Fire and Ice

A barren landscape smothered in black rock that can only be the remnant of past volcanic activity. This is the land of fire. A misting snow falls, as we make our way into the suburbs of Reykjavik, creating a fog that hides the snow covered mountains in the distance. This is the land of ice. This, my friends... is the land of fire and ice. The low, rolling hills tease the eye into believing more is to come, yet as far as it can see, the rugged land is stifled by moss as it pushes towards the sky, taking over any area where it can gain a foothold. This is Iceland. This is the simplistic beauty that comes with unaltered landscape.

I was eagerly greeted when I arrived to Iceland by my host "mother." My bewilderment at this new place, where everyone is speaking a different language, just faded away when she embraced me in a welcoming hug. We got back to her house, which is gorgeous, and had a bite to eat before braving the chilly mist of the outside. She gave me a brief tour of Reykjavik's city center, before dropping me off and going to work. With that, I decided to go to the tallest building in the city, to get my bearings. It is called the Hallgrímskirkja church. (Say that ten times) I pulled out the camera to snap some cool shots of the amazing architecture, and... I hadn't put a memory card in the camera. Epic fail. With that disappointment, I tried to get some pictures with my phone. I hadn't charged my phone since I have my mom's fancy camera for pictures! I ended up in a new, beautiful city, with no camera. I mentally marked plenty of places I want pictures of, and will just have to get them another day!

You can take an elevator to the top

Being in a city for the first day means you have to run errands. I had to cancel my reservations at my hostel, since I have a lovely family to stay with instead. I had to get a SIM card for my international phone so that my mother wouldn't kill one of my dogs (she threatened to kill them if I didn't keep in touch). I went ahead and got my basic tourist shopping out of the way (the silly things I buy wherever I go). After that, all that was left to do was explore! The street names are kind of hard to remember, unlike in Australia where you had "George" and "Broadway." Here, it's... Langavabueilir. Ok, I made that one up, but that's really what they all look like!! Luckily, most of the locals like speaking English, so it was easy enough to just ask for directions.

Ugh I haven't slept in awhile!

The family pet, Rufus :)

I ended my day of sight seeing a bit early due to fatigue. I came "home," took a much needed nap, and woke up to an amazing dinner of pork, salad, and a medley of vegetables. Now I think I'll go take a shower, and relax in the sauna... Yea, I said it.
There's a sauna IN their house.