Isn't This Clever!!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this skyr that we bought in the grocery store. Skyr is an Icelandic version of yogurt but even healthier for you with less fat and more protein. I believe it's made from sheep, but I'm not 100% certain......anyway, I love the way they sell it with the little spoon you put together!

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign!

I’ve come to the conclusion that Scrabble skills might come in handy in trying to decipher Icelandic words. I’ve found the street signs fascinating - as if I’ve just been given my first 7 tiles - or in some cases, 14 - and I have to try and make a word out of them. Suffice it to say, I’m guessing consonants are the Icelandic languages best friend! Thought you might find the pictures interesting..... make sure to read the menu special - yummy!!

On a side note, the other thing I’ve become very aware of is to be mindful of doorways and thresholds. I can’t remember if I noticed this as much in Europe and other countries, but here it seems like every doorway is either raised up or not very even with the street. Talk about a tripping hazard! I suppose it could also represent a difference in cultures, but maybe if you trip in a doorway in another country, you might think that you just need to pay more attention rather than thinking that you should sue someone if you fall because the entry wasn’t just right…..interesting.....

These are the things you think about when it's 3 a.m. and you can't sleep because of everything going on in the street below you.......

You see, apparently, Icelanders really love to party on the weekend - and during the week for that matter. Our hotel manager explained sympathetically that when Finland’s economy went into the toilet, Finlanders get drunk and depressed. On the other hand, with Iceland’s economy not doing so well, he said they tend to get drunk and rowdy thinking they can really effect some change. Well, good on you mate, but it does make near impossible to get any sleep when your hotel room overlooks the main party street. The partying doesn’t actually get started until midniight and continues until about 4 a.m. You can imagine that this, combined with the ever present daylight outside, made it quite challenging to get some quality sleep. So we tackled this on several fronts: We would insert the earplugs to about our eardrums (but no further since our health insurance policy hasn’t kicked in yet), making sure the light blocking curtains were pulled tight and finally, turning the t.v. on. Believe me, at 3 a.m. I’d much rather have CNN in the background than the yelling and partying from the street. The one problem with this, however, is the light from the t.v. then creates another obstacle to sleep, so our solution to this was to take the bed spread and hang it over the t.v. to darken the room once again. I guess that’s the price you pay for being in the middle of the city…..and to be honest, if I were 25 again in a city that never gets dark in the summer, I’d probably be doing a little partying myself!!

Hitting the Ring Road

Seeking to capitalize on the splendid weather we’d been having, we decided to head out on a tour of the famous Ring Road here in Iceland with Iceland Excursions. Now, I’ve never been one to really want to do the tour thing from a bus, but I have to say this was really quite enjoyable and covered a lot more territory than we would have had we tried to do this on our own. The bus was REALLY comfortable and it was really easy to doze off during the long driving stretches between sights. This happened much more than you think due to lack of sleep caused by the partying outside, but I'll save that digression for the next post!

So back to the Ring Road: Truly a spectacular route to drive. We stopped at a geothermal steam vent, which really added to the prehistoric feel of the landscape, then on to one of the most beautiful waterfalls you’ll ever see named Gulfoss. Next was a spouting geyser by the name of Strokkur which was TOTALLY cool since we had never been to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful. Finally, we stopped at Iceland’s newest geothermal energy plant and had a tour of the facility which was very educational. All in all, a really fun and interesting day. Now, if we can just get a little sleep tonight……..!

In the Name of the water, the mud and the lava rock......AHHHHH!!

We’ve heard and read so much about it that we had to go: The Blue Lagoon. The name sounds kind of cheezy and you immediately get a mental image of a touristy amusement park with an outdated 80’s theme. I have to tell you, though, nothing could be further from the truth.

We decided to take a tour bus out there which is probably the easiest way to do it. If you had a rental car, you could drive out there but since we didn’t, we opted for the package deal which included transportation there as well as admission. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Reykjavik on the road towards the airport. Along the way, you travel through the barren, lava rock strewn landscape of southwestern Iceland where it’s easy to think you’ve landed on the moon by mistake. The Blue Lagoon is actually an area that was carved out of the lava fields and is filled with the deliciously warm geothermal runoff from a nearby power plant. Sounds like it would be something hazardous that you’d want to steer very clear of, but since the geothermal heating process is completely clean and the minerals and algae in the water are actually good for you.

The first impressions are amazing: You see milky blue water pools with steam rising from them which is your first impression of The Blue Lagoon. Upon entering the facility, we were really impressed with the efficient, high tech way that it is run as well as the overall beauty of the facility. You are given a waterproof bracelet that somehow communicates with an electronic pad in the locker room to open and lock your locker. In addition, you can have it scanned in the restaurants to charge your meals and beverages. As we went outside the chilly wind greeted us but the sun still shone through some passing low clouds. You step into the pool (which, by the way, is about the size of a football field at least with lots of little inlets and places to hangout and nowhere is it deeper than 5 feet) and……AHHH…..how to describe the feeling of being enveloped in soothing warm water??? You get the picture, I’m sure. What’s really cool is that as you glide through the pool, you come across areas that have extra warm currents flowing through that just envelope you in warmth - talk about soothing!! In addition, there are 3 or 4 areas where they have the silica clay that has been dredged up from the bottom in buckets which you get a glob of and spread it on your face as a facial. Too cool!!

The bus dropped us off at about 11:30 in the morning and you get to choose when you want them to come pick you up so we decided on 5:15 so we’d have enough time to really enjoy ourselves. We probably spent an hour and a half in the pool and then in the sauna and steam room, then had lunch with enough time left over for another lengthy dip in the pool before showering and packing up. I tell you - this place is TOTALLY worth the cost of a flight to Iceland alone in my opinion!!

How much is that latte in the window????

As you can imagine, we've had a hoot of a time the last few days. The Icelanders we've met are friendly and accommodating, although somewhat reserved. Maybe it has something to do with their Scandinavian origins......or maybe it has something to do with the fact that their economy isn't doing so well and there isn't a whole lot to be excited about these days.

We been surprised (maybe we shouldn't have been) at the overall quality of food we've encountered at restaurants. We did go to an Italian restaurant around the corner from the hotel which was really delicious! We will likely not be trying some of the classic Icelandic dishes, among which is.....well, how do I put it......rotted shark. It is literally buried in the ground (so the guide book says) until it begins to rot and then it's ready. I find myself wondering who on earth would ever come up with such a delicacy......I guess if you live in a place that has periods of 24 hour sunlight and periods of 24 hour darkness, you might be willing to do anything!

I've given up trying to convert the currency in my head to determine exactly how much we're spending in dollars. Suffice it to say, this is not a bargain destination but then again, it's certainly not Paris either. Everything is priced in hundreds or thousands of kroners and the money is really pretty!! I will say that waitstaff and clerks have all been very helpful in demonstrating how to pay for things. Interestingly, there is no tipping in Iceland, which might explain the lack thus far of effusive waitstaff trying to ensure that everything is to our liking. Don't get me wrong - they are all nice but I think to them it's just a job and they are providing you with a service. Also, the alcohol is served in either 1 or 2 oz shots and they are very specific in how much they give you. Maybe this is an attempt to curb the high incidence - so I hear - of alcoholism in the country. Geez......I'd want to drink too if it was dark 24 hours a day in the winter........

Well, tomorrow we're off to the Blue Lagoon which, despite it's cheesy name, is apparently quite an experience. It's a very large outdoor geothermal pool that is purported to be quite restorative. We shall see.......if you're interested in reading up about it, the website is below:

http://www.bluelagoon.com/Bath/

Well, our best to everyone.......more to follow!

P.S.: Note the website on the sign for the adult bookstore.....all websites here end in "is" for Iceland......too much!!

Greetings from the land of the rising sun!

Finally - we're here in Iceland! Getting acclimated has been half the fun (and challenge) so this may not be a long entry as it's almost midnight and we didn't get much sleep last night. We've completely lucked out and brought the perfect weather we had in Canada here to Iceland. It's been nothing but sunny and pleasant with highs in the upper 60's. The most surprising thing to get used to is the fact that it never gets dark this time of year - it is so bizarre to look out your window at 2 a.m. and it looks like 9 p.m. on a Seattle summer evening. Too wild!! Thank God for light blocking drapes - that's all I can say!

The other adjustment has been getting used to the sulfur smell that comes out of the tap and shower because of the geothermal energy they use to heat the city. I'm sure the locals are used to it but it does make brushing your teeth a challenging experience. Oh well.....a little rotten egg smell never hurt anyone, right???

More to come soon - I promise!!

Buenas Noches,

David

Toronto, Eh???

After about a half hour delay in Dallas due to mechanical difficulties - I was more than happy for them to take their time on that one - we took off for Toronto and arrived about three hours later. We didn't know that we were arriving in Toronto on one of Canada's long, three day weekend. Our taxi driver explained that traffic around the city was especially bad because so many people were headed to the "cottage country". Apparently, that's the term used to refer to the countryside where people have weekend homes, or "cottages". Not sure it this is true all over Canada or just in this area.....any of our Canada friends, feel free to chime in!

Our hotel was centrally located in the financial district in downtown Toronto, so we could easily walk to almost anywhere without difficulty. We decided to buy a day pass for the subway and streetcar which made a lot of sense with as much as we wanted to see and do. A sightseeing tour of the city was a great way to get an overview as well as our bearings. Did you know that shortly after the American revolution, Americans actually invaded Toronto for two weeks? Appparently, the many of the loyalists to the crown who lived here feared this might happen after the US war for independence. Turns out, it wasn't too hard to beat these people back to the American side. A couple of other interesting Toronto tidbits:

• Originally, Toronto was called York but when some people started referring to it as "Little York" in relation to the larger New York down south, the city decided to change it to Toronto.
• Toronto was also the final destination for the underground railroad, which slaves from the US would travel to find freedom in the North.

We were pleasantly surprised on our bus tour that the tour operator proudly pointed out the church in Toronto where the first same sex wedding occurred after Canada legalized same sex marriage. Kudos to Canada!!

Well, tomorrow we check out but since we don't fly to iceland until 9 p.m., we're going to take a boat tour of the harbour during the day and enjoy the sunshine.

TORONTO DAY 2

Wow! Did the weather improve today! We woke up to sunny weather and highs in the low 70’s – a perfect day for our harbour tour. We got a later start this morning than yesterday since we knew we’d be on an overnight flight and hoped to bank some quality sleep time. We headed down to the continental breakfast provided by the hotel and fortunately, it wasn’t quite as crowed as yesterday. Still, since we arrived shortly before the buffet was closing down, the rush to the bagel bar was akin to the passengers on the Titanic scurrying to the last of the lifeboats!

The harbour tour was really enjoyable and actually, quite informative. A few more interesting facts gleaned from the tour:

• Canada doesn’t use their coast guard to protect the water fronts of their cities because the guard is too small for such a major job. Instead. Each city uses it’s police force to monitor the waterways by boat.
• During prohibition in the US during the 1920’s, the Toronto islands were a popular destination for Americans who wanted to enjoy some alcohol.
• Mute swans were found around the islands and apparently, they truly are mute. Becase their necks are so long, their tracheas are stretched to the point that all they can do is quietly hiss if you come to close.
• The CN Tower – the tallest tower in the world – can hold the weight of 14 hippos on their observation deck.
• Yonge Street in Toronto is the longest street in the world at almost 1200 miles. It actually ends at the Ontario/Minnesota border!

Well, that’s about it for Toronto. I’m finishing this up on the plane to Iceland and it looks like the food cart is coming down the aisle. Since we didn’t have dinner yet, I think I’ll sign off......Iceland, here we come! Hope all is well with everyone!!

Spending time with friends and family

Yesterday we met our friends Dee and Zena for lunch and had a terrific time catching up with them. In addition, we've had lots of fun visiting with Jim's family over the last week. We can't believe how much our niece Haley has grown! She's a very mature 13 year old and I have to say, we're impressed with what sweet and delightful girl she has turned out to be.

We took Jim's father Tony out for his birthday last night at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant and enjoyed some authentic chicken fried steak......doesn't get any more "Texas" than that!

We leave tomorrow morning for Toronto bright and early! Assuming the Icelandic volcano is behaving, we'll then fly out from there on Sunday to Iceland. Stay tuned!!

Update from Houston, TX

I spoke with my sister in Houston yesterday, who we're planning to stay with at the end of next month on our way to Puerto Rico. Apparently, they had some very heavy storms last Friday and their home was struck by lightening and caught on fire! She tells me the house is a total loss. Fortunately, both she and my brother in law, as well as their dog and cat, got out of the house with no problems. She tells me the neighbors have been very supportive and they are currently staying with a neighbor until the insurance company helps them find a rental house. They will be having their house rebuilt but it will probably take about six months, so please send Jennifer and Dan your good vibes as they go through this difficult time.

I found a link online from a local news station in Houston about their story. My brother in law, Dan, is interviewed on the video:

http://www.39online.com/news/local/kiah-homestruckbylightning-story,0,5571170.story

At Tina & Sharon's in Heath, TX

We made it to Texas in record time and were rewarded with some much needed R&R at Tina and Sharon's with plenty of pool time and hanging out with their adorable Pugs, Lucy and Jake. Lucy is 14 years old and Jake is just about a year - talk about two cutie bugs!

We were reminising about when they first built this beautiful house and how beautiful they've made it. The pool was added after the house was built and you can see the gorgeous landscaping they added. With temperatures in the mid 80's it was perfect pool weather during the day and in the evening, it was relaxing in the hot tub with one of Sharon's famous Malibu Bay Breezes.......good times, for sure!

We're all very excited about heading to Iceland together. We'll fly out of Dallas with Tina and Sharon on Friday to Toronto where we'll spend a couple of days before flying on to Iceland on Sunday. Too bad we'll only get to be with them for a week there before they have to head back but we'll see them again when we fly back to Dallas on June 10th.