After we wrapped up our road trip in Iceland, we headed to Paris for the second half of our honeymoon. We buzzed around the city on the free bike system, Velib- it was a great way to get around, get familiar with the neighborhoods and get some exercise.
We visited the Louvre and Musee D’Orsay, went to a great cafe called Le Reflet with Alex Aybes and his brother Adrien, had a superb dinner at Aux Petit Joueurs, saw a Woody Allen film at a tiny theater in the Latin Quarter, went to a ton of cafés, saw the July 14 fireworks at the Eiffel Tower with Sarah and Derek, and generally bummed around. It was a great week!
Erin and I spent 7 days in Iceland. After landing at Keflavik Airport, we immediately went to the Blue Lagoon for a satisfying soak. We then drove to Reykjavik where we spent two days walking around town and sampling the local fare (i.e. hot dogs), and had a couple of great meals at Einar Ben and Á Næstu Grösum. The lobster soup at Sægriffin was great, too, although we didn’t try the mink whale or puffin…
From there, we hopped in our rental car and began our road trip on the Ring Road. We spent two nights up north in Akureyri, where the botanical gardens (northernmost in the world!) were one of our favorite spots. We then spent a night in Seyðisfjörður, a night in Höfn. Highlights included fantastic waterfalls (Godafoss and Detifoss), the Krafla lava fields and volcanic zone, Námaskarð mud pots and the Lake Mývatn area. We also made a point to visit the geothermally heated baths that could be found in almost every town.
On our last day, we drove a marathon 400km, checking out the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon and Svartifoss (Black Falls) on the way while listening to tons of Icelandic radio that we couldn’t understand. Finally made it to our final tourist destinations, Gullfoss and Geysir, around 10pm. Then it was back to the airport for our 6am flight the next morning. It was an amazing trip!
The second is a set of Iceland photos by Tim Gasperak, a San Francisco photographer. He does an amazing job capturing the vastness and the often eerie light of Icelandic landscapes.
Still catching up on recent outings… the weekend before last, we went to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park along with Joey and Cassie, also meeting up with Aaron, Kristina, Cindy and Warren. We caught Elvis Costello and Gogol Bordello, both of which were great. You can view photos here, or check out the slideshow below:
We had our five year reunion down at Stanford this weekend for the class of 2003. Saw & caught up with a ton of people, many of whom I hadn’t been in touch with (aside from Facebook, I suppose) since graduation. At times it verged on sensory overload, especially at the densely packed events on Friday and Saturday nights. In the end, though, it was a great weekend. My photos don’t even scratch the surface, but here they are:
Voting by mail tonight! Sitting at the kitchen table filling out my ballot alongside Erin, I’m reminded of my 8th grade science teacher who told our class around election time that he and his wife always cancelled out one another’s votes. How depressing!
