I hate the cold, but I am drawn to it

Reykjavik Iceland is cold in March. That is a true statement. I hate the cold. Also a true statement. My disdain for freezing is the one reason I am not thrilled about moving back to Minnesota in November/December 2008. So, why would I knowingly go to visit a country that is further north than I have ever been?

The answer is: It was on my must see list, it was cheap to get there, (Come on, it had to be had given that it's WINTER) and my friend Janet wanted to go and had identified a great weekend for going. So, we went and I have to say, even without the Northern Lights and the Midnight sun, we had quite a time. I hate cold but I loved Iceland. An open mind is the key to this sort of experience. A very open mind and a warm hat. Of course a warm heart doesn't hurt.... (I know, bad).

We spent Friday soaking up the sights and sounds of Reykjavik. An interesting little town that definitely has that small town feel. It appears to be newish, in terms of Europe anyway, with architecture that looks like it has been completed in this century if not in the past 50 years. You will see from my pics of the town that there is a gorgeous glamorous modern church about a 10 minute walk from the city center. Interestingly, there is a church, also modern looking but stark instead of glam, called a funny phonetic Filadelfia, about a 10 minute walk from the city center in the opposite direction of it's high-end super church cousin. We stayed in the Filadelfia side of town, which is just like me. I always start, mostly by happenstance but sometimes by choice, on the wrong side of the tracks.

Houses were seemingly basic but made of interesting things like tin or concrete and of course lots of wood. I saw no brick. Janet informed me that brick requires clay to make, and how is Iceland supposed to make clay given their geological resources and geographic restrictions. Right. Whatever the building material, houses were often painted in bold colors, particularly in reds, blues, and golden yellows. Icicles were found hanging from roofs in abundance. It was pretty.

Saturday was the day to experience what we could find in by day-trip. We were seriously hung over and so terribly tired after a fun night out in the party capital of summer-time Europe (which included me faking my way through a few conversations in Icelandic. A highlight of the trip, given my love for pretending I am able in ways that I am not. A thing that could only happen in Iceland, on a dance floor thankfully couched in very loud music with lyrics in English. There could not have been a better

opportunity for shouting a bunch of syllabic rubbish at someone else who seemed to believe I was actually using words they knew. It was so fun. Totally rocked) Janet and I got up stupidly early in the morning to indulge in one of the most fantastic life experiences I can remember: The Blue Lagoon. It is surprising how wonderful it felt to take an hour long dip in this thermally heated, steam generating, mud coated man made pool. It was heaven. The water is hot and cold, swirling around in gentle current. The water surface is much warmer then the deeper depths and the body experience is a little surreal. What with temperatures changing all the time even if you are still, feet squishing into mud that makes skin look lovely, top hot bottom warm water, I was in heaven with it all. It was so relaxing and comforting and incredibly pleasurable. Really, really pleasurable. It felt so good I felt a little out of place. It seems like that level of pleasure inducing indulgence is usually done in private and not mentioned in regular conversation. Not the case for Janet and I in regard to the Blue Lagoon. We were in a pool with a dozen other people we didn't know and after an hour of bliss like I don't recall having before, we could not stop ourselves from discussing the huge surprise of such fantastic indulgence throughout our weekend. If you go to Reykjavik, please don't miss the Blue Lagoon. That would be sad for you.
The rest of our day involved a quick trip through the stunning Pingvellir national park and on to Gullfoss where you see me freezing in front of a gorgeous waterfall. We made it to Geysir (the town) and saw the eruption of Little Geyser (the geyser), which was cool, although I am sad that when taking a pic of the natural wonder I was zoomed in too close to get the whole geyser erruption in one shot. We did a lot in two days time, Janet and I. It was fun and beautiful and interesting and exhausting. I would do it again in a hot minute.

In more general terms, life here continues to be really busy as Spring descends upon lovely London. In March, I am so hopeful that I will get a day or two with my friends Bill and Bev and their kids as they enjoy England and catch up with their now Devon-based former neighbors.
In late March I meet my sis and niece and we head to Morocco for a few days before traveling up to Spain to meet my parents for 10 days. In early May my friend Corrie, who used to live here but has since moved back state side, is coming to visit. Then it's summer time and I will be actively planning my big European travel tour and my move back home. Wow. It all goes fast. It's amazing and really wonderful.