Monday, 6/3/2013
-Went on a run with Laura. Didn't get lost this time. We are improving.
-Met up with Max and Dan of the Hveragerdi hot creek. They introduced us to a bakery that's basically across the street from our school. Having lived there a week already, we probably should have been the ones introducing it to them. We're all busy and cheap though. :-D
-We had our first guest lecturer of the class, Sólveig Thorvaldsdóttir, who talked about disaster function management.. basically, the planning that occurs pre-event and the things that need to happen once an events occurs (including learning from your experiences). The structural engineering and analysis part is really just a small portion of the whole process. I think I'd like to do some work in the post-event stages at some point in my life..
-Went to the university to finish up last bits of homework and were met there by Elijah and Jeff, friends of a friend. Made a big dinner + lots of cookies and Schtroumpfs for 6 (the 4 ladies and our visitors), then tried to find the one and only bar/club of Selfoss. It involved a midnight walk across the bridge. As it turns out, the one and only bar/club of Selfoss is not open on Monday evenings, but it was a lovely adventure nonetheless. On the way back, we discovered that the gas station has a 24 hour shop, and we helped push the car of someone whose car died.
-Bedtime.
Tuesday, 6/4/2013
-Travel day. Starting early. Apparently this means 9:45. Reason #287 why I love Iceland.
-Benedikt and Christian arrive to pick us up and we are informed that the party music is ready to go. We wonder about this. Enter Gus Gus and their song Selfoss!
-Not too long into our journey, we come to a stop and are told we are going to check something out. We are distracted by the intense wind and moderate rain until we look ahead and notice the following crator:
Minds blown.
-Back in car. We come to a stop again, this time there are sheep on either side of the road, looking as if they want to cross. We wait a bit and try to cheer them on, and eventually they make their move. Icelandic lesson of the day, sheep = "kind" (pronounced something like "keend").
-Gus Gus suddenly transitions to everything from 50 Cent to La Bamba to Outkast to Walk Off the Earth to CARLY RAE JEPSEN. This is when we realize that our instructor has amazing taste in music and that we must obtain his party mix. Also The Immigrant Song, which captures the very essence of Iceland.
-We learn a lot of Icelandic on this trip. Bridge = Brú. Next time you cross one, try to repeatedly say "brú" until you get to the other side, all in one breath. Very challenging.
-Waterfall = Foss. We pass many of these.
-Þingvellir National Park, where the Mid Atlantic Ridge comes above ground. Again with the intense wind and rain. Iceland, the land of go big or go home.
(We all seem to be really be into either red or black jackets.)
-Then the 3ish mile long tunnel under a fjord. Dark and windy (curvy, not blustery.. is there any way to distinguish between these words in writing??). A dance party breaks out in the car. We think Benedikt and Christian are wondering what they got themselves into with this road trip.
-Benedikt tells us he plans to stop at a bakery in about a half hour for lunch. Our responses are mumbled because we are stuffing our faces with cookies and smurf candy. Fail. Bakery is good though. We pick up "love balls" and kleina (essentially bow tie shaped donuts) and tebolla.
-We stop for a little mid road trip exercise, potentially ignoring some "do not hike here" signs in order to hike into the crater of a dormant volcano.
(The crator.. you can see sort of a circular ridge. This is where the lava in the center sunk back down a little after the volcano was finished erupting.)
(Baby lava tube.)
We are nearly knocked over by the wind. It also makes it difficult to hear anything besides wooshing sounds. And interesting note: the mossy vegetation that seems to cover all of Iceland is very sensitive. Apparently some kids came to this volcano and spelled their names in the moss by ripping up some parts of it. Despite many efforts, the names are still there. I guess that makes it easier to track down the perpetrators..
(A windy, scree-filled hike back down the volcano.)
-Our last stop is in the town of Akureyri for dinner. This is Iceland's second largest urban area after Reykjavik. While we walk around and explore, Benedikt educates us on Icelandic lore: elves, trolls, fairies, and the 13 Yule Lads and Yule Cat of Christmas. The Yule Lads are mischievous and may also eat children. The Yule Cat eats children who don't get new clothes for Christmas.
Here are some of the mischievous activities these lads engage in: (Yule Lad 1) Harasses sheep, but is impaired by his stiff peg-legs. (Yule Lad 3) Abnormally short. Steals pans to eat the crust left on them. (Yule Lad 8) A Yule Lad with an affinity for skyr.
Iceland seriously just gets better and better. Evidence.
Also, dinner is good.
And we may have found the Loch Ness monster's Icelandic cousin:
This place is pretty:
-And then one final detour before arrival in Húsavík. The night before we left Selfoss, there was a landslide on the road between Akureyri and Húsavík. The road is closed, but we do some more ignoring and drive down it a bit until we can see the landslide.
-Arrival in Húsavík is celebrated with driving up and over a very exciting ramp, and our first midnight trip to the cheese tub. (Note the sun.)
-Went on a run with Laura. Didn't get lost this time. We are improving.
-Met up with Max and Dan of the Hveragerdi hot creek. They introduced us to a bakery that's basically across the street from our school. Having lived there a week already, we probably should have been the ones introducing it to them. We're all busy and cheap though. :-D
-We had our first guest lecturer of the class, Sólveig Thorvaldsdóttir, who talked about disaster function management.. basically, the planning that occurs pre-event and the things that need to happen once an events occurs (including learning from your experiences). The structural engineering and analysis part is really just a small portion of the whole process. I think I'd like to do some work in the post-event stages at some point in my life..
-Went to the university to finish up last bits of homework and were met there by Elijah and Jeff, friends of a friend. Made a big dinner + lots of cookies and Schtroumpfs for 6 (the 4 ladies and our visitors), then tried to find the one and only bar/club of Selfoss. It involved a midnight walk across the bridge. As it turns out, the one and only bar/club of Selfoss is not open on Monday evenings, but it was a lovely adventure nonetheless. On the way back, we discovered that the gas station has a 24 hour shop, and we helped push the car of someone whose car died.
-Bedtime.
Tuesday, 6/4/2013
-Travel day. Starting early. Apparently this means 9:45. Reason #287 why I love Iceland.
-Benedikt and Christian arrive to pick us up and we are informed that the party music is ready to go. We wonder about this. Enter Gus Gus and their song Selfoss!
-Not too long into our journey, we come to a stop and are told we are going to check something out. We are distracted by the intense wind and moderate rain until we look ahead and notice the following crator:
Minds blown.
-Back in car. We come to a stop again, this time there are sheep on either side of the road, looking as if they want to cross. We wait a bit and try to cheer them on, and eventually they make their move. Icelandic lesson of the day, sheep = "kind" (pronounced something like "keend").
-Gus Gus suddenly transitions to everything from 50 Cent to La Bamba to Outkast to Walk Off the Earth to CARLY RAE JEPSEN. This is when we realize that our instructor has amazing taste in music and that we must obtain his party mix. Also The Immigrant Song, which captures the very essence of Iceland.
-We learn a lot of Icelandic on this trip. Bridge = Brú. Next time you cross one, try to repeatedly say "brú" until you get to the other side, all in one breath. Very challenging.
-Waterfall = Foss. We pass many of these.
-Þingvellir National Park, where the Mid Atlantic Ridge comes above ground. Again with the intense wind and rain. Iceland, the land of go big or go home.
-Then the 3ish mile long tunnel under a fjord. Dark and windy (curvy, not blustery.. is there any way to distinguish between these words in writing??). A dance party breaks out in the car. We think Benedikt and Christian are wondering what they got themselves into with this road trip.
-Benedikt tells us he plans to stop at a bakery in about a half hour for lunch. Our responses are mumbled because we are stuffing our faces with cookies and smurf candy. Fail. Bakery is good though. We pick up "love balls" and kleina (essentially bow tie shaped donuts) and tebolla.
-We stop for a little mid road trip exercise, potentially ignoring some "do not hike here" signs in order to hike into the crater of a dormant volcano.
We are nearly knocked over by the wind. It also makes it difficult to hear anything besides wooshing sounds. And interesting note: the mossy vegetation that seems to cover all of Iceland is very sensitive. Apparently some kids came to this volcano and spelled their names in the moss by ripping up some parts of it. Despite many efforts, the names are still there. I guess that makes it easier to track down the perpetrators..
-Our last stop is in the town of Akureyri for dinner. This is Iceland's second largest urban area after Reykjavik. While we walk around and explore, Benedikt educates us on Icelandic lore: elves, trolls, fairies, and the 13 Yule Lads and Yule Cat of Christmas. The Yule Lads are mischievous and may also eat children. The Yule Cat eats children who don't get new clothes for Christmas.
Here are some of the mischievous activities these lads engage in: (Yule Lad 1) Harasses sheep, but is impaired by his stiff peg-legs. (Yule Lad 3) Abnormally short. Steals pans to eat the crust left on them. (Yule Lad 8) A Yule Lad with an affinity for skyr.
Iceland seriously just gets better and better. Evidence.
Also, dinner is good.
And we may have found the Loch Ness monster's Icelandic cousin:
This place is pretty:
-And then one final detour before arrival in Húsavík. The night before we left Selfoss, there was a landslide on the road between Akureyri and Húsavík. The road is closed, but we do some more ignoring and drive down it a bit until we can see the landslide.
-Arrival in Húsavík is celebrated with driving up and over a very exciting ramp, and our first midnight trip to the cheese tub. (Note the sun.)
great pictures!
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