Going through some old photo albums I found some of my old report cards from Grade’s 1 through 3.

Grade 2

Steven enjoys the various class activities and is always eager to participate in oral discussions. He must try to however curb his inclination to chat during work periods.

Grade 3

He enjoys his classmates and works well in group activities, always eager to share ideas and information. Steven spends much of his working time chatting to his neighbours and being concerned with what others are doing. He is being encouraged to concentrate on his own work and not to disturb others.

I think they were implying that I talked a lot and liked to gossip. Were they ever wrong!

Okay, here is the last instalment of the Iceland trip, our final days in Iceland. Brad of course had joined us in Reykjavik and we left Saturday and Sunday to explore the city. Monday, our last day was reserved for the Blue Lagoon, a couple more hot dogs and our flight home.

The Nightlife

• Nightlife… is definitely hopping. They don’t go out until 1AM. So we would go for dinner, sleep for hours and then get up to drink and dance.
• Hit a bar (twice) named Barbara. Mixed crowd, really annoying girls with big purses and huge Igor like men flitting around the dance floor.
• No one particularly good looking.
• The DJ played Dolly Parton’s 9to5 as we were arriving… three songs later she played… Dolly Parton’s 9to5. Go figure.
• This was the same DJ that had props while she played… i.e. awful sunglasses and a toy saxophone.
• The main street Laugavegur was crazy busy filled with locals and tourists.
• I think they like breaking glass, there was broken glass all over the street, but yet magically cleaned up by the morning. We even saw someone break a bottle in front of a police car and they really didn’t care.
• Street subs were amazing, was it that it was 4am and we had been drinking or was it the tasty mayo. I vote for the mayo.

• Shopping was pretty expensive… even the ugly sweaters. There was nothing I really wanted to buy.
• We went to a mall and it was pretty sad. And they said they had wi-fi, but it didn’t work so we wanted to leave. And we did.
• The city is nice, good feel and lots of nice graffiti everywhere.
• Lots of empty buildings, probably from the economic crash.
• Generally clean and nice to wander around.
• Random street performers were playing techno music in old Mexican wrestling outfits, singing and doing other weird street performer things. But strangely weren’t asking for money. They do it for the art.

• We returned to the Indian Mango for our free food, it was fantastic. The Guillemot was great and the Tandoori arctic char was delicious.
• The hot dogs from Bæjarins beztu were amazing. We ate three. They were voted the best hot dog in Europe. The secret: crunchy onions and special sauce. The bun was soft, the wiener was steamed, totally tasty.
• Puffin is a fishy meat… almost purple in colour.
• And of course, we had the tasting menu at the Fish Market.

• One of the last sites we went to was this lava tube.
• 1.2 km of complete darkness and craggy rocks.
• We didn’t make it very far in, the climb was unstable and it was really dark.
• On the way out, we actually saw a father and his little 4 year old girl going in! It was too much for us, I hope that they turned around shortly after.
• If we would have made it to the end we would have seen cool ice formations, but it would not have been easy!

• Before heading to the airport our last stop was the famous Blue Lagoon.
• A sulphur bath and spa about 30 minutes from the airport.
• It was nice, I think I preferred Myvatn Baths better, the Blue Lagoon mixes in salt water to reduce the sulphur.
• The Blue Lagoon is quite large and more touristy, but definitely worth the visit!

Daily Notes

• Having a three hour nap after dinner and before going out is a great thing.
• Whale is tasty when done the right way.

This batch of pictures cover our second day in Husavik. We started the morning whale watching and then explored the Jokulsargljufur national park in the afternoon. You can also click here to view the slideshow full screen.

On the Friday, Brad arrived early morn into Keflavik and we were there, late, to pick him up. After switching our car for the piece of tin that goes by the name of Citroen, we took him back to Apartment K. If he knew what was our first stop of the day he probably would have stayed at the apartment. Or at least stayed in the car.

• Aaron had mentioned this waterfall/hike the day before. There is an easy route and a hard route. Of course the view was better via the hard route. We were invincible!
• The hike started out easy, once we found the parking lot.
• We had to go down a whole in a cave to make our way to the river. We thought that may have been the hard part.

• The river was crossed using a log and a wire. The book made it sound scary, but with my balance beam skills, it was a walk in the park.
• The hike up was hard and filled with many different routes depending on how hard you wanted to climb.
• Brad was cursing me because when I get in the zone, I just want to tackle it head on, and waste no time. So not only was he fresh off the plane, but he was doing the hardest hike we had encountered, and I wasn’t waiting for anyone.
• We stupidly underestimated the work involved in the hike, so we neglected to pack water, but that was fine with me! I would drink from the small streams and pool of water that was trickling down. The water was crystal clear, refreshing, and has yet to give me fun poop.
• The 2 hour hike was well worth the work. The highest waterfall in Iceland had cut its way through a narrow crevice.
• The view from the top was stunning and well worth it.
• The hike down was actually a little worse, we actually got our hands dirty.
• I think Brad may be still sore from that hike.
• I may have to name my first born Glymur. Love it.

• After the busy hike we needed some easy sites to see. The word “Geyser” originated from the name of the shooting steam and water located in Iceland. The original Geysir no longer explodes regularly. Maybe a couple of times a year.
• The active Geysir is Strokkur. It explodes every 5 minutes or so and pretty amazing to see.
• You stand there with your camera posed for a picture and suddenly you see the water suck into the hole, then slowly bubble up, then explode into a gushing spout of steam and water.
• I’m so glad that I got to see the real thing, and won’t just live life comparing a geyser to something I saw in an amusement park ride. It is really amazing.
• For a little slide show of the geysir, click here.
• Maybe I’ll name my second born Strokkur.

• The last waterfall of the trip, I was like: What could be so great about this waterfall after seeing the beauty of Skogafoss and the power of Dettifoss?
• I was underwhelmed at first glance. The falls looked small and I was wondering what all the hoopla was about.
• When you get a full view of the falls you see the second tier of the falls and it is totally breathtaking. And a pleasant surprise.
• The falls start and then appear to dissappear into the earth at a 45 degree angle from the first level. It was amazing.
• And of course you can walk right up to the falls and feel the mist of the glacial water against your face.

Icelandic Fish and Chips

• Numerous people had recommended the organic fish and chip place at the harbour. Also Aaron had read about it on chowhound.com.
• I had Ling Fish and the potato wedges.
• The batter was amazing, they make it with spelt and barley.
• You didn’t feel like you were run over by the Exxon Valdez after eating the fish and chips. Normally why I avoid them… and of course for health reasons.
• The fish was accompanied by skyonnaise dips made from Skyr which I have mentioned before. We had the mango chutney, red peppers and chilli and one other that I forgot.

Daily Notes

• Every bathroom that I encountered this entire trip was impeccable. And the toilets all had reliable flushes.
• Some times it is worth taking the hard/high road because at the end it is totally worth it.
• Service in Iceland is icy, for a lack of a better word. We always got good service, prompt service, but felt that the interactions with the service staff were always abrupt and like it was an inconvenience to them to add any extra personality to the conversation. Not once did anyone ever come by to ask how are food was. Except for the Indian import at Indian Mango who was delightfully polite.

I’m a little late in this post, but I figure I should finish the trip, just like we finished the ring road. On the 6th day Aaron and I made our way back to Rekyjavik to check into our hotel and of course meet up with Brad who was arriving Friday morning.

• We thoroughly enjoyed randomly stopping to pet the horse or watch the ponies run.
• Icelandic horses are smaller than your normal breed. And just as cute!
• Yes, we did eat some horse, normally in a salami type of texture. We didn’t eat any horse steaks or anything like that!

• On the way to Reykjavik, we stopped in this little fjord town.
• We had to drive on a windy road high along the coast, we entered a tunnel and we were then in the fjord town.
• Snack time, this is where I saw the sub sandwich with Doritos in it. I had a bacon and cheese sub and finished it off with a chocolate covered doughnut that had little chocolate covered licorice nibs on top. Very tasty.
• The owner of the bakery said he had a relative in Canada but didn’t know where. We then found out that Manitoba is recruiting Icelanders for their talent!
• The town was cute, the cemetary was cute, and we just walked around taking it all in.

Drive into Reykjavik

• Pretty uneventful, but beautiful country, mountains and scenery.
• The highlight of the drive was the Hvalfjörður Tunnel under the fjord just before Reykjavik.
• The tunnel goes 165m below sea level and is almost 6KM long. It was pretty damn amazing.
• You have to pay to use it or I would have taken Brad through just for fun.
• It cuts off the drive around the fjord by 45km. Not bad!

• After 7 says of the country we were looking forward to hopefully some comforts and of course good food.
• We arrived and met with the owner of the Apartment we rented.
• We had him drive us to the liquor store… we needed wine!
• Our apartment was spacious and really modern right on the main street of the city.
• We walked around in the balmy evening and took it all in. The street came alive and tonnes of live music was playing and restaurants and bars were pretty full.

• Aaron read this restaurant was supposed to be fantastic… and we wanted something different to eat.
• We ordered the Guillemot, Lamb and naan.
• We got butter chicken, lamb, and tandoori chicken.
• The waitress was new, luckily the food was fantastic and quite delightful.
• At the end of the meal, the owner said we should try the Guillemot. That is thought we had eaten when we ate the tandoori chicken!
• He gave us two free meals so we shall return.
• We felt like celebrities with the owner at our table fawning over us, it was great.

• As per the Apartment owner, there is no pre-meditated murder in Iceland. Only the kind where you are mad at your wife and all you have is a drawer full of knives and you stab her to death.
• Guillemot does not look like Tandoori chicken, nor does it taste like it.
• Dried haddock is fracking disgusting. It was described in the guide book as having the flavour of toenails. They were right, but it is still a crowd pleasure with the locals.

This batch of pictures cover so many sites. Myvatn is rich with interesting things to see! Luckily we had the Myvatn nature baths to relax in to rejuvenate. It was perfect timing! You can also click here to view the slideshow full screen.

Here are the first batch of pictures. These pictures cover our trip from arrival and through the south of Iceland. Previous blog entries go into some detail of what we saw during the trip. You can also click here to view the slideshow full screen.

Tonight we experience our best meal yet here in Reykjavik, Iceland. We went down to an upscale restaurant called the Fish Market (Adalstraeti 12. Reykjavik, Iceland). The decor of the restaurant is quite beautiful with soft lighting and modern bamboo decoration everywhere. When we arrived at 8pm, the restaurant was far from bustling but within 15 minutes every table was full and the food was flowing.

We all decided on the tasting menu, which is based mainly on seafood. I was hesitant at first because I’m not the biggest seafood eater, but as Aaron says, “Seafood tastes different when it is fresh and you are on the coast.” So it didn’t take much to talk me into saying yes to the $89 feast we were about to experience.

Course 1: Tiger shrimp with Spicy Tuna
Tasty, but not mind blowing. It was a great little starter with some nice details. I do love melon balls!

Course 2: Minke Whale with Deep Fried Mussels
My first attempt at eating whale in Iceland turned into me spitting it and the bernnaise sauce promptly back onto my plate. But this whale was different. It was a little bit rare and was sliced from a steak. It was definitely much better tasting then the chewy mess I had experience in Vik. The meat was tender with just a faint essence of fishy taste to it. Which I would expect is normal from a mammal that just eats fish. Accompanying the whale was tempura’d mussels. Again, very tasty.

Course 3: Clams with Caviar and Seaweed Salad
I am definitely not a clam eater, but I may be one now. These clams were excellent and the caviar gave it the perfect amount of salt to go with the clam meat.

Course 4: Romain Salad, Wasabi Dressing with Parmesan crisps and Mandarin Wedges
This could have been a boring “Caesar Salad” type course, but the wasabi dressing gave it a nice kick. And the parmesan crips which I assume were deep fried parmesan chunks definitely put a nice spin on the routine croutons.

Course 5: Sushi Plate
The sushi plate was an assortment seafood, all which I liked… strangely enough. I avoid any mystery sushi plates not knowing what to expect. We had Prawn sushi, halibut with caviar, squid with a green coloured roe, and a maki with salmon and seaweed. The halibut was one of my favourite flavours of the night… but I am a big fan of caviar now so that could have helped.

With our appetizer courses out of the way, we now moved onto our main courses.

Course 5: Salted Cod with Cherry Sauce, Celery Salad and Lime
Totally delicious. Cod steaks with cherry sauce drizzled all over, topped with a mayonnaise celery salad on  top. The meat was really tasty with a nice salty flavour. One of Brad’s favourite dishes of the night.

Course 6: Salmon with a Cauliflower Puree, Shitake Mushrooms, Edamame and a Sprig of Dill
I thought the salmon was incredibly tasty. The puree and mushrooms added to the dish and it was pretty fantastic.

Course 7: Lamb Chops with Blueberry Sauce and Potato Foam
This was probably the least favourite dish of the evening. The lamb was not as hot as we would have liked. For a country that has so many sheep, we haven’t been blown away by any lamb that we have tried. The presentation was great, and the potato foam was good. Blueberry is one of my favourite flavours, so I was quite happy to soak up all of the sauce.

Course 8: Dessert
We saw the plate coming and were a little shocked at the size of the dessert. We already had full bellies but we made it through dessert… somehow. Funny how you can always find room for some sweet after dinner. The dessert plate had three types of sorbet, a square that was called the Snicker’s Square, chocolate cake with raspberry filling, bread pudding, and a variety of fruit. The fruit was exotic to familiar, blueberries, pineapple, passion fruit, lychee, and a fruit that was seedy with prickles that I didn’t know what it was, and I can’t remember what she told us when we asked. Icelandic names are really hard to remember!

This was definitely our most memorable meal of the trip. This restaurant was  hip, cool, and full of flavour. There aren’t many meals that you know you’ll remember as they days and weeks pass.

Waking up our last morning in Husavik, we cleaned up the cottage and headed out to the town to catch our Whale watching tour. On the way in our groggy states we headed to a gas station to get some coffee. Before even getting on the boat I get a preview of what a whale blow hole will look like as Aaron sneezes just after he takes a sip of coffee. The passenger side of the car was dripping with coffee… very entertaining. It was going to be a fun day.

Whale Watching

• The ocean was calm, but still chilly for 10AM. Lucky for us, they provide beautiful body suits.
• The sun came out and we had a great visual of the water around us, let the hunting watching begin!
• We see a Minke whale in the distance. Exciting, but uneventful. If that is I we were going to see, I wanted my money back.
• We then see some dolphins in the distance, but again, too far.
• Then we strike gold. Humpback whale was spotted and we got up close.
• We would see it blow, do a couple of small dives, and then go for a big dive where it would dissappear for 5 – 10 minutes. We managed to see this twice and get some nice shots.
• For some whale pictures, click here.

Asbyrgi

• At the northern tip of the Jokulsargljufur park there is a huge canyon that was carved out of the earth 8,000 to 10,000 years ago by catastrophic flooding.
• Driving in is quite beautiful since you are bordered by huge walls of rock and lush foliage.
• Where the water carved the canyon is now a trickle of a waterfall and a pristine pond of still water. The pictures really don’t do it justice. It reminded me of a serene Japanese garden.

Hljodaklettar

• Came across a backpacker and made sure we were in the right place after a rough ride. Take note, he comes up later.
• We headed up the west side of the park to this place where huge rock formations of basalt stand next to a river.
• The river echoes against the rocks making it sound like the river is actually on the opposite side of where it really is.
• There is a huge shallow cave that looks like it is a gaping hole into hell. Apparently the sheep used to take cover there during storms.

Driving to Dettifoss

• We read the book in not so much detail at this part of the journey. We thought we could travel up the west side of the park.
• We continued south and managed to maneuver the car through huge street wide puddles until we could go no further.
• We gave up and managed to turn around. Rocks were everywhere and at some point the puddles felt as if they would come up above the wheels of the car.
• When we got to the junction we saw the 4×4 only sign that we neglected to see.
• On the way out to the main road, we see the hitch hiker again. We recognized him so we picked him up.

Hitchhiker

• Israeli guy in his twenties in Iceland for 4 weeks.
• Basically at this point he had hitchhiked around Iceland with no problem.
• Iceland is so safe and everyone is so nice, he had no problem hitching and camping wherever he went… alone.
• He smelled. He was cute. Aaron was in love. (And at this point hasn’t been able to find him on Facebook since we can’t remember his name)

Hafragilsfoss

• The east road was a lot better, and way easier in our little Hyundai.
• This waterfall was pretty amazing. But only the appetizer to the next one.

Dettifoss

• This waterfall is the main course.
• Powerful and gushing. I think it is comparable to Niagara, although I am desensitized by Niagara now that I have seen it so much.
• The force behind the falls is amazing and the water that trickles down the opposing rocks is quite beautiful.
• This is glacial water so the water is a creamy gray.

After seeing the falls and finally making it there alive, we then deposited our hitchhiker at a camp site in Myvatn. We need to make it to Akureyri which was about an hour away to get to our next hotel. This is the town that has the heart shaped red lights in the street lights. Fun! We had a sloppy burger in a joint and watched Ugly Betty with Icelandic subtitles.

Daily Notes

• Couch surfing is a site where you can find a couch and/or bed to sleep for a night for free. We learned this from our hitchhiker.
• When the road says 4×4 Only, it means 4×4 Only.
• Aaron is a great driver on bumpy rocky roads, I was thankful to him for getting us through safely. It was quite scary at some points!

The weather at the north end of the city wasn’t the greatest when we were there. Sort of overcast and chilly. But that didn’t stop us from hitting all the hot spots in Myvatn. And when I say hot, I don’t just mean popular!

Hverfell

• A huge crater that was formed 2,500 to 2,900 years and it still sits there like a “big dog” bowl”.
• I was hoping that it was a little more than a pile of dirt, but it is a pretty freakin’ huge pile of dirt with a gravelly hole in the middle.

Grjotagja Fissure

• We tried to find this place before Hverfell but we drove by it not realizing we were right next to it. So we tried again!
• It was this big line in the earth where you can see that it crunched up together and buckled creating sort of a crack in the earth.
• You can walk down and there is hot mineral water sitting nicely small caves.
• Way more daunting when you actually know what it is and when you are standing on top of it!

Dimmuborgir

• This is a lava fields where the lava pushed up into pillars reaching 66ft. and then cooled leaving a sort of maze like area where you can walk around and see, well, the pillars.
• At first I didn’t appreciate it, but then I started snapping pictures and began to like the area more and more.
• We thought the story behind how they got there 2,200 years ago was more interesting than actually seeing them, but they grew on me.
• We ate sandwiches. They were good.

Skutustadagigar

• Pseudo craters around a lake.
• I wasn’t as taken by them as Aaron was. They were small grassy “cat bowl” that sort of looked like craters.
• It was cold. I was tired. I needed rejuvenation. See next activity…

Myvatn Nature Baths

• Power plants create power. Power plants that are geo thermal create a bi product. We get to swim in that bi product. Milky creamy sulphury blue warm water. Fantastic.
• The Baths were amazing and so relaxing after a hard day of walking and eating sandwiches.
• We were by far the youngest there, we hit it at a good time and the bus of german tourists left us after a bit with a few other bathers.
• You don’t really bathe in the pool. You loaf, you swim gently, you lay on rocks and pretend you are a mermaid.
• We also tried out the steam rooms that are powered by the steam from the earth. I am loving the earth and amazed by it more and more every day I am in Iceland.

Leirhnjukur Lava Field

• We were nice and relaxed and ready to see more. A lot more.
• Headed about 20 minutes away to see this awesome lava field.
• Eruptions between 1975 and 1984 left a massive lava field.
• Our pictures won’t do it justice. It is pretty awesome.
• Lava is still steaming in various locations so you can only walk down marked paths.
• They have a massive mud bath that you walk by to get to the lava fields.

Dinner

• We ended up at a restaurant called Gamli Baukur
• As is everything in Iceland, overpriced but decent.
• Met two Alberta Valley girls whose first question was if we were Apple genius’. Well we were so I gave her a primer on her iPhone.
• Restaurant had wi-fi. Bonus.
• They were nice enough. Chatty and sort of clueless. One looked like a man.

Daily Notes

• Toilets flush amazingly. No need to ever double flush. Much appreciated.
• Aaron’s observation… to turn a light on you need to push it down.
• We have been seen a lot of decent looking guys with hideous girlfriends. Strange but true.
• Germans like to talk in the shower… a time when it is best not to talk. Especially when you have to clean off bathingsuit-less, bath rule.

Such a busy day, but so amazing. This is definitely a very special place on earth.