My wife was having a milestone birthday, and I wanted to surprise her with something big. It had been a long-time dream of hers to see Iceland, so I secretly booked a vacation for the entire family. She was beyond excited.

On December 31st, we packed our bags and headed to Boston. Our flight was scheduled for the evening of January 1st, so we were able to spend almost an entire day exploring our closest big city. We woke early and had breakfast at Pavement Coffeehouse. I loved being able to enjoy a jalapeno bagel with spicy vegan cream cheese, something I had not had since becoming vegan a decade ago. After breakfast, we spent some time walking along Boston’s Fort Point harbor. The weather was perfect. The sky was a bright blue and the air was crisp and fresh. We spent much of the day at the Boston Children’s Museum. Pidge had a great time playing with bubbles and exploring the many exhibits the museum had to offer.

We got to the airport early—too early for a 16-month-old. She toddled about the terminal, snacking on bananas, reading books, kicking off her boots, sprawling on the ground, and waving to every person she saw. We changed her into her jammies before our overnight journey and as luck would have it, she slept for most of the flight. My wife and I did not sleep, and we were quite exhausted by the time we reached the Keflavik airport at 5:00 AM. We mustered up the energy to rent our car and drive into Reykjavík. Our apartment for the week was located on the 5th floor in the city center. We had a view of the ocean and Mount Esja across the bay. We admired the view for a while, then we crashed.

We woke up a few hours later and decided to explore the city. We walked down many beautiful streets lined with multicolored buildings. We made our way to a vegan cat café where we enjoyed a nice soya latte and a late breakfast. Pidge loved the cat café. She made sure she said hi to every cat in the restaurant, pointing to each one over and over. “Hi, kitty! Kitty cat. Neowww.” We walked up to Hallgrímskirkja, the largest church in Iceland (244 feet high) and among the tallest structures in the country. It was incredible.

The locals are who convinced us to try the city pools. They said swimming in winter is an Icelandic tradition. We went to the pool and everyone is required to shower naked before swimming. It was actually nice to see how everyone was so comfortable with each other and with their bodies. So many people were engaging in conversations with us and chatting about Pidge—all while we were stark naked! Then we got in our swimsuits. There were 6 separate outdoor pools in the facility. We spent a lot of our time in the really shallow warm pool with Pidge, and then did a few laps in the big colder pool. Pidge even went for a dip in the big pool! We swam for almost two hours at night while the lights from the big (huge) church towered over us. It was simultaneously invigorating and relaxing.

After swimming we went to dinner at Café Vinyl, the first all-vegan restaurant in Reykjavík. Pidge fell asleep on the walk, and continued to sleep on a couch in the restaurant. It was hilarious and adorable. That night, Pidge slept for 12 hours. I guess she was exhausted from our traveling, too.

The next morning, we all slept in and then had breakfast at a creperie in downtown Reykjavík. Although it was 9:00 AM, it was still dark out. It felt like we were walking through the city at night but for the fact that everything smelled like breakfast.

After breakfast, we started our drive around the Golden Circle. Our first stop was Þingvellir, home to the oldest parliament in the world and also the continental divide between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. We were able to walk between the plates, which was incredible. Rock towered over us on both sides. We were surrounded by valleys and fjords and waterfalls. We saw Oxafoss waterfall in Þingvellir.

After Þingvellir, we drove to Geysir. The ground smoldered and appeared alive. Mud pots boiled and the smell of sulfur filled the air. We watched as the Strokkur Geysir erupted and shot steaming water somewhere around 50 feet into the sky.

After Geysir, we headed to Gullfoss, one of Iceland’s most massive waterfalls. Gullfoss is actually two falls and it rises like Niagara. We learned the story of Sigridur, the daughter of a local farmer who in 1907 traveled barefoot to Reykjavík for a very long trial to save the waterfall from a businessman who wanted to turn the falls into a power plant. She won, and the falls remain today. They were spectacular.

After all that sightseeing in the cold and wet air, we decided to warm up in a secret geothermal lagoon that we learned about on an insider tip. It was incredible. Pidge loved soaking in the warm water.

We got Icelandic pizza for dinner. It was topped with pesto, mushrooms, hot red chilis, Icelandic dulse (seaweed), shaved coconut, green onions, and sesame oil. We would have never dreamed of such a combination, but it was delicious! Pidge shared a little, but she was more excited about the pistachio-lime popsicle they gave her at the end.

On Friday we got up early to explore Iceland’s beautiful South Coast. We knew it would be a long drive, and we wanted to make the most of the precious daylight hours. We left Reykjavík and headed over the mountain toward Hveragerði. The mountain pass was dark and foggy and rainy. Driving was terrifying as you couldn’t even see the taillights in front of you! The darkness remained for hours, though the driving became less treacherous, thank goodness.

As the light began to break around 10:00 AM, my wife and I were left breathless by the astounding beauty. Mountains charged upward, towering over us on our left. We could not believe how tall they were and how sharply they rose. They had dramatic peaks and rocky ledges. Birds swarmed around them. To our right were the flat, black lava fields with veins of water that ran to the sea.

About three hours in we stopped at Reynisfjara, the volcanic black sand beach rated as one of National Geographic’s top 10 beaches in the world. We walked on the shore to find a large cave lined with basalt columns. Our photos do not accurately depict how enormous they were. Off the shore were multiple sea stacks, home to thousands of nesting birds. The massive waves crashed onto the shore as they traveled unobstructed from Antarctica.

Near Reynisfjara, we passed through the picturesque town of Vík í Mýrdal.  It sits in the shadow of Mýrdalsjökull glacier, which covers the Katla volcano. As we continued our drive, the sun began to shine brighter on the cliffs, which were covered in waterfalls. At one point my wife counted 11 waterfalls within sight of our car. A particularly beautiful scene, a group of Icelandic horses grazed below two tall, thin waterfalls.

The ground began to change. Fields and cliffs gave way to large expanses of black volcanic ash. The land was flat as far as the eye could see. Then, slowly, the lava fields began to take a different form. They piled and tumbled like groups of large, porous rocks. Moss covered the rocks. We pulled over and climbed a mound to take a picture of the moss and of the road we were traveling from above.

The mountains returned but this time every gap was filled with bright blue glacier. We were near Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier. The glacier ice looked like it was spilling down from the mountainside. It was massive and we were unable to capture its wonder in our photos.

One of our favorite places in Iceland, we stopped at the Jökulsárlón is a glacial lagoon, bordering Vatnajökull National Park. Its still, blue waters were dotted with icebergs from the surrounding Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, part of larger Vatnajökull Glacier. The Glacier Lagoon flowed through a short waterway into the Atlantic Ocean, leaving chunks of ice on a black sand beach. Pidge loved this place. She wanted to eat all of the large ice chunks!

We drove to Svínafellsjökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull. To get there we drove over a very treacherous gravel road filled with potholes, large rocks, and waterways. Although the drive was certainly not for the faint of heart, it was incredible to see a glacier so close.

We rested for the evening in a small cottage in a lava field. The air was still and soundless. We cooked dinner and enjoyed a bottle of red wine as Pidge squealed and ran around the cottage in the nude. She was happy to be out of the car for the evening. After Pidge went to bed, we relaxed in our own private hot tub. It was considerably cloudy, so we did not get a Northern Lights show, but I did manage to catch a quick glimpse when the clouds parted!

We left the cottage early on Saturday and headed back toward Reykjavík. We drove through farmland dotted with sheep and sang Baa Baa Black Sheep to Pidge more times than we can count. Pidge loved the song and the second it finished we would hear her husky little voice say, “Gah?” (translation: again?)

We stopped at the Skogafoss waterfall. It was massive! Skogafoss is one of Iceland’s biggest waterfalls with an astounding width of 82 feet and a drop of 197 feet. We put Pidge into her splashy suit in case she got wet. She stood there, geared up, smiling and waving at everyone. We jokingly called her Iceland’s official greeter!

From there we went to Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall with a 200-foot drop. This waterfall is part of the Seljalands River that has its origin in the volcano glacier Eyjafjallajökull, a volcano that erupted in 2010. We put on our rain gear and hiked over rocks behind the falls into a small cave. It was incredible to watch the water tumble down from behind the falls. Pidge was completely intrigued and didn’t seem to mind that we all got completely soaked!

On the way back to Reykjavík, we saw some Iceland horses very near the road. We stopped by and said hello, giving a friendly white one a little pet on the nose.

We got back to the city around 3:00. The sun was shining pink through the clouds, so we scurried down to the harbor to check out the Sun Voyager sculpture. However, just as we got to it the sun disappeared and the sky turned ominously dark. We were getting hammered by ice pellets! We pulled up our hoods and headed for the protection of the main road, stopping for some chips and a beer. Pidge charmed everyone in the shop, of course.

We ended the day by soaking in the warm geothermal pool as snowflakes gathered gently around us.

The next morning was my wife’s birthday. We celebrated by heading to the Blue Lagoon, one of the 25 Wonders of the World. It is located in a sprawling, 800-year-old lava field. The minerals in the water give it a milky blue color that is simply spectacular. It was awe-inspiring. We waded in as the mist rose above the warm water. We enjoyed the calm. My wife sipped champagne as Pidge bobbed in the water peacefully. We put on silica mud masks; Pidge looked so cute with the mask smeared over her tiny face.

All in all, it was an amazing trip and Pidge was incredible the entire time. We are so proud of our tiny traveler. Our memories will certainly last a lifetime.