We blew it

Iceland August -September 2012

Literally.

I plugged in our power/plug adaptor and all the lights went out in the room. And in the entire wing. Oddly, it was just the adaptor, no electronics. Hilton, being the good company they are, got everything back to normal and loaned us one of theirs. Fortunately, the hotel does not need to be rewired, but there is some fear John's Hilton Honors status may be downgraded. (As bad as this sounds, it pales in comparison to my friend who broke one of Leona Helmsley's chandeliers in an NYC hotel.)


A bit about Reykjavík ("Smokey Bay") .....

First, we've been mispronouncing it. It's not RAKE jah vick. The locals say WRECK uh vick.

The city is a wonderful mix of the old and new. Many of the homes and buildings, especially in the center are what you might expect in a Scandinavian city: attached, 1-4 stories tall with peaked roofs. The roads and cars are surprisingly American like. This is quite different from other European cities and not what we expected. There is an abundance of Hondas, Toyotas, Hyundais, and even GM cars (even spotted a few Cadillac SUVs); and all are models we have in the states.



Icelandic people are predictably very nice and friendly and speak excellent English. Given the proximity to the UK, it appears that the Queen's English is taught as most of the pronunciations have British vowel sounds, rather that American or Canadian.

We left early on our whale watching tour. This is an excellent summary and conveys the adventure much better than can be articulated.

We are grateful to LLBean. Those Mainers really know how to design clothing for a windy coast.

Reykjavík sits on a small peninsula jutting into what is called the Greenland Sea. From the top of the impressive Hallgrímskirkja (Hallgríms Church) you can see the point of land.


The cathedral is Church of Iceland (evangelical Lutheran) and has a very austere decor and only 2 small stained glass windows, not at all like the grand cathedrals of Europe.

However, it has an incredibly impressive pipe organ.

Keeping with the simplicity of Scandinavian design, the pews are simple and have the unique design of pivoting backs, allowing them to be configured to face in either direction. Today, half were one way and half the other. The reason is unclear.

Rivaling the Hallsgrímskirkja for skyline domination is The Pearl (Perlan), a large glass dome sitting atop 6 enormous tanks storing 24,000 tons of geothermal heated water. The view is tremendous and the glass dome provided an excellent canvas for this lovely self portrait, right before I was nearly blown over by the wind. (At CNN, this is known as the "Anderson Cooper Hurricane Effect.")

Lastly, John ate a hotdog .....

Not just any hotdog, but one from what is called the "Best Hotdog Stand in Europe" by the Guardian. We ordered as a local would "everything on it". Aside from what appeared to be crushed Doritos, none of the "everything" was recognizable. For those who are shocked we ate a hotdog, these are special. They are made from lamb and possibly qualify as gourmet.


Blowin' in the Wind.