Reykjavik
As far as European cities go I think Reykjavik is one of the newest. You can tell by its architecture, design and feel. More of a North American look to it. 60% of Iceland’s population is here but it is still a small city. Lots of cafes, bars and wool shops. You can tell Icelanders appreciate the warmth and daylight when they have it. Where ever the is a piece of grass you will generally see people sitting down with coffee or beer. The weather was great. T shirt weather during the day and a sweater at night. A local was telling me that it generally rains this time of year so that I was quite lucky to have such good weather so I told to f off and quit bugging me. I think it is one of the safest cities in the world and with 24 hour daylight the chances of being robbed are really slim. So I went on street corners and counted millions of konars.
There is some sort of boyscout/girl guide jamboree happening now so it is really crowded so I decided to head for the country which as I understand it is any other part of Iceland.
Stykkisholmur
You read that right. This is where I am now. I little fishing village on the west coast. Not sure what happened to the weather because it is colder here. I did not go further north so I am not sure. Eric’s shirt and windbreaker is now the fashion of choice. So many people asked me if I was wearing Eric’s shirt. The Icelanders and emigrants stick together.
I use to think Canadians were tough when it came to the cold. It is 10 degrees here and there are kids playing on a water slide. Seriously, bathing suits and all. I was going to take a photo with the temperature reading in the background but the judge warned me about taking pictures of kids in bathing suits.
I joined some locals in a game similar to lawn bowling called Fjikokkist. Ok I made the name up but it looks legit. It was fun and I had no idea how the score was kept so I decided that I won.
Stykkisholmur is a village of 1200 people of for some inexplicable reason the liquor store closes at 2 pm on a Saturday. I was going to say it reminds me a bit of Atlantic Canada but not with a liquor store closing at 2 pm anytime of the year. However, the locals are easier to understand than Newfoundlanders (ziiing-sorry Jack).
Icelanders have a reputations as being unapproachable and a bit distant. I now compare everything to Russians so Icelander seems Japanese to me. I find them very helpful. Mind you almost everyone speaks English, there is a solid infrastructure so it is not that to hard to get around.
So the hustle and bustle of 1200 people is too much for me so tomorrow I am off to an island with 100 people. That should help me relax.
I think the only place that I can pronounce and spell in Iceland is Flately Island so there is where I went. Actually I went to do some hiking and to hang out with the puffins. The are fun to watch. There are as graceful in the air as seals are on land. Also, lots of Artic Terns dive bombing me and keeping me away from the nest. One actually crashed into my skull. I thought he struck blood but it was ok. I think my toque cushioned the impact somewhat.
I think I was the only foreigner on the island but I was pretty much ignored. It was cold for me. Probably about 7 degrees with a wind of the North Atlantic.
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