This is our Independence Day!
Well, it's Iceland's, anyway. After a night of sleep...awake...sleep...awake...sleep...is it really only 4am?...sleep, it was time to start our day. I could go into great detail about the difficulty we had just starting the shower, but that would be embarrassing, so I won't. If you've been outside the US, you might feel our pain. We did break down and call the apartment host, and he was very confused why it was not obvious. He was going to come over to help, and then right after hanging up the phone, we figured it out. One nice thing about being a country with active volcanoes is that you have cheap hot water. The bad thing is, your shower is essentially water lava.
After a nice hot shower (did I mention it was lava?), we had a great breakfast cooked by Les. It was probably the cheapest meal we've had so far, and was delicious. The first order of the day was a walking tour of Reykjavik. We had to meet up at a Leif Erickson statue by a large church. For all of you Columbus groupies, Leif actually was the first European in North America, so Take That! The statue was actually donated to Iceland by the US in 1930 in recognition of the 1000 year anniversary of Alþingi, the parliament of Iceland. Alþingi was first convened at Þingvellir in the year 930 AD.We met our awesome guide, Olaf right on time. She (yes, I said "She" - Iceland is the only Scandinavian country with a female version of that name) was awesome. Her opening line was "I'm not the snowman from Frozen". She gave us some history on the church and the area in general, then led us to a sculpture garden behind an art museum. The sculptures were made by a famous Icelandic artist, and the museum was his home.All of the streets in the area were named after Norse mythological characters. We walked down Loki street, then turned on Baldurs Gate (my personal choice for a home). We saw lots of graffiti and murals, and I guess it was such a common problem that she was actually aware of the general rules of tagging - "Thou shalt not paint over someone else art while it is new. Thou must wait an appropriate amount of time for the art to age. Then mayest thou paint over it, but thine new art must cover the old art utterly."Unbeknownst to us, today was Icelandic Independence Day. I would like to say that we planned the timing, but it was a total surprise to us. So, Reykjavik was bustling with people, mostly carrying Icelandic flags. Like all Scandinavian countries, there is a cross on the flag, representing Christianity. On the Icelandic flag, there is a blue background representing the sea, white representing the glaciers, and red for the volcanoes.After we finished the walking tour, we went by the Parliament building. I saw my pick for a hotel - The Borg Hotel - resistance is indeed futile. We headed back up the hill to wait for the parade. I had high hopes, as it began with a flow of classic cars. Their definition of "classic" was extremely generous. In addition to the Model T, Edsel, and early 60's T-Bird, there were some mid 2000's Mercedes and I think even a fairly recent Civic. After a brief interlude, we heard a marching band approach. They were preceded by some young equestrians who were a little uncertain about the crowds. The marching band was followed by...just regular people walking along. Lots of regular people. I figured the parade was over, then we heard amplified rock music approaching. Before them, there were dudes on stilts, breathing fire. The music was a bit out of place, but they seemed to be having fun. After them...more regular people walking along. It was sure a different expectation than you would think a national capital independence celebration would consist of.After the parade, we walked down closer to the harbor. We stopped off at the cheapest restaurant dinner of our trip. The most famous hot dog stand in Iceland, Baejarins Bezetu, that fed Bill Clinton a hot dog with only mustard. All four of us ate for less than $30, which is a miracle.Walking back after our snack, we had a cycle of 1.pouring rain forcing Carrie to pull out her umbrella, 2. rain stopping causing Carrie to put away her umbrella, 3. pouring rain causing...well you get the idea. We were going to go up the elevator in the church tower to get a view of the city, but it was closed to host a wedding. So, we headed back to the apartment, with a stop off at "the best bakery in Reykjavik" (according to Olaf). We carbo-loaded, then went to the grocery store for dinner and breakfast needs, then back to the apartment.We were all soaked, so we dried off, and did some blog prep work. I prepared dinner, and we ate. Since we are in a place devoid of night this time of year, it was still bright at 8:30 pm, so we headed back to the church to go up the tower. Unfortunately, we received incomplete information. Yes, the church is open until 9, but the tower elevator closes at 8:30. Dee Neyed! We walked down to the harbor, and saw a statue of the family of forks that discovered Iceland. Sound unbelievable? Well, look at the picture below, and be astonished.The Diet Coke was finished at dinner tonight, and if you know Les and Pat, that is just not ok. Unfortunately, after our evening walk, the grocery store was closed. Luckily, a little farther away, is one that is open all hours. So, they ignored their aching feet and headed out in search of carbonated goodness (well, according to them - I never touch the stuff). It is probably good that we ate in tonight, because Les said that Iceland will make you thin. We'll all be starving because we will have exhausted our food budget in a matter of days (that's mostly a joke).As I'm finishing up today's entry in our Icelandic Saga, Carrie is in the kitchen finishing the dishes from dinner. It's 10:40, and starting to get a little dim outside. Hopefully tonight will hold more sleep. We've definitely earned it today. Goodnight, Sun.
After a nice hot shower (did I mention it was lava?), we had a great breakfast cooked by Les. It was probably the cheapest meal we've had so far, and was delicious. The first order of the day was a walking tour of Reykjavik. We had to meet up at a Leif Erickson statue by a large church. For all of you Columbus groupies, Leif actually was the first European in North America, so Take That! The statue was actually donated to Iceland by the US in 1930 in recognition of the 1000 year anniversary of Alþingi, the parliament of Iceland. Alþingi was first convened at Þingvellir in the year 930 AD.We met our awesome guide, Olaf right on time. She (yes, I said "She" - Iceland is the only Scandinavian country with a female version of that name) was awesome. Her opening line was "I'm not the snowman from Frozen". She gave us some history on the church and the area in general, then led us to a sculpture garden behind an art museum. The sculptures were made by a famous Icelandic artist, and the museum was his home.All of the streets in the area were named after Norse mythological characters. We walked down Loki street, then turned on Baldurs Gate (my personal choice for a home). We saw lots of graffiti and murals, and I guess it was such a common problem that she was actually aware of the general rules of tagging - "Thou shalt not paint over someone else art while it is new. Thou must wait an appropriate amount of time for the art to age. Then mayest thou paint over it, but thine new art must cover the old art utterly."Unbeknownst to us, today was Icelandic Independence Day. I would like to say that we planned the timing, but it was a total surprise to us. So, Reykjavik was bustling with people, mostly carrying Icelandic flags. Like all Scandinavian countries, there is a cross on the flag, representing Christianity. On the Icelandic flag, there is a blue background representing the sea, white representing the glaciers, and red for the volcanoes.After we finished the walking tour, we went by the Parliament building. I saw my pick for a hotel - The Borg Hotel - resistance is indeed futile. We headed back up the hill to wait for the parade. I had high hopes, as it began with a flow of classic cars. Their definition of "classic" was extremely generous. In addition to the Model T, Edsel, and early 60's T-Bird, there were some mid 2000's Mercedes and I think even a fairly recent Civic. After a brief interlude, we heard a marching band approach. They were preceded by some young equestrians who were a little uncertain about the crowds. The marching band was followed by...just regular people walking along. Lots of regular people. I figured the parade was over, then we heard amplified rock music approaching. Before them, there were dudes on stilts, breathing fire. The music was a bit out of place, but they seemed to be having fun. After them...more regular people walking along. It was sure a different expectation than you would think a national capital independence celebration would consist of.After the parade, we walked down closer to the harbor. We stopped off at the cheapest restaurant dinner of our trip. The most famous hot dog stand in Iceland, Baejarins Bezetu, that fed Bill Clinton a hot dog with only mustard. All four of us ate for less than $30, which is a miracle.Walking back after our snack, we had a cycle of 1.pouring rain forcing Carrie to pull out her umbrella, 2. rain stopping causing Carrie to put away her umbrella, 3. pouring rain causing...well you get the idea. We were going to go up the elevator in the church tower to get a view of the city, but it was closed to host a wedding. So, we headed back to the apartment, with a stop off at "the best bakery in Reykjavik" (according to Olaf). We carbo-loaded, then went to the grocery store for dinner and breakfast needs, then back to the apartment.We were all soaked, so we dried off, and did some blog prep work. I prepared dinner, and we ate. Since we are in a place devoid of night this time of year, it was still bright at 8:30 pm, so we headed back to the church to go up the tower. Unfortunately, we received incomplete information. Yes, the church is open until 9, but the tower elevator closes at 8:30. Dee Neyed! We walked down to the harbor, and saw a statue of the family of forks that discovered Iceland. Sound unbelievable? Well, look at the picture below, and be astonished.The Diet Coke was finished at dinner tonight, and if you know Les and Pat, that is just not ok. Unfortunately, after our evening walk, the grocery store was closed. Luckily, a little farther away, is one that is open all hours. So, they ignored their aching feet and headed out in search of carbonated goodness (well, according to them - I never touch the stuff). It is probably good that we ate in tonight, because Les said that Iceland will make you thin. We'll all be starving because we will have exhausted our food budget in a matter of days (that's mostly a joke).As I'm finishing up today's entry in our Icelandic Saga, Carrie is in the kitchen finishing the dishes from dinner. It's 10:40, and starting to get a little dim outside. Hopefully tonight will hold more sleep. We've definitely earned it today. Goodnight, Sun.
