Days 1 & 2 - Hallo from Iceland!

Good morning from Reykavik,Iceland!  So far we've had a wonderful trip...we flew from Kona straight to Seattle (via Alaska Airlines, one of my favorite carriers), spent two days there, and then took a red eye flight to Reykjavik.  After nearly 24 hours of sleeplessness, we picked up our rental van and headed to our rented apartment in the heart of the historic city center.  We're all absolutely smitten with both the spacious, modern apartment and its very hospitable owner, Anna Lara (who had us over to her house for breakfast on our first day)!  And because we're a 1-2 minute walk away from Hallgrimskirkja (the massive church that can be seen from miles away), we get to hear the church bells chiming every 15 minutes during the daylight hours.

One of my favorite places here so far has been Arbaejarsafn, an open-air museum of historic Icelandic homes nested along some rolling, grassy hills that Ryan just loved romping through.

I wanted to go there mostly because I love turf-roof homes and make every effort to see them when I can.  I wasn't sure we'd get to see them outside of an orchestrated situation like this, but I did notice a few on our way driving from the airport to Reykjavik...so apparently they're not quite as obsolete as you'd think.

They also had a playground, which was great for the kids (i.e.- Joey & Ryan)!

My parents soaking in a traditional hot pot in Laudardalslaug

I think we spent over three hours at the open air museum before engaging in what is described as the heart of the country's social life- a dip into one of the city's geothermically heated pools!  We chose Laudardalslaug, since its the largest pool in the country- which has HUGE indoor and outdoor pools, a curling 86-meter water slide, a mini slide (for Ryan), four hot hots, a whirlpool, steam room, etc.  I only have a few photos since pictures aren't allowed there (this one was taken just before I found out about the rule).  But it was definitely surreal swimming in 58-62 degree weather, with steam swirling above the crystal clear (non-chlorinated) water.

What made the experience so interesting was having to learn and observe all of the standard rules they have about pools here- removing your shoes before you enter the locker room, showering nude before putting on your suit (and using their soap to do so, scrubbing the areas on your body as instructed to on various posters throughout the shower room), toweling off before dripping water on the floor, etc.  They do these things because they can't treat the water with the powerful chemicals that we use in the US, so its their way of preventing the spread of infection/disease.  It was nice being able to participate in an everyday social activity and seeing how the locals live- people were playing chess in the water (on floating boards), chatting, reading and soaking for hours.

 

We also had to visit Perlan, a historic building in the city where atop four large water storage tanks, sits sparkling discoball-like half dome.  It's quite eclectic (with an artificial geyser inside that goes off every 15 minutes), but also has a great viewing deck that wraps around the top with great views of the entire city of Reykjavik.

Off to the side of Perlan is also a natural, steaming hot pot that we couldn't resist testing the temperature of (and comparing it to the one we sat in at Laudardalslaug)...way too hot to sit in!

Someone was also thrilled to walk through a rotating door for the first time (I think he's usually carried through them).  This never gets old despite doing it another dozen times since then...

 

Some people call it an eyesore (its described as looking like 'half of Barbarella's bra' in my LP guidebook), but I ended up loving it in spite of my initial prejudice.  :-)

 

I bet you didn't even recognize me, but here I am doing my best Viking impersonation (so that I can fit in with all the locals).

Everyday we wander the winding, quiet streets around our apartment.  Initially I was worried that despite its close proxixity to Europe, that Iceland would feel a little too much like home- a slow, remote island surrounded by water, covered with volcanoes, black sand beaches and having exorbitant prices.  I now feel silly for ever having worried.  Because while we do share all of the above in common, Iceland is very uniquely different from the Big Island- we do not have tiny, colorful steepled homes, though the water here is crystal clear and among the world's cleanest, it has a faint sulfuric smell to it, we do not pay $160 U.S. dollars to fill up our mini van gas tanks, my feet do not hang and swing from each toilet in the US, we do not have rows and rows of candy in every grocery/convenience store in town (though we should), nor do we have things like fermented shark, grilled minke whale and pan-seared puffin on every other menu in town (psst- we tried two of the three)!

So...despite what some other dumb people might think...Hawaii and Iceland are not very alike.  ;-)