Waking up today was ROUGH. I was stiff all over. My shoulders were SO tense, and my tailbone was hurting. My legs were sore. My thighs had bruises all over them. The day before clearly kicked my ass. And I had also a headache from the night before. But then I remembered my night, and I couldn’t help but smirk …
After grabbing some grub at this vegetarian place last night, I met up with Eric and Steve at The Celtic Cross. We had a beer, and all of a sudden, Steve said he was wiped and was going to head in for the night. Uh huh. Riiiiight. It was quickly evident that Eric thought I was going to make his last night “one to remember.” At my place. He was cute, and I know I’m on vacation and all, but … no. Maybe it was because he assumed I’d be easy? I didn’t last another beer before “admitting” I had an early tour and needed to head back to my apartment. ALONE. But I wasn’t in the mood to just hang out in my apartment alone all night, so after thanking Eric for the beer and giving him a handshake, I took the long way to the bar district and ended up wandering by a place that had American football on. So I went in, sat at the bar, ordered a beer, and checked out the scenery. Within five minutes, a group of about 10 guys came in. Many were drunk, but a few weren’t. Found out they were all in the Air Force, stationed in England, and in Reykjavik for training. My usual bullshitting and jabs led to me getting a beer and a shot. One of the guys handed me a Jag-bomb, which made my stomach churn just by looking at it. I took it anyway and quickly chased it with my beer. They asked me to join them on their shenanigans, but I had visions of this night going … not where I wanted to … so I politely declined. Three of them kissed me on their way out, which I can’t say I didn’t enjoy. Air Force Boys caused quite the ruckus, and when they left, several guys looked at me to “get an in.” I started talking to all of them, which wasn’t too hard since they were only five feet away from me. But I ended up talking most to (the very tall, and very attractive) Kreeger, who is from Iceland, but moved to the U.S. about 10 years ago. He’s a chef in New Orleans, and is a huge Saints fan. We got to talking about food, naturally, and he gave me some ideas of things to try while I’m here. After several beers and endless chatter with my compadres, it was time to go. There was a grocery store across the street, and I wanted to pick up this stuff called “skyr” that Kreeger recommended I try out. (BTW, it’s great! Find it at Whole Foods. It’s kinda like yogurt. Kinda.) Kreeger said he’d join me, to make sure I got the right one. Uh huh. After settling on raspberry skyr, Kreeger asked me if I was still planning to go to The Seafood Grill the next night, a really high-end restaurant, and if I was, whether he could join. Um, YES! Since it was close to midnight, he said he’d walk me home, but it was too far to justify, so he said he’d drive me instead since it was on his way home. By car, it took about 2 minutes to get to my place. He said to meet him at the restaurant at 7:00. I thanked him for all the tips and leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, but … well … when I got out of his car, I couldn’t tell if I was drunk from the beer or the kisses. Probably both.
So, I had a date … in Iceland!?
But first, I went on the all-day Golden Circle tour: Gullfoss waterfall, which is the first 2-tiered waterfall I’ve ever seen. Massive and beautiful. I took a ton of pics. Also stopped at Geysir [gay-seer], to check out the geysers. Was dropped off at Fontana baths for a couple hours, and its saunas, steam rooms, and various heated pools did magic for my aching body. I then hopped back on the shuttle to see Thingvellir National Park, which was utterly gorgeous with its landscape and colors. I was dropped off at my apartment around 6:30pm. Not nearly enough time to get ready. Eek! Luckily, I knew time would be crunched, so I already planned what I was going to wear: short dress, big warm and long sweater, scarf, tights, boots. Thank GAWD I packed cute clothes.
Luckily, Sjavargrillid (Seafood Grill) was only a quick walk from my apartment, so I made it on time. He was already there when I got there. He looked … GOOD. This will be easy to look at for the next couple hours. I couldn’t help but smile and then blush when he greeted me with a kiss. A took-my-face-in-his-hands kind of kiss. I’d say that’s a good start to the date. Then came the food. Seriously, this was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in my life. I planned to splurge on this meal, so I opted for the 3-course Lobster Feast, and he went for the 3-course Taste of Iceland. I’ve never had lobster I could cut with a fork before today. We were brought an amuse-bouche before getting our first course, which coincidentally was grilled lobster with poached perch, potatoes, spring onions, and this amazing mussel sauce with dill oil on it. Second course was lobster two ways — grilled and tempura fried, with poached catfish, grilled parsnips, celery root puree, caramelized leeks, and other magic goodness. His included puffin, shag, lamb, and whale cooked in a variety of ways. Then came dessert. I’m not a dessert person, but it was the most amazing version of creme brule and caramel foam I’ve ever had in my life. It also had raspberry sorbet, these crackly crumbs which kinda tasted like graham crackers. But better. His was a chocolate monstrosity with skyr. I didn’t even get to the bread! I don’t know what they hell they do to the bread here. Rye, which I usually don’t like, but it’s just … yum. We had a couple bottles of wine with dinner, so I was feeling good. He was so easy to talk to, and we gabbed about everything. It was really nice. I found out over dinner it was his last night in Reykjavik and he was heading back to New Orleans in the morning. I was too buzzed to really make a night on the town with him, and I literally do have to get up early tomorrow for my last tour, so I (unfortunately) had to call it a night. To my complete shock, he picked up the tab. It was more than $100 just for me, so I felt the need to at least buy him a beer. Or something! He refused, but instead said he’d walk me back to my place to make sure I got back safe. It was only three blocks, but it took us a little while to get to my apartment because we took a few … pit stops. Ha. As I walked up the stairs to my apartment, I realized I was even more drunk on kisses tonight than I was last night. Or maybe it was the wine. Probably both. Kreeger and I didn’t bother exchanging info. And I like it that way. Besides kisses, I realized I got something else I needed tonight that had been seriously questioned over the past year: Faith.
Cecilia the TravelGurl 