Walking on the wild side!

It's snowing in the the city right now.  Snow is ever so much nicer than rain when it doesn't stick, and it feels warmer.  The snowflakes here are light and "chunky" (to use Archana's adjective).  And we've seen plenty of snow today...

This morning we ventured out of Reykjavik to see what lies beyond the city limits.  Piling into two compact cars, we were transported by Doc Lane and Patricia on this day full of Icelandic wonders.  Let us share what we saw.

               Don't worry, Archana is flinching from the light.  No unsightly stomach mess.

                            Doc driving the Bro-mobile.

Our first destination: Þingvellir (thing-vet-ler)

We walked side by side with the ghosts of more than two millennia, absorbing the history of a people and their country.  Learning of their laws and customs, we gazed upon the sights seen by the first settlers.    With the lovely comes the gruesome, so enjoy the sights, but be ware the informational placard and the deceptively beautiful drowning pool that follows!

We were taken by surprise when, mere moments after recovering from the shock of learning of the placid pool's pernicious purpose, a hard wind blew a heavy shower of snow against our backs! Fortunately, we pressed on and were rewarded several minutes later with body and soul warming sunshine - and a pristine view of the first of the day's aquatic splendors.

After learning the nation's history (and the history of the lake - how many people know a study has been launched there due to the swift evolution of the fish population?! We do!), we piled ourselves in our modern chariots, made a brief stop for snacks and beverages of the warm persuasion, and took in the breathtaking landscape on our way to the next destination.

We made it to The Great Geysir of Iceland (yes, that from which the world's geysers take their name) just as its little sibling, Strokkur, erupted.  The sun shone and we strolled through the swirl of cold wind and hot steam.  It seemed, though, that our friendly little storm from earlier wanted to see what we were up to.  We were caught far from shelter in a pelting hail storm that transformed the landscape in minutes.

Our dearly beloved readers, our final destination of the day took us to a treasure of the natural world.  Pardon your narrator while she waxes poetic.  From afar she appeared as a heavy plume of steam rising from the face of the snow-speckled earth, but this was her great deception.  As we drew closer, a ravine became apparent, tantalizing travelers with her secret.  A great roar became audible, a hypnotic lure promising great reward for those who persevered in their struggles against the icy wind.  And great it was.  She dances from step to step in a fiercely joyful flight, a thick veil of mist rising from the booming cave at her feet, whispering of worlds just beyond our sight.  She is magnificent.

After the awe and wonder we felt at the vision of Gullfoss, and fatigue from yet another encounter with the playful snow, we returned to our cars and our house with warm hearts and warm fingers.  It is movie time again and cards are being played.  Dinner is coming to fill our bellies and send us off to deep sleep and sweet dreams.  We wish the same to you.

Patricia P. & Co.

Sweet dreams!

  

More random pix

Our house is on the corner of Framnesvegur and Vesturgata. We walk down Vesturgata to the old city center each day. This is a view down the street towards that area.

Here is a little square at the corner of Vesturgata and Athalstraeti (oldest street in Reykjavik)...

You just can't escape all the American tourists (actually, we haven't seen that many)...

Although not wildly popular architecturally with locals, the Hallsgrimkirkja is an iconic landmark of the city. The design is supposed to echo the volcanic basalt columns found around Iceland. We walked down the cooly-named street Skolavörthustigur to get there. Some nice shops and cafes along the route.

The statue of Leifur Erickson in front was donated by the US in 1930 on the 1000th anniversary of the establishment of Iceland's parliament.

Inside were some mighty impressive organ pipes:

Connor starts our day off right!

      

                                             One example of the prolific Icelandic graffiti.

                  

                                                                 E.T. heals Patricia!

                                

                                                  

                                                                             Sunset

Home, sweet home!

Food, fun, and warmer weather!

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.

From travel to meal time at our house in Iceland, here are Day 1 & 2!