stop at the church in the center of Reykjavik and made our way back in the rain to our hotel.  We are now sitting together planning our trip to Vik tomorrow.  Can't wait! I am going to get off this computer and enjoy our honeymoon!!! Until tomorrow guys, thank for reading!!!