Iceland: The Last, England: The First

Hello readers,

Oh boy has it been a few busy days. As I stated in my last entry (or at least, I think I stated) at the time of posting, our final day in Iceland had not yet come to an end.

22 September 2015

It began like the others: cloudy, rainy, and with a bit of that Icelandic chill. Our tour for the day, the volcano hike, wasn't scheduled until two that afternoon so we took the morning to sleep in a little later than usual, tackle Hallgrímskirkja's tower during the day, wander the streets, and of course, hit the Phallological Museum.

All of those were done with ease. While the church is easy to spot, finding the museum is more difficult. This time, after spending a long time looking for it last year, I knew just where to look. The same thing went for the pyslur (Icelandic hot dogs) stand I remembered, and so we even treated ourselves to one of those even though it wasn't quite noon yet.

We returned to the hostel to rest up and dry up before our tour. I received a rather disheartening email, that stated our volcano hike tour had been cancelled due to the weather. Although disappointed because it certainly had been one of the tours we were most excited for, Cerisa and I looked at each other and said, "We'll do it next time.

We spent the rest of the day catching up on our journals and blogs, laughing about the night before with the boys. Every time one of us said one of their names, they'd poke their head through the door and say hello. And thus, plans for going out later that night were made.

Our roommate of a few days, Micah, joined us at some point, and then we decided to all go out to dinner. We laughed through the rain to downtown Reykjavík to a bar and restaurant known as the, yes, Icelandic Bar. This was our destination because they were known to serve a bunch of Icelandic delicacies and traditional food. It was here that her friend Scott (a friendly Canadian) accompanied us.

Micah had told us horror stories about the infamous fermented shark dish at this restaurant...it is as it sounds. Six pieces of shark that had been left to ferment in a jar, served with a shot of brennivin (aka the "black death"). Micah told us of gagging, puking, and being only able to down one piece... I saw this as a challenge and must-eat, so with a When-In-Rome attitude, Cerisa and I stuck a toothpick into that shark and chewed on it. While my dear friend spit hers out, I actually found it just tasted like fish and wasn't as awful as they had exclaimed. In fact, I actually ate two pieces and would probably have eaten more had my tablemates not told the server to remove the delicacy from the table. For my main course, I decided to have a reindeer burger. Gamey and tasting much like venison, I wasn't too impressed (as I don't like venison) but it was anything but bad. It was quite delicious and cooked well, with a nice helping of crispy waffle fries on the side.

After dinner, the four of us (Scott, Micah, Cerisa, and myself) met up with the Dans (the Englishmen from the night before) and headed to a bar called Skuli just off the city center downtown. Cerisa and I  (and Micah, too, as we had found out) had a shuttle to catch just before 3am for our flight (which Micah was on, hence the shuttle pickup for her as well), so we decided to just stay up all night instead of catching a wink of sleep. We hung out at Skuli for a couple hours, picking up two other friends of Micah's from the City of Brotherly love before heading to the next bar, an American retro-themed bar called the Lebowski bar, where we met Patryk and a new girl he brought along from the Netherlands named Susannah. We sat in the back of the Lebowski bar until we decided it was time to hit one more bar. Not much to be said about this bar, other than the fact that it was the last one we visited, and another person from our hostel joined us. Last call was earlier than I imagined, and we were kicked out of the bar at 1am or so, so after being kicked out we all linked arms and walked.

As we walked arm in arm, the devastatingly charming Dans started singing some song at the top of their lungs, which attracted some drunk Irishmen (redundant again). One of them came up behind Cerisa, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder. She was okay with it, intoxicated herself, and laughing along with him, until he literally picked her up and started trying to carry her away. She managed to keep the Irishman at bay until we reached the hostel. The point where I stepped in was where he repeatedly tried to get her upstairs into his room.

"She can't go with you," I said, "we have a plane to catch."

"I'll only be a minute," he slurred.

Taking her arm I smugly replied, "Well, if you only take a minute, you're not worth her time." And with that I pulled her away.

It remains one of the wittiest things I have ever said to this day.

Wednesday, 23 September 2015

Our night with our new friends ended with us seated around a table in the hostel lounge, laughing loudly and belligerently, with the Dan we dubbed "Quiet Dan" laying down on the table drinking cheap Amaretto from a flask, which wasn't doing a whole lot for his consciousness. The hour or so we had before the shuttle pickup flew by, and when the time came for us to depart, it was met with sad hugs for friendships passing in the night. In my exhaustion, I also twisted my ankle lugging my luggage down the stairs but I was so tired at the time I didn't care.

The shuttle ride to the airport was dark and without sleep. Micah for some strange reason, despite her being on our flight, was not allowed on our shuttle so we didn't see her until we were at the gate...but that may have been because I passed out at a table in the airport food court until it was close to the time of departure. Supposedly, the food court had been kicking people out unless they had purchased something, but they left me undisturbed. Thanks, strangers!

I can't recall the flight to England, but that may have been because I put my headphones in so I could hopefully catch more shut eye while listening to my new Kaleo CD (Kaleo is an Icelandic artist I had stumbled across a few weeks earlier and whose music was only available in Iceland, so lucky for me I was going to Iceland, and knew where to look in Reykjavik for just such a thing!) And I did. I woke up just before the captain announced our descent into Gatwick.

We waited for Micah as we disembarked the airplane, and I turned on my phone (which I had set up so I could text and use data while in the UK), telling my parents of my safe arrival in England and to vaguely text my friend Tom the number of days until our visit with him (which was 9 at the time, if I recall).  Together, the three of us bought train tickets to Victoria station, near to me and Cerisa's hostel. Micah was going to see if she could stay in our hostel. Due to the influx of visitors in London because of the Rugby World Cup, the hostel sadly did not have a spare bed for her that night.

After climbing five flights of stairs to our room (and me, again in my exhaustion, tripped and fell at the top and hit my knee), we took a short nap before we went out to find dinner.

Our venture to find dinner post-nap was mostly that...a venture. We wandered (or more accurately, I limped due to my ankle) around London near our hotel until we found a place just across the Thames. The venue was nice; it was right on the water, had a beautiful view of some of the famous sights downriver, and wasn't terribly expensive. I got to try grilled halloumi, a cheese I had never had before. It was quite delicious. On our way back to the hostel, naturally in my clumsiness and exhaustion and dim lighting I tripped on an uneven slab of stone and smashed my knee, my bad knee, pretty viciously. I knew as soon as I stood up that I had done some damage. I wasn't bleeding, but my knee was suddenly very swollen and I was concerned about it filling with fluid like the last time I had hit it.

Laughing it off, we set off to find me an ice pack. Luckily, there was a small convenient store just down the street from the hostel. They didn't have an ice pack, but they did have a bag of ice, and so I sat in the hostel room with a bag of ice draped over my swollen and purple knee, and my swollen ankle.

I suppose I'll make a new entry for my full days in London. Stay tuned!

Until next time,

Elissa

L-R: [Blurry] Susannah, Patryk, Quiet Dan, Cerisa, Myself, Scott, Micah, Loud Dan, and no idea--she just randomly joined the photo

Iceland Round 2: The Mountain Is A Lie

Hello readers (if any of you still exist),

Happy planes

Sorry in advance. I don't have a ton of pictures to include in my journal, just what has essentially been uploaded to Facebook....As always, click on the photos to see them larger. Anyway, what a fun couple of days it has been. On Friday the 18th Cerisa and I began our journey with 2.5 hour drive to Boston (courtesy of our dear friend Jimmy), so we could depart from Logan International. We flew WOW Airlines, a budget Icelandic airline (with very happy planes) that obviously provides you the discounted rates, but without the amenities (like provided drinks, meals, etc.) The flight attendants were pleasant, the seats were normal and about as roomy as any other airline. Overall, I'd recommend them and I'd fly with them again.

We landed in Reykjavik at 4:50am. We collected our luggage relatively quickly and were on the shuttles to take us to the hostel probably by 5:30. We were certainly exhausted, but didn't sleep on the bus. I actually didn't catch much sleep on the plane (more like a doze) and didn't sleep on the shuttle, so after we got to the hostel (since weren't allowed to check in until 2pm), I chilled out on the couch and took a half hour snooze before our tour at 9am.

At 8:30 our shuttle for the first tour of our trip, the whale watch, picked us up. I won't go into much detail about that part really...the tour guide wasn't nearly as good as the one I had last year. It was rainy and cold, so the vistas of the mountains, even the ones right out front of the hostel, were nonexistent, and the waves were large and rocked the boat in a pretty significant manner if we were being hit by them on the long side of the boat. I guess it got choppy enough that they had to cancel the second tour of the day at 2pm. While we did not see any minke whales (like Peanut!), we did, however, see some beautiful atlantic white-side dolfins leaping, breaching, playing, and bow-riding. I'm glad we saw some amazing marine life on Cerisa's first whale watch!

For lunch we proceeded to eat at the same place I went last time for the kebabs and lobster soup (the place that sold the minke whale steaks), known as the Sea Baron (or Sægreifinn in Icelandic). I was just as satisfied with my food, and Cerisa (who has avoided seafood under the lifelong assumption that she does not like seafood) tried my soup and was rather impressed by the fact that she did not hate it...dare I say, she possibly even liked it.

After our lunch we headed on over to the Whales of Iceland museum. This museum included life-size (what looked to be) paper mache models of the whales suspended majestically from the ceiling. This delighted me, of course, as an avid whale lover. But my whale experience has always been seeing them in the water bits at a time, or full-body models as small figurines...to see them life-size was amazing. You simply cannot grasp how enormous and graceful a Humpback whale looks, or how big killer whale looks, or how large the jaws of a Sperm whale are until you stick your face in them and pose for a photo. It made me feel very small and fueled my wonder for these beautiful animals. After we saw the whales, we sat in the museum cafe falling asleep in front of a cup of coffee killing time before our next tour at 3...the dim blue light was not helping us stay awake in our 29 hours (with at least 6 more to go) without sleep.

However, that day was not all good. There was a miscommunication between me and the tour clerk at the morning tour and I thought our tour had started at three, so that was when we showed up to the pickup spot. Our tour did start at three, but pickup was at 2:15. So sadly, we missed the tour where we go to Silfra and snorkel in the glacial waters...It is all good though, we were able to get in a power nap and shower before heading out to find dinner.

We found this restaurant called Hressó Hressingarskálinn. The atmosphere was nice, the food was delicious, and we enjoyed ourselves. It took us at least 2 hours in the restaurant, which was a nice reminder that we Americans are so used to being in a rush with our food that sometimes it's okay to sit back and relax for a while. After dinner and a quick stop at the supermarket, we proceeded directly to bed and were out like lamps as soon as we hit the pillow. 36 hours awake sure does a number on you.

20 September 2015

We were up bright and early (well, just early...couldn't so much say it was bright because it was mostly raining) for our tour of Iceland's south shore. The rain didn't let up for the entire day, except for the one beautiful double rainbow we had as we were waiting for our shuttle to arrive.

Our first stop was the ‎Mýdalskjökll‬ ‪glacier‬, not too far from where the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted in 2010. We walked the path that led us to a wonderful vantage point (seen below). But we had so much fun ignoring the sign that said "Do not proceed past this point. Unstable terrain and chance of calving." After all, we got to touch the glacier! But let me tell you, words cannot describe the beauty of this scene. The contrast between the blue-white of the glacier and the brown-green of the mountain was breathtaking. Add the mist and the fog, and you've got one moody scene.

Mýdalskjökll‬ ‪glacier

That same mood could be applied to any other one of the majestic landscapes we saw: the massive waves thundering against the eroded rock towers of Reynifsjara Hálsanefshellir; the fantastical black sand beaches of Vík, or the enormous, misting Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss

Skógafoss

Seljalandsfoss, in which you can walk behind the falls

In between the two waterfalls, we had the opportunity to stop for a little bit at the Icelandic Folk Museum, a museum that cataloged life for the Icelandic farm folk throughout time. You step inside, and you see all of these artifacts suspended on the wall. They look ages old, made from driftwood and bone, ornate and fragile. 

But as the guide starts speaking, it amazes you because some of it may not actually be that old. The South Shore was isolated from the capital at least until the 1920s, when the first bridges were being built connecting the south with the rest of the island. We learned that people in that area lived essentially in the stone ages until well into the 20th century (around WWII). When the British and the Americans invaded to stop Germany from invading, the first airstrip was built in Iceland. As you're driving the Icelandic countryside, you will notice it is very flat and barren in many areas, and there's not a lot of foliage other than some grass and mosses. Trees are a rarity, and therefore wood is a precious resource. Many houses and household items (like bowls) were made from driftwood (most often from countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the UK). Because wood was so rare, and these farmers didn't have heat they would have to burn manure, which as you can imagine doesn't smell great and creates a lot of smoke. Because of this, the houses didn't have heat and the way they kept warm was layer upon layer of wool, and sleeping 2-3 people to a bed, where you had had to sleep sitting up because they weren't long enough to lay down in. Also because metal was such a precious resource, utensils were made out of cow bones. Cow bones get soft when heated and therefore can be molded into spoons. The irony here, however, is that in order to eat that traditional hot Icelandic meat stew, you would need a spoon...soup is hot, spoon gets soft in heat...you get the picture

There were other interesting facts about the south Icelandic folk beyond the scarcity of resources. Despite the harsh stone-age conditions, learning to read and write was mandatory. Even in the winters, you were guaranteed a teacher for at least one month per winter to help you learn. Additionally, due to being so isolated and trying to translate everything, the Icelandic language has changed very little over the course of its long history. In fact, it has changed so little that those who know the language can easily translate ancient documents written in the language. Also interestingly enough, many people still believe in the pagan tales of trolls (hiding in the mountains and turned to stone at the touch of sunlight), hidden folk, elves, fairies, and much more. 

The story of the hidden people, or Huldufólk is quite interesting and comes from a couple of legends. The following story I have seen a few times in different places, written or oral, throughout my trip:

Once upon a time, God Almighty came to visit Adam and Eve. They received him with joy, and showed him everything they had in the house. They also brought their children to him, to show him, and these He found promising and full of hope. 

Then He asked Eve whether she had no other children than these whom she now showed him. 

She said "None." 

But it so happened that she had not finished washing them all, and, being ashamed to let God see them dirty, had hidden the unwashed ones. This God knew well, and said therefore to her, "What man hides from God, God will hide from man." 

These unwashed children became forthwith invisible, and took up their abode in mounds, and hills, and rocks. From these are the elves descended, but we men from those of Eve's children whom she had openly and frankly shown to God. And it is only by the will and desire of the elves themselves that men can ever see them.

You can read the second legend here.

Hallgrímskirkja

We ended our South Shore trip soaked to the bone from the rain, but we returned to the hostel full of knowledge and sights of new places. After a warm shower (I gave the communal shower a shot, which was nerve-wracking for me), we headed out to find dinner. We wound up at this place called Kol right on the main street leading up to Hallgrímskirkja, which is so stunning at night I might add.  Kol was dimly lit and had a lovely ambiance, with freshly baked dark bread and homemade butter to snack on while we waited for our food. While neither one of us were overly impressed with our meals, we did enjoy them. I had a seafood soup (with shrimp, scallops, and what appeared to be caviar of some sort) with some tuna finger snacks, and Cerisa had a ox brisket risotto. We treated ourselves to a selection of the restaurant's dessert sampler containing a passion fruit cheese cake, traditional skyr with berries, hazelnut parfait, and homemade sorbet, but after waiting for 45 minutes, the waitress told us that the dessert was on the house! We definitely enjoyed the desserts more that they were not only delicious, but free!

Still exhausted from our jet lag and having a really early tour (6:30am pickup) the next morning, we were going to go straight to bed once we got back to the hostel. However, as we were preparing for bed, our roommate came in and exclaimed "Northern lights!" So, in an excited rush, we went outside in front of the hostel and waited. Lo and behold, there they were: a ribbon of pale green flashing and pulsing as it ribboned across the sky, brighter and brighter as the night went on. It was incredible, although nothing like I'd seen in pictures..but that's because pictures are long-exposure and absorb more of the light over time than we are seeing. I almost had tears in my eyes at the sight though. Incredible doesn't sum it up. Oh, how I wish I had my tripod, but I made due and am quite satisfied with how my photos turned out.

Aurora borealis over Reykjavik

21 September 2015

We woke up bright and early for our next tour: the Golden Circle. When we got on the shuttle, the sun wasn't even up yet. But they day proved to be sunny and clear and perfect for The Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is Iceland's most popular tour, but likely because of the hour, our tour only had 8 people. The older couple sitting in front of us was from Western Massachusetts, and happened to have a daughter who not only lived in Albany, but also went to The College of Saint Rose like us. Small world!

Our tour guide, a strawberry blond fellow named Bergur, was great, especially with such a small group. He was very pleasant and informational. He asked us about ourselves, talked to us about all of the different places we were visiting, and even took us to a spot which isn't on the tour (no, really).

Our first stop was Friðheimar, a greenhouse that grows produce such as tomatoes and cucumbers all year round. Inside was as you'd expect, warm  and smelled a bit like dirt, but there were thousands of tomato plants almost ready to sprout their fruit. After we learned a bit about the growing process, we sat down for a delicious breakfast of fresh homemade tomato soup, bloody marys (with a fresh slice of cucumber!), and fresh bread.

Then we continued on to our ad hoc stop, a place known as Faxi (or Vatnsleysufoss) , a beautiful scenic point overlooking the countryside. We were only here for five minutes, as opposed to the 45 or so minutes we spent at the other locations on the tour, so I only had a few moments to snap a couple of photos.

Faxi/Vatnsleysufoss

Our third stop (second official) was at Gullfoss, or Golden Falls, and the White River. These giant thundering falls, although smaller, were comparable in beauty to that of Niagara Falls or the falls at Lechworth State Park. They were so totally stunning, throwing mist everywhere. If the sun were higher, I think we could have seen them with rainbows, as they are famous for.

Gullfoss cascading into the White River

Our penultimate stop was Geysir, Strokkuu, and the hot springs. Geysir is where the word "Geyser" gets its name. Geysir erupts once every 4-8 months, while Strokkur is the reliably active, although unpredictable force of nature. Every 5 minutes or so, Strokkur will throw boiling water up into the air, whether ten feet or 80 feet (as we got to witness), only once every few minutes, or three times in a row (as we also got to witness). This was my first geyser, so I was very impressed.

Our final stop was at þingvellir National Park, where I snorkeled last year but didn't get to see much beyond the water. To refresh: þingvellir is where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart and the land is raised or lowered depending on how the plates are moving on either side. Boy, was it beautiful. The jagged rifts of the land pulling apart at the seams (because of the tectonic plates), the sunshine with the rain in the distance, the majesty of the mountains, the tiny church and houses below, the glistening water, and the pale rainbow lingering in the distance. It was the epitome of what Iceland is. It is fantastical, magical, and it is so easy to see why I fell in love with it. It's practically a fantasy a world. 

þingvellir from the Eurasian side

þingvellir from the North American side

After Golden Circle we headed out for what we knew would be a short trip to Blue Lagoon. Our bus left at 5, and we needed to get on the 7:15 bus back to Reykjavík so we could get the 10pm Northern Lights Tour (There was no 8:15 bus, and the 9:15 bus would get us back too late). We enjoyed our short time in the pool and hurried out to catch the bus back. Out in the the parking lot at 7:05, there were two buses waiting in the lot, one without a driver, and one with a sign saying "Keflavik Airport" with people with luggage getting on. We even heard the driver say said they were going to the airport, so we didn't get on. We should have. That bus apparently went to wear we needed to be. Frustrated, we walked in circles for a few moments wondering what to do, but along came a taxi. Expensive (although not as expensive as we dreaded) we had a way back. The driver was very kind. He turned on the WiFi (yes, folks, everything and everyone and everywhere has WiFi in Iceland), put on music he (hoped) we liked and knew, and made conversation with us. It was funny when he put on "Uptown Funk" (you know the one) and seemed surprised that we knew the song. I proceeded to ask him if he knew what a "a fresh jar of Skippy meant." He admitted he had no idea, and laughed when I told him it was a jar of peanut butter. Overall, it was a lovely ride, especially with the sun setting over the mountains on my left. 

We got back in time for our Northern Lights tour, and while waiting outside the hostel we made the acquaintance of a few handsome Englishmen (by the names of Dan, Dan, Will, and Marty), and an equally handsome Californian by the name of Patryk. While after the shuttle dropped us at the bus station we lost Will and Marty, Dan2, Patrick, Cerisa, and myself stayed together and had a blast on the Northern Lights tour. While we only got to see one (pretty impressive) display of dancing lights, we did get to see quite the amazing night sky and had many laughs. We got back to the hostel around 2am, and I fell asleep practically as soon as my head hit the pillow. 

22 September 2015

Because my day isn't over yet, I'll try to leave my eyes open to write a summary tomorrow on the plane of my adventures (or non adventures) of my final day in Iceland...we'll see. :)

--

Miscellaneous observations:

• Aforementioned WiFi everywhere
• There might be less emphasis on hygiene in restaurants. One place we visited clearly did not wipe down tables and they had no problem with business (line was out the door), and the people in the hostel seem to handle food with their bare hands (clean, surely, but all the same an interesting observation)
• Why do American bathroom stalls have gaps between the door and the other side of the latch? Nowhere in Europe seems to have that. 
• Icelandic people genuinely care whether or not you are having a good time, you are enjoying yourself or your food, etc. 
• Typically, European cars are very small...In Iceland, I'd say that perhaps the ratio of SUVs person is more than in the US. I theorize that this is because of the highlands and the rugged terrain, and of course, the winters. 
• Businesses, including supermarkets, close at strange hours, although this may in fact also be a general European thing. I may have noticed this in Denmark, but cannot recall. 
• Day 4, still haven't seen a police officer. 
• This was not something I would have noticed last time, but the abundance of written (and even spoken) Danish is prevalent. Also, how Icelandic is so similar yet so different from Danish. 
• Last time I spoke of how contemporary and modern the design and architecture was here. Also how everyone is "recently" speaking of tourism to Iceland, but after my tour on Sunday, I realized that may (in regards to the design at least) be because of how recently industrialized and modern Iceland is comparatively to the rest of the modern world. Like I said, it really have a hold in the international tourist industry probably until the late half of the 20th century, 

I think that is all my thoughts for now....

Until next time,

Elissa

PS: Some of you may be wondering why the mountain is a lie. Well that is because the large mountain that is right outside of the hostel, known as Esjan I believe, has not been visible due to the density of fog, mist, and rain, for three of the four days we have been in this country. 

On The Road Again (or Rather, an Airplane)

Hello readers (if any of you still remain),

I would say "It's that time of year again"....but is it? I guess it is, but only for the second year in a row (Can we make this an annual thing?!). My adventures abroad continue in a two-week (much deserved) vacation...yes, vacation this time. No work, just wandering. But this time, I'll have a partner in crime--one of my best friends and my roommate, Cerisa.

This will be Cerisa's first transatlantic adventure, and first time out of the US. It will be interesting to have another American to swap thoughts as we share our experiences. Our main destination is England, but I couldn't go to Europe without a quick (four day) stop in what became one of my favorite places on Earth--Reykjavik. Yes, readers, I am returning to Iceland. How could I omit it? It was magical. We will be doing the same things I did last year: the whale watching, the snorkeling, the lagoon, and of course the penis museum. We will also do new things: we will take the Golden Circle tour, see the marvelous black sand beaches of the South Shore, and hike to and descend into the Thrihnukagigur volcano.

Cerisa meticulously planned out our England itinerary with five days in London and the rest of our time exploring the country side and our Doctor Who fanaticism in Cardiff, we are sure to have an exciting, life-changing adventure that will not only further our wanderlust, but strengthen our friendship.

I will try to update when I can with what I can, but I make no guarantees.

See you on the other side of the pond.

Until next time,
Elissa

Keflavik Airport Icicles

Back in my post about Icelandic design, I wrote a bit about the "icicle" decoration in Keflavik Airport. At the time, I didn't have a photo, and I forgot and/or misplaced the photo I took of them on the way back.

Well I found it:

2014: A Summary

I've had an incomplete post sitting in my drafts for a couple months now, one that I just ctrl+A and deleted. It's not that I couldn't be bothered to finish it, it's that life got so busy and I forgot about it until now, when I was thinking about writing my summary of 2014 post. My thoughts from that entry will be included in this one, as they are all part of the big picture of 2014.

 I returned from Denmark just under three months ago, and my aforementioned blog post talked about my transition back to life in the US, which was difficult for me. It took me just as long, if not longer, to re-adjust to my "normal" life as it was in the US than it did for me to get used to my life in Denmark. Life back in the States felt mundane and boring (and still does, to some extent). The analytical comparisons I was making while in Denmark turned into, well, comparative comparisons. I would think things like: "Well Denmark does_______better" not "Denmark is different because..." Three months later I still occasionally make those comparisons, but they've dwindled into the things that are more thought than said. That being said, I think it was last week I said as I was falling asleep at my desk: "Well I wish I had my standing desk from Denmark. I never once felt tired at 3 in the afternoon!" I've also changed, and not just my perspective. My friends would tell you I'm much different than I used to be. I'm far more open (blunt, perhaps?) and without a filter. I'm more confident, and perhaps more anxious. I have a wanderlust now, and I'm trying very hard to satisfy that need. But, in introspect, I also think these changes in me have pushed people away...but it is hard for me to pinpoint exactly when these rifts started forming, if they are there at all. For all I know, these so-called "rifts" could just be the illusions of getting older and forming different lives and taking different paths. Regardless...

 I think 2014 was my best year so far, and the most challenging. So let's start at the beginning.

January 2014 began with the largest artistic undertaking of my life: My thesis project. It frustrated me sometimes; it made me want to yell, to cry, to stop and give up. But I prevailed, and wound up with an end product I am almost entirely satisfied with. In the coming year, I will try to continue adding to my book of churches, and even harder to make this tour something my city wants. It is applicable to life and tourism in my beautiful city, and although it may be arrogant of me to say, this is something my city needs.

The rest of my final semester brought about some great memories and people: I took a creative writing class in which I produced a short story, a story I consider to be one of my best written pieces (and one my professor thinks I could get published...but I've yet to attempt doing so. Perhaps that'll be a 2015 goal). I attended the Albany ADDY Awards with my team from Overit and proudly took a silver student award home for Point-of-Purchase design.

I took an Intro to Marketing class. My professor was enthusiastic, intelligent, experienced (to my delight, a former LEGO employee!), and just overall an amazing individual; he is one of the driving forces that encouraged me to go to Denmark. John, if you're reading this, thank you for all of your support (and cover letter proof-reading!). Although I only took one class with you, you inspired me into having the most life-changing experience. I don't think I could ever thank you enough.

In May, I finally graduated college. Five years, two schools, countless hours of work, drops of blood, towels of sweat, tissues of tears, and mountains of debt later, I finally did it. There are moments during the day when I surprise myself and think I'd rather be in class, but the moment is gone as it came, and I'm back to not missing academia much at all.

After May, much of my summer "events" and happenings occurred simultaneously:

In the absence of classes (because I simply do not know how not to learn), my friend and I took up learning languages. I am refreshing my Spanish, dabbling in Danish, plowing through German, and attempting the conlang (constructed language, aka it's not a "real" language) of my friend's invention. Learning these languages helps me not just learn how to speak them, but more about English, which is really great.  Do you know what a pragmatic particle is?

In late spring, I became an active, open (read: out-of-the-closet) member of a fandom I had previously just been lurking in for the past ten years. I wound up drawing a lot as a result of being inspired, and became part of a group of artists like me. These people very quickly became my close friends, inspirations, heroes, and collaborators. I am proud to be one of you, and glad y'all welcomed me with open arms, and look forward to the day I get to meet you all. I enjoy talking with you every day, and it is nice to know that there is usually a friend online somewhere if I need one to be. To my friends (even the ones not in the art group), you help me understand cultures, new languages, and the lore of our unifying franchise. Big shout out to Corv, who deservingly won his dream job as a LEGO product designer and starts next week. You'll be awesome. Unity, duty, destiny!

Over the summer I became great friends with two amazing Danish girls who came and visited. In the US we had a lot of fun together (caving, hanging out, and getting really drunk (wait, that was just me, wasn't it?)). Although we were all NGE  our exchanges were different, we shared the experiences of being in other's countries and out of each other's comfort zones. Well, at least I was out of my comfort zone by a leap, a bound, and a transatlantic flight. As mentioned in my previous blog entries, I loved getting to spend time with you in your cities and learning about your culture.

Also over the summer, I visited Iceland and Denmark. They were my first independent trips abroad (as in, not having anyone I knew with me). I'll just say another quick thank you to the people who made this possible and amazing. Mom & Dad, John, The Delmar Rotary Club, the Vejlefjord Rotary Club, The Pedersen Family, The Sigvert Family, Lars & the Uhrenholt team, Christina, Arense, and anyone else I could possibly be forgetting. I also got to meet my oldest internet friend, Giada, while abroad (from the fandom mentioned above too, how about that!?) Thank you all for making the experience what it was. It was incredible. I won't describe my trip, but go back and read the previous blog entries ;)

Upon my return from abroad (within a week!), I found out I was the recipient of two American Graphic Design & Advertising awards, and I was on a plane bound for Texas to see my cousin Emily as a beautiful bride, which really didn't help the jetlag. While my time in Texas was short, I really enjoyed getting to see the family I haven't seen in a very long time, and see a part of the country I'd never been before.

In the past month, I have gotten my first full-time job (and in my field!). I'm around cars, looking at cars, and talking about cars all day long, and that makes the gear-head in me happy. It can be repetitive, but I cannot really complain about the work. I'm hardly bored, and I'm kept busy. Except right now. I'm not busy right now. End-of-the-month lull. I'm writing this at work... shhhhh. But I do miss the view from my desk at Uhrenholt. Tacking a photo of the view through the window up on my cubicle wall is not the same. And it doesn't smell like the ocean either. Maybe it's a scratch and sniff... Nope. Well it was worth a shot.

This year was a mixed bag of emotions. It brought agonizing heartache, but it also brought exhilaration and days of happiness. I lost friends, but it gave me amazing new friends and brought me closer to some of the ones I already have. I made the right choice wearing silver and gold today.

The new year is bound to bring new and exciting things (hopefully). September will hopefully bring me to Iceland again, and then England with one of my best friends, where we will [hopefully] visit my friend Tom. But other than the new goal to publish my short story and travel abroad once more, I have no idea what the year has in store for me.

Well, I guess I better "get back to work." Those Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram banner ad templates aren't going to make themselves.

Godt nytår, mine venner.

Until next time,

E

Reykjavik Diary: Notes on Icelandic Design

Hello!

The very first thing I noticed about the Icelandic design was how contemporary it was. Even just setting foot in the terminal in Keflavik, it's modern aesthetic was noticeable. There were glass pyramids, decorative and not-quite-windows, hanging down like tinted teal appendages from the ceiling, no doubt a reference to icicles. I will have to try to remember to get a photo on the way back to the States. The drive from the airport was lacking in architecture, and mostly had dark landscapes that I couldn't see. But my first taste of the city of Reykjavik was the Harpa performing arts center at night. The windows changed color, which was quite nice to watch. The windows were cubes in nature. As a reminder, this iconic building was built during the Icelandic economic crisis, whenever that was.

In the daylight, I began to notice more trends in design. The buildings were almost entirely contemporary. They were all incredibly geometric in style, and fairly neutral in color. It is the older houses that had much more life to them, colored in saturated hues. If the [older] houses themselves weren't colored in bright colors, their roofs were. Below find examples of the old city architecture (built in the 1800s-early 1900s) and then the modern architecture, from 1945-present:

Now, regarding graphic design, there were some examples of vintage-style design, but for the most part, it was all very clean, contemporary, and generally rather abstract. There was very little that offended me, although I did see someone use papyrus typeface once. What did surprise me, was the seemingly random areas where advertising was placed...in other words, there didn't seem to be a system. It was on fabric hanging on signs, stuck on buildings, street corners. I didn't see any large billboards. But I did see a lot of small ones with the triangle shaped posts that rotate to form a complete picture.

Below find some examples of Icelandic graphic design.

That's about it for my notes on Icelandic graphic design.

Until next time!

E

Reykjavik Diary Day 2: Ow, I've got volcano in my eye!

Hello friends,

Here begins day two of my travels in Iceland, with pictures! Same disclaimer as last time: make sure you click on the photos to see them in larger detail! And I'm really sorry for the mess this blog is visually, I'm not going to spend time trying to fix the layout. :(

HDR photo of  Blue Lagoon

Once again, after a night of very little sleep, I was up early for more adventures. This morning I decided I was going to go out to the tourist attraction Blue Lagoon, a man-made hot springs and spa located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The water is superheated by the geothermal plant, and the water is rich in minerals like sulfur and silica, and supposedly does wonderful things for your skin. These minerals are what give the water its blue, opaque appearence. And the sands on the bottom of the lagoon are black too! Additionally, you can place some silica mud on your face, and that also has the regenerative properties. I got some mud in my eye, hence the title of this blog post. 

 Blue Lagoon and the Svartsengi
geothermal electric plant

You can read more about my observations of this particular area in my general observation post. But to recap, the drive out to the Lagoon was much different than the landscape I'd seen before. The smooth semi-green hills gave way to harsh, jagged rocks jutting out of the ground, with hardly any green to be found. In place of the green, they were coated in a pale yellow substance that looked a lot like dust or volcanic ash from a distance, but was really a thick, soft moss. The lagoon itself was very beautiful, and again, even my HDR photos could not do the blue hue any justice. On the drive back, I got a closer look at the volcano called Keilir, which is the Icelandic word for "cone." Both Mt. Keilir and the Blue Lagoon are located in Reykjanes Peninsula. See the bottom of the page for a photo of Mt. Keilir. 


.....

Do not proceed to read if you are easily offended. Skip directly to the next yellow ellipses.

After a number of recommendations of other things to do in Reykjavik (from a friend of mine, and surprisingly my brother), I attempted to find the famous Iceland Phallological Museum, or...an anatomical museum of penises. I spent more time looking for said museum than I spent in the museum (because my map was wrong), but the museum was fairly interesting. I can't say I learned a whole lot about anything in particular, but the museum reminded me a lot of the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia...and if I dare say so, it was less strange than that. But they (whoever they may be) went about the museum with equal parts science and equal parts humor. Well, okay, that's a lie. It was mostly science. Lots of animal penises, and naturally the ones that took most of my attention (and most of the space) were the whale ones. They had a number of different whales, from narwhals, to minke whales, to orcas, and sperm whales. They had a lot of other animals too like cats, dogs, wolves, guinea pigs, and of course, the homosapien. Much to my amusement, the museum was located only a couple blocks from the church. I wondered if it was a coincidence, or an act of irony. After all, that church is rather phallic.

A wall of the museum. Many of
these tubes contain whale penises,
such as the minke and the narwhal.

.....

A traditional pyslur

After the museum, I went in search of a Pyslur, the Icelandic hot dog that I had heard so much about. I asked the girl to make it as traditional as possible, and so she piled on fried onions, remoulade sauce, and whatever else I couldn't identify. I wasn't too thrilled with it, but then again I supposed you have to like hot dogs, which I don't really. After my pyslur, I wandered about the city again, just taking as much of it in as I could. I walked up and down, noticing all the gay pride flags in every shop window. I even went back to Hallgrímskirkja (the church), but this time I went around the back so I could get a different angle.

For the rest of the day, I just wandered and explored, and found nothing notable. Although, I rather enjoyed the view of the water as I walked back to my hostel, a large ominous cloud had crept in over the mountains and remained there until after I left Iceland. Back at the hostel, I met my roommate, a lovely girl on her way back home in Toronto from a two-year study in London. She was lovely, and I spent the rest of the night with her, our other roommate (a Thai girl studying in Paris), and a third girl from Australia. We ate dinner together in the hostel, and I enjoyed talking with them and sharing stories, and scary creatures we find in our homelands (I hope to never find one of those Australian Hunting Spiders on the back of my car). But my traditional dish of salted cod with spinach was quite delicious.

Sunrise on my last morning, with the creeping cloud.

I really enjoyed Iceland and hope to one day return to see the rest of the island, because my two day stopover was really just the tip of the Iceland. Other observations (that are not design related) that I did not include in my observation posts were the apparent lack of police. I did not see once police car or officer until the morning I left, where their only purpose at this time was to close off streets for a parade. Also, Iceland has a love for Subway, Quiznos, and KFC. I also saw a Taco Bell. And a bunch of other fast food joints (non-American) called Aktu Taktu.  And they give us Americans crap for liking fast food!

Next stop, Denmark! (and probably another Iceland-related design blog post)

Until next time,
E

Other Pictures

You can see the minerals beginning to creep into the water.

Blue Lagoon

Mt. Keilir

Me and a killer whale penis. Jimmy, this one's for you,
if you know what this is in reference to.

Reykjavik Diary: Day 1 "Of course I like this job, I get undress a lot of lovely ladies!"

Hi there! For ease, make sure you click on the photos to see them in larger detail! And I'm really sorry for the mess this blog is visually, I'm not going to spend time trying to fix the layout. :(

Sunset

Now that I've sat down and had a little time to edit some photos, I can get to day 1.5 (including plane trip to) of my time in Iceland.

Sunset

My flight over was really nice. No screaming babies or children kicking the back of my seat. One of my first observations about this flight was trying to enrich people's lives with tidbits about the culture. The seatbacks had facts about Icelandic language, the pillows were covered in the words to an Icelandic lullaby, and the blankets said that if you were missing the hot springs, to use the blanket instead. I thought that was rather clever, and rather cute too.

The Harpa, at 1:30am

Anyway, the flight went smoothly, as stated before. I got some reading done, and I experienced a gorgeous long-lasting sunset high above the clouds. The sky was afire with blues, oranges, violets, reds, and hues I wish my camera could have captured, even in HDR. But it was breathtaking, for sure. But this sunset also occurred at a late hour, due to my proximity to the arctic circle, and when I landed at 11:30pm or so, it was still light. By the time I got to my hostel, around 1:45am, it was STILL light. And that took a little getting used to, since I hardly slept during my 62ish hours in Iceland. But I got to see, for the only time, the Harpa Performing Art Center at night, which was pretty stunning. The shuttle driver told me that it was built during the economic crisis.

So, that night I climbed into bed at my hostel, trying not to wake my 5 sleeping roommates, and didn't sleep at all, from either over-exhaustion (explain that one to me, because I was really tired), being in a country by myself for the first time, or simply being too hot. Regardless of the reason, I was up bright and early to be shuttled at 8:00am to the harbor so I could go on a whale watch! (That's something I forgot to mention in my last two blog posts, that there are shuttles for everything that will pick you up and drop you off anywhere). My shuttle driver told me that Reykjavik is about 200 years old. The farther east you go in the city, the older it becomes. However, much to my disappointment, they are demolishing the old buildings to make new ones.

A little harmless jelly and a large stinging one.

I'm a lover of whales, and anyone who knows me can confirm that "lover of whales" may, in fact, be an understatement, so I was really excited to see what Iceland had to offer as the "Whale-Watching Capital of the World," especially at the idea that there could be orcas. Before we left the pier, I knew it was going to be interesting. The gift shop and museum were in a boat (the "museum" was in the ship's hull), and there were beautiful jellyfish hanging out in the water. One of them I knew was fairly harmless, and I find them floating in the waters off of Cape May. But the other, one with bright orange oral arms under its translucent bell, and long lapets, stingers that were easily 3 feet long. I wish I knew what this beauty was called.

Peanut came quite close to the boat

A restaurant selling minke whale

I did see more than jellyfish on this whale-watching trip. I learned a lot about, and saw a lot of: puffins (they're very cute, for the record), birds that look a lot like seagulls but are not actually seagulls, some harbor porpoises and white-beak dolphins, and of course...whales. I saw five minke whales! One of our sightings was a whale identified as "Peanut." I, of course, thought Peanut was very cute. However, much to my dismay, I was sad to learn that Peanut is in danger. Iceland is one of the 4 commercial whaling countries in the world, and one where they still serve minke for dinner. I will be honest to say, and ashamed to say, I almost considered a taste since it is a traditional Icelandic delicacy, but my love for the creatures won me over, and I went with something else for lunch that day.  I felt so terrible for even considering such a thing, the next day I signed a petition to stop commercial whaling in Iceland. I'm sorry Peanut, can you ever forgive me!

Snæfellsjökull

Even if I hadn't seen any whales on this trip, I would have been very satisfied. I got to see the capital city from the water, and learned more about the history of the area and the landscape. Most notably, this is the volcano Snæfellsjökull, which was made famous in Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, serving as the entrance for their underground journey.  I also met a young [cute] researcher from New York, who was here in Reykjavik doing an internship. He was very nice to talk to, and made for great conversation when we weren't seeing any whales.

After the whale watch, I ate lunch at the place that sold minke, but I had a lobstersoup and scallops-and-peppers kebob. I'm not sure how Icelandic that was, but it was close and I was hungry! Following my tasty meal, I wandered about the city, and was slightly surprised at how walkable it was. Everything was close to where I needed to be (my hostel). Much of what I saw that I took pictures of was actually Icelandic design, which I've found is very contemporary, abstract, and simple, but that will be at the end of my next Iceland blog entry.

Hallgrímskirkja

Hallgrímskirkja
facing the altar

Related to the aforementioned comments about contemporary design was my stop at the Hallgrímskirkja church. It is the tallest church in Iceland and sixth tallest structure. It was designed by architect Guðjón Samúelsson, and took forty years to complete (1945-1986). It was certainly beautiful inside, and the view from the top of the tower, although I paid for an overpriced ticket, was beautiful. Inside, an organist was playing the pipe organ (to my delight) and I took a few minutes to listen to him play, although he didn't seem all that interested in what he was playing. He kept stopping and looking around the room in a bored expression. That being said I rather liked that, as I walked up the street towards the church, that the road was lined with children's drawings of the building. It was a nice touch that showed how much the natives love this city (or maybe they hate it because of the tourists, I don't know...doesn't everyone hate tourists?)

Hallgrímskirkja
looking down nave
towards organ

Since I booked a combo tour with Elding, the whale watching company, I headed back to my hostel at 4 and got changed so I could be picked up to go snorkeling. A a quarter after four, I was picked up by a very cute boy named Aron. He was going to be my guide for the snorkeling, and I asked him many questions as we drove out to the national park where we would be snorkeling. The place we went was Silfra, a place of beauty. Silfra is located in Þingvallavatn Lake in the Þingvellir National Park, and it is where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are pulling apart, causing deep, ragged fissures in the ground. Silfra is the largest of these cracks, and it is where you can snorkel and scuba dive. And it is frigid. It clocks in at bout 35 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 Celsius. The water is also perfectly clean, so you can drink it...and I did. And it was delicious.

Silfra

You wear a dry suit from head to toe, where everything is covered, except for your face! And by the end, if your face isn't numb, it's on fire from being so cold. It's bright red, your lips are cracked and bleeding, but you're smiling because it was amazing! You were swimming between continents. 

Silfra was really cool (not speaking literally in this instance). It had brightly colored volcanic rocks, purple and orange, that were not so brightly colored when you took them out of the water. (I took one home with me). And it also had bright colored algae, green and pink. Aron told me when I asked that no one knows where the pink algae comes from. They can't find a source, and it doesn't grow in the lake that Silfra is attached to. The title of this blog comes from when one of my group members asked Aron if he liked his job, and he replied with, "Of course I like this job, I get to undress a lot of lovely ladies!" in that very cute accent of his.

A crack in the landscape

Not a sign you see everyday. 

Silfra algae

Silfra fissure

The jagged cracks in the earth in  Þingvellir formed from
two tectonic plates, the Eurasian and the N. American
ripping apart.

That about sums up my first day and a...bit. After I got home from snorkeling, I had a tasty meal of traditional Icelandic food: braised lamb and spinach, which I paired with an Icelandic beer. After hardly any sleep, and being active all day, I was quite spent. I promptly headed off to bed, to, well, not get any sleep.

Until next time,

E