Spelunking

I spent the majority of today relaxing/sleeping, but when Benjamin got home from taking a final, we went to get something to eat, and then to some caves here in Gardabaer. First stop was a fast food joint called "Aktu Taktu." I've seen them in a few different areas around the city, and was wondering what it was like! They don't have McDonalds or anything like that anymore, because the cost of operation was too high. The food was good, but overpriced. It was nice experiencing "fast food" in Iceland though! 

It was neat to explore the caves near my host's house, since no tourists get to go there. People who visit Iceland rarely stay in Gardabaer, and no tour groups go to these caves. They were fun to explore!

Benjamin!

While we ate, we talked a little bit about price differences between here and the U.S. Benjamin said the sales tax here is 25%; 12% on food. The income tax is over 30%! I was shocked! Luckily, right now the dollar is worth 125 krona, so the price differences don't seem quite as drastic for me.

TRAFFIC
This is quite random, but I've been wanting to mention all these oddities for awhile...Traffic lights here turn from green --> yellow --> red. While you are stopped at the light, it turns back to yellow, before turning green. As soon as it hits yellow, everyone starts moving as if it has already turned green! Also, while driving down a 2 lane highway, there will occasionally be another lane on the right, (it's more like a shoulder), where cars can go around someone who is turning left. This way, traffic isn't slowed down by a car wanting to turn left. They can just whip into the extra lane, and go around. Then, there are massive amounts of "round-a-bouts." There are even 2 lane round-a-bouts. You don't see many throughout the States, unless you are in a neighborhood or something. Here, they are everywhere!

God and Hotdogs? Ok!

The national religion of Iceland is Lutheran. Before heading into Reykjavik to worship with a small group, I went to the Lutheran church that my host attends. Today was their family day, so it was mainly geared towards the children. I recognized "I'm in the Lord's Army" as the children sang it in Icelandic, while acting out all the motions. It reminded me of VBS back home :)

Worship with the group of Christians in Reykjavik didn't start until noon, which was such an odd feeling for me. Upon my arrival, I was greeted with many handshakes and hugs. The group consists of 6 members. Today, there were two visitors (myself and a Swedish woman). It was great worshipping in such a small group, as it is so intimate compared to the corporate worship we are all accustomed to these days. They did use a guitar with the singing, which is different from what I am used to. I knew most of the songs we sang, and was excited to sing "Unto thee O Lord" in Icelandic. Since the women repeat words sang by the men in that song, I was able to pronounce the words correctly, and I knew exactly what I was singing!

I looked down at my class ring and saw that it has turned from silver to gold. Apparently, the sulfur in the water caused it... Oops!

After worship, I went downtown to: Bæjarins beztu pylsur, which translates as "The Best Hot Dog in Town." This place was deemed the best hotdog stand in Europe by The Guardian. There is ALWAYS a line. People line up in the biting wind just to wait for a dog! A hot dog costs 350 krona and condiments include ketchup, sweet mustard, fried onion, raw onion and remolaði, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish. Hot dogs are often ordered with "the works," or in Icelandic, "eina með öllu". It was tasty! This is another food item I found out about from Andrew Zimmern's show, "Bizarre Foods." It wasn't bizarre, but it was yummy!

Golden Circle

The Golden Circle tour allows visitors to get in touch with some of Iceland’s most famous and exciting natural phenomena. Our first stop was at the Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park. Þingvellir is one of Iceland’s most historic sites as it was here that Iceland’s first parliament was founded in the year 930 AD.

From Þingvellir we headed toward the world-renowned geothermal area around the Geysir hot spring. This is the one spouting hot spring that all the other's have been named after. It rarely erupts, but it's neighbor "Strokkur" erupts every 4-7 minutes. There were many springs in the area, and it was neat seeing the steam rising from the ground. My video of the eruption didn't turn out well, but I found this video online that shows exactly what Strokkur looks like as it erupts! It was amazing!!

From there we continued on to Gullfoss (“the Golden waterfall”) where your proximity to its edge is so close you can feel the spray of the glacial water on your face. Personally, it was a bit too cold to have icy crystals pelting you, but the view was worth it! 

And then... What we'd all been waiting for... A snowmobiling tour on Langjökull, Iceland’s second largest glacier! This was such a cool experience. You haven't lived until you've sped around on a glacier at 55 km/h. It was amazing! The sun was shining down on a blanket of snow. It was so beautiful!

Langjokull Glacier

When I got home, Benjamin and I went to Subway, and then to the store for some candy. In Iceland, all candy is 50% off on Saturdays. There was a horde of children, dragging their parents into the store to get bags of candy! I got some gummy worms, sour gummys, skittles, and a few weird looking pieces, that ended up actually tasting pretty good!

Saddle Up!

Today, the jet lag, and the diving, just hit me right in the face. I was knocked out most of the day, just sleeping away the beautiful sunlight. Yesterday and today have shown me the true beauty of Iceland with the perfect weather. It's still chilly, but I went to the post office in shorts, a t shirt, and my Vibrams. Haha those sure earned me some weird looks from the locals! 

After a long day of doing absolutely NOTHING, I finally took advantage of the sun. Carina's daughter took me out to her friend's stables, where we rode some Icelandic horses. These horses were beautiful, but strong willed. Instead of being broken, I was told that the riders work with the horses, so that they are never truly in submission. They really have a mind of their own!

It took me a short while to get comfortable, since it's been a long time since I rode a horse... I knew the basics though, and proved that I wasn't a complete idiot! Haha Hannah said that I did way better than her boyfriend, but I'm not sure how much of a compliment that was! I had so much fun just getting out into the fresh air and riding, while talking about different things with Hannah. The horses usually want to be ridden, and were excited to be out in the nice weather. They were eager to get out and run! My horse (don't ask me how to pronounce his name) kept wanting to compete with the other horse, but I was able to keep him in control. It was quite fun!!!

When I got home from riding, Carina's son Benjamin took me into the city for a bit of sight seeing. We went to "The Pearl," which is Perlan in Icelandic. The base of The Pearl consists of four tanks, which are used as hot water tanks. A dome was built on top of the tanks, and has restaurants and shops inside. There is a viewing deck along the exterior of the dome, providing a superb view of not only Reykjavik, but all the surrounding cities. I could see Garðabær, the city I am staying in, as well as across the cities, into the mountains. The view is like nothing else!

After visiting Perlan, Benjamin and I went to see "The Avengers." It was a great movie! It was in English, with Icelandic subtitles. The only problem was when there were other languages being spoken in the movie... I heard the other language, and the subtitles were still in Icelandic! I was stuck, not knowing what was going on. Halfway through the movie, it just turned off, and everyone started to leave. I was confused, and Benjamin explained that it was intermission. With movies being so long these days, they should all have intermissions! 

Liquid Crystal

My day began with a delicious Icelandic breakfast of skyr, and lamb/cheese on bread. Skyr was on "Bizarre Foods" as one of the important dishes to try while traveling in Iceland. It is a very creamy substance, somewhat like yogurt! With milk, blueberries, and sugar added to it, it was quite delicious!

Carina's son Benjamin had a test to take at 9:30 in Reykjavik, which was perfect since I had to meet with my diving instructor at that time as well. I arrived just in time to hop in the bus and begin the journey that I've been planning for. I've spent the past month or so getting my dive certification, specifically for this trip. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is visible above water only in Iceland. There is a crack between the two continents, named "Silfra." With the required certification, one can go diving IN this crack. You are literally between the North American and the Eurasian plates. I read of this and just knew that I had to experience it. The water was 2°C, but felt a little warmer with the dry suit on. It took a little while to get used to the suit, as the method of bouyancy control is completely different that what I had learned. Even with that, the dive was amazing. The water is the cleanest and clearest water I will ever see. It melts off a glacier 50 kilometers away, and travels through the mountains for a few hundred years before ending up in Silfra. That entire time, it is just being filtered constantly. Drinking it was pure pleasure! 

Standing in front of "the crack."

After a long, tiring day, I met back up with Carina and we went to the grocery store. Her son Benjamin wanted to have pizza for dinner, so she needed to grab a few ingredients. It was awesome being in a grocery store in a country where a different language is spoken! New Zealand and Australia's grocery stores were rather normal. I enjoyed reading (trying to, I should say) the different labels, and seeing some of the food that both Iceland and America sell. 

In Iceland, people have to buy the plastic bags they use to carry groceries to their car. What a simple way to GO GREEN!


We got back to the house, and began making pizza. Carina surprised me when she laid out a big thing of dough and said, "Here's yours!" Apparently the family each has a pizza, and all the fixings sit in the middle of the table. Then, everyone commences to creating their own masterpiece! This was a fun experience for me, as the ham, cheese, and vegetables mostly looked/tasted a bit different than what I am used to. Luckily, tomatoes will never fail me! The pizza was delicious!!

Stuffed Crust!

Dinner conversation went like this... "So you go to Auburn? How are Toomer's trees doing?" Yea... Iceland people know about our trees. BOOM. WAR EAGLE BABY!!!!

Oh and by the way, the apple pie I brought for Carina was a huge success. She LOVED it, and was so excited that I brought it. I had a small piece and it was YUMMMMY! I'm glad it held up on all the flights, and that it survived being left in the D.C. airport (A stewardess walked through the plane asking who's it was...).