December 13th & 14th, 2014.

Nothing overly exciting happened during the next two days so I just encompassed them into one entry.

Never did see that girl again from Mokka. Shame. I went to the Hallgrímskirkja church again, went out for a few scuttles around the town. Oh! Got a new tattoo! I got the Mountain Avens, Iceland’s national flower, right next to my maple leaf. I forgot how much it hurts!

I decided to make the night of the 14th an all-nighter because my flight is at 8:15am and my bus to the airport picks me up at 5:30.

Adventure Time marathon!

December 12th, 2014.

After getting up at 9 and getting breakfast, I go back upstairs to pack. Taking my time to do so because my flight doesn’t take off until 3:15. Checking out at 12:30, I begin my trek towards the airport. I could take the transit system but I can see the airport from the bus station, it’s only a half-hour walk. Well, half-hour with clear sidewalks. Just under three hours to get there for my flight, I had plenty of time.

The route I had planned, the highway around the bay with a nice wide sidewalk along the waterfront, had not been cleared of all the snow. I didn’t exactly want to trudge through shin height snow all the way. Quickly planning a different route, I go through the city where the sidewalks and roads were somewhat cleared. Walking on ice against strong winds wasn’t the easiest, but better than walking through all that snow.

Getting there for 1:30, I try to check-in but they asked me to wait until the other flight for Reykjavik took off so that my luggage would not get mixed in with theirs. They told me that I could wait in the lounge until that plane left. I walk into the area and the first thing I noticed was that there was no security check-point! Not even one out to the tarmac to get on the plane! Well, I guess since it’s such a small international airport (flights to other points on Iceland, and a couple to Greenland), it doesn’t warrant one. I go and get a cup of coffee and sit down. The plane eventually leaves so I go and check-in, handing over my backpack. Now I have over a hour to kill. Time to watch Adventure Time.

I board the plane, sit down in my window seat in hopes to see a volcano along the way, and we take off. Between take off and reaching altitude, clouds rolled in and I couldn’t see the ground. Darn.

After a quick 45-minute flight, we land in Reykjavik. Grabbing my bag, I leave and begin walking back to where I stayed the first few nights here. Just a quick little half-hour jaunt. Upon arriving, I drop off my bags and go out to get a cup of coffee from Mokka.

Walking in the coffee shop, one of the staff members that usually served me was quite surprised to see me again. We chatted for a good 10-minutes about where I went and what I had seen. Afterwards I grabbed my coffee and said my goodbyes.

I saunter around, going down streets I have not been down before, I then step in a restaurant next to the English Pub. Ordered a Christmas butter with a stout. Not too bad for a not-burger. Lamp chops with bacon, cranberry sauce, lettuce and tomato, and I think it was potato salad on there too.

Heading out once my belly was full, I picked up some groceries from the 10-11 (it’s a lot like Sobey’s), right across the street, I go back to the apartment for 9. Watching the movie Taken again, I go to bed afterwards, trying to think what I am going to do for the next two days.

December 11th, 2014.

The storm has let up a bit. Not completely gone, it comes and goes. After getting my breakfast and my morning rituals, I go outside into the elements at 11. I heard there was a brewery here and last night I did some research, found the location, so that’s where I’m going today.

About a half-hour walk there on a clear day, I get to the industrial part of the city, apparently it’s here. Makes sense actually, the smells that a brewery makes can be…robust? Trying to find it, I see a building in the distance that could be it, or a cheese factory, or a Co-Op building. Then the wind changes direction when I get closer. Yup! That’s the brewery! The smell of fresh bread, raw hops, and old beer, all rolled up into one.

I begin walking around the building, trying to find the entrance. Then one more time. The only one I could find was in a fenced off area. I guess this location is strictly for brewing, not open for the public. There’s another location in Reykjavik, I’ll check that one out tomorrow.

The big storm came back so I took shelter in a nearby mall. It’s just a simple one. Mostly clothing stores, a few coffee shops, toy stores, and a computer store. Was in there for a good hour before the storm let up. Being able to go outside without too much risk, I make my way back to the hotel. There’s a restaurant next door that I want to try out.

Getting into the restaurant, I’m seated next to a fish tank. While watching the fishies, I figure out what I want to eat. A mexican burger and a pint of beer. Sitting there for almost ten minutes, I get frustrated that no one has come to take my order. I get up, walk over to the bar, and tell them that I want to order food. I place my order and sit back down. The food comes out rather quickly. I gobble it down and flush the beer down my throat hole, pay my bill, and leave.

By this time the storm had come back in full swing, so I go back to my hotel to wait it out.

During my research for breweries, I found a restaurant just down the road that has a rather extensive beer list. It opens at 6 so I killed time by playing Deponia.

I head out at 7 and make my way there. After I get seated, I look at the beer list and food menu. The list looks okay, everything I have already had (still nothing from Canada), but I then see one that I haven’t had one before, but it tells me to ask the waiter. I inquire about it and the waiter tells me that this brewery has seven different kinds of beer and only bottles 10,000 of each one per year. Excited, I try, throughout my time there, a porter, and IPA, and a baltic porter. Very delicious! The brewery is called Borg for those interested. For food I ordered dates wrapped in bacon with a sweet chilli sauce, and my main was steak covered with a caramel sauce with onions and mushrooms, with a salad and a baked potato. All of it was so tasty! Iceland may be mostly barren and low population, but MAN do they know how to cook!

After my meal and three beers, I depart and decide to take a closer look at the church. Not as impressive as the one in Reykjavik, but still amazing.

10:00 rolls around, the food and beer finally hitting me, I make my way back to the hotel for bed.

Going back to Reykjavik tomorrow!

December 10th, 2014.

December 10th, 2014.

Well, it’s mighty stormy outside. Got up at 8, got dressed, went downstairs for breakfast, then back upstairs. I’m really wanting to go out to Lake Myvatn, so I hope this storm doesn’t last. I’ll be calling the bus company later on today to see if my bus will still be operating today. It’s too early right now, the weather can change in the blink of an eye. It’s 10:00 so I have time to kill. Time to play Deponia.

Noon rolls around so I give them a call. While on hold, I was guessing that it wouldn’t be running because the storm has gotten worse. It reminds me of the storm we had before I left Canada in November.

An operator picks up and I ask about the status of bus 56. She confirms my guess that it’s not running. Giving my thanks and goodbyes, I hung up and called the hotel where I was going to stay and cancelled my reservation because of the storm and only being out there for one day wouldn’t be worth it. She agrees and cancelled my room.

Afterwards I go downstairs and extended my stay here until the 12th. I go back upstairs and play some more of Deponia.

The storm got progressively worse. All of my day was spent in my room. The only time I went outside was to get food from Subway at 4.

That was pretty much my day. Stupid storm. Intense and cool, about 14” on my balcony, but still stupid. The only other time I left my room was to go downstairs to get a pint and write in my journal.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow is better.

December 9th, 2014.

It was a pretty lazy morning. Bus was leaving at 1:50 so I didn’t really go out on too big of an adventure. Just a simple walk around. I didn’t want to get distracted and miss the bus.

Organizing, packing, coffee, Youtube videos, 1:00 eventually rolls around and I headed out, leaving behind a couple of maple syrup hard candies and a loonie. I’m doing that at every place I stay at.

I saunter over to the department store because the game I got, Deponia, works best with a mouse. I get to the gas station/bus stop with 20-minutes to spare. I order a grilled cheese and a pop and wait. 1:50 rolls around and goes by, so I continue to wait.

Waiting.

Waiting.

The bus finally arrives at 2:20. After loading my bag, I pay the fair for getting me to Akureyri, I inquire if we’re going to get there in time for me to catch the 56 bus. He tells me that it doesn’t run on Tuesdays nor Thursdays and proceeds to take out a schedule and shows me. ‘Huh,’ I say. ‘Neat. Well, let’s see what happens when we get there.’ He chuckles and pulls out. I find a seat, put on head phones, then almost a hour into the trip I’m white-knuckling the seat in front of me. The reasoning is because we fish tailed twice. Looking at the road, it’s completely covered with ice. I’ve been in two accidents during the winter and they were caused by icy roads. I came out of it all fine and dandy, so if we got into one I would be fine. That’s based off of my track record of accidents, incidents, and dangerous encounters of which I should have been seriously injured.

We eventually get to Akureyri, getting off and strapping on my bag, I look at my surroundings. I’m stranded in Akureyri. Well, it had to happen at some point, better here in Iceland’s second largest city as opposed to some place in the middle of nowhere.

I head into the Tourism building, tell them my story, and I’m just looking for a place to rest my head for the night. They take out a map for me, circle a few places nearby, and then compliment me on my high spirits. I respond with ‘Thanks! Why get angry and panic? That’ll only make things worse. Might as well make the most of it, if anything, it’ll make a great story afterwards!’ They laugh and seem impressed.

I head over to the hotel, check-in, and go up to my room. I unpack the essentials and then spot my dead Gameboy. I sent home my old charger because didn’t work here. Not because of the outlet prongs, but because it’s rated only for a 110v system, where Iceland is 220v. I go downstairs to the concierge and ask him if he knows of any computer store nearby. He takes out a map, points out three places nearby, the closest one is right across the street, the other is a 15-minute walk away. I give him my thanks and head out into the night (night being 4:45pm) and start my hunt. The first two places didn’t have what I was looking for and both places told me to check the third. I walk over there to find out that it has closed down! Defeated, I look around the area for another one. Luck be on my side, I found one! And it’s about to close in 5-minutes! I pop inside, purchase the cord, and then finally notice that the Sony Playstation owns Iceland, allowing Nintendo to have a presence, and next to nothing for PC nor XBox. It took me three towns and eight stores to realize this.

Returning to the hotel, I take off my jacket, plug in my Gameboy, and go downstairs for dinner. Very fancy restaurant here! I order the Catch of the Day, which turned out to be Arctic Char no greens and fried potatoes, with a side of fries cooked in truffle oil and topped with parmesan cheese. Also ordered an Icelandic stout called Black Death. After trying a bite of everything, this was the best fish, fried potatoes, and fries that I have ever had! The stout had an interesting sour smell and taste to it, I couldn’t decide if it was intentional or the tanks weren’t cleaned properly. Still, a tasty beer.

Going back upstairs to my room, I play Deponia for about a hour, chat with my roomie Laura back home, then head off to bed.

I was told that tomorrow was supposed to be nasty. I hope not.

December 8th, 2014.

I was woken up at 6:45 this morning from a text. Looking at my phone, it was from my friend Sarah. Yay! Sarah! What a great way to wake up! Chatted with her for about a half-hour before she had to go back to work. Back to sleep for me.

Getting up a hour afterwards, I make breakfast and coffee. Good coffee. My hostess supplied me with all sorts of things! Eggs, milk, juice, bread, ham, fruit, yogurt, and coffee. Made myself a egg and ham toasted sandwich with a banana and grapefruit on the side, with a cup of coffee and a cup of juice. Yum! During breakfast I decided to start planning my trip to Ireland because my three-week time limit I put on myself was coming up. Apparently, there’s no direct flights to Ireland. What?! It’s right there!! I decided to fly to Gatwick then grab a connecting flight to Cork (closes airport to the Blarney Stone), then it hits me. What the heck am I doing? Why don’t I just switch my plans around. Do England first, then Scotland, then Ireland? After coming to that conclusion, I booked a few places that I’ll be staying in the Gatwick area.

After breakfast and planning, I cleaned up, got dressed, and out the door at 10. There was a town to see! Up first there was a big lit-up cross on top of a big hill. I wanted to go there. Once finding the road to take me up there, I begin my ascent up a 65-70 degree hill, I eventually get up there. Once on the top, I find out what the cross was for. It’s not for a church, but for a graveyard. Paying my respects, I walk to the edge of the hill. What a view! I can pretty much see the entire town! Up there with me was a stone pillar with a compass/map metal disc thingy. That’s what I think it was at least.

I begin my trek down hill, much easier than up, cutting down side roads here and there, I find out the town’s businesses are primarily on the main road and everywhere else are houses. Kinda reminds me of Elmvale. Eventually I find another road that goes up a big hill. Part of the reason I went up there was because it was adventure time, the other was because I saw a playground with a bunch of country flags painted on it, one of which was the Canadian flag. Took some pictures and carried on. Continuing onward and up the hill, once to the top I see that this road was about 2km long, all uphill. On the very top was a grocery store. Interesting place to put one. I pop in, get some water and shampoo, I begin my trek downhill.

On my way back to my place, I pop into the liquor store and get myself some drinks . Four beers in my bag, I arrive at my temporary home. Made some lunch (the instant noodles that some Taiwanese people gave me) and did some research on Lake Myvatn, the place that I’m going to next. During my looking, I find the exact area of two Game of Thrones shooting locations. Jon Snow’s cave, and the Wilding camp. YES!! That’s going on the list of things to do, along side with going to the thermal pool.

Dinner time arrives so I order myself a pizza from Ólafshús. Looking at their online menu, I choose their Trukkari pizza. Béarnaise sauce, cheese, ground beef, red onion, mushrooms. I call ahead, place the order, then toss on my jacket and start walking over there. It’s only ten buildings over. Picking it up, going back, grabbing a beer, I begin eating. Boy was it good! Mostly toppings, very little bread, I actually ate more than I had wanted to, and had two more beers. Watched Frozen and Adventure Time during dinner and afterwards. I do the dishes, some laundry, then decided it was bed time.

Time for a new place tomorrow!

December 7th, 2014.

Slept in until 8 that morning. Started packing up after breakfast and bad coffee, I get everything in my bag by 10. I have two and a half hours to kill before my ride gets here and takes me to the bus stop. Not knowing what to do, I watch a couple of episodes of Rooster Teeth’s ‘Let’s Play Minecraft,’ then some Myst. Almost done the game! It’s so much easier when you’re an adult than when you’re a kid. The driver arrived, loaded my bag, and off we went. The entire trip we talked about the Northern Lights last night and the science behind them.

Getting to the stop, I said my goodbyes, and boarded the bus. Different driver this time. I’m off to Sauðárkrókur, still have no idea how to saw that name. Maybe I’ll make a list of all the places I’ve been and the proper way to say them? The new town I’m going to was a hour and a half away, so I put on my headphones and take a nap. Once there, I go into the gas station/bus stop and get an apple juice. Switching things up a bit.

After figuring out which way to go, I start going down the road. It’s a bit icy on the sidewalks so I take my time. Luckily, the place where I’m going is only a ten-minute walk away, fifteen with the ice. I pass by the liquor store, so I know where I’m going next.

Finding the place and buzzing my new hostess, she lets me into my apartment. Curious of her accent because it wan’t Icelandic, I ask where she’s from. She tells me Australia. Cool! After chatting for a while, she leaves and I begin unpacking. Once that was done, I go out to hit up the town.

Getting hungry, I stop into a restaurant called Ólafshús. Looking at their menu and ordering a big pint of Viking-Classic (half a litre of beer), I pick out the Salsa Burger. A cheese burger with salsa and Doritos crushed under the patty. I think it’s Sweet Chilli Heat.

After lunch and a happy tummy, I hit the road again. Pretty much next door is a brew pub! Ecstatic, I try the door. Locked. I look at the hours and it’s only open from Thursday to Saturday. The days that I’m not here. Darn. I miss the brewing atmosphere. I continue down the road and find a bake shop (bought some pastries), a department store much like Zellers, a night club called Mælifell Skemmtistaður (open on Fridays and Saturdays), and three coffee shops. Not too bad for a small town! Afterwards I head for the liquor store but find out it’s closed Sundays. I then go back to my place and do some much needed updating to my website, now that I have a good internet connection.

By the time I finish updating, it’s 9:30. I’m getting pretty tired (bus rides take a lot out of me, combined with a full stomach), I get ready for bed, jump under the covers, and slowly get swallowed by the cushy mattress, I turn off the lights.

December 6th, 2014.

Mountain time! But first, the Christmas Arts and Crafts show that I was told about. I left the shack at 10, just before dawn, and made my way down into town. I started to feel like a mountain man, coming down to town for special events. Getting to the community centre, I see all sorts of people going in. From youngsters to seniors with canes. Going in myself, I’m assaulted with amazing smells. Spiced meats, freshly baked goods, pretty candles, it’s just like Christmas! Making my way further in, I see all sorts of handmade things. Picture frames, jewelry, even furniture! I buy some jerked meat and a new pen, I make my way back to the shack.

Unloading my goods, I pack my first-aid kit, water, and trail mix, I head back out. I get to the stream and the ice hasn’t gotten any thicker. If anything, it’s thinner. Great. You win this time mountain. Off in the distance I spot a mini-mountain/jagged hill that I want to climb. Turning around, I take the road further up to a church and the beginning of some trails. I take a picture of the trail map so I will know where I am and continue forward. About half-hour in, the trail map is useless during the winter because the trails aren’t marked, or just buried in the snow. Taking random lefts and rights, I come atop of a tall hill, looking down into a valley, and on the other side is the hill that I want. Following the crown of the hill, I find a spot where I can slide down the hill into the valley, in hopes of crossing the stream that I spotted down there.

Pants now covered with snow, and having a fun time sliding down, I start walking along this stream I spotted. It wasn’t as small as I was hoping, a good foot and a half drop to icy cold water and sharp looking rocks, and a four foot jump to the other side where I didn’t know if it was grass or ice under the snow. Along the way I spotted a tree that was just as fuzzy and soft as a pussy-willow.

I go as far away from town as I could go, I turn around and go the other way. As I near the point where I first started, I was about to claim defeat until I found a perfect spot to cross. Well, as perfect as I could find. It was still a far jump in between the two shores, but the ice looked thick and there was also a mini-island that I could jump onto and over. Testing the ice, it wasn’t as thick as I would have liked it to, I jump over and across. Cutting through some trees, I find a big dirt mound, bigger than I, with a big red door fastened to one side. I would have opened it if someone didn’t go to the trouble and lock it, but it was ajar just enough for me to get my camera in there. No clue what it’s for though.

Continuing on my quest, I eventually come up to the base of this 60-degree incline hill with my target resting at the top, a good 100-plus feet above. ‘Let’s do this’ I say and begin my ascent. A few slips here and there, no serious damage done, I eventually get to the top and bellow a victory yodel. I felt great! I look to my right and shake my fist at the mountain. Next time.

Spending some time up there, taking in the view, I start my trek down, knocking on the red door, jumping across the stream, I get back to my shack by 3. I was told that there was going to be a Christmas tree lighting at 4:30, and I wanted to go to that because I missed the one in Barrie. Sitting down and playing Myst until 4:10, I start making my way down.

Arriving there, a big crowd was already forming. At 4:30, some kids started singing over a PA system, and a firetruck pulls up with two Santa Clauses riding on top. They jump off with bags full of toys. Joining in the crowd, they sing and dance with everyone. Everyone started counting down to the lighting of the tree. I would have joined but I didn’t know what number they were on until I recognized fjórir (four), then I joined in. Once lit, they went back to singing and dancing, eventually the Santa Clauses started handing out toys to the kids. At this point my feet were wet and cold, and my right hip was hurting, so I took my leave. My trip uphill took twice as long but I made it.

At 6, my hostess knocked on my door. We chatted for a bit and then she asked me how I was leaving tomorrow. I told her the bus, then she told me to hold on. Pulling out her phone, making a quick call, and arranged a ride for me out to the highway so that I could grab the bus. She then offered me a ride to the grocery store so that I could buy some tickets. I accepted and off we went.

Coming back, there were three people standing in front of one of the other shacks. Pulling up and getting out, I start making my way back to my place but I overhear that they’re from Germany and that they have never seen the Northern Lights. I looked up into the cloudy sky, I wasn’t too sure if anyone would tonight.

Going inside, making some dinner, then going back out at 10, I am greeted with full-blown Northern Lights! I hightailed it over to the Germans, knocking on their door, I tell them that the lights are out. They scramble and come outside, and all of us just stand there, enjoying this.

We say our goodnights afterwards, I back inside and went to bed.

New town tomorrow!

December 5th, 2014.

What a great sleep! Pretty much passed right out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Made myself some cereal, cut up an apple, poured some OJ, and once the coffee was made I filled up a mug and took a sip. It was pretty gross. Don’t know if it’s the grinds or if the make hasn’t been cleaned in a while, but I still had two cups to drink after this. Well, I made it, gotta power my way through it.

Surfing the net, I discover that they have remastered the game Myst, one of my favourite puzzle computer games from when I was a kid. Absolutely loved it! I bought it and started downloading instantly. I find another game called Deponia. A point-and-click adventure game. Looked exciting so I bought that and began downloading it as well.

I finished up breakfast, watched a bit of Adventure Time, and after a few episodes I got up and got ready for my day. Gathering up my things that I wanted to send home, I leave the shack at 10 and start making my way to town towards the post office. Yesterday I found some trails that I wanted to check out today, so while adventuring them, I found out that taking this route, it’s only a quick 5-minute walk into town!

Eventually, finding the post office, I go in and start chatting with the employees there. Packed up a box, wrote down my address, and shipped it off. Leaving the building, I start exploring the town some more. I venture down to the coast line in hopes of finding some seals. No dice. Ah well, there’s always tomorrow. Very nice rocky beaches though! Venturing around, my tummy starts growling. Must be almost one. Looking at my watch, I’m not far off. Time to trek back up hill. Once getting back to the shack and inside, I take a look at my downloads. They have finished! I open my web browser while eating leftovers, I start watching some videos then it just stopped. I refreshed the page but it didn’t work. Further investigating into the matter, I find out that my connection has dropped. Restarting the computer, I find out that it’s still down. Well, darn. At least my games finished downloading. Grabbing some more left overs, I watch Judge Dredd. Not too bad of a movie!

With food consumed, I hit the trails, seeing where they go. Most either circle around themselves or go into town. But there was this one that I found that would take me up the mountains, but a rather sizeable river was cutting it off from me. Ice had formed over it but was far too thin to support me. Hoping that it’ll be thicker by tomorrow, I head back.

Getting inside, to my dismay, the internet is still down. I begin installing Myst, pulling out the rest of my left overs, I being playing at 5:00. The sun sets, clear night sky, I go out every now and then in hopes to see the Northern Lights. 10:00 rolls around, still no lights, I walk back inside defeated. Shut down my computer, get ready for bed, I start reading my book.

Tomorrow I’ll scale the mountain.

December 4th, 2014.

I didn't fall asleep until 3, woke up at 5, and couldn’t fall back asleep. Oh well, might as well eat breakfast and get ready. Finishing off the rest of my left-overs, cleaning the dishes, showered, packed up the rest of my things, that kept me occupied until 7. Great, what now? I laid down on the couch, listened to the RoosterTeeth podcast and dozed off. Waking up at 9 to my phone ringing, the hostess was leaving now to come and pick me up.

Finally meeting her, I give her enough maple syrup candies and lollies for her and her entire family (four daughters and seven grandchildren). Loading my bag into her car, we depart.

Talking about Canada for the whole trip, we arrive at the station. Only a 5-minute drive. Much better than a hour hike. We say our goodbyes and thank-you, I now wait for the bus, having just over a hour to kill. I go inside to get out of the cold to get some coffee and food while waiting for the bus.

Finally it arrives, and it’s the same driver as before! We share a laugh, I board, and we take off. Halfway between point A and point B for me, we stop for a 15-minute break at a gas station. I go get a bottle of water, go back outside to enjoy the scenery. It’s going to be a beautiful day.

On the road again, going further North, my stop isn’t for another hour. I take a quick snooze before arriving at my destination. Getting off, there’s someone there from the bus company to take me further up the road to the town I’m getting to. Very interesting system they have here.

The driver doesn’t speak any English so I show him a picture of where I’m going, he nods and takes off. It was a very quiet ride. Eventually we get there, he gets my bag for me, and she shake hands goodbye.

I go into my cabin and punch in the code to the key box so that I can get it, but it won’t open. It’s frozen shut! I take out my pocket knife and begin hacking away at the ice. In time I get it off, open, and into my shack. Starting my unpacking, I put the stuff I want to send home off to the side. Once finished, I put my jacket and boots back on and take an adventure into town. I’m getting hungry and I have no food, a cafe is first up. Nope, couldn’t find one. A restaurant or a pub? Nadda. I do find a grocery store so I go in and buy a few days worth of food. I ask the cashier about a cafe or a restaurant. She laughs and tells me that the coffee house is only open during the summer, and the restaurant is being built right now. I have a good laugh at that as I pay for my food. Jumping next door, I buy some beer and start going back to my shack.

Cooking up some food, my companions help me in the preparation. Well, Reptar and Snickers do. Oliver Jr. and Emma are goofing off. Food made, I start typing out previous journal entries to post to my site.

Afterwards, I watch Robocop, some Adventure Time, whilst having a beer.

8:00 rolls around, my eyelids are getting heavy, I get ready for bed.

December 3rd, 2014.

I was not wrong with the whole sleeping well thing. Woke up all lovely and refreshed and had mountains in my window. Well, what I could see of them. It was 9:30 and sunrise isn’t until 11. My hostess was gracious enough to supply me with some eggs, a package of bacon, four slices of bread, and a box of orange juice. That, combined with the V8 juice that I had brought, and a cup of hot coffee, this was an amazing breakfast that I haven't had in a long time!

Not going to waste this beautiful opportunity, I shower and get ready to go out and roam the country side. I waited until sunrise because I didn’t want to get hurt while it was still dark. Armed with a bag of trail mix, a big bottle of water, my camera, and the soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy, I hit the trail. Walking down paths, finding old farming equipment, watching sheep roam around, and checking out the slightly frozen over rivers, I spent the afternoon out in the wilderness.

Walking back to the cottage by 4, a hour before sunset, I noticed that the outdoor light that I had left on was off. Going inside, the lights in the kitchen don’t work either. I call my hostess and tell her about my predicament and she tells me that it’s a power outage from the massive storm last night. That’s right, I had completely forgot about that storm. Hail the size of peas, strong winds that almost left bruises with its pea-sized hail arsenal. That made partial sense, but why was the power working this morning? Not really fretting about it, because there was nothing I could do, I say thanks and say my goodbyes. Not really wanting to eat cold leftovers because there’s a microwave here, I start eating some of my trail mix and start watching the movie Brave. What a wonderful movie! I had never seen it nor knew anything about it. I really liked it! Love the Scottish accent.

Finally the power came back on, I heated up some leftovers for a proper meal, with a glass of schnapps. Still hurting from my hike yesterday, I put on my swimming trunks and jump into the hot tub. Just what I needed. Hot tub plus delicious schnapps equals a happy Derek. Two hours pass by with me just staring up at the country night sky, I begin dozing off. That’s the sign that it’s time for me to get out.

Drying off, putting the top back on the tub, I go inside to do the dishes. I did make quite the mess. After doing them, I start packing my bag, keeping the things I want to send home separate from everything else so that I don’t have to figure it all out again. Once these are gone, it should lighten up my bag a bit.

I got a call that night from the hostess, offering me a drive to the station at 9 so that I don’t have to hike it again. I gladly take her up on her offer, thanking her profusely.

Getting ready for bed, I grab my Gameboy, climb under the sheets, and play for as long as its remaining life and bestow upon me.

December 2nd, 2014.

Well, I did go to bed at 10, but I didn’t fall asleep until 1. Just couldn’t sleep. I set three alarms. One at 6:20, one at 6:40, and another at 7:20. I didn’t get up until 7:30. Scrambling around, getting my things together, I had to leave by 8 and be at the bus stop by 8:10. Finally getting my things together, saying my goodbyes to the apartment, I managed to leave the warm and comfy apartment at 8 and out into the stupid rain storm. Thankfully my bag and my jacket are waterproof.

I get to the bus stop on time, hop on the bus and ride it all the way to Mjódd. I didn’t know what to expect from their transit system, I guess not almost the spitting image as Barrie’s. The biggest difference: comfier seats. Riding the bus for twenty minutes I finally arrive at the station. Feeling a bit crotchety, because of the lack of coffee and food, fortune be shining on me today because there’s an open cafe right next door. I go in, get myself a coffee and a breakfast bagel, I’m back to my old self.

Apparently the company that operates the Reykjavik transit system is also the company that covers all of Iceland! Neato! Went up to the teller and purchased my tickets, took my fare and sat down. With a happy tummy, I had a half-hour to wait for the bus. Okay with me. I was also getting pretty tired because apparently carrying a 75lbs bag is exhausting.

The bus arrives, I toss my bag into the storage compartment, and jump onto the coach bus. Even comfier seats! I love it! I pass right out as soon as I take my jacket off. I wake up here and there to see where I am in respect to my stop. When we’re only a few klicks away, I put on my jacket and hit the stop-button. We pull into the station, I get out of my seat and walk towards the door, and we pull out. Starting to panic a bit. Not because that I didn’t get off at my stop, because I didn’t want to carry my bag anymore that I had to. I go up to the driver, explain my situation, and tell her apparently the button doesn’t work. She chuckles, drives a bit down the road to a spot where she could turn around, and we go back to my stop.

I run into the station and buy a bottle of water. The attendee laughs and asks if I fell asleep, that’s why I missed my stop. With a smile on my face, I tell her no and explain what happened. Afterwards, she tells me that someone was just here, about fifteen minutes ago, waiting for me to arrive. Taken aback, who knows me here and would know that I would be here at this time?! I then realize that it was the hostess of the place I’m staying at coming to get me. I forgot that I told her my travel plans. I was truly touched.

The rain had stopped for now so I take advantage of the situation and begin my hike. I pull out my phone, give her a ring, and leave a message on her machine telling her thanks for the attempted pickup and told her the route I’ll be taking.

Once again, fortune be on my side. It did not rain again when I left the station. It as a 6km hike, nearly all of it uphill, I eventually arrive at the farm where the cottage is located. I begin walking down the path, having to stop twice for herds of sheep to pass, I finally get to the place where I’m staying. Going in through the front door, I painfully put down my bag, take off my boots and jacket, then my shirt because I’m soaked with sweat. I sit down to catch my breath and for my legs to stop burning, I get back up after I rested long enough and begin unpacking. Halfway through, I turn on the stove and begin boiling water for the carrots that I brought with me, and heat up the frying pan for the bacon I brought as well. The last time I ate was at 8:30 and now it’s 1:30, I need food now. While unpacking, I sifted through my things, trying to decide on what to send home. Unfortunately one things I have to send back is my Gameboy charger. I failed to notice that it’s not rated for the voltage here, unlike my laptop and my phone chargers.

With the bacon cooked, carrots peeled and boiled, I turn on the BBQ and cook up some chicken and start making some rice inside. I finish everything by 3:00, sit-down with a bowl of bacon-chicken-veggies on rice and having Kickass 2 playing on my computer. I take my first bite and I’m rather surprised at how good it is, since half of the veggies came from a can and it smelled funky. You’re probably thinking ‘If it smelt funky, then why’d you eat it?’ Simple really; I paid for it and it didn’t have any mould.

At the end of my late lunch, I crack into my Icelandic schnapps and begin reading my book. Before I knew it, I was through half my bottle and it was just turning 10:30.

I’m going to sleep well tonight!

December 1st, 2014.

Got up at 6 this morning. I have a busy day ahead of me so I needed an early start. Cheerios, pizza, coffee, and V8, what a great breakfast! I started wrapping up some presents and stuffing them into my spare backpack. I got three gifts done then I ran out of tape that I found in a drawer. Crap. I started off so well! Any who, I still have three people to shop for so this it’s not all lost that I ran out of tape.

Time to try out my new beard trimmer! Such a spectacular device! So smooth, felt great, and it did a great job. I didn’t know my beard had gotten so long, I couldn’t see the white of the sink with the amount of hair in there.

Leaving by 9:30, I started walking down Bankastræti, stopping in a store here and there, turned around, then around again. Did that three times. Fortunately enough the post office was right across the street from the last store I was in. Popping in, buying some tape, I also inquire about how to ship my backpack back home. They told me that they don’t have a box big enough but if I tuck everything in securely, they will be able to ship it as is.

Taking a couple of address forms with me, I went back to the apartment to drop things off, picked up my address book, and headed out the door. 11:30 rolled around so it was about time for lunch. I have eyed a place all week and I haven’t gone in just yet. Until now. The place is themed, even named after, The Big Lebowski! Got myself a cheeseburger, jalapeño poppers, and a white Russian. Was thinking of you the whole time Dave!

With lunch done, and 12:15 rolling around, it was time for my afternoon coffee. Off to Mokka I go! Going in, the girls behind the counter wave hello and asked me how many times I have come in. I responded with ‘probably six times’ and that this was the best coffee and best service in town. My coffee served, one of the girls inquire where I’m from, why I started here, and where I’m going. After answering her questions, she tells me of a trip she’ll be taking soon, pretty much the same as me but reverse. Fingers crossed that we cross paths later on!

Leaving the coffee shop I went back home to finish wrapping Christmas gifts. That took about a hour and a half. Quicker if I wasn't using packing tape. I stuff them into my bag, along with things I’m sending back home, tie it all up and taped the buckles, I make my way to the post office to send Icelandic Christmas back home.

Leaving my bag in their capable hands, I go to the bus station and ask how I’m going to get to my next place, Baula. She helped me in three ways:

What bus to take and how much it’ll cost me.
A quicker trail to take, depending on the weather, that will get me to my destination that much sooner.
That we’ve (North Americans) been saying Bifröst wrong this whole time. We say it like *bye-frost*. It’s actually pronounced as *bee-frist*, with your tongue in the position as if you were about to pronounce ‘L’ when you're about to start the ’S’ in frist.

Learn something new everyday!

I’ll be leaving my place at 7:45 tomorrow morning, grabbing a bus at 8, then grabbing another at 9, arriving in Baula at 10:45, hiking East for a hour and a bit, and should be arriving by noon.

Well, it’s time to pack. Thank GAWD I have this bigger bag. I have plenty of room after everything is in there so I have more room for groceries and beer. Finished packing at 8:30, grabbed a shower so that I wouldn’t need one tomorrow, read my book somemore, and planning to go to bed by 10.

There’s no internet access out there, not 100% certain that my cell will work out there either. If not, you’ll hear from me in a few days!

Talk to y’all later!

November 30th, 2014.

I got woken up at 9 by a text from my previous hostess, Sigga, telling me that the weather station here has put out a warning for a massive wind storm hitting Reykjavik later on today. I figured I better get done today what I need to get done before the storm hits.

Doing my morning rituals, I left the house at 11:30. It was wet and windy thus cold. Good. I was getting tired of the warm days here.

My day started off with a trek to the northwestern point of Reykjavik to a place called Elko, their version of a Futureshop. I needed a beard trimmer. I would’ve brought mine from home but the voltage here compared to was the trimmer needed wasn’t compatible. Normally, to get there, it would’ve taken me twenty minutes but I was fighting against the wind and rain so it took me twice as long.

Once getting to the area where Elko was, I spotted a company that made the game EVE Online, CCP. I know of a few friends that I would make jealous if I went in and said my hellos. They were closed today though. I proceeded to go into Elko to find my goal of this quest that I had undertook. I spotted five different trimmers on sale and I settled on the second cheapest one there.

My prize in hand, and killing about 45-minutes in there, it was time to go back outside. The route I took back had taken me by the Fleamarket. I decided not to go in today and forgo the shark challenge because the weather was getting worse and I had things to do before shops closed today.

I stopped by a few shops here and there, trying to do some Christmas shopping and picking up some wrapping paper, I suddenly become hungry. A few days ago I saw a restaurant that I wanted to check out and today seemed like the best day to do it. The Chuck Norris Grill. Yes, that Chuck Norris. Inside, plastered along all the walls, were facts about the man. Like ‘Fear of spiders is arachnophobia, fear of tight spaces is claustrophobia, fear of Chuck Norris is called Logic,’ ‘Some magicians can walk on water, Chuck Norris can swim through land,’ and ‘Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.’ I ordered a Roundhouse Kick sandwich (shredded beef, cheese, lettuce, bacon, onion, and chilli) with a pint of beer that was poured poorly. About 1/5 of it was head.

I mowed down my sandwich and downed my beer, now it was time to go back outside. I ran over to Mokka for a quick coffee, then resumed my store-hopping.

5:00 rolled around and I had to hit the grocery store before it closed at 6. Dropping my things off at home, I ran over to get food for the next few days. Sigga contacted me while I was trying to decide between what package of chicken to get, telling me that if I needed the washer before I left Reykjavik that I could use it. Overjoyed (because there’s no laundromat here), I finished up my grocery shopping, went back to my place and put things away, I gathered up my dirty clothes, and ran back to where I had stayed before.

Tossing in my laundry, I had a hour and forty minutes to kill. Fortunately enough I had brought my book, knowing that it was going to take this long.

By the time I left with my wet clothes, the wind storm had hit us in full force. Stupid-strong winds, crazy rain, occasional hail, I had a big fight ahead of me to get back to my place. A couple of times, while crossing the street, the wind almost took my feet out from under me, which would have sucked because how am I going to continue on my trip with no feet?

I hung up my laundry, made dinner, and organized my things. One more full day left before I leave Reykjavik. I only got half of my shopping done so I have a very busy day tomorrow.

Side note: NO PARTY UPSTAIRS!!!

November 29th, 2014.

My alarm goes off at 8. I turn it off, put it under my pillow, go back to sleep, and get back up at 10. Groggy and not wanting to get out of bed, I pull off the covers and drag my feet to the kitchen. Coffee will help me. Stupid party last night, I wanted to get up earlier. My initial plan for my morning coffee was to go back to Mokka and chat with that barista again, to see where she got her tattoos.

I didn’t get my day started until noon. Tonight at 7, there’s a performance that I wanted to go see since Tuesday called ‘How to Become Icelandic in 60-Minutes.’ I went down to the theatre first things after leaving the apartment and bought the ticket. 4,200 ISK (Icelandic Krona). Ticket in bag, I began wondering the docks and piers, and then I found a Fleamarket!

Inside, it looked like the 400-Fleamarket, and just as much stuff. Nothing too special here, except the have a shark challenge! They take a picture of you while eating a piece of fermented shark and post the image on their Facebook page. Going back tomorrow to do that.

After the Fleamarket, I make my way back to the Hallgrímskirkja because there’s a museum that is only open on the weekends. Arriving there, the times of operation are from 2:00-6:00. I look at my watch and it’s only 1:20. Nearby there’s a restaurant called Loki Cafe that I’ve been wanting to go to since my first day here.

Sitting down and looking at the menu, I ordered the meat soup special. Comes with a big bowl of meat soup (lamb I think, carrots, onions, yams), flatbread with slices of smoked lamb, a cup of Loki tea, and a bottle of Loki beer. The meat soup and the smoked lamb was good, but the flatbread was the best part! Dense yet soft, moist, sweet, gladly have some more of it for breakfast with some eggs. Paying for my meal I ask them if they sold it but, unfortunately, they did not.

By the time I left Loki’s, it was 2:15. Off to the museum I go! They had a great statue garden outside which I must have spent a good half-hour in there taking pictures. I go inside, pay the admission fee, and tour around the building. It was okay. I’d say that 70% of the sculptures in there were just replicas of the ones outside. None were about Norse mythology nor their great battles, which I was hoping to see.

Went back to my place afterwards for a nap. That was at 4. Waking up at 5:45, I gobble down my cold leftovers from last night (no microwave!!), and head down for the theatre.

Very funny performance. It was a comedy show about how to adapt and become Icelandic in 15-steps. I can’t remember them all, but there was Learn How to Walk, Love the Balls, Be Rude, Love the Work, Love the Smell, and Change Your Name. The fact that one of the steps is to be rude, it’s impossible for me to become Icelandic. Oh well, I like being Canadian too much to change. Also, according to him, Icelandics are strong, proud, and wizards!

After the show, I popped into the English Pub for a quick pint. A quick pint turned into three. The bartender was rather impressed at how quickly I polished them off (45-minutes). I just told him that this is the norm back in Canada. I then asked him where I could buy a beard trimmer. Need to trim my Canadian beard before it gets out of control, and the one at home wouldn't work the voltage here. He told me of a place called Elko and that they are actually having a sale on beard trimmers! Bonus!

Went back home, did some dishes, watched the new episode of ‘Ten Little Roosters,’ then went to bed.

No party tonight!

November 28th, 2014.

Normal wakeup time again, 7am being normal for me. Between now and noon I have to cleanup my mess, pack up my things, and then head out for my new place. Dishes cleaned, folding laundry, then stuffing my bag, I finish everything up by 10:30. I discovered that the bag that I brought was actually too small to carry everything that I had. I looked into the stores that the tourist info lady suggested for me, and found a store in a mall with a very nice 75L+10L bag.

Since I didn’t have to leave until noon, and I couldn’t check-in at my new place until noon either, I decided to hit the streets. Looking on my phone in trying to find my new place. I booked it for four nights. Initial plan was three, but with all the Christmas shopping that I had to get done, plus running out to get my bag, I wouldn’t be able to get it all done before the post office closed today and they don’t reopen until Monday. The next place I want to stay at is a good distance North East from Reykjavik and the two buses leaving for there are at 9am and 4pm. So instead of rushing around, I decided to stay one more day.

So here I am, walking down what I had thought to be the right road, 40-minutes pass by then I find my place. Content with me knowing where it is, I turn a few other corners to see where they led, then BAM!! There’s my place where I’m about to leave! It’s actually only a 3-minute walk away!

I bring my things over, unlock the door, and find out once I go inside is that the place is bigger! Nearly twice as big! I drop off my bag and run back out the door because I have quite the hike to the mall that I need to tackle. Almost a hour in crazy strong winds and heavy rain. In the same, somewhat, direction is the only gaming store that I could find in Reykjavik called Nexus.

I hit the main road of Laugaveur and start walking East. Taking in the sights and an area that I have not been in before, I come across this really nice mural on the side of a building of a kraken! Eventually I get to Nexus, about 30-minutes into my long hike, I’m overwhelmed with nostalgia. It reminds me greatly of the Silver Snail in Toronto! Comics, books, movies, role-playing books, board games, and collectables. All different sorts of everything! I must have spent a good hour just roaming around and talking to the staff.

Leaving the oh-so-warm store, I bear the wet, windy, cold weather once again. A 20-minute walk South East from there. The road I was walking down felt like one of those wide, busy streets in Toronto during rush hour. In all honesty, it felt pretty good.

Reaching the mall and walking in the main entrance, I’m once again hit with nostalgia because this place resembles the Upper Canada Mall! After a while of walking around and taking in the stores (found a Dominos Pizza and a Subway in the food court), I eventually find the place I’m looking for, called Útilíf. Just like a Sportschek back home. Going in, hunting down for my bag, I quickly discover that they don’t actually have it there. I turn to an employee and inquire about the bag. She calls another location and, fortune be on my side, they do have them! The location of this mall is another 20-minute walk away but in the direction of North by North West. Well, back out I go into the rain.

Off in the distance, I see a skybridge crossing this busy highway-road.

Eventually I get there, surprisingly enough bone-dry, and I quickly find the store. Talking to a sales associate about the bag, and telling him my name, he runs off to the back and retrieves it for me. I purchase it and he shows me how to put it on and adjust it properly because this one has many more buckles than my old one.

With my new bag on, I trek back to my place. Along the way, I find a doughnut truck! Getting hungry and thirsty, I stop there and order a six-pack of doughnuts (with caramel and cinnamon sugar on top) and a cup of coffee. Chatting with the lady, she tells me of some stories of around Reykjavik, and some sights I just have to see. I then tell her about Canada, where I’m from, and how BRUTAL of winters we get and how long they last. She was quite astonished about that, her saying that she has never been in a winter as bad as some that I described. By the time we say our goodbyes and I saw my thank-you’s, my doughnuts are cold. Oh well! Still tasty though! Totally worth it too.

Got back to my place, started watching the second Thor movie, letting my legs rest for a bit. Halfway thought it, I pause the movie and went to the grocery store (about a 45-second walk away) because my stomach was getting pretty angry with me. Picked up some tortellini, chicken, mushrooms, and tomato sauce. Dropped those items off and went out again to the liquor store to grab some beer. Picked myself up two six-packs of Einstök. A very tasty IPA (Icelandic Pale Ale).

Walking in the front door to my place, kicking off my boots, I start cooking my dinner while having a beer. Had two bottles while making the food.

After dinner, and Thor 2, 11pm rolls around and I was getting pretty tired. Went and got ready for bed, crawled under the sheets, and tried to go to sleep. The reason why I couldn’t sleep was that there was a party going on above me, and the ceiling here was rather thin. Sure, I would have gladly went up there with my beer and would have had a great time, but I didn’t want to be a write-off for tomorrow. Eventually, I fell asleep at 3am.

November 27th, 2014.

Woke up at 8am today. It felt great waking up at that time. Breakfast, coffee, and Futurama. What a great morning! Doing dishes, showering, touring the internet, it was a pretty lazy morning. Today, I decided, I’m going to the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Gathering up my things, I left the house at 11 and made my way there. According to my Aunt and Uncle, it is certainly something to see. And they were not wrong! Over three hundred different specimens, and only one of which was human! It was very educational, fun, and uncomfortable if I had gone there with someone. I spent a solid two hours in there, taking a lot of pictures (won’t be posting most of them here), and taking my time reading all the different newspaper and magazine articles, donation contracts, and there was even a comic book there! I was in no rush that day.

After leaving, I decided to travel North and see what it was like outside of downtown-Reykjavik. It looks just like the block of buildings around the place I’m at right now, but I did find some pretty nice graffiti murals in a construction site. With the morning and early afternoon gone, my breakfast has been digested and my stomach wanted more food. I knew of a place called The English Pub. My tummy decided to go there out of hunger, and I decided to go out of curiosity.

Once arriving there and going through the front doors, I was slapped in the face with the stereotypical English pub motif. Pillar layout, lighting, English beer, Cricket on the TV, even the pathway to the downstairs washrooms was made to look like a subway station in London. I had a pint of the Tuborg Christmas Brew with a cheeseburger and fries. It was alright, it felt like that the atmosphere was the only thing that was going for it. That, and the bartender. ;-)

Right next-door to the pub, they have something like a LCBO. Just like ours back home, it’s about 70% wine, 20% liquor, and 10% beer. None of which are from Canada. Nothing really tickled my fancy at the moment so I didn’t pick up anything. Maybe tomorrow.

With a happy belly that’s working away at the food and beer, I went back to the Tourist Information building, looking to book a boat cruise out into the ocean and see the Northern lights. Alas, they told me that they had to cancel the trips because of it being a cloudy night and a great chance for rain. Saddened, I went to Mokka (the waffle cafe) with head hung low. I bought a cookie and a coffee, sat down, took out my journal and began to write more of my adventures.

10:00 rolled around, I gathered up my things and headed back to my place. Packing needs to be done. Tomorrow is my last day here.

November 26th, 2014.

I woke up this morning, looking at my phone and it saying 5:00. Not in the least surprised in not seeing daylight, I promptly went back to sleep thinking I still could get a few more hours in before my alarm went off. I wake up with whatever sunlight hitting my face, toasty warm like a cinnamon bun, I look at my phone and it says 10:30. I’m so used to waking up to the sunrise, that being 7:00, I naturally slept the morning away! Getting up, pouring myself a bowl of Cheerios and making a pot of coffee, I plan out my day.

I head out into the late morning sun and a temperature of around 4C, the ice was still on the sidewalks so I had to tread lightly. Thankfully, with my experience in winter climates from Canada, I knew how to stay on my feet. Along my sightseeing yesterday, I saw a tourism info building so I made my way there to inquire about shops that sell backpacks, just incase that I will be needing a bigger one. It’s about a 10-minute walk away and it took me about 45-minutes. I couldn’t remember where the location of the building was. Once I did find it, the service people there were extremely helpful, circled four different places on a tearaway map that they had. Three were downtown, a fourth was in a mall about a hour walk away. I said my goodbyes, left, then went right back in and asked if there was a place that I could buy some maple syrup for when I get home sick. They had a good chuckle about that and told me of two stores. According to Canadians, the one nearby didn’t have good syrup in stock, but the one further away had amazing stuff. They told me of the place and I’ll be making my way there later.

Upon leaving for the second time, I discovered a restaurant right beside it called ‘Lækjarbrekka’. They served fermented shark. Fermented shark! One of the…’delicacies’ of Iceland that I wanted to try! They also had puffin, another one I wanted! I made note of the location, reciting it a few times in my head so that I wouldn’t forget, I booked my night around having dinner there.

Heading uphill from there, I made my way to the Hallgrímskirkja church. This was my first time in a church this size. Upon entering the building, it looked like any other church that I had been in, until I went into the main area. I was awestruck! Probably greater than 30’ ceilings, organs so big that the Sisters of Battle would be envious of, superb acoustics; to me, there was no way I could prepare myself for this. After spending a good half-hour in there, I went to the gift shop and bought a ticket to go see the top of the tower. Walking to the elevator, I met up with another tourist. Hailing from Seattle, and her visiting Toronto quite often, we had a lot to talk about while we were in the elevator. We spent some good time together because once going in, there were eight floors. We didn’t know what floor to press, not wanting to miss anything, we started with floor 2 and made our way to floor 8. All floors from 2 to 7 were closed off. Once at the top, and scaling two floors worth of stairs, we arrived at the top. From up there we could see all of Reykjavik! Breathtaking! Spending a good hour up there, sightseeing, reading the history, and chatting, we finally bid adieu.

I went out to a cafe to get some more coffee in me and to start documenting my travels, and then it hit me. I hadn’t really noticed but the architecture here is very squared off and sharp, where back in Canada there’s more rounded corners and angles to the buildings. That struck me as something definitely different between the two worlds. Maybe this is better at combating their weather? Not too sure.

Afterwards, went back to my place to do some more writing and sorting out my pictures that I had taken. I was really in the zone and hadn’t noticed the clock until a text brought my attention to my phone and then the time. It had just stuck 6:30. Upon noticing the time, my stomach started complaining that it was empty. Nothing I could do would shut it up, so I put on my jacket and boots and left for Lækjarbrekka. Since I knew how to get there, it only took me about 5-minutes. Walking in, the atmosphere struck me as a classy French-style cottage. Talking with the waitress, and telling her that I was here for the shark and Brennivín (an Icelandic schnapps), and her giving me a confused and disgusted look, sat me down. While waiting for my food and drink, I took out my book and began to write down everything that I had done that day. Ten minutes later, she brings out a small mason jar with four pieces of shark inside and a shot glass of Brennivín. I said my thanks and she said ‘I’m sorry,’ she left hurriedly before she could see my confused look. Upon opening the jar, I found out why she said ‘sorry.’ The putrid smell burned my nose like chlorine and stung my eyes. My gawd, what have I gotten myself into? I waved her down and asked for a pint of Gull, an Icelandic beer. I then take my first piece. It wasn’t all that bad! The texture reminded me of a tough, salty steak. Very savoury. Then it hit me. The rancid, fermented taste. It traveled from the back of my throat to my nostrils. It was horrendous! I took a sip of the Brennivín and it seemed to help, nearly taking everything away but the taste from the back of my throat. The pint of beer made that better. Brennivín, made from a wheat and potato mash, has next to no taste at first, but then has a liquorice aftertaste. Like a mild Jägermeister. Not too bad all in all. I don’t know if Gull naturally tastes like this (further research needed), or if it was a combination of everything, but it was a not overpowering sweet beer. Very delicious! Now for the next bite since my senses have been reset. I did the same process for the next pieces.

Expecting the shark to be more food than just four half-inch by half-inch, I ordered the puffin. Once that came out, it was another small dish. Five small slivers (1/4”x2”) with Icelandic cranberries, I started off hesitantly. After the first bite I fell in love! The tenderness of a rare steak combined with the flavour of the dark meat of turkey! And the cranberries were very sweet and soft, unlike the tartness of the cranberries back home.

After my meal and describing my experiences with the two dishes (yes, I would have the shark again), I left and made my way back to my place where I started to type out my journal and working on this site. With Dumb and Dumber playing in the background, it got to 11pm rather quickly. So I closed my laptop and went to bed.

November 25th, 2014.

I left Toronto at 8:30pm and landed in Iceland at 6:15am (1:15am EST). The check-in at Toronto took some time, almost a hour. That was the worst part of the flight. Security took…2 minutes? No one in line, walked right up, and stripped down for them. They shouted at me, trying to get me to stop, and it wasn’t until the security guard behind the conveyer telling me that all they wanted was my belt, what’s in my pockets, and my boots. Why didn’t they tell me? Well, they probably did, I was off in my own world.

After the security check, and dressing back up, I had a hour to kill before my flight. First stop was the Canadian-themed Duty Free. There I bought four boxes of maple syrup hard candies. Most for people that I meet on the way, some for me for when I get home sick. Heck, I’m going to be away from home for four months! Stopped off at a bar to get myself a beer, just to loosen up my muscles, and it’d be a while before I can have another Canadian beer.

Boarded the plane, took off into the air, landed, no pains nor problems! On the plane (Icelandair), they had a touchscreen TV on the back of the seat with all sorts of movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, the headphone jack wasn’t working properly and barely any sound was coming through. Since that was happening, I pulled out my iPod and started to listen to a bunch of music. Bon Jovi, ACDC, Aerosmith, Queen, Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, Metallica, Great Big Sea, Cage the Elephants, and Let it Go from the Frozen soundtrack. I was so excited, and the right songs were coming on that I actually started to rock out in my seat! About four hours I was busting a groove and blasting away on air-instruments.

Once I landed, I had to go through another security check point. After that, I was open to roam all the different stores and cafes in their airport! A good three times more than what the Pearson airport has! First thing I picked up was a pre-paid SIM card for my phone so that I still have access to phone calls, text messaging, and the internet, without having to give up all of my money and comfy couch just to pay the bill from Rogers.

After picking up my bag, I walked out and jumped onto a bus that took me to Reykjavik’s bus terminal. The time now is 8am. The place where I am staying was just an 8-minute walk away. Fifteen minutes later I get to the location where the build was. Well, so I thought. I couldn’t find it! Five minutes go by with my walking back and forth like a stalker, trying to find this place, when I finally see someone walking down the street with two very happy huskies. After going up to him, saying ‘Hello! English? Good. Could you help me please?’, and taking a few seconds to pet the dogs, he helps me out and points to the building BEHIND the one we were standing in front of in it’s doorway light.

I thank him, go down to the apartment, retrieve the keys, get in, kick off my boots that I had been wearing for about 20-hours, and start unpacking. I definitely brought too much stuff with me. I’m gonna have to send some things home. Or get a bigger bag. One of the two. The TV here has AppleTV, which has Netflix (American Netflix at that), and I started to watch Futurama. After organizing, I went and grabbed a shower. And I thought I smelled bad! Their water here has a very strong sulphur smell, and that’s because of the volcanos here. Oh well, it’s not the worst thing I’ve smelled. After freshening up, I went out to a waffle cafe that the owner of the apartment told me about, called Mokka. It wasn’t all that far away, and it has been a good 12-hours since my last food intake. Once inside, a very lovely waitress helped me with my order, telling me all what they had and how much everything was. She spoke very well English! After our short chat, I got a freshly made waffle and a damn fine cup of coffee! If they had maple syrup, this easily would have been the best waffle I have ever had.

After having the delicious waffles and coffee, I did some more sight seeing. I eventually made my way to the big church in Reykjavik, Hallgrímskirkja. I only checked out the outside. I was still on recovery mode, having yet to sleep since Sunday night/Monday morning. This building was amazing. Awestruck, I was imagining this church as a mighty golem and how much of a hard time my party and I would have in defeating it, let alone the mighty warrior statue that was on guard in front. The statue is Leifur Eiríksson, son of Eric the Red. After spending a good twenty minutes there, half of which I was probably sleep walking, I decided to go back to my bed and sleep. On the way back I was starting to get hungry. Fortunately enough, there was this kiosk-like building, much like a walk-in Tim Hortons, nearby. It was also raining so I needed shelter. I went inside, attempted to decipher the menu, completely missing the fact that there were English captions underneath. I ordered a very tasty, and sodium heavy, lamb sub. It was either actually really good, or I was just so hungry that I didn’t care what I was eating.

After a full stomach, I went back to the apartment, laid down, turned on Futurama, and slept for a few hours. Such an amazing nap. When I woke up, it was 5:00 and the sun had set. Decided to do some more organizing of my things, trying to decide what to send back home and what to keep with me. I think I’ve narrowed it down pretty well. That took a couple of hours, after which I went out again and just walked around, taking in Reykjavik’s nighttime atmosphere. Making my way down to the ocean’s walking path, it was definitely a sight to behold. Unfortunately, my camera is a simple consumer on so I couldn’t exactly get too many pictures during that time.

11:00 rolls around and I’m starting to fall asleep, again, on my feet. Making my way back to my bed, I don’t reach it until midnight. After brushing my teeth, and saying my thanks to Odin for giving me this opportunity, I rest my head for my first night.