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Scandinavian Christmas 2024
  • Kim McMurry
  • Kim McMurry

Scandinavian Christmas 2024

A 13-day adventure by Kim Read more
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  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Eggertsgata 24

    December 31, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 21 °F

    McKelvie showed Ellery the university and her former apartment complex at Eggertsgata 24, #607. It was the perfect studio for her. I know she misses it Ellie also got to experience her first Straeto bus ride.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Hallgrímskirkja

    December 31, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ⛅ 19 °F

    To be honest, Ellery and I walked all over the City Centre...just exploring. McKelvie didn't feel well and went back to the apartment to rest, so Belle and I spent the next 2 hours putting some miles on our boots. We saw the church (which was closed - we'll go back on the 2nd to officially visit) and did a little window shopping. I've officially done 21,076 steps today. We finished our excursion with some hot chocolate and Caramel Sin. We'll rest a bit and go out again later tonight for the fireworks!Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Happy New Year!

    January 1, 2025 in Iceland ⋅ 🌙 14 °F

    The girls and I had the BEST time tonight! We went down to the Sun Voyager (about a block away from our apartment) to try to find a good vantage point for the fireworks and were surprised to see the Northern Lights, too!

    There were people and explosions everywhere, and Icelanders truly don't care about fireworks safety on this night. They were setting off fireworks right next to buildings, from the tops of buildings, from their balconies, in the streets and highways, from boats, from 2 feet away from us, from their cars...from wherever they wanted. For Kansans who are constantly worried about fire hazards, it was a little triggering. Still fun, though, and the aurora sighting (finally!) made it that much better!!    Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    The Perlan

    January 1, 2025 in Iceland ⋅ ☀️ 14 °F

    We slept in a bit this morning and then WALKED to the Perlan (approximately 1.2 miles through the snow) because we're idiots. It really wasn't bad. The sun was shining, and it was 15°, so for Iceland, a pretty nice winter day. We saw the Áróra planetarium show, toured the ice cave, and saw a short film about a 2021 "tourist friendly" volcano eruption that could be seen from Reykjavik. We also toured a variety of exhibits about volcanoes, glaciers, Icelandic animals and birds, and geographical features, etc. It's a really cool museum. We caught the #13 Straeto bus back to Hverfisgata 56. 😝 After a visit to Look Koo Mas for a Chocolate Vanilla "Mix", we headed in for supper and some rest.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Our Last Full Day!

    January 2, 2025 in Iceland ⋅ 🌬 36 °F

    "Laugavegur is the primary commercial artery of downtown Reykjavík, Iceland and one of the oldest shopping streets. The name means "wash road", as it used to lead to the hot springs in Laugardalur where in olden times the women of Reykjavík took their laundry for washing" (Wikipedia).

    We have spent A LOT of time on this street, Rainbow Street, and Hverfisgata, which is where the Island Apartments are located.

    In 2016, the Iceland Monitor wrote: "Only a few years ago, Hverfisgata in central Reykjavik was run down and gritty and played the part of the poor cousin to Laugavegur, the street which it runs adjacent to.

    Whereas Laugavegur, being the main shopping street in Reykjavik had plenty of shops, restaurants and bars to offer, Hverfisgata was grey, dismal and in a state of decay. But in the last couple of years, Hverfisgata has become more and more gentrified, with the street facade slowly getting prettier and more and more cool places opening....Further up the street is the fantastic art house cinema Bíó Paradís which always has a great selection of films, both new and old, as well as a cosy café/bar....The best Indian in town is Aus tur Indía Fjelagið (Hverfisgata 54), an elegant and wildly popular restaurant.'

    Our Island Apartment is at Hverfisgata 56. It has been the perfect location for us!    Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Sky Lagoon

    January 2, 2025 in Iceland ⋅ 🌬 36 °F

    The Skjól 7-step ritual:

    1. Laug 38 to 40°c: Slow down, relax in the lagoon
    2. Kuldi 5° c: Cool down with the cold plunge (10-30 seconds)
    3. Ylur 80 to 90° c: Relax with a view in the sauna (5-10 minutes)
    4. Súld -5° c: Refresh in a cold fog-mist
    5. Mýkt: The Sky Body Scrub (includes almond oil, sesame seed oil, and Icelandic salt among other things)
    6. Gufa 46° c: Steam room
    7. Saft: Icelandic elixir (includes crowberries)

    I won't apologize for my finger showing in the video. I was scared to death I was going to drop my phone in the water. It was cold enough that our hair and eyelashes were freezing. We even got hailed on.    Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Back to Keflavik International Airport

    January 3, 2025 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 37 °F

    Fortunately, we all managed to get 4-5 hours of sleep last night so we were able to get up with our alarms at 2:30 this morning. But it was strange, because the electricity was out. Made me appreciate the fact that the heat is all geothermal/radiators, etc., and there was no shortage of water. We opened up the blinds and found that it was just our side of the street that was affected. We got dressed and finished packing by flashlight, and as we walked down to BSI bus stop #14, we saw a full electrical crew out working on the problem.

    There wasn't much wind...just a little snow, which is good because the forecast was for freezing rain. Our bus showed up right at 4 AM, we picked up about 15 others at 3 more stops, and then headed to the BSI City Station where we got on the Flybus to Keflavik. The driver was great.

    The nice lady at the Icelandair desk didn't make me pay for McKelvie's second bag again, which was nice, but all three of us had items flagged at security (Ellie's coat, Kelv's backpack, and my computers), and I had to go through the metal detector twice and without my glasses before everyone was happy that I wasn't smuggling in something dangerous.

    We grabbed sandwiches and walked McKelvie down to Gate C24. We didn't have a long wait before she was called to board the bus to take her out to the plane. She boarded at about 7:30. Ellery and I won't board our own flight until 4:05 this afternoon. We have currently taken over a couple of benches and an outlet on the first level in the long hall between the A Gates and Passport Control. I doubt we'll give up our spots anytime soon. 😝

    UPDATE: We DID give up our spots to go eat lunch at Yuzu, and then we wandered a bit before going through Passport Control. Ellery started feeling sick, so we didn't CV    Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler
    Passport Control outside Gate D15 at KEF.
    Icelandair names all of its planes after geographical features in Iceland.I should've translated the ingredients. SALT licorice & fruit gummies. So salty it burns!Denver International AirportWaiting on the hotel shuttle.She didn't get carded. 😝Sleepy baby. 💗

    So tired...

    January 3, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °F

    So...roughly 24 hours after we left the Island Apartments, we made it to the Holiday Inn Express, ate at the Tower Top Grill, and fell into bed. Ellery has been sick for most of the day with a head cold.

    We have eaten terribly, our backs are killing us, we miss McKelvie, Daddy, our fur babies, and everyone else, we don't want to go back to school/we DO want to go back to school, we're worried about landing in and driving home in a potential ice/snow storm back in Kansas, and we've had the BEST time ever.

    It's actually 4:15 a.m. on January 4 as I write this because my body doesn't know what time it is, so that's going to be fun to regulate for the next week. I fell asleep in the middle of this post last night. 😝    Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Denver Airport - Last Flight!

    January 4, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 30 °F

    We're scheduled to board at 1:20 p.m., but a major ice/snow storm is hitting Kansas today and tomorrow. It's already icing the roads today, so we'll spend the night in Wichita tonight and keep our fingers crossed that the roads will be clear enough for me to drive home on Sunday.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Surprise Blizzard!

    January 4, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F

    We're still in Wichita... And if the worst case scenario occurs, we won't be going home tomorrow night either. Fortunately, the DoubleTree had a room for us.

    A blizzard is supposed to start at 3:00 a.m. tonight and go until 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night. DJ and I thought it would be best to try to drive home tomorrow during the daylight hours anyway. He says the highways and streets are covered with black ice. I checked the car. It starts, but it is completely covered in ice so it will take a while to de-ice tomorrow anyway, assuming we are able to leave.

    Our pilot and crew did a great job on this last flight today. It was a little nerve-wracking because he was basically flying blind, and we couldn't see the ground as we were coming in for a landing until we were literally there. The runway was a bit slick, but our guy did a nice job. I'm happy to not fly for a while.

    I have a really awful chest cold now. I think Ellery feels a little better. She's just sleepy. We will see what tomorrow brings!    Read more

    Trip end
    January 4, 2025
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