For christmas I had to come up with something for Kata that a) she would enjoy, and b) wouldn't take up much space in a suitcase going back to russia for the next semester.

I settled on nice romantic weekend away in the countryside. Being the icelandic bankster that I am, I rented out an entire hotel for us, along with a private concierge, waitress and chef. That's just how I roll. The micra is just a cover. [1]

So, one lovely clear winters morning we set off for a nice country drive, just the two of us. We headed to Geysir and Gullfoss first, which are both quite lovely in winter, and completely different to a summer trip. We both found the ice buildup on the grass at Gullfoss _reallly_ neat. We managed to avoid slipping to our doom in the canyon, and headed onwards, cruising through the wintry landscape.

Destination, Hotel Leirubakki Arriving a little early for dinner, we decided we'd try out the "viking pool" an (artificial) outdoor hotpot a few hundred meters away through the snow. Seemed like a good idea. The water at the edge was rather cold, but we thought that was just because it was a bit far from the hot water inlet, and it was all overflowing so we had to wade a bit just to get to the pool itself.

Short story, it was not such a good idea :) Not quite enough hot water inflow to compete with nature. After getting ourselves good and wet and looking for any warm spots, we hightailed it back to the good old fashioned fibreglass hotpot on the verandah of the hotel :)

A nice three course dinner with wine, all with our own private waitress, a private tour of the Hekla museum, and cosy evening together.

Good things don't have to end, but sometimes they do have to change shape, so the next morning we headed off northwards and homewards, under deteriorating weather. A few short stops at some roadside attractions, and we were home for a final weekend in Reykjavik

[1] We were the only guests of the hotel :)