Hi Wonderful People!
So today the weather here in Reykjavik was overcast, chilly, and very blustery. But it didn’t keep Madre and me from exploring! We had a pretty laid back day, only walking about eight miles to tour the island of Videy (it has a weird d thingy that makes the pronunciation more like vid-thee…holy guacamole I just realized I figured out the phonetic rule and pronounced that word correctly without help…another goal accomplished!) and returning to the room for some much-needed rest (I keep telling her that we should go next door for some massages from Sven or whatever the masseuse’s name will be, but I digress).
Videy was super cool! A bunch of native birds nest along the shoreline, so there was a lot to watch on that front. Since the weather was nasty, there were only a handful of other people on the island with us. It was great, and oh so pretty! I would love to go back again for a picnic. Honestly, I wish I had another two weeks (and a car) to tour the entirety of Iceland! Especially since the sun isn’t setting until 23:30 and rises again at 03:30 (and isn’t even dark during the “night”) I could cram so much more sightseeing into my days! If only I didn’t have to sleep…
Anywho here are my entries and commentary for today and a bit of yesterday.
30 May
22:00
Just got back from the geothermal pool…saw too many speedos (and the overweight, fake-tanned, hairy, middle-aged men that were wearing them) for comfort. The rules of the pools were that you had to strip out of your swimsuit and bathe in the shower before being able to swim. (Otherwise, a matron lady or whatever she was would yell at you and make you get naked anyways, except then you became a bit of a spectacle, so others were staring more. Saw that happen, decided to go with the flow after that) However, nudity isn’t taboo here, so it wasn’t as big a deal as I thought.
31 May
09:00
I had every intention of getting up and going for a run today. (I woke up at what I thought was right before dawn feeling all energized and ready to run…looked at my watch…it was 02:36 in the morning. Decided I was crazy, rolled over, and went back to sleep.) I woke up at ~08:00 and it was cloudy, windy, and rainy so I noped being athletic and healthy. (Interestingly enough, I am more than excited for my eight-hour horseback riding trip tomorrow even though the weather is supposed to be the same. That’s horse girls for you.)
In other news, Madre’s thrift store jacket claims to have an avalanche detection system (and about 8765 pockets). She lost something in the coat earlier today because she couldn’t figure out which pocket it was in (teehee). I’m half tempted to put it on the bed and jump up and down/shake the bed frame to see if the jacket lights up like Christmas or something. There are a few problems with this though:
1) our room is on the second floor, and with my luck, I would make the bed fall through the ceiling
2) the beds are bunks so I would probably hit my head and knock myself out
3): I am 95% sure that’s not how avalanche detection works
Things I’ve learned so far:
1) other countries care a lot less about nudity than America does
2) the French aren’t all that snobby
3) “bros” are everywhere
4) I need to lighten up on packing. seriously
5) some of the Nordic peoples still look like Vikings (or at least how I imagine they would look. fierce eyebrows, blonde/reddish hair, and beards abound)
6) I should have packed a scarf and beanie.
12:20
Oh my gosh, I found a seal friend on Videy island (I was down on the beach taking pictures of the waves when Madre yelled at me to look up. About 10m out in the water there was a small, speckled seal face watching me. It watched me for about 5 minutes, getting closer at times and farther away at others, but maintaining an average distance of about 10m. I was thinking “how cool, and you are such a cute little seal and oh boy oh boy oh boy” I’m sure it was thinking, “Hugh said humans were funny looking, but I swear this one takes the cake.” good times.)
15:50
You can pretty much recycle anything here. Chip bags? Yep. Cardboard, metal cans, tetrapaks? Easy peasy. Plastic shopping bags? You bet your sweet bippy. All this recycling makes my little tree-hugging heart oh so happy and content.
Side note: I may dislike yogurt, but I love me some skyr. (Seriously, the texture is better, and there is no icky yogurty taste. It’s like the new and improved version.)
That’s all I have for today. We are going to some sort of concert later tonight. I can’t believe we are already over halfway done with our trip! My how time flies when you are having fun.
Until next time, I wish you all the best!
The Adventures of a Budding Biologist 