Susin Nielsen's Blog

I'm pleased to announce that my blog and website got a facelift!  From now until forever you can find us at: http://www.susinnielsen.com

One of the great pleasures of visiting Pender Island is going to the Nu to Yu store (yes, it's spelled like that), which is full of islanders' used clothing, books, games, kitchen ware and furniture, and which can be yours for a pittance. All the money they earn goes back into the community - it is one of those fantastic "win-wins." 
So while I was there the other day I came across a copy of "Harriet the Spy," sitting on the shelf. I loved this book when I was a kid. I read it when I was around ten. I loved it so much that, written on the inside cover of the first diary I ever kept (at age eleven) is written, "Susan Nielsen The Spy." (And no, I'm not going to talk about that darned "a" in Susan!). But, I wondered, would I still love it? Would it hold up? I remembered Ole Golly, and The Boy With the Purple Socks, and Harriet riding in the dumbwaiter ... So I bought it - for the low low price of ten cents. 
And boy, did it hold up. Not only did it hold up, it made me realize that Harriet has been lurking deep in my brain pan with every book I've written, and that I owe Louise Fitzhugh a debt of gratitude. I always cite Judy Blume as a big influence, and she is. But so is Louise. And the sad part is, I'll never be able to send her a fan e mail, because she died years ago, at the young age of 46, of an aneurism - all things I only discovered after re-reading the book. 
"Harriet" was published in 1964, the year I was born. How funny that I rediscovered it as I turned half a century old (I can't believe I just admitted that on my blog, but what the hell). I probably read it ten years after it was published. It is insanely good and original. It was a controversial book because Harriet was not always a likeable protagonist, far from it sometimes, and she was not at all a girly-girl. Which is why, of course, legions of girls like me fell in love with her. And she wanted to be a writer. 
I'd forgotten that her best friend Sport's dad was a writer. Poor Sport has to single handedly run their household because his dad is such a mess, either working or sleeping or depressed because his novels aren't selling. They have great observations about writers, like: "Writers don't care what they eat. They just care what you think about them." 
Fitzhugh's observations about adults, seen through a child's prism, are hilarious and real. And nestled beneath the humor is an aching poignancy. I felt for Harriet all over again, as I did her friends whose parents were dysfunctional, or divorced, or had a father who'd just skipped out. And then there's Harrison Withers, one of the people she spies on. I'd forgotten the humanity wrapped inside this book. And I sincerely hope kids are still reading it today. When I go into schools and show them my diary, and ask kids if they've read "Harriet the Spy," I'm always surprised by how few hands go up. More of them have seen one of the movies - I haven't, but I can guarantee none of them would hold a candle to the book. 
So, from here on in I will definitely cite Louise Fitzhugh as a major influence - there is so much Harriet in Violet, and Ambrose, and Henry - and I didn't even know it.

But first, a word on bread.

Iceland has amazing bread, pretty much wherever you go.  I swear they are all bakers. Almost every place we've stayed has homemade bread out at breakfast, and whenever you order fish soup at a restaurant they bring you homemade bread. My favourite bread of all has been the geysir bread - a kind of rye bread, baked in the earth by the geothermal heat.  Doesn't look like much but DANG, I could eat it all day! And with what, you ask? Why, with Icelandic butter, of course! Which is as good as the bread. Seriously - it is fantastic butter. A good breakfast has been when you get these two items, plus if they have Skyr, you are set. Okay, so ... we left Siglufjordur on the 10th, Son's birthday, and had our longest day of driving yet. We don't love spending the day in a car, so fortunately this was the only day of a good five hours of driving, with a couple of stops along the way, as we made our way west and south to the Snaefellsnes Penninsula. I finally got a shot of the sheep we see constantly by the side of the road. One face and one butt. We came to a village called Rif on the penninsula, to our ugliest-looking (on the outside anyway) accommodation yet. As son said, it looked like a Korean mini-mart.  But in fact, the rooms were very comfy and clean, and we were surrounded - SURROUNDED - by fields full of arctic terns and their young. This meant that every time we went outside, we were dive-bombed by the males, protecting the females who were protecting the babies. This was the best shot I could get.  That evening we went to the only restaurant in town, Gamla Rif, which has one meal: Fish soup and bread, made by two fishermen's wives, from the fish their husbands catch. Simple, but oh so delicious. And they made great cakes, which was a good way to celebrate Son's 18th birthday. In the morning we started the day by taking a "Crash Course" in Icelandic at The Freezer, this hostel-slash-theatre space in our tiny village of Rif. Yet another thing I love about Iceland: Culture is everywhere, and often where you would least expect it. We were the only three there and it was just a half hour "lecture," but very funny - we learned all the different ways to say "ja" and "nei" (there are many), and in the end we got certificates that said we could now speak Icelandic on the level of an infant. 
Afterward we explored some of the beautiful penninsula. A highlight was taking a tour down a lava cave with Thor, below, who had a very dry sense of humour.  The cave itself was very cool. We walked down a total of 140 steps. I know because I counted.
 But the only scary part was when I saw that darned troll again.
 The scenery in Snaefellsnes is, like everywhere else we've been, stunning. We did some hikes along the ocean.

 Then, when the weather took a turn for the wetter in the afternoon, we went to the local pool in Olafsvik and swam laps. This is something else I love about Iceland - every town seems to have a pool. I don't think you could ever be more than about ten km away from a pool! Oh yeah, and this day was MY birthday ... But I really got my present this morning, on the 12th, because as we started our drive slowly back toward Reykjavik, we went horseback riding. 
Now - understand - I don't think I've been on a horse in my life. Once on a donkey, in Mexico (yup). Once on an elephant in Nepal. But horses kind of freak me out. They're beautiful, but big. You are far off the ground. Of course the good thing about Icelandic horses is that you AREN'T so far off the ground. And I really wanted to ride an Icelandic horse, so the boys went along with it. We went to a wonderful place called Stori Kambur and two people took us out for a beautiful ride along the water. This was my horse.  He was such a sweetheart! Very good tempered and just happily followed the others. I was told he was "an older horse" and I said "well I'm an older human so we're perfect for each other." When we started out, I was terrified. But then we actually galloped along the beach! Galloping was easier to take than trotting - I felt every bone in my body during trotting. Here's Son, at a gallop on the beach, then all of us riding down the beach.  I felt so brave and fearless once I got the hang of it - then I saw the photos our guide took, and realized my horse was ... um ... pretty much mule-sized. At the end of our ride our guide asked what I did. No one has asked me that on the entire trip, which I like - it's just not a "thing" here, I guess. When I told him I was a writer he was so impressed! He said he was going to look me up. I mention it because I think they love their authors here, and their culture. Anyway it was just rather sweet.
And now we are back in Reykjavik for one last evening ... Husband has booked us the #1 rated restaurant to celebrate my and Son's birthdays with more than a bowl of fish soup. Tomorrow, we go home ... very sad ... BUT, we will go to the Blue Lagoon on our way to the airport! One more report to come.

Have I mentioned that the majority of Icelanders believe in elves and trolls? More than believe in God? Being here, I can kind of see why. Also, I am sure I have seen somewhere that they read more books per capita than any other people in the world. Certainly it is a nation that still believes in BOOKSTORES!!! They have fantastic bookstores and it gives me a good feeling to wander in them, as I did today in Akureyri.

So yesterday as we left Lake Myvatn we saw this:
 We have decided this is what one calls a sunny day in Iceland.  We drove north, and spent a few hours in Akureyri, the northern town - second biggest "city" in Iceland with a population of about 17,000. A really lovely little town - it would be kind of awesome to be there in winter because you can ski in the area.   We didn't eat at the Indian Curry House below:
But we did eat at this beautiful blue building, which had great soups and sandwiches and baked goods, and a gorgeous interior. I can't remember what it was called.

Clearly in the 20th century Iceland had one architect, who was hired to design all of the churches in bigger towns, because this is by the same guy who designed the big church (and a pile of other buildings) in Reykjavik.
After lunch we got really excited because we saw this:
Our shadows!!!! SUN!!!!! Then I ran into my Icelandic sister.
The resemblance is uncanny.
We continued our drive toward the northern-most town in Iceland, Siglufjordur. The drive was - again - mind-blowingly beautiful.
We arrived in Siglufjordur and checked into probably our best accommodation so far, The Herring House, run by the ex-mayor of the town. We have a whole little house to ourselves, and the town is just spectacularly gorgeous. Here is the view from our bedroom window.
And our house! I wish we could stay here for longer. It's a sleepy little town, and there aren't a lot of tourists here (which is nice. Though I must say, even in the heavily touristed areas of Iceland, it is never a problem getting around, or getting parking, or getting a table - not once have we wound up behind a slow-moving tour bus or RV as happens in Canada all the time). We went for a short walk along the avalanche barriers above town last night (yes, you read that right). And that's when I had my troll sighting. I took this photo of the town:

Then suddenly I saw a flash and caught this on camera.
Then we went for dinner at the yellow place below (tonight we will go to the red place!). The food was fantastic. Confession: I figured Icelandic food would be about as good as Scottish food (no offense to my Scottish friends). We had a few good meals when we were in Scotland, but a lot of the food was pretty mediocre, and not a lot of fresh produce, and some of it pretty typical overcooked British pub food. I've been pleasantly surprised here. Really, I think we had one crap meal, and that was a burger at a roadside joint. Some food has been decent, but most of it has been excellent. They really know how to be self-sustaining, and take advantage of what they have locally.  In this case, FISH. Like the ones caught by the fishermen feet away from the restaurant, below.
 I had the red fish, which I've finally decoded to be ocean perch in English. Oh god, it was delicious!
This morning, after a lovely breakfast with our hosts (in their other house) we went on our hardest yet most rewarding hike of the trip so far. We'd been told "there's a path - sort of" up and into the valley between some of the mountains. So Husband, with his bloodhound sense of direction, took us up a very steep non-trail - really, NO TRAIL - into this valley. About 45 minutes straight uphill, grabbing onto lupin roots to pull myself up in spots. This is where we wound up, in this valley. But it wasn't over yet.
We then continued to hike up to the top of the mountain - where you can see the snow patches, above - another hour and fifteen minutes, for a total of 2 hours straight uphill with basically no trail, and very, very steep for the last half hour. I wanted to kill Husband for a while because it was somewhat terrifying for me (not for them - I think this was payback for the whale watching) - but then we reached the top, and these views: 
 That's them, by the way, those two little dots in the distance.
We looked down into the next valley, and to the ocean beyond. It was magnificent. And you can see the town, way way down below. You can also see the sweat stain between my boobs. We were all sweating like pigs by the time we made it up there.
 
We had fun sliding down the snow patches on the way back.  Then, after showers back at the Herring House (which was metres from the start of the trail) we wandered around town and came upon this adorable little grass-roofed house.
 Then it was down to the water ...
Followed by a truly terrific visit to The Herring Era Museum. No wonder this place has won awards; you feel like you've stepped back in time, to a time when the herring industry was booming in Iceland, and especially in Siglufjordur.
Then, for the first time in a long while, we actually had a rest back at our wonderful guest house. The days have been so packed! The difference here is that we didn't have to take the car anywhere. For dinner we did, indeed, go to the "red house" - again, magnificent food. And we had our first al fresco meal in Iceland - rather bundled up as you can see!
Siglufjordur is an amazing little town (population around 1000). It's going to get busier, though - they are building a hotel as we speak. Right now there are very few places to stay. But even with the hotel, it will still be a great place to visit. Probably one of my favourite places in a trip full of favourites. Tomorrow is Son's birthday - we will have our longest driving day so far, about 5 hours, to the Snaefelsness Peninsula. I heart Iceland!

Today was like a line from a Dickens novel - the best of times, the worst of times. Mostly best. I started the day by trying to find Iceland's most famous person, but it was a dead end.  After breakfast - which included some milk straight from the cows - we drove to Husavik, a charming little town in the north (just 45 minutes away) famous for its whale watching tours.  We booked a four hour trip on this lovely old boat (the black one) below. We were all outfitted in one-piece suits to keep warm and dry, and off we headed into the North Atlantic.  It was fantastic - well, mostly. (by the way, that's me in my new 66 North toque - windproof and awesome - it's an Icelandic company, and their stores are all over the country). And that's the boat with its sail up. Beautifully restored old boat. As you can see, we were all very chipper and happy for the first 20 minutes or so. And the views were spectacular.
First stop was an island full of puffins. I don't have a good enough camera to get puffin shots, so you'll have to take my word for it that those little black dots in the Atlantic are in fact puffins. It was our first puffin viewing so we were all very excited! But then the swells began in earnest. Even writing the word makes me feel queasy. Soon a lot of people on the boat were very, very quiet - picking a spot on the horizon and just staring at it and not saying a word. The three of us all felt seasick. After a while longer though, we had our whale sightings! Humpbacks. I got so excited I forgot about feeling sick, and started snapping a zillion photos. I won't bore you with all of my half-assed shots - I'll just bore you with one.   It was so fantastic, watching them up close like this. Apparently they wind up in West Africa in the winter - which is pretty mind-blowing. 
And speaking of blowing ... Well, one of us got rather violently seasick. Like, hanging his head over the side of the boat with rather spectacular sound effects (at first I thought we'd come upon some barking seals). I won't name names. But when we finally made it back to shore (the way back was easier going), The Person Who Got Seasick had to have a nap in the back seat of the car, while the rest of us tried to get our land legs back by walking around town.  Once we had any sort of appetite we did, discover an excellent food to consume post-seasickness: That's right - Gatorade and bugles. 
Was it worth it? Well, I would say "yes." Just knowing we were out in the North Atlantic, close to the Greenland Sea, was pretty cool. I'm not sure the other members of my household would agree. Since I somehow managed to be the least scathed, I do believe it was subconscious payback when we got home, and The Person Who Got Seasick "accidentally" used my toothbrush ... 
Yeah. I know. GROSS!!!!!!!
But here's the amazing thing about my boys.  Even though they'd both been plagued with seasickness, one violently, by the time we got back to Lake Myvatn they were ready to climb, and hike the circumference of Hverfjall, an old volcano. 
 It was very cool. Below is the view from the top, over part of Lake Myvatn. A nice way to end the day before heading to supper. This is that lamb shank I was raving about in my last post, and lastly, the sign outside our wonderful farm. It's been a lovely three nights here, but tomorrow we move on to the northernmost town in Iceland, Siglufjordur.

I forgot to mention my other "Game of Thrones" story. When we did our glacier hike our guide told us that the scene where John Snow, recently captured by the beautiful red headed woman in Season 3, walks through an icy snowy crevasse for days on end, was filmed where we did our glacier hike, in one small crevasse - they just kept walking back and forth. 
Okay, trip: We were a bit sad to leave Djupivogur as it was so beautiful (and partly sunny). Here is the morning view a short walk from our hotel. I mean, really! Everywhere we've been so far has its own unique beauty. We drove on to Myvatn, our longest drive yet on this Ring Road tour, about four and a half hours. The first bit was lovely, winding our way through one fjord after the next. Then we headed inland and it was easily our most tedious drive so far, which is pretty good - nothing has been tedious yet. We entered a moonscape and lots of rain and low-hanging clouds. Same weather when we got to Lake Myvatn, so after tucking into our very cute accommodations at Vogar Farms, we did what any good Icelandic person would do in the pouring rain: We went to the outdoor community swimming pool. I swam laps while the boys went to the gym and we met in the hot tubs outside. Every town has a pool here, even tiny ones, and they are not chlorine-filled stinkers - they are filled with geothermal water and very little chemicals. Lovely. It was great to get a workout in after a longer drive, and in the hot tubs we spoke to French, American and Icelandic people. 
The food where we're staying is the best we've had so far, and the bar was already set pretty high. It's a family run farm (since the 1800's) and much of the food comes from their land. We had the lamb shank and it was SO GOOD, I forgot to take a picture - I was too busy eating. And all produce from their garden, and even homemade mozzarella cheese on the salad.  I continue to be amazed at how self-sustaining Icelanders are. Oh, and amazing homemade SKYR for dessert. Skyr is like their national yogurt, and it is delicious - unless you don't understand enough Icelandic and pick up the brand sweetened with sucralose at the supermarket like I did one day, then it's gross! 
Hey speaking of delicious - Icelanders also like licorice, and they like chocolate and licorice combined. I thought it would be weird, but it's fantastic. Might I recommend this brand:  On our way out we visited the cows, which you can see through a glass wall in the restaurant. This is where they get their milk, and we also watched them being milked at 7:30 this morning. This one cow really liked my son and licked his hand over and over (probably liking the salty taste). Afterward son's hand smelled like honey. Go figure.     Today the weather was better - by "better" I mean the clouds were higher, so visibility was better and we could actually see where we were. Lake Myvatn is a beautiful area defined by all sorts of volcanic activity. There are old craters and geothermal steam everywhere. The lake itself is lovely and full of bird life. We started up at the Kafla crater area - and as you can see, we wound up in a rain cloud all the way up there, but it didn't stop us from hiking around two craters, one filled with geothermal water.
Iceland gets 30% of it's power from geothermal energy, and by Krafla is one of their plants. The mountain in one area was criss-crossed with these pipes and domes. It felt like we were on Mars. Next we drove to Hverir (all of these places are very close together). This was crazy! My favourite of the day. It's an area full of fissures and mudpots and fumaroles (I had never heard of that word). It is so other-worldly, like being on the moon, except I don't think the moon has mudpots. 
We hiked up a mountain there, getting away from all the tourists. The mud was "boot sucking." The landscape kind of lunar. But even there, flowers popped up.
We hiked high up - you can see the parking lot way way below. Then over to another ridge.
Here are the boys, and that thing behind them is actually the SUN!

 

Next another hike, but this one nice and flat, around the "pseudocraters," where we saw tons of unique ducks and other bird life. And one last hike in "Dimmuborgir," where all of these crazy lava formations poke up out of the earth.

After a good pizza lunch, we did what is a must in Myvatn: We visited the Myvatn Nature Baths. Wow. Amazing. Couldn't take photos in the pool without wrecking the camera, but here is a shot afterward. We just luxuriated for an hour and a half. The silica in the water feels incredible, though it does leave your hair feeling like straw! Not the greatest picture as it had just started to rain again - the water is a brilliant blue - a magical experience. 
Oh, and I forgot to post this amazing photo Son took while we were driving, a few days ago. Icelandic horses, galloping down the road. Magnificent. I also keep meaning to mention The Sheep. They are everywhere. Grazing and roaming in the most remote, high-up, steep places ... and also wandering by the side of the road. We've had to slam on the brakes a number of times for a sheep who decides to cross the road, usually followed by a couple of buddies. Also had to brake for a grey goose one day. 
It is POURING again right now. We are snug and toasty in our cabin, but oh how I pity the campers we've met. Not to mention the few cyclists we've passed. Goodnight!

Whoo-wee! Our days are so full. Have I mentioned I freaking LOVE ICELAND?? There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything. We woke on Wednesday to this: A patch of blue sky! We started our journey toward Skogar on the south coast, stopping at an old volcanic crater. As we got closer to Skogar it started to rain again, but it's strange how it often doesn't matter, especially when you're already getting wet walking behind a waterfall, like we did near Skogar. Skogar is a very cool little town. Now here's the thing: When you say little town in Iceland, you really really mean little - as in a handful of buildings. With only 320,000 inhabitants in the country, and 200,000 of them in Reykjavik, you can go for a long time without seeing much evidence of human habitation, aside from the odd farm or three. So Skogar is tiny, but oh so oddly charming. Lovely people, surprisingly great food, and the starting point for amazing hikes. That afternoon - at the tail end of the bad storm that had come in the day before - we hiked up to this geothermal pool in the mountain that a local had told us about. You can see the weather below. It had been raining so much we had to ford a river, boots and socks off, wading through in icy waters, to get there. But it was worth it.
Honestly the best view I've ever had from any kind of pool!  We had a great dinner that night at the hostel just down the road from our hotel, arctic char and of course good Viking beer. 
The next morning we woke to much better weather, and hiked the first bit of an epic and famous hike to "Thorsmork." When I come back to Iceland - and I will - I will plan our trip to do this entire 22 km hike. It takes you past part of - Eyjarfjallajokull, the volcano that erupted in 2010, halting air traffic for a week. We didn't make it that far, but the part we hiked was spectacular.

Then it was down the highway, eastward, to Vik. I'll let the photos do the talking. Again, spectacularly beautiful and so different again.
After visiting the promontory at "Deerlay" (Canadian version of a much more complicated word) and seeing tons of nesting birds we had lunch in this dear little place below, in Vik. Delicious marinated lamb sandwiches.
Vik is a 'big town' comparatively speaking - and what you see below is mostly what you get. Some of the villages remind me of a cross between a Swedish village and a Newfoundland village, a blend of old and new(er). After lunch we visited the black sand beaches at Vik with their amazing basalt formations. Finally we came to rest near a town with a spectacularly unpronounceable name, Kirkjubaejarklaustur.  Our accommodations were unremarkable but we had a fantastic dinner at a place in (above mentioned town), Systrakaffi. Doesn't look particularly appetizing, does it? But it was! Fish stew, and amazing, along with that rye bread that they bake in the earth - it cooks in the geothermal steam.
This morning, July 4, we were up bright and early to head to Vatnajokull National Park and Skaftafell, for a 4 hour glacier hike. This was possibly the highlight of the trip so far, in a trip already filled with highlights. Here is our little group - we three, and three very funny Lithuanians. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

 That's our guide with us, I think you spell his name "Thorsten," except the "th" would be one of their unique "p's" that I can't do on my laptop or don't know how to.
It was a crazy and phenomenal experience. I've never been so high up on a glacier, and walking between the ridges etc. Amazing. After eating lunch we drove further southeast to the Glacier Lagoon, or Jokulsarlon. Again, otherworldly. Well, aside from all the touri, as we call the plural of "tourist." Of course, we were among them.
There were tons of arctic terns there, and their chicks had recently hatched, and they were defending them to the death! Son got dive-bombed over and over again. Me, being shorter, well they went for the tallest people! Here are a bunch of terns resting on a wee iceberg. Then we drove ... and drove ... toward the beginning of the east fjords. Thanks to our guide book we knew we had to take a short detour toward a radar station, down a gravel road, to this little place - the Viking cafe. So charming, and great waffles, and a lovely young man working there who we chatted with for a long time. We chat with a lot of the locals, and they are all so friendly and open. Afterward we walked to the set of a Viking village, built for a film that has yet to be shot. 

And at long last, we arrived in Djupovogur, an utterly charming in a "Seducing Dr. Lewis" kind of way, seaside town. That's our hotel, above. Love it here. We had dinner at the restaurant (great) then walked over to this old and very Swedish looking cafe for cake and a bit of World Cup soccer. Tomorrow we continue our journey, to Myvatn in the north, where we will stay for three nights. More in a couple of days ... for now, some r and r, and perhaps another episode of "Orphan Black" on iTunes!

Today - Canada Day - the stormy weather struck Iceland like a fist. Lots of rain and high winds. Oddly, we managed to have a terrific day in spite of (or because of?) the weather. 
But back to our last evening in Reykjavik. We ate at another amazing restaurant, Snaps. Lovely space on the inside, and delicious food, all locally sourced. Here is something that continues to amaze us. There are only 320,000 people living on this entire island. And yet they manage to be so self-sufficient and sustaining. Heck, they even grow their own tomatoes, and I can say with some authority that they taste really good. Had a beautiful grilled veggie salad with homemade ricotta, followed by red fish, which she described as "ocean perch." Husband thought maybe red snapper?  Son, who is 2 years away from Iceland's prohibitive drinking age of 20, does not seem to have any problems getting served here. Is it because they're pretty lax, or because of that gorgeous red Nordic beard he's growing?
Yesterday morning we were picked up at our hotel and brought to the rental car agency so we could start our journey around the Ring Road. Though technically yesterday wasn't around the Ring Road, it was to the famous Golden Circle. On the way to our first stop at "Thingvellir" (I can't get Icelandic letters on my computer or at least I don't know how), we stopped by Halldor Laxness's house! This is not in our guide book, but a local told us about it. We took an audio tour. Here's the boys with Halldor's Bentley. Thingvellir is the location of Iceland's open air parliament many many moons ago. Picture Viking types doling out justice. Interesting fact, guess what the number one crime (punishable by execution) was? If you guessed "incest," you'd be right. Thingvellir is also famous because it sits between two tectonic plates, North America and Eurasia, and the no-man's land in between is expanding by 2 cm every year. Hence why Iceland has so many earthquakes. The ridge of rock you see below is the ridge of the North American tectonic plate (I hope I have that right - Iceland would be a geologist's wet dream). We went for a long hike in Thingvellir to the site of an old farmstead and tried to imagine who would be crazy enough to have tried to farm here back in the day (well, the guy from Halldor Laxness's "Independent People" did). Then we drove on to Geysir and saw - yes - a geyser! You stand there with all the other tourists for about 8 minutes, just waiting ... watching ... but you know what, it's worth it. The area is full of geothermal activity. And when you're in these areas it's a great excuse to fart because you can just blame the sulphurous smell on the steam.  Next we went to Gulfoss, a gorgeous two-tiered waterfall, which completes the Golden Circle. Saw some pretty flowers too.
And then we went back to our cabin, where we're staying for two nights, and got into our geothermally-heated hot tub! Dinner was cheese and crackers and smoked Atlantic salmon and some of those tomatoes I mentioned. Oh, and beer. And wine. Thank-you Duty Free. Today we headed back to "Thingvellir" to do a super-fun thing: Snorkel between the tectonic plates. On the way we passed a big film set. They even waved at us. We were, of course, convinced it was Game of Thrones. Even where they were shooting - it was a perfect GOT location. But when we asked at the park's information center, we were told they were shooting part of the new "Halo" video game. Pooh, says I. So I don't have any photos of US snorkelling, but this is another group that went out ahead of us. Basically you snorkel - in full dry suits - between all these fissures that are full of glacial water. Crystal, crystal clear, and THREE degrees!  Here we are, getting on our gear.
 It was seriously very very cool. And surprisingly warm with all the gear. A once in a lifetime experience. When we were done, our guide told us we were going to jump off a cliff. We thought he was joking. He wasn't. We jumped off a (not very big) cliff into the icy waters. I was first to go and terrified but with a line up of people behind me I had no choice but to jump. And then I did it again because it was so much fun. We had lunch afterward and it included these bars, which I'd never seen before. I give them a thumbs-down. Then a short hike in the downpour - this is what Canada Day looked like in Iceland. On our way home we stopped at the Laugarvatn Fontana. Our first Icelandic geothermal pool/spa experience. Oh god, it was wonderful! All these geothermally heated pools, right by the edge of the lake. Again I couldn't bring in my camera, but here's a photo from the web - it was like that, but with rain. I did manage to take this photo though, back in the change room. And yes, I washed all those bits before entering the pools! Soon we will go to dinner at Lindin, which is owned by the Icelandic parliament's official caterer. It's supposed to be yummy. I'll report back. Till next time, I will close with an Icelandic joke. All you need to know is that what trees they have here (most were felled for lumber years ago) are very short. 
"How do you find your way out if you get lost in an Icelandic forest? ... Stand up."

These next few posts will have nothing to do with my work as an author and everything to do with all things Icelandic. Son always wanted to go to Iceland. Well, he graduated from high school this year so let's just say he's getting an awesome grad present! 
First of all, Icelandair is terrific. Nice staff and heck, almost enough leg room in economy. First thing we noticed: Icelanders have a sense of humor. Here are excerpts from their on-board menu - and yes, even their barf bag: 

We were told all about the Icelanders' belief in elves and trolls by our cab driver on the way in to Reykjavik, and we saw geothermal steam rising from the earth, hence the name, which translates as "Smoky Bay." Oh, and hot tip for anyone considering a trip here: Stop at the duty free before you leave the airport and stock up on BOOZE! It's half the price, apparently, compared to the state-run liquor stores. And they let you buy fairly copious quantities. I should point out too that Icelanders (well, Reykjavikers are all I can attest to) love their booze, at least on weekends. In fact I would say they have a passionate relationship with it on Friday and Saturday nights. Dare I use the term "binge drinkers?" I think others would more kindly say "party animals." Let's just say I think a lot of people see their elves and trolls on weekends. This city lives up to its reputation as a party capitol. We were so jet-lagged last night that we only lasted till 11 pm, but the bars were open all night. And of course the sun sets at 3 and is up again at 6! 
Next are some photos of iconic buildings in Reykjavik: Harpa, the new music hall, and the church, I can't remember nor can I spell the name.   



This photo above is a panoramic view from the church. Reykyavik architecture is a blend of old and new. It's really a very charming town, and I do mean town; the population is 200,000, which is 2/3 the population of the entire island! You'll also notice how we experienced many different climates (much like the barf bag said) in a 12 hour period. For example, look below: They really do get sunshine. 




The people are warm and helpful. I don't have great photos of the town, but it's very walkable and and bike friendly. Oh, and here are more of those signs with that Icelandic humor. The second one was outside a bar.  And this is what Icelanders do with their naughty children. :-)    Don't you love that? Just put them into giant plastic bubbles and make them spin around like hamsters until they're ready to behave. :-) 
So far the food has been shockingly delicious. I don't know why I should be surprised. We had great spicy Icelandic lamb soup from this stand at lunch (yes, they have food trucks!). And for dinner we went to SushiSamba, a rather trendy place full of very hot-looking young people (and a handful of oldsters like the parents of my son). Being Saturday night they were big on trying to sell us tequila shots (like, they had a woman whose sole job appeared to be to get people to buy shots. And believe me, many did), but since we were all so jet lagged we stuck to beer. Well, and this shot of brandvinn that came with our meal. Oh, and celebrity gossip, apparently this is the restaurant where TomKat had their last meal as a married couple ...
So my expectations we a a bit low re the food as it had that "too cool for school" feeling going on (and if that expression didn't just age me, I don't know what will). But the food was fantastic. Here's where I confess to eating things I never thought I'd eat, and some of you might be offended by the fact that I did. It was a tasting menu and, well - I tasted everything. Including ...  Puffin. Yes, that's puffin. They have a lot of them here. And next confession: It was delicious. Rather duck-like. 'Kay here's the one that may lose me some friends: That's whale on the left. Mink whale. They "harvest" them here. It was also pretty tasty, but I had a hard time wrapping my brain around that one. On the other hand I had no problem eating the reindeer burger on the right! Maybe because my husband is Swedish, or because we eat venison at home - reindeer just doesn't feel like a big deal.
We had to pack it in after dinner because we were dead tired, but let's just say we heard the Reykjavik revellers off and on till at least 4 am. 
Today (Sunday) we took a fantastic 3 and a half hour bike tour with a lovely Icelander from the aptly named "Bike Tour" company. He was awesome (and from the scent arising from his pores I know he, too, enjoyed partying on Saturday night). He took us all over Reykjavik and beyond.  
We stopped outside city hall, and this is the statue that stands there. What that says about what it's like to be a politician in Iceland, I don't know. Their last mayor, Gnarr, was a comedian who ran as a joke and got elected (and by many accounts did a very good job).
   We rode all around the harbor.
And those white buildings with red roofs in the distance? It's Iceland's "White House!" Seriously, that's where the Prime Minister lives. And these last two photos epitomize, to me, the Icelandic Optimism. It was approximately 12 degrees today while we did our bike tour. Yet there were still people on the beach, and even people swimming in the Atlantic!
Now we lounge, with some of our airport-bought beer. Soon dinner. Tomorrow we pick up our rental car and begin our almost 2-week journey around the Ring Road. With any luck, we'll see some elves ...

I don't usually write about art. In fact I never write about art, because I know so little about it, and chances are I will just wind up looking stupid. But I'm going to take that chance today because I just saw the Doug Coupland exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and it is fantastic.  So that I don't wind up sounding stupid, which is possibly inevitable, I'm going to mostly show images from the show (taking photos is encouraged). I loved how he managed to give us a true glimpse into his mind, in a very entertaining and also moving fashion. To be honest I had no idea just how much artwork this man has generated, along with his many books - I don't know how he's managed to achieve so much at this stage of his life! I highly recommend the show if you're in Vancouver over the summer. Make sure to pick up the iPod for the audio guide - it's terrific particularly because you're hearing about a lot of the exhibits in Doug's own words. 
I fell in love with Coupland like so many of us did when I read "Generation X," back when I was in my early 20's. And now I have a new-found admiration for Mr. Coupland after seeing this show. I think I'm probably glad I don't have his brain (because you get to see the contents of his, and it's kind of overwhelming) but I'm delighted he's being feted as a true Canadian Icon.
These images were particularly powerful. Viewed with the naked eye, it's a bunch of dots. Viewed through your iPhone, it's images of jumpers on 9-11.
Husband puts gum on the replica of Doug Coupland's head. It's called, appropriately, "Gum Head."