The sofa is a popular item of furniture in our house. It's comfortable and promotes bonding... of course, one can also see the television, and thus the evening movie when occupying said sofa. It does seem to have a soporific affect, however, so exactly how much movie viewing any one person actually performs is a matter of speculation. The chairs are nice, too.
We all awoke at a reasonable hour this morning, but with no particular rush. It's rather pleasant to get one's day started at a comfortable pace. I believe this was particularly appreciated by our late-night gigglers-in-residents (a.k.a. "Blade" and Alex), ahem. I digress. Though our morning was leisurely, we were out and about in Reykjavik by 11:00 a.m., inhaling the brisk and so very fresh air. The sun kissed our exposed faces as we strolled down the street and our spirits were high. Ten minutes later we were soaked by icy rain and bombarded by minute hailstones; but never were we daunted! Of course, that may be because the rain and hail stopped after about five minutes.
We made it to our first destination with laughter caused by looks from the locals - who did not join us in creating an umbrella forest during the deluge (tourists!) - and were greeted by the discovery of a statue given to Iceland by none other than the good ol' U.S. of A. He stands as if a herald for the church (aforementioned destination) and is striking in his majesty, though there is something of loneliness about him. "Who?!" we hear you asking. We'll let you find the answer in the photos to come. Devious, we know.
Our exploration of the church was followed by an entertaining shopping excursion. In short, we visited a health food store (thrilling, honestly!), stormed a Red Cross second-hand store (at which point we gained some critical information - see below), overwhelmed a cafe for heitt súkkulaði (again, see below), put our grubby little hands all over Iceland's best woolen wear (a note on this, yep, below), and wound our way back to the house. The afternoon found some some of our weary travelers napping while others played another riveting round of Mao - another, you say? Why, yes! It's become the card game of the trip! - or tended to various and important errands.
This evening, we went to the number-one local recommended gastric experience. The Burger Joint. I'll say no more, other than they have a street name for them and the cutest little set-up with good burgers (I am told) and excellent milkshakes (I experienced). After a quick stop by Bonus!, our now-favorite grocery mart - we completed our day's outings with one of international culture's pinnacle experiences: watching two soccer games simultaneously with a tightly packed crowd and opposing factions of fandom. Heavenly.
To address the "see below" comments:
1. A note about Reykjavik. It's expensive. The food, the excursions, the clothes - even the hot chocolate. At the Red Cross store, we learned that a second-hand traditional Icelandic sweater costs $60+.
2. heitt súkkulaði = hot chocolate This is the first thing Patricia (your narrator) learned to say in Icelandic. This was quickly followed by takk, which means 'thank you'. I will say this for Iceland: they uniformly make some of the best heitt súkkulaði. Try it sometime, somewhere, anywhere in Reykjavik.
3. Iceland's traditional woolen sweaters are lovely, exceedingly warm by reputation, not as soft one would hope, and very, very expensive. We are unlikely to bring them home for our loved ones. For this, we must be unapologetic but still very loving.
As I come to the end of this blog at approximately 22:15 the last rays of daylight are ebbing from the sky and the crew is laughing madly at the vocal renderings of "Commando". He seems to be enjoying the family poker game, though I can't be entirely sure those are all happy sounds he's making.
This is all to say that it's been a very nice day. We hope you enjoyed it, too.
Patricia P. & Co.
P.S. Yes, this is post is substantial in length. Please do not harbor fear or expectation that the rest will follow suit.
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