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.

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