Alright, Okay, You Win

No, I'm not in love with you.*

That's what I finally told my brain at 4:30 this morning when I decided to finally get out of bed after having not slept at all (yes, I mean that literally.) At some point, you just have to cut your losses and take advantage of the pent-up energy that is keeping you awake.

I proceeded to get out of bed–quite spryly, I might add–and scoop the still catatonic (of course) Carlos out of his bed of choice for the evening. He'd been snoring extremely loudly for hours. It's amazing how much noise can come from such a small creature. After a quick walk and some breakfast for the cat-like dog, I downed some OJ and went for a run. This felt reeeaaally good. I hadn't been for a good jog in way too long. Normally I'm not a morning runner because my body hasn't fully booted up and I don't have the mental wherewithal to power through the tough spots. Today was different. Like I said–it felt good.

After a quick shower, it was time to head downtown to take some photos of the city at sunrise. I'd been wanting to do this for awhile, why not today. There was some interesting cloud cover over the skyline today. It would have probably been better to shoot in the pre-dawn hours when the sun was being diffused by the light fog into a pale blue glow on the horizon, rather than the blinding fireball of sunrise. I'm not complaining, while not my best work, I'm pretty happy with them.

I finished up my most productive morning in a while with breakfast with my best friend, who's been going through some stressful times, but appears to be pulling out of them on top! Now, time for a nap.

* Please tell me someone got that reference.

Sand. Everywhere.

I decided to drive down to Surfside today. The sky was perfect for a photo that I've been wanting to take. Unfortunately, the clouds had moved on by the time I got to the coast, but I made some lemonade, as you do, and got a few keepers.

It was a fun little day trip. Now I'm really tired, my eyes are super dry, and I'm still finding sand–even after a shower.

You can have a look at the pictures here (I especially like the dandelion.)

Winding Down/Travel Day

Yesterday I was pretty tired from the busy day of exploration on Tuesday, but was able to push through that and have another fun day. It was very cold and rainy, but I decided to brave it and walk around the city some more.

My first stop was lunch at this little unobtrusive bar called Vitabar. I had the forget-me-not burger, which is oozing with blue cheese and garlic sauce—definitely not date food— and a Viking Íslenskur Úrvals Stout. The burger was OK, but not as good as it looked, the garlic was a bit much for me. The beer was mediocre at best—definitely the low point of the trip on the beer front. I would be willing to try the beer again; however, because it almost tasted like a bad bottle...almost metallic tasting with an off-kilter sweet aroma.

Next was quite possibly the strangest experience of my life—the Iceland Phallological Museum. It was started by a PhD in some sort of History and has real specimens from many different species, as well as letters of intent to donate from several humans...including one American who, if I'm reading his letter correctly, intends to have his...ummm...donation surgically removed while he's still alive. I was pretty creeped out by the place, not because it was penises (penii?, penae?) and I'm a prude, but just by the oddity of it all. The curator has penis leather ties, bow ties, and a "Sunday Codpiece", whatever that is.

I finished out the day with some shopping and more pictures. I decided to skip the symphony and use the evening to get some night shots of the church and pack.

I'm now waiting for my bus to the airport. It has been an amazing trip and an eye opening introduction to Iceland. I am already looking forward to a return trip. Next time I plan to venture farther from the city and see even more of the island's natural beauty.

If you've been keeping up with my writings and pictures and have stuck with me to the end, thank you. I'm glad that I kept you interested and hope you found the updates informative, if not enjoyable.

I'll post the last set of pictures when I get back to the US.

Wow

Click to view the galleryToday, I went on a photo excursion with Tony Prower of icelandaurora.com. First, I must tell you how fantastic this experience was. Tony is not only very professional, but also very friendly and knowledgable about both Iceland and photography. I can't recommend his services highly enough. I know that I will be a repeat customer.

We decided to take a bit of a drive along the southern coast and visit the glacier near Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that erupted in 2010 which caused not only great deals of damage to the surrounding area, but also affected air travel around the world.

This was my first time walking on a glacier, and it was as spectacular as I had expected. The temperatures were not very cold (near or just below freezing), so we didn't venture too far up onto the glacier—nor did I explore too deeply into the caves and tunnels melting into the tongue. Even so, the colors and shapes were breathtaking.

We also made a couple of stops at water falls and other interesting scenes along the way. Other than the title of this entry and the aforementioned praise for Tony, I think that it's best to let the pictures speak for this day.

Seashore and Eldhús: Little House of Christmas

I had a day of museums and culture planned for today, but when I went outside and saw the sun on the mountaintop, all of those plans went out the window. I decided to walk along the shoreline walking trail. The shore here is very picturesque. I'm extremely jealous of all of the people who work right across the street—they have an amazing view.

Sólfar (Click to view the gallery)After walking for about three hours, I stopped at Sólfar—the well-known sculpture of a viking ship—for a quick rest. While I was there, a cab pulled up and out hopped a young woman to take a few pictures with her mobile phone. We exchanged pleasantries and she handed me her phone to take her picture. As she was returning to the cab, she mentioned that she was in town from London for business. She works for Inspired by Iceland, a wonderful tourism campaign for the island. She was going to be at Eldús, which I was planning on stopping by later on in the afternoon. This wasn't really significant other than the fact that it was an interesting coincidence and fun encounter.

I continued my walk and finally made it to Eldhús, where I stopped in for hot chocolate, cookies, and stories about Icelandic Christmas tradition. It turns out that those crazy guys in santa suits were the Yule Lads. The Yule Lads are 13 mischievious (or evil, not quite sure I've decided yet) brothers who live with their mother, who eats all of the bad children (I can't stress this enough...SHE EATS THE BAD CHILDREN...your move, Santa). They come down from the mountain one by one starting December 12th and leave presents in children's shoes left on the windowsill. They then stick around for thirteen days, causing all sorts of trouble.

There is also the Yule Cat, the mother's cat, who goes around stealing food and/or stealing (and presumably killing) any children who do not have new clothes. The Yule Cat isn't a fashionista, he sees the new clothes as a sign that the children are behaving well and helping their parents with the chores.

I love Christmas in Iceland.

(click to enlarge)The good people of Eldhús.After more wonderful conversation with my new friends, it was time to head out. I didn't realize, but I was in that little house for two hours! I highly recommend visiting inspiredbyiceland.com and, if you possibly can, come say hello to the inhabitants of Eldhús in person.

Pictures here.