Unexpected Reykjavik and Beautiful Munich

After planning this mega-trip for close to a year, it's almost surreal to be on the actual vacation! So many hours of planning and anticipation went into this trip and we are so incredibly lucky to have this opportunity.

We flew from Seattle to Iceland for what was supposed to be a short stopover. Our plane was finally about to land near Reykjavik (500 ft from the ground) when we quickly switched directions and gained elevation. All of a sudden, the flight data screen was listing an entirely different airport on the east side of Iceland. No immediate word from the pilot. I'm a nervous flyer so any deviation from the plan causes me a lot of anxiety. Eventually, the pilot said there wasn't enough visibility to land and we didn't have enough fuel to circle and wait for the fog to lift. So we landed at a dinky little Icelandic airport, refueled, and made our way back to the main Iceland airport. Weather had cleared and I was so happy when the landing gear made contact with the ground! Sadly, we missed our connecting flight to Munich. I was very impressed with Icelandair's service. They rebooked us on a flight 24 hours later and sent us to a nice hotel in Reykjavik with all meals and transportation paid by the airline. We were sad to miss a day in Munich but decided to make the most of the time in Iceland.

We ate an amazing breakfast at the Foss Hotel and promptly crashed for a few hours. Weather wasn't great but we finally did manage a walk around the town. We were particularly impressed with the beautiful and modern concert hall.

The kids enjoyed building rock sculptures.

We wandered the main pedestrian street, did a little window shopping (prices are so expensive!), and stopped for a happy hour beer. To give you an idea, the happy hour special was $5 off a beer. I think that still made my beer a whopping $11. We ate dinner, I took another walk, and we called it a day. The three buffet-style meals made me feel like I was on a cruise ship.

We were transported back to the airport in the evening where we waited for a midnight flight. I fell asleep both on the bus and in the airport. This unexpected layover put a kink in our jet-lag plans. Luckily, the flight to Munich was uneventful.

Munich!

I could live here. For real. There's something so charming, organized, and livable about this city. We checked into Hotel Brack - the same hotel we stayed in three years ago. They scored huge points by having our room ready by 8am. We had a great breakfast before DH and DD#1 took naps while the rest of us wandered around.

We took the U-Bahn into the main part of town to explore. We were tired but also so excited to be back in Europe!

We went to the BMW Welt to check-in, have a snack, and check out new cars. Our car will be ready in just two days!

After the Welt, we made our way to the Munich Residenz. We were dragging by this point and wanted to attempt to stay on local time. We thought the Residenz museum might keep us awake. The rooms were beautiful but there were so many of them. Many paintings were absent due to WWII. Much of the palace had been rebuilt. It was very beautiful but we would have appreciated it more if we had been more awake.

We found a small Augustiner pub for dinner. We all wanted to be sleeping by this point. We made it until 8pm and called it a day.

Biking and Therme Erding

DH and I woke up before 5am. I went for a 5.5 mile run around the Isar River and Marienplatz. It's all so lovely before the crowds hit. After another traditional breakfast, we borrowed bikes from the hotel and rode around the city. DD#2 and I split off from the pack and biked many miles near the Isar River and Englischer Garden. Such a memorable ride! We even stopped into a small biergarten around 10:45am. I looked around and saw many locals having beer. After my run and bike ride, I decided to join them!

We had separate casual lunches - DD#1 and DH found currywurst while DD#2 and I had doner sandwiches. Yum!

We took a long S-Bahn train out to Therme Erding. It's a fabulous waterpark with tons of slides. We had such a great time! Some of the slides were unlike ones we had ever been on before.

After many hours at the park, we made our way back to a biergarten close to our hotel. First liter beers of the trip! The place was packed even at 8:30pm!

We are still feeling a bit sad that we had one fewer day in Munich due to our flight diversion in Iceland. However, I know we will return to this amazing city in the near future. Munich will always be at the top of my travel list.