The Land of Fire and Ice: April 2014

Thursday was the first official day of summer here in Iceland. We learned this Wednesday night when a farewell party for one of the girls living at Gest-Inn was held, and the bartender kindly told us the bar would be open until 4 due to the holiday the next day! Any reason to celebrate, take off work, and drink here, I tell ya. It was a little eerie, after Wednesday the weather went from cold, rainy and unpleasant, to little other than sun and almost warm temperatures. Along with the nice weather, the city seems to be coming alive with bustling activity; an atmosphere I greatly enjoy walking around in. As the weather continues to warm up, it becomes steadily more difficult to picture leaving this city I have become extremely fond of. Three more weeks. Nothing of consequence happened in the beginning of the week, as my time was devoted mainly to studying for the volcanology exam looming in the distance. The studying did, however, give me an excuse to spend a little more time exploring new cafes in the city. One new cafe I tried is called C is for Cookie. I did not actually eat a cookie, but rather some of the best (maybe only?) spinach soup I have ever had. I would like the think I have become more adventurous with my taste buds over the last few months; I now have tried mushrooms, come to like onions, and have even eaten a whole dish without picking out the tomatoes! Friday came around, I took my exam, and now I am done with volcanology forever, hallelujah. That night, as it was the last Friday night we would be spending with just the three of us, Sierra, Laura, and I went out for dinner and crepes. We decided to try a little restaurant that we walked past every time we went to the grocery store, called Snaps. We ended up being seated in, what we thought to be, the best seat in the house, a little table in our own nook surrounded by windows and plants. All in all, it was a lovely dinner. Afterward, we went to another shop we had passed many times, yet never tried. For dessert, we indulged in some of the most delicious crepes, filled with fruit, chocolate, Nutella , you name it. Saturday, I woke up with not only the sun streaming in my window, but a warm breeze as well! Looked like an adventure day to me. I started by, once again, riding the elevator to the top of Hallgrímskirkja, the large church at the end of my street. Such a beautiful view it is, looking down over the city, the ocean, and the mountains. From there I walked around the pond, Tjörnin, and witnessed many birds flapping around happily in the warm air. I then made my way to the flea market to buy fish, and ended by walking along the ocean side, gazing at the immense mountains across the way. Another wonderful week in a wonderful country.

Spinach soup. Yuuummm

Two of my favorites.

Arctic Char

But really, yum.

View from Hallgrímskirkja

And the inside.

My favorite spot :)

Those mountains.

Was able to attend a church service here this morning.

Laura teaching me how to make pasta!

I now have less than one month before I am scheduled to head home. Oh. Man. Luckily, we a were able to experience one last new Icelandic city this week! Sunday evening, Laura and I attended a movie night at the Student Cellar. The movie was Remote Control, or in Icelandic, Sodoma Reykjavik. The director, Óskar Jónasson, attended the movie as well and answered questions about his film afterward. It is fun to be in a country so small it is not difficult to locate and contact the director of well-known movies such as this one. Monday was work day, meaning working on my final assignment. Tuesday was turn in final assignment day (I felt that was a big enough accomplishment for the whole day). After turning in my final assignment of the semester, I convinced Sierra to scour the town for waffles with me, and boy did we find waffles. These waffles were more along the lines of pieces of heaven than just waffles... I'll let the picture explain that further. Wednesday was prepare mentally and physically for road trip day. This consisted of spending half the day alone at a cafe drinking wonderful Icelandic coffee, and the other half packing and grocery shopping, trying to figure out how to feed myself for four days without needing to refrigerate anything. My conclusion: Ramon, lots of Ramon. Thursday we left for the Westfjords, specifically Ísafjörður and the Aldrei fór ég suður music festival! The drive was lovely, and more importantly, not as difficult as previously suspected weather wise. We arrived late in the afternoon and settled in to our cozy, adorable apartment. Friday, all eight of us decided to explore the area a bit and drove to a nearby town called Flateyri. It is a beautiful little town located in a fjord (obviously, we were in the Westfjords), though it almost appeared to be abandoned, as we only saw about three people the whole time we were there. We returned to Ísafjörður in time for dinner, with a little extra time to relax before the festival began. The music festival was held in an unsuspecting abandoned warehouse about a half an hour walk from our apartment. It began at six and ended around midnight, though we made it to see about five out of the thirteen bands the first night. There were a lot of people packed into that warehouse, and even more standing outside in the blizzard (yes, there was a blizzard in April), as the garage doors to the warehouse were open and exposed to the elements. Saturday we did not have much to do, so I explored the city a bit and ended up with a book at a cafe, go figure. The second night of the festival followed the same structure as the first, and we, once again, made it for about four or five bands. For us introverts, the two and a half to three hours a night spent at the festival were plenty. All in all, it was fun to experience a very Icelandic event and listen to some very Icelandic music, in a very beautiful Icelandic location. Sunday morning, it was once again blizzarding, though not bad enough to keep us from driving home. The driving conditions were... let's say less than desirable, I will spare the details as to not worry the parents too much. Though, being in Iceland, this changed on and off about a million times throughout the journey; ten minutes of snow, ten minutes of sun, ten minutes of hail, etc. Yet another wonderful week of adventure!