ICELAND EDITED: DAYS NINE & TEN

I've decided to combine our last two days in Iceland into one post for reasons that will become apparent later

DAY NINE

Day nine we were back in Reykjavik. We started our vacation here but we were so jet lagged that most of the experience was a kind of blur. This time we were alert as we ever were and went off to explore the town in whose environs the majority of Iceland's population resides

As the major city in Iceland, Reykjavik faces the dichotomy of past and present and future. They are trying to build for the future ...

... while acknowledging the past

The day before we had visited the Althing, Iceland's historical parliment, today we visited the current building that occupied a spot with a lot of other historical buildings many of them preserved, some of them "recreated".

We were back in weather a bit more typical for this time of year in Iceland, not terribly cool but with little rain showers popping up suddenly. We developed a formula to deal with it: Rain shower = pub, it worked quite well.

As summer wore on the days were getting longer, we were not quite yet into the midnight sun but it was light out quite late into the night. Reykjavik has a very active music scene and there were bars featuring a wide variety of music late into the night. There are a lot of resturaunts and bars and clubs in the town; we found one with a pool table large enough to accomadate soccer balls

Besides music, Reykjavik is a major centre for many arts. We found this little public square the celebrated what is, apparently and active and appreciated graffitti art scene

The city has always been a haven for the country's artists. We found more statues dedicated to artists than we did to politicians. There were several public sites, such as parks, that were inspired by famous works of Icelandic fiction

Like the last time we were here, we enjoyed the many colourful houses, reminiscant of Newfoundland

Reykjavik is a place where you can book a lot of day trips, like whale watching or going over the Westman Islands, a group of very active volcanic islands just off the course but after living on the bus for several days we were happy to wander around, take it easy and enjoy our final full day in Iceland

DAY TEN

This was our getaway day, when we would fly back home to Toronto. Our flight however would be in the evening so our travel agent had prepared for us a special treat. There are natural hot spas all over Iceland but the most famous in the Blue Lagoon, on the way to Keflavik Airport

The Lagoon is the most luxurious spa in the country and definitely one of the biggest tourist traps. We'd been to one other spa, in the north and it was a lovely, homey, communal kind of place, frequented by locals. The Lagoon is a different experience, not many locals come there and it didn't have that communal spirit. Still, the springs are lovely and surrounded by interesting lava formations

The spa is lauded for the healthful benefits not only of the water, but of creams and lotions made out of the natural sediments. You can buy a massage, there are sauna's, hot rock treatments and you can sample some of the creams right there in the spa. Mostly it had a swim up bar, now I find that extremely healthful

We had a very relaxing couple of hours then it was a short trip to the airport and on our way home. Always happy to go home of course, but it was also sad to leave. Iceland would give us a lot to think about, a lot to dream about, and lot to look forward when next we visited this remarkable island country

IF IT'S SUNDAY, THIS MUST BE SNAEFELLSNES

Today we received the full itinerary for our Iceland trip and it's helping to put more of it into focus.

We fly out of Pearson at 9:15 pm our time and will arrive in Reykjavik Iceland at 6:25 am ... while actually only eating up about 5 hours time. Thank you very much time zones.

We'll spend that first day in Reykjavik. I considered looking up a local surgeon who could rewire my jaw so I could pronounce these Icelandic words but Collette suggested perhaps checking out the sights and sampling local cuisine. What a spoil sport eh.

Reykjavik sounds like a pretty cool town, with a population of around 200,000. That's less than the number of people in Yorkdale Mall on a saturday afternoon. I know that for a fact. I once counted them all. The magistrate suggested that it may be inappropriate to be touching that many strangers. Duly noted. But who knew?

Speaking of "cool" we knew that summer in Iceland would not be exactly balmy. As I right this post, the average temps for the country (and of course there will be a variety) are in the mid teens. We've been told that the climate should be very similar to New York City in the spring but without the smog .. and the crack ho's ...

Day three we're off to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula with glaciers, fishing villages and lava fields. The entire country of Iceland is roughly the size of Kentucky so our travel time will not be too long for most trips but I expect to see some great scenery during the voyages anyway.

I'll be spending my birthday in the north part of the island, visiting Hraunfossar where water comes running from the under the lava into a river, one of the biggest hot springs in Europe and a visit to Gooafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods.

The next day begins with a fairly normal breakfast experience; you know, some coffee, a croissant, some whale watching .. nothing special. In that area we'll also see puffins .. dude, puffins .. which I once associated with a British publishing company. Apparantly Icelandic people eat puffins. Sitting down to a holiday meal of a dozen roasted puffins .. yummy (I made that last part up, duh)

Another feature I'm looking forward to is visiting Vatnajokull .. no, not a villain from a Robert E Howard novel but the largest glacier in Europe. Cool ... like, for real

Iceland is one of the newest places on the planet so there will be volcanoes and geysers and lave fields .. oh my! Not to mention some huge waterfalls mountains and ... unexpectantly .. a sandy desert.

Day 9 we'll get introduced to the Icelandic horse, a unique breed and visit the Viking Parliment of bingveilir .. a Viking Parliment. Hold on, I may need a moment ...

We'll end up back at Reykjavik for a day. We can decide to explore more of the city or choose to take one of many day trips, we'll have to see how tired we are at the time

Our travel agent arranged our last day for us. While our baggage will be sent off to the airport, we'll take our bathing suits to the Blue Lagoon ... um, no not that blue lagoon, stop thinking dirty. It is the most famous geo thermal spa in Iceland, a country that is replete with such features and actually uses geo thermal energy to warm their house etc.

We'll loll around in the waters, get in some serious relaxation, then go to the airport for the flight home.

Yeh. That's living rough for you