It was our last day in Oslo and I think 10 days of non-stop travelling has finally worn us out. We all slept in until around noon today and we didn't even get out of the hotel until around 1:00pm. We woke up to sporadic drizzle so it was kind of a perfect day for a sleep in. We went back to Cafe Cathedral in order to have lunch hoping that some of the hookers were out for our entertainment. Unfortunately, no hookers yet this early in the day. After lunch, we chose to explore the Askherhus Castle. We wandered the grounds of the fortress which are still being used to this day for the military and enjoyed the views of the Oslo Harbor. There was an entrance fee into the castle which prompted us to ... read more

This morning we caught our Flybus airport shuttle to Keflavik airport for our 11:00am flight to Oslo. When we checked into Norwegian Airlines, we were confused about all the balloons on display in the check in area. We were beginning to believe that Norwegian Airlines just really valued customer service when we saw they were offering snacks, coffee, and soft drinks to the passengers at the gate. We later learned that this was the inaugural flight for Norwegian Airlines from Reykjavik to Oslo and there was a bit of celebration going on. The flight to Oslo was 3 hours and was rather uneventful. Once in Oslo, we caught the airport train that brought us all the way to Oslo Central Station in less than 30 minutes. Now we just had to find our hotel on Moellergata ... read more

With a lot of ground to cover on the road today, I was hoping that we would get an early start. However, the desire to sleep in coupled with traveling with 2 women guaranteed that this would not happen. We checked out of the hotel around 10:00 and drove south towards the Kevlavik airport in order to visit Iceland's top attraction. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa located in a lava field. Runoff water from a nearby geothermal power plant feeds the lagoon and the turquoise waters surrounded by volcanic rock makes for a very surreal contrast. The Blue Lagoon is literally in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by moss covered lava fields and volcanic rocks, if I didn't know any better I would have sworn I was on the moon. Entrance into the Blue ... read more

After that long and tiring day of exploring New York, I was hoping to get some sleep on the flight from New York to Reykjavik. As my luck would have it, I probably got no more than 1 hour of sleep. Maybe it was the excitement of finally going to Iceland that prevented me from sleeping. As we descended into Reykjavik, the first thing you noticed while looking out the windows was how desolate and lunar the landscape appeared. Keflavik Airport is located well outside the city center so taking a taxi would not be a very econmical choice for us. Luckily, there were airport shuttles that transported arriving passengers into the city almost an hour away. The weather this morning in Reykjavik was sunny and a bit on the warm side. Definitely a far cry ... read more

For a quick Fourth of July weekend getaway, Shea and I decided to skip town for a visit up to Monterey. After a long day in the office, I picked up our rental car at 4pm and by 5:30 we were on the road along with the thousands of others escaping for a three day weekend. We didn't arrive into Monterey until about 11:30 and immediately checked into the Comfort Inn. Initially, we had some confusion finding our hotel as there were 2 Comfort Inn's on the same street and within close proximity to each other. Eventually we found the correct one, checked in, dropped off our bags, and went out to find an open place for a late dinner. After settling on Denny's, we went straight back to the hotel to call it a night. ... read more