Snow's fun. Slush is not.

So the update since the blizzard. Yesterday we couldn't do a whole lot, just because of the sheer amount of snow. Even the subways were closed down! We learned later that this was due to the sheer amount of snow in all the entrances, making them all too dangerous to use. We went and got a great breakfast around the corner (though my mom didn't like hers) before deciding what to do for the day. John and I didn't feel like fighting the snow, so we went to go see a movie. My mom decided to walk 5th avenue up to Central Park instead.

On the way to the theater, John decided he was done seeing me walk through the slush and puddles in my worn out tennis shoes, and stopped to get me a great new pair of boots. Love them, and have definitely put them to the test since getting them. Then we went to go see True Grit. It was a really good movie, though I will now have to watch the original rendition of it with John Wayne.

Eventually we all just settled into the room for awhile. Then we headed up to Top of the Rock for sunset. We had to sit outside for awhile, but eventually the skyline started to light up. It was really cool to see each of the towers turn on one by one. Then we headed back for happy hour. As we settled in though I got a headache, so John brought back dinner to the room for us.

This morning it looked gorgeous. We left the room and it was so nice out we didn't even need our hats and gloves. We wandered down to the Empire State Building first. The City Pass is amazing at those places! We went straight up to the top, and with how clear the sky was, it was another amazing view. It wasn't all that windy until you went around the corner to the west side, and then it hit you full force. My mom refused to go around the corner though, and sat inside for the full view.

Afterward we went to Grand Central Station. Here we had a fabulous lunch of soup and bagels with cream cheese, topped off with a black and white cookie. So good! Once we were full, we decided to try and do the Statue of Liberty and caught the subway to Battery Park. The snow was even deeper here though. I went to stand on a bench for a picture and had to wade through thigh deep snow to get there first. People were having a lot of fun in it though, and we saw one guy get nailed in the face with a snowball. His friend fell over he was laughing so hard.

Unfortunately, the tour was closed, which we didn't learn until we arrived, so we went to head north again to go to the Met instead. The subways here are not clearly marked though, and there are no maps in the tubes. We ended up on a line that we thought stopped at 81st, but took us all the way to 125th instead. So we went south on another one that should stop and ended up at 59th. Finally a really nice cop helped us get onto the correct line and we cane out on 81st street. Then we walked through the Park to get to the Met. Kids were all over sledding and having a general good time. It was a lot of fun to watch.

After the museum, we went to find the Alice in Wonderland statue, which Jen and I failed to locate last year. Turns out it is completely visible from the road we had walked several times. Got to go take pictures of it though which was really cool. Then we went to the MOMA. There was the coolest thing there too. A grand piano, with a hole cut in the middle of it. The guy played it backwards from inside the piano itself while walking the entire piano around the room. We followed him around as he moved for almost half an hour. It was amazing to watch really.

For dinner tonight we went to John's, which we were told is one of the best pizza places here. Turns out it was the one Jen and I went to on a whim last year. We must have had good taste. It was just as good this time around too. We had garlic bread, pizza, and an antipasti plate, which had an amazing Caesar salad in it too. Very good, though we are all so full we can hardly move now. Quite a successful day overall, and we saw a lot of things. Who knows what will be next!

Blizzard!

What a welcome back to the states! Quite an experience though. NYC in a full blizzard. This is nuts!

I arrived at the hotel yesterday evening, and got to hang out with my parents. It was really good to see them after these last couple months. And 5-6 was free happy hour at the hotel, with really good wine and hot apple cider with whiskey. Delicious. Then we decided to head out a little and find a place for dinner and to hang out. Times Square was absolutely packed. You could barely move at all. Eventually we found a place that looked really good for food, but we had to wait a couple hours to get seats for sure. So we put in our names and headed to the bar just a couple spaces down.

While we were hanging out and chatting, the guy at the table next to us piped in with some suggestions of places to go and ways to get there. We ended up chatting with him for awhile. Turns out hes a stand up comedian here, and he told us e had a show Sunday night at Dangerfield's and suggested we come out.

After we all parted ways, we went and got our food. John got a steak, my mom the Spaghetti Bolognese, and I the veal. I think John's was the best, but I was also craving a good American steak and have been for quite some time. All the food was really good though.

When we woke up this morning, the blizzard forecasts had become more prominent on the news. So we decided to walk to Macy's first before and snow started. I bought a new pair of jeans and was therefore able to throw out my old pair. It was about time on that front. Then we walked down to the Empire State Building to get our City Passes, though we weren't climbing yet. We want to go up at sunset and the blizzard was going to hinder that today.

We did however go to the Museum of Natural History. Did the planetary, history of the stars show, saw the dinosaurs, the gemstones, and whatever else took our fancy. Once we left though, the snow had started and was already sticking, but it was pretty minimal. We weren't too impressed with this NY blizzard. The wind was pretty bad though, so we headed back to the hotel for happy hour and to bundle up for the evening. Then we headed out for dinner and the show.

We went to Jacksonhole Burgers and they were amazing burgers indeed. The taxi ride to get there was a bit more interesting though. Couldn't see out of a single window in the cab, not even the front windshield. And our taxi driver was chatting on his phone and still zipping around traffic. Not a drive I'd ever be comfortable making...

The comedy show was incredible. R.C. Smith was so funny! Only about 20 people were there though, due to the weather, so we all got picked on regularly. The best of all though, was the really drunk Australian gal that kept trying to heckle. She was such an easy target, and the guy she was with was not happy with her or the evening. Eventually he made her leave early, and we heard she'd refused to put on her coat and slipped straight into the snow outside the building.

After the show, R.C. came up to talk to us for awhile, and we found out he is on the Rachel Ray show. When ever she references talking to R.C. backstage, it is him. Very cool we though! Then we headed outdoors. The snow had picked up like mad while we were in there. Cars we stuck at every intersection, spinning out their tires, just in general trouble on that front. We waded through the snow for several blocks to get a subway back to the hotel, and by the time we got there were thoroughly wet and covered in snow. The worst part though is the wind. It would drive the snow like needles straight into your face, and the city is like a giant maze of wind tunnels. Quite an experience to be sure.

The news report has upped our snow forecast for overnight, and it should continue through tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow hold for us, and what we will be willing to walk through.

Hometurf

Hey everyone, I'm officially back in the states now. It feels kinda strange, I won't lie, though not being in an airport anymore is wonderful.
My flight was supposed to leave Iceland at 5, but kept getting bumped back later and later to the point where I started getting concerned. After a certain time, I would no longer be able to catch a bus to David and Meridith's house and would have to sleep in the Port Authority bus terminal to catch the 6 am bus...and that is one experience I would be okay not having. I really started to get concerned what time the flight was going to be, when they announced at the airport that they were giving the people on my flight 1,100 ISK (around $11), worth of dinner credits in the food area. Not a good sign.
Finally, around 4.5 hours later (which really isn't too bad considering how delayed some of my friends in Europe were flying home. I was just really more concerned about catching the last bus), we boarded our flight. Then I found out why we were delayed, and I can't even be upset. I would gladly sit in the airport again. Turned out, the Parisians went on strike. Two days before Christmas, during a snow storm. There were about 40-50 Americans that if their flight was canceled, they wouldn't get home til the 27th at the earliest. So they told them, we will not cancel on you. We will get you home for Christmas. And they delayed the connecting flight (mine) to ensure that they would get home. The guy sitting next to me would have missed his first Christmas with his kid if we hadn't waited. So obnoxious? Yes. But I would happily do it again.
We finally landed at 10:15 EST, a little after 3 am for me. Got through customs, got on the subway (really makes me appreciate London's tube. I didn't realize how nice those seats were!) and made it to Port Authority, 20 minutes before the last bus left at 12:45. Whew!
So here I am, at David and Meridith's house. I got in around 1:30 in the morning, and am now sitting around, drinking coffee, and hanging out with Noodle and Carly. Janine and Lisa were here too, but they ran to the store. I'm excited to be here, though sad to not be in Europe. And I do have to admit, the hours I kept in Iceland made the transition easy. Another perk to the weird hours of sunlight there. Who need jetlag?!
Nonetheless, it is Christmas Eve! So now it's time to wrap some presents (I'm so excited for how much room this will clear up in my bag!) and enjoy the prospect of seeing my parents tomorrow evening. I can't believe how fast the last 3.4 months flew by, but they were amazing. Memories for a lifetime.

Not Ready to Leave!

Today I leave Iceland, and I’m sadder about that than I expected to be. This was such an amazing stop, and I can’t tell you how glad I came here, especially for the winter solstice. Now I can’t wait to come back in the summer at some point and see it from an entirely new perspective. I am just eating my breakfast right now, and then I go pack my bags and catch a plane to the US.

I have had so much fun the last couple days though. Two nights ago, I signed up for hostel outing night, which was a foosball tournament and a pub crawl. Turns out everyone who signed up was the kids I have been hanging out with the last several days, so we all knew each other already and quickly paired off into teams. Darren and I were Team Hurific, which is the way our Icelandic event coordinator spelled horrific. We felt that made our team even cooler. We lost, sadly, but we did give the game a very good effort and held our own for the majority of it. We even had the game tied at 6 for awhile!

Eventually the girls team one and we all sat around drinking cheap beers before we hit the bars. So much fun once we got out though. We ended up at The English Pub (somehow a lot of the best places here are named after other countries. Café Paris was good too…), and as we walked in the live band was doing Proud Mary, and quite well. They played all these great older songs, with random covers of Umbrella and Dynamite thrown in to change up the mix a bit. Everyone got shots of Black Death, which is an Icelandic drink that is supposed to be awful. Not great, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. The Jelly Bean Jen gave me in Cheney was far worse.

Actually so was the other drink I had earlier…Darren and Jess had bought the traditional Icelandic candy Opal, and its alcoholic counterpart. They are flavored with licorice and menthol. After trying both, I don’t think I will have sinus problems for weeks. Wow. The candy was like a chewy, sticky Halls that you just couldn’t get out of your teeth, and the drink was like shooting really bad cough syrup.

Eventually we made our way back to the hostel, after an amazing night out in Reykjavik. Well the girls did at least. The boys stayed behind and later tried to find the hot dog stand, but it was closed on the. Their loss!

Yesterday, Darren, Jess and I had made plans to go to the Wednesday free museums together. We met up and decided to try Café Loki for lunch first, as you could get sample plates of local specialties, and we all wanted to try the shark. Why we wanted to try this, don’t ask, but we were curious. Even after the locals told us how horrible it was.

So, we got to Café Loki and each ordered a lunch of meat soup and bread with either smoked lamb or lamb pate on it. And a side of shark for us to split. Our waitress warned us when she brought it out, “Make sure you eat it and don’t smell it.” Not a good sign. While setting up cameras to photograph the eating, Darren got a whiff. Now I was getting scared as I saw his face. What had I just gotten myself into…but it was too late to turn back, we had our cubes on toothpicks and were ready to go.

Then we ate it. The consistency is what hits you first. It is slimy like a gelatin, but really thick and chewy. You have to chew and chew and chew. Then it finally hits the back of your throat and you can both taste and smell it at the same time. This is where the gag reflex kicks in and you can’t help but think, ‘I am eating putrefied shark. What is wrong with me?!’ But we all got it down and dived for our drinks and soup, trying to get the taste out. Our waitress just laughed at us, “Sooo…what did you think? Delicious?” We all had to laugh and admit, no, delicious is probably not the best description of what we just did. The rest of our meal was delicious, and it was one of the cheapest ones I had here, even with the shark added to it.

After this we braved the cold and went museum hopping. First up was the National Gallery. This was cool, and we got to walk across part of a frozen lake to get there. Too soon it was over, and at 3 it was already dark out, but we still decided to walk across town to get to the Saga Museum on the hill. While it was cold, we were fine. Until we hit the wall of snow. It was clear one minute, and then boom, snowing. Which still wouldn’t have been too horrible, if the wind hadn’t been shooting the bits of snow into our faces like little needles. None the less, we eventually made it to the museum, which was not nearly as cool as anticipated. So we went to wait for the bus. Which was 20 minutes late. Soooo cold.

Eventually we made it back to the hostel though and warmed up enough to go get hot dogs for dinner. And on the way back we swung through the Christmas market where I got to try horse meat for the first time. It was delicious! Much more tender and flavorful than I had been expecting, and I wanted to buy some. But, I am flying home, and I don’t need to bring horse meat with me too. I recommend trying that one though, to anyone who is curious. It was the good culinary adventure to counter the shark of earlier.

But now I am here, getting ready to go. Thank you Iceland, for a wonderful set of experiences. I cannot wait to encounter you again!

Golden Circle

Today I was set to do the Golden Circle Tour. Since it was to leave at 8 and I wanted to catch the first part of the eclipse, I set my alarm for 6:15. Thank god I woke up naturally at 7. I had accidentally set it for 6 pm. So I hustled really fast and was able to grab some breakfast before hoping on the bus where I watched the majority of the eclipse still. I am very glad it was a long eclipse, or else I would have missed it, and it was pretty incredible to see.

The tour was awesome too. My roommate Matt, as well as two other guys from my hostel, Kevin and Justin, went on it too and we all hung out together. It's more fun to share the experiences with people I think. First they took us to one of the greenhouse towns, where we got to check out one of the many greenhouses. Then after some coffee, we all got on the bus to head to the geyser. For an extra treat, our tour guide dropped us off at the top of a volcanic crater (inactive of course) so that we could watch the sun begin to rise.

Eventually we made it to the geyser. This was the second of two, though the first stopped erupting after an earthquake about 20 years ago. Turns out that ones name was Geyser, and it is the one that named all other geysers. After standing out in the open for about 8 minutes, none of us could feel our fingers, but we did get to see the eruption from about 10 ft. in front of us. Of course two minutes after we start walking for the warmth of the cafe we were parked at, it erupted again, about 5 times larger than the one we had seen and photographed. But we were too cold to go try it again.

After the geysir came Gulfoss Falls, or the Golden Falls. This was one of the things I had really been looking forward to seeing here. And it did not disappoint! Several tiers of falls, mostly frozen, plundered down the canyon beside us. And we could walk straight up to the edge of the falls. They were pretty spectacular to see. The river they were on is from the nearby glacier, which was just chilling on the landscape not too far away. This is the glacier I would have climbed, though I am now very glad I didn't. I talked to someone who went on it yesterday, and apparently with the wind chill, it is -40 C. That is just a little too cold for me, especially since I'm using cheap cotton gloves, and only have jeans. I think it would have been more than I could have handled.

Next came the All-thing. This was the earliest parliament sight, forged by the Vikings in the 900's. We got the whole Viking history lesson which was rather interesting, and much appreciated that our tour guide held it from inside the bus, rather than at the All-thing like normal.

Once again, the amazingly hot showers that come in Iceland was much appreciated. I love that they have limitless water, of whatever temperature you dream of!

Spa day!

I can't believe another two days have already gone by. I think the time is going by faster and faster as it gets closer to Christmas. I will be sad to leave Iceland though, it has been quite an experience.

Yesterday I wandered through the town to check out it's three art museums. They are on the three opposite corners of the central city, which wouldn't have been that far if that darned wind would go away. You'll be strolling down the street, snug in your coat when it just hits you out of nowhere, cutting straight through your layers. It was fun to see all the Icelandic art though. They pride themselves on only putting pieces in their galleries which they feel demonstrates a portion of Icelandic culture. Some were...different...but they were definitely all interesting. Particularly a set done in vivid colors depicting the Icelandic landscape. Those were stunning.

Later in the evening, as I was chilling about, I heard one of the locals working in the hostel talking about the putrefied (yes, that is the correct word) shark. I asked what it was like, since I've been curious, but it's so expensive. When the locals tell you, "It's disgusting. But you have to try it," I can't really say I'm jumping for the experience. I asked how it had become their national dish if it was so awful and his only response was, "All they had to eat was fish and lamb. They got bored, so they said 'Hey, let's try this shark!' But it was really bad. So the let it rot a little and tried it again. It was even worse, but there you go." Probably the most interesting way I've ever heard of a dish become national, and not likely the true one, though I do enjoy it's telling.

Today, I went to the Blue Lagoon. Wow. It was such an experience! The water is a milky, opalescent, blue and completely opaque. You can feel the sand/silicate mud under your feet and if you scoop it up, you can see it is indeed the silica mud with bits of lava rock in it. Everywhere is the mist from the temperature difference. In fact, the wooden deck to get to the lagoon is frosted over, so you're feet are frozen by the time you get to the water.

After doing the mud facial, and playing in the waterfall (you are supposed to use it like a back massage), I went to get my actual massage. Strangest thing ever, though highly enjoyable. It is done in the lagoon. They float you on a foam raft, facing upward, and massage your back as you float in the water. They spin you in a slow circle the entire time too, so you have no idea where you are facing as you look at the sky, but you can feel the water swirling around you. Then he gave me a mud facial with a different type of mud, before leaving me to float comfortably as long as I wanted.

I have to say though, I was not impressed at all with the couple who went out on the same bus as me. He was from Greece, and she from NY, and when the bus went to pick them up at the hotel, they were still asleep, and said they'd meet us at the leaving point on time in fifteen minutes. They got there barely on time, but as we went to get in the bus, we realized he had gone missing. He'd decided to run to the hot dog stand around the corner, not realizing it was time to leave he claimed. And then he wasn't even allowed to have the hot dogs on the bus, which he would have known if he'd mentioned it to the bus driver.

The gal though, why would you go to a spa/lagoon with tons of heavy makeup and fake eyelashes on? It just seemed silly to me. And then when we were leaving at the same time too, she started throwing a fit in the locker rooms, saying all her jewelry was gone, and practically blaming the attendant lady. Turns out she had not only forgotten to lock her locker the entire time she was in the lagoon (3 hours), but when she got back in, she set her coat out, which supposedly had all the jewelry in her pockets, and left it in the middle of the room while she took a shower and killed time somewhere else!

I felt so bad for the lady working, cause NY was giving her a complete run around, and it was her own fault. The whole thing seemed slightly odd to me though, and I can't help but wonder if she actually lost anything at all, as she still had half her jewelry, and supposedly the stuff that went missing was all gold and diamond. I just tried to stay out of it, because I didn't know quite what was going on, or how honest she was being. I got a weird vibe from the whole thing really.

On the bus ride back, I saw the single-handed most amazing moonrise I've ever seen. The moon was huge! Sitting right on top of the hill ahead of the bus. It even photographed beautifully, which I have never managed to do with the moon before. I'm hoping it's a good sign for the morning, as this is the night of the full moon eclipse on the winter solstice. It should start for me around 6 am, and reach it's peak around 8, which will be perfect because I leave for a tour at 8. So I should be able to see the whole conclusion of the eclipse from the bus as we leave town.

For now though, I am going to go take a shower and get to bed. My hair is completely dried out from the lagoon and I have a full day ahead of me tomorrow!

Blown Away

While the last couple days haven't been super exciting, they have been interesting. I've mostly stuck around the downtown area, though I did finish my Christmas Shopping which is very exciting I think. I had debated doing the Blue Ice tour, which is the one on the glacier, but it was canceled for several days, and after seeing this wind, I can appreciate why.
I have never encountered wind like this! The days would be comfortable otherwise, but the wind is bitterly cold at times. And so strong! There were times when I was walking into it, and I would literally almost not be moving at all. And just when you thought you'd made some headway, you would pass a side street and one would catch you from the side, almost keeling you straight over. The couple of us braving the streets were probably amusing to watch as we leaned weird directions only to be staggered sideways randomly.
It wasn't too long before I chose to just hole up inside and call it a day. Plus the fact that the sun is literally only up for two hours at this point, though it is light for much longer as the sun skirts right below the horizon.
Jemma stopped by that night, and we decided to go try our hand at the runtur. In most of Iceland, this is their way to hangout in the evening, they all get in their cars and do laps around the towns slowly, stopping in car parks to chat with others once in awhile. They do this all night. In Reykjavik, they've altered it a little though. No cars necessary here! They have turned it into their form of all night bar hopping, though drinks are so expensive that it is acceptable to only drink one or two things all evening. We didn't stay out too long though, we were both too tired unfortunately. We did have a great dinner, and I tried the Icelandic beers which were quite tasty.
You can see the effects the next day though. Both yesterday and today, I have noticed that nothing opens for quite some time. It is 11 am, and the coffee shop across the street still has stools stacked and all lights off. I guess that's what happens though when the whole town is out until 5-6 in the morning. Still, it's weird that the town is still almost completely asleep this close to noon. The sun is even up...kinda...
Last night was fun though. I'd sat around talking to my mom on skype when I decided to go to the grocery store to get food. I didn't realize how late it was though (Ironically, you stay awake a lot because it's so dark all the time you never realize when it has become late, it all just feels the same.) and the store was closed. I figured I'd just grab a bite a nearby bar, when I heard the music coming out of the alley. Really, how I didn't notice it sooner is beyond me. You could feel the bass through the sidewalk for blocks. So I wandered back and spent the next while enjoying an awesome Icelandic band perform. People had climbed trees for seats, and random people were headbanging and whipping their hair around, and to songs that were not headbanging songs. Everyone got way into the music. After the set was over and the band was tearing down, I went back to my hostel. As I climbed into bed, I realized I had forgotten to get food, which had been my whole intent in going out. Nonetheless, I feel it was a highly successful outing. I just wish I knew the bands name, but unfortunately, that's the downside to not speaking their language. I can't understand a word they said when they announced themselves, and there were not signs or posters up at all. Oh well.

So Tired!

I find it hilarious that I half expected to sleep this week away due to the lack of sunlight, but instead I have spent more time awake here than anywhere else I've been. Last night was the first time I was in bed before 3 am, and I went to bed a little after midnight, and I have been up by 8 every day, doing tours and exploring. I woke up this morning, and felt as though I needed a day of less stuff going on.
Yesterday I went on the Black and Blue tour, which was very cool, and very cold. We were standing by the lake, watching the sunrise, and freezing in the wind when we looked at the area we would be swimming, looked at each other, and all concluded that we were nuts. It took us a while to get dressed for the snorkel, we had to get on our thermal layer (which is like a sleeping bag with arms and legs), and then fit that into our dry suits. Then get our neoprene hoods, gloves filled with warm water (which didn't stay warm more than 3 minutes), masks, and flippers on.
Once we got in, it was one of the weirdest experiences. There was enough air in the suits that you just floated, though you can manage to get your feet below you and literally just sit in the water completely buoyed. When you looked down in the water, is was completely clear, a huge rock fissure below you with caves and crannies and the weirdest plant life growing on them. No fish at all. Then we floated with the current for a little under an hour to the pick up point. By this point, we were all mostly numb. Especially our faces, which had nothing over them and were under water almost the entire time. One girl had to be rushed up for the vans because she was so cold she was having trouble breathing a little. The rest of us were fine, though also freezing.
Then, just to prove we were okay, we went rock jumping back into the lake once we'd taken off our flippers and masks. Somehow, this felt even colder, though it was extra cool because it was just high enough that you really got the falling feel. And when you plunged in the water? There is nothing stranger than getting a bunch of really cold water in your ears. Especially when your neoprene hood holds it there afterward.
Eventually we decided we needed to warm up and went back to the vans to get dry. It is so hard to get out of a dry suit when it literally freezes on you. As in you can almost not get out because your arms barely bend, you can't bend down cause the waist line is frozen, and you can barely walk because you almost can't bend your knees. And then once we got out, our hair which was slightly wet all froze. We looked so funny though! And we got a lot of hot chocolate to get us warming up again. They took us out for lunch after this too and we had some hot lamb soup with bread.
Then came the caving. We drove out into the lava fields to the tubes, which are 1,000 years old. We had hardhats with lights on our foreheads, which was totally cool, and even though we could all see our breath and had to watch out for ice in the tubes, it was the first time we all felt warm that day. At the very end, we found the lamb skeleton, which they think is about 1,000 years old from the last volcanic explosion there. They call the tubes Leidarendi which means "end of the road" in tribute to the lamb. A little bit past that we all turned out our lights and told stories in the dark, and then sang happy birthday to one of the guys in our group. Somehow Carlos, our tour guide, had learned of it and the guy was shocked when we all started in.
On our way back out, we took a different route. This one was so narrow, that we would literally have to crawl on our bellies for several spans to fit through. Carlos showed us all the different lava activities too, the marks on the floor, the drips on the ceiling, the layers in the walls, and the bigger cave where the temperatures were so hot that you can still see how the rock was melting. He found us the point out that looks like it came from Alien too. Our group was so much fun though. We spent half the time in the tubes quoting Austin Powers. None of us could stop laughing whenever Carlos said magma, because he said it exactly like Dr. Evil.
Eventually the tour came to an end, and we went back to the city. I took a hot shower to thaw, and was about ready to head in early when Jemma came down and said it was supposed to be a 4 star opportunity for the lights that night. So we layered up again and went down to the harbor to try and see the show. We sat out for a little over two hours, before we were just too cold and went back in. Unfortunately we did not see the lights, but I did have to take another shower to thaw out again. I will be nothing if not clean this leg of the trip!
I'm about to head out for the day, but I keep hearing that wind whip past my window and it makes me feel cold just listening to it. Ah well, I can't stay holed up in here forever. Hope I won't get blown away!

Better and Better.

I have no words for this place, and it just keeps getting more amazing every time I turn around. I woke up a little before ten yesterday, and got to watch the sunrise a little before eleven. Quite an experience, and I can't tell you how glad I am to be here at this time of year. It is worth the cold, which mostly isn't that bad at all.
I spent a good deal of time at the front desk of my hostel with maps and adventure programs. The stuff that goes on here is fantastic. I had to decide between the Black and Blue tour and the Blue Ice tour. In the end I chose the Black and Blue due to the descriptions from the desk guy who sometimes leads the tours, and the votes my friends turned in on facebook. Then I chatted with Heather. I think I may be doing both now.
After figuring out a couple of activities, I decided to go explore the old town while I had sunlight. It is such a fun quirky area! Tons of little shops and many have fabulous carvings of fairytale creatures around them. They have many stories of elves, giants, trolls and fairies here, and are regularly thought of as real. This is definitely my culture!
I had lunch in a little cafe down the street (food is almost as expensive here as it was in Switzerland...almost). It was a traditional meat soup. So good! Filled with tons of vegetables and herbs, it was rather salty (which I love), and had big chunks of meat in it. I can't wait to have more food. I especially look forward to trying the lamb, which is a specialty here and apparently the main Christmas meal, and possibly the shark, which I am slightly turned off to just because it's expensive, seafood, and the term translation for how they cook it is putrefied. Sounds kinda iffy to me, but it is their renowned dish. Maybe if I can find a sample platter with it or something.
I checked out the church and when I got there I realized how close to sunset it was. At 1 in the afternoon. It really is quite an experience there. And if anything, I have been getting far less sleep than more. I may not make it anywhere after this because I will be passed out and comatose at the rate I'm going.
Around 5 in the afternoon, I checked in at the front desk for the Northern Lights (AB) and found out the conditions looked very good. Still no guarantee, but that was what I had been hoping to hear. So I booked to go on the 7:30 tour that night with Ben from my hostel. Their tours are amazing. They pick you up at the door of your hostel and take you out. For this one they told us the tour could go from 3-5 hours depending on the lights and how many places we had to move too. I was quickly convinced that if I saw no AB, it would not be to the fault of the company who conversed with each other and other tours constantly for the best location, would stop on the side of any road for opportunities, and just went all out. Our tour guide was amazing. She told us how the Icelandic people celebrate Christmas, their holiday stories and traditions, sang us traditional Christmas songs in Icelandic, and told us ghost stories which she collects. We stayed at the first drop point for an hour and had just piled into the bus when someone realized they were there. Just to faint for the human eye. Their camera had picked it up faintly over the mountain though, so we waited a little longer to no luck and carried on.
We hung around by the lake, across the fissure that is the continental divide (technically I spent time in the Americas and then hopped to Europe by crossing the actual tectonic plates.) Then we saw them. There was no where to stop, so they literally dropped us off in the middle of a huge lava field and we all stumbled out, tripping over bits of lava rock to see our first glimpse. Incredible.
We saw them several more times, but it was so cold that less and less of us got out of the bus each stop. After seeing them a couple times I was almost disappointed. It was just a green streak across the sky. Then our guide had the driver quickly pull over. "This one is moving! Get out now!" she hollered back to us.
This was how I had expected the Northern Lights to look. A green, occasionally reddish ribbon rippled its way across the sky, visible movement easy to see with the naked eye. So worth the tour. And when we got back to the city, we saw them again, bright enough to show up over the city's light pollution. It was at this point that I realized it was after 2 in the am again, and that we had spent 6-7 hours hunting them, rather than the 3-5. That and that I couldn't feel my toes.
So I got back to the hostel, took a shower to thaw, and went to bed around 3:30. It is now 8ish, and I am up and getting ready for my new tour which leaves at 10. I will be doing Black and Blue today with Jemma, a gal also staying in this hostel. We will climb down lava fields and go snorkeling across the continental fissure. The water is supposed to be around 2 celsius, but they told me they back us in dry suits so well be plenty warm, but I have a feeling I will need another hot shower tonight.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring! The Golden Circle tour? Blue Ice? the Blue Lagoon? And I still need to go find the hot dog stand by the harbor. It is their renowned restaurant and the line is supposed to be huge. I can't wait to see what is next!

Hallo!

So I've decided Heathrow Airport is just confusing. Not that it mattered too much with how early I was there, but if I had been rushing it wouldn't have been good. Took me forever to figure the place out with the "take the lift to check in, then a ways to the holding area, but you can't go to your gate because we wont tell you where it is until it's almost time to board. Not the best set up ever.
Icelandic Airlines however, are amazing. Movies and TV the entire flight, plus they brought us Christmas cookies. And rather comfortable. My rowmates were great, Jim and Petra. It's their first time here too, and we ended up on the same route to our hostel/hotels so we chatted most of the way. They even invited me to go on a drive with them the day they rent a car, but as I don't have a phone and they don't have a computer it became rather moot. Still, it was very nice of them to invite me.
I landed a little after midnight, and after customs and immigration and all that it was closer to 2 in the morning. Best part though? I didn't even need to wear my coat. I expected it to be so much colder here, but it was actually colder in London! Feels wonderful right now.
Everyone I have encountered so far is incredibly nice too. Going out of their way to not just point me somewhere but to explain it as well. My hostel is super nice, I have the dorm to myself, and they recommended tons of things to do. I will not be bored in my week here, that much is for sure.
It is weird though, to know it is 10 am, and to look out the window and see night still. Not as tiring as I expected it to be. Nor, strangely, as dark. Even though there is definitely no sun, there is still a warmth to the sky. As though it recognizes that it is day, even though, technically, it's not.

Northward Bound

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't written in awhile. Last time I wrote I think I was still in Switzerland. Well, now I'm in London again. I made a one night pit stop in Paris on the way up too. I do really like that city, and once again the people were wonderful. Or rather, mostly.
While I was waiting for my train to London, a girl who was petitioning for signatures drove me up the wall. She would not take no for an answer, even when I got in her face and told her to back off. Very obnoxious, and it makes you worry when they won't leave you alone that they are trying to distract and pickpocket you or something. I don't think she was, though I was very agitated by the time I finally got her to back off. The guy near me they had also harassed gave me a look afterward, which made the experience a bit more humorous. At least I wasn't alone in my irritation at her.
Nonetheless, I uneventfully made it back to London where I have been hanging out with Patrick. We spent the last couple days hitting all the different Christmas markets here, the British Museum, and he went to a show last night while I shopped for warmer clothes. Because I head to Iceland tonight.
I land at midnight, which I was concerned about momentarily because I didn't want to wander around at night. Then I realized, there are about two-four hours of sunlight there now. It is almost always night, so the hours don't really matter quite so much. I will be there for the next week or so, and then I'm off to New York. Can't believe the holidays are upon us already!
Anyway, I know this is a short post, but nothing too exciting has happened, I've spent most of the last couple days on trains. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and moving!

Wow, it is actually winter!

So today I was set to take the train to Switzerland. Since it didn't leave until 9, I took the morning to get some breakfast a coffee at one of my favorite little cafes first. I love how people here linger over coffee and just chat the time away. You never see anyone getting their coffees to go here. It's a good difference.

As I was getting on the train, I felt so over dressed. I had on some extra clothes to ease my packing (since I have now bought several Christmas presents and had to put them somewhere), and in anticipation that I was going into the mountains. Good choice in turns out. It was warm enough in Florence to be good in a T-shirt when I boarded. When I got off, it was winter. Which I am actually quite happy about. It just doesn't seem like Christmas is this near when I don't need a coat or anything.

The train ride was beautiful too! Mountains crouched on huge blue, blue, lakes. Clouds billowing around their peaks. I love going up into the more mountainous terrains. The guy across from me kept chuckling when I would whip out my camera only to miss the shot due to houses or a copse of trees. I loved taking the little train from Spiez into Interlaken too, prettiest stretch of all.

Once I got here, I must admit to relishing the briskness of the air. It's just so clean and refreshing when it's colder out, and I have rather missed that this year. Once I got settled into my room, which apparently I get entirely to myself, I down and got all my info for the next couple days. I may or may not get to do my chosen activity though, which I'm rather upset about. I need three more people to go for it to work, so I have my fingers crossed that people will book.

I wandered through the town and admired the mountains. It's so strange to think I'm standing in the Alps right now. I found a great little foot path up the nearest smaller mountain. I enjoyed going up to see the fabulous view of the city and finding a couple little waterfalls. Tomorrow I'm going to try and see the more well-known ones in the area.

On my way down, I found an area that keeps mountain goats, so people can see them! So cool. It reminded me of the grizzly center Heather took me to in Pullman this summer. They even gave them little huts and a bunch of them were trotting up and down the lengths of the roofs. It was a lot of fun just to watch them for awhile.

Then the sun went down. And it got a lot colder really fast. I should have foreseen it, as there were barely any clouds all afternoon, but it caught me completely by surprise. So I went back to the hostel to put on some warmer clothes and thaw a bit before going back out more prepared. Of course I lost my gloves this morning, which just figures. I'm going to put off buying new ones until London though, just because everything is so expensive here.

I'd always heard that, but I guess it never registered until I went looking for dinner. $20 for a one person pizza? I didn't even get traditional Swiss food because that was even more expensive. Still, my pasta was good, Jinnie has corrupted me to the wonders of carbonara now, and the hot chocolate was even better. My wait staff was fabulous too. They chatted with me for awhile and loved that I was asking how to say thank you and the like here. This is the first country I have come to completely unprepared for any language skills at all. Luckily both here and Germany, almost everyone speaks English, so I will be able to ask how to say things and learn as I travel.

All in all, Switzerland is a nice change of pace. Totally different from everywhere else I've been. Expensive, yes. But I've found some cheaper things to do to keep myself entertained as well. Hello snow, it's nice to finally see you.

Ultimate Adventure Part 3

I always find it amusing how days can change so quickly. One day can be slow and lazy, where I feel like I talk to no one in particular. The next I can be fast friends with everyone in my dorm and we will be continually doing things and hanging out together.

The other day started off simple enough. I spent time wandering around Florence, just taking in the sights, and enjoying the good food. The town is really quite beautiful when it is all gray and misty. And here, even when it is rainy and overcast, it has been wonderfully warm. All I need is a long sleeved shirt or a light sweater, and I'm good to wander all day.

I spent a good deal more time in the leather market too. I was tempted to buy a dark brown middle length jacket(the only color and length not yet in my leather jacket collection), but happily when I tried it on, it was not right. Makes me glad I tried it on though, or else I would have been mooning over it the whole time I was here and wishing I had bought it. Now I can just move on to other things. Switzerland and Iceland are going to be expensive enough on their own without adding additional costs beforehand.

After these laid back days, it was funny to suddenly have a room full of awesome people again. Blair from PA, Andrew from WA, Luke from Australia, and Nicole and Jenny our resident Kiwi's from New Zealand. They all arrived yesterday and we have had some awesomely good times hanging out. Blair, Luke, Andrew and myself spent an hour moaning about how hungry we were last night, and not doing anything about it, before we decided, "Hey! Let's all go out together!" We went to Acqua al 2, which was recommended by a customer. So good! Andrew and I had cannolini, Blair an artichoke pasta, and Luke the risotto. Everyone's meals were fantastic; Luke and Andrew said the best they've had yet. Topped off with some gelato, we were good for the evening.

When we got back, we found out that the next day(today) was Nicole and Jenny's half way point in their trip. So we all decided to celebrate by having a Wine Half Way Party in the room the next night. Then we found out Andrew had been accepted to his grad school of choice that day too, and we had even more to celebrate.

Andrew even does a drawing thing similar to mine, and got me started getting people to draw for me again, something I am sad I slacked on in the first part of my journey. I think that was what the journal I bought here was meant for, and I am excited to fill it with drawings from everyone I meet from here on out.

Today, Blaire headed out on a several city tour, the others to Pisa and Cinque Terre, and I roamed the area again. I bought my ticket to Interlaken for tomorrow, booked my hostel, bought snacks for the next couple legs of my journey(in anticipation of Switzerland's expensiveness), and explored the east side of the city, where I have yet to go.

I found the Leather School, which I have heard great things about, but of course they were closed. Some sort of Italian national holiday, though I have yet to figure out what. No one seems to know when I ask. After the lack of leatherness, I found a restaurant which served spaghetti alla carbonara, which I have been meaning to try, after hearing Jinnie rave about it this summer at the lake. So good! Now I know what all the hype is about! Topped off with bruschetta and some hot chocolate, and you have yourself a fabulous rainy day meal. The hot chocolate here is so different from the states. It's like hot chocolate pudding really, you almost need a spoon to eat it. In fact, they give you a spoon with the "drink" just in case.

After this I went to the hostel to dry off a little, before heading out for Ultimate Adventure Part 3. This leg of the Ultimate Bagel over seas was hosted by Dominic. We hung out in the area for a while, he showed me the Christmas market, and the Pont Vecchio by night. Then we went to the big Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Duomo. They had flags being thrown, trumpets and drums being played, and a giant Christmas tree to illuminate. Very cool experience. Plus Dom and I always have the most interesting conversations. Part of tonight's was all about aliens and if and how they would/do exist. Always random, always fascinating. He also gave me good tips and activities for Switzerland, and took me to another awesome gelataria.

Once I got back to the dorm, Blair was there and decided she wanted gelato, so I went with. We ended up getting really good pizza first, and just hanging out before checking back to see if the others had returned. They had, and were drinking boxed wine and eating Chinese food. We spent the evening playing silly drinking games with cheap wine, friending each other on facebook(I can't wait to visit people in New Zealand now!), and telling stories of our days.

All in all, it was a wonderful couple days. I can't believe my time in Florence is at an end already, though I am very excited for Switzerland.

lazy, lazy days.

I think my favorite thing to do here is just wander aimlessly through the markets. Just to see what is there, and smell the food and leather. I love the haggling too, and how everyone tries to outdo their neighbors. I think it is very exciting, though I am not very good at it. I did get the first step of my Christmas shopping started though, which is good. Unfortunately, those were the easy ones.
I did find the most delicious lunch though today. Little mini pearl onions that were caramelized whole with carrots. They served it with a salty pastry to contrast the sweetness of the onions. So delicious! I can't wait to go back and get some more later this week. I've also been enjoying Perche no! gelato, once I finally figured out it's hours which were not posted anywhere. The tiramisu is like eating it at the White House Grill. Only gelato and creamier. Quite amazing.
Overall the last couple days have continued to be lazy and filled with delicious food and wandering. It's just cold enough to slow you down, without driving you to indoor activities and museums. Rather enjoyable, though I feel as if I haven't done much productive here. None the less, I have enjoyed it.
I tried out the gym in the hostel last night. I'm ashamed to say how long it took me to turn on the machines. But in my defense, I had to flip the fuse, which was not written anywhere in the room. I just stumbled onto it by chance. I was excited to see that I really am in much better shape than I was when I left. I ran, actually ran, on the treadmill for 20 minutes no problem! And my friends can tell you what an accomplishment that is.
I had intended to go up to Fiesole today, but when I got to the ticket office I discovered it was closed on Sundays, and they don't let you buy tickets on the bus here. Signs all over the internet warning you of this. If I had known I would have bought a ticket yesterday. Oh well, if the weather holds good to tomorrow I will try again.
I have to wonder though, if I am this lazy here now, what am I going to be like in Iceland, with almost no daylight, and much colder. I have a feeling I will be good for nothing! Still, it will be a fun experience and I am ready to go, crazy or not.

It was a fluff kinda day.

I woke up this morning to an incredible thunderstorm. It was right overhead, and it took me a minute to realize what I was hearing. After watching it for a little while, I curled up in bed, expecting to need to hunker down. Boy was I wrong. Despite the pouring rain a bit earlier, by 10 it was cropping up to be a very nice day!
I decided to start my day taking the scenic route to the duomo. I figured this would give me a chance to scope out restaurants in my general vicinity while I wasn't hungry. Otherwise I end up diving on the first place I see, later. I wandered in and out of piazza's checked out some cute little courtyards, and eventually made it to the duomo.
What a huge difference in times of year there. I remember when we were there in summer and you had to push your way over to see the buildings. Today? I ambled up to Giberti's doors and hung around checking them out. Then I meandered across the way and took some pictures of the duomo itself. I was able to hop and skirt around puddles, because there was barely anyone there. So strange for me! But I guess that's the perk of being here in the off season.
After this I went hunting down two other restaurants. A pizzeria my hostel recommends and has a good lunch deal, and Acqua al 2, a restaurant a customer from the bagelshop recommended through my mom. Well, the downside to off season? The pizzeria was not open for lunch anymore, only dinner. Same for Acqua al 2, but I expected that one and look forward to going one night.
When I had my fill of staring at empty restaurants, I decided to go to the Ponte Vechio. I unintentionally went through the Piazza S. Firenze, was awesome, even if you are only looking at a replica David. I window shopped the area and decided to climb to the Piazza Michelangelo. Great view of the city, and one of the only things to do here that is free.
On my way back, as my pants were wet from puddles and it was making me cold, I pit stopped and the Porcellino and rubbed it's snout for luck.
I'd intended to just grab a sandwich and head back to the hostel to warm up, but I am a sucker for leather, and I could smell it when I walked past. So I hung out in the leather market, just enjoying what was there, and eventually succumbed to the leather bindings. Yes, I own a new leather journal. But it is refillable! That makes it better...right?
Basically it was a slow meandering day in which I did nothing terribly exciting, but just enjoyed what was there. I'm debating doing another day trip tomorrow, perhaps to Sienna. I'll wait to see what the weather is like tomorrow.

Orvieto. Better than remembered!

I am very excited to be staying in Florence for a little while. There is so much to do both here and in the area. I probably won’t see all the sights in the city, just because they are all so expensive, but that in no way limits my options.

I arrived here at a little after noon yesterday. When I first got to my hostel I thought I might be in the wrong place. It was set up like a nice hotel in the front. But I was correct. While it is definitely still a hostel, it has many perks that I never would have thought a hostel would carry. A pool, sauna, and exercise room are tucked into the basement, near the restaurant within the hostel. It is really rather clean too, and the restaurant isn’t too bad, and is cheap. Still, I think I would rather go out in the town more than eat in.

After becoming acquainted with my hostel, I decided to go wander around a little bit. Maybe buy a new umbrella since there is much rain in my next week’s forecast, and the one I bought in Paris is officially dead. So as I wandered I stumbled onto one of the awesome leather markets, and we all know I’m a sucker for good leather. I have to keep telling myself I don’t need another jacket, though I am highly tempted to get one, and I honestly don’t know that I will make it out of here without one. Or at least something leather. Just the smell when you wander through those areas is amazing.

After the market, I got turned around somehow, and was facing the wrong direction. Turns out this was meant to be though. As I’m strolling down the street I thought I heard my name, but figured I was imagining it. After hearing it called out several times though I turned around and there are Jillian and Andrew on the street corner. I couldn’t believe I met people on a street corner in Florence, especially since I thought they were in Venice. After laughing at the fact that we had not only run into each other, but also the fact that the recognized me by my bright purple hoodie, which sticks out like a beacon among all the blacks and grays they wear here, they headed off to see the David, and I headed back towards my hostel. Or so I thought. Six blocks later I had wandered through the north end of Florence and had to turn around and take the street I had thought I was on. Oops.

Once back at the hostel I went to dinner with Jake, from Missoula, MT. We had fun getting different dishes so that we could try a wider variety of food offered, drinking wine, and discussing the best skiing locations in the Pacific Northwest. He’s heading back there in two weeks, so he was happy to hear about all the snow, and is prepared for an awesome ski season. Somehow he also managed to talk me into going to the sauna, which turned out to be an awesome end to the day. I had forgotten how much I enjoy those.

This morning I decided I was going to head to Orvieto, since Thursday is one of their market days. Unfortunately I arrived too late in the day for the market, but I still enjoyed seeing my favorite haunts from before. The giant boar on its wheeled cart was still there too! After wandering though several amazing stories for quills, journals, leather, and ceramics (sadly my silver store is now gone) and admiring the view from all four sides of the plateau, the wind got a bit chilly and drove me indoors. I went to a little Café underneath the clock tower and had bruschetta con pomadoro and café latte. It was wonderful! I finished off the meal with gelato from my favorite gelataria, getting tiramisu and bacia (which was recommended by the delivery man who came in, and was excited to show off the little bit of English he had learned recently).

After this I wandered back to the funiculare, but had an hour to kill before my train. What I want to know is how we spent all that time there and loving the place, and never realized we had never seen the back half of the city. The fortress is free to walk in and I had fun climbing up the old walls and seeing the view from a whole new vantage point. A local who was walking through and is interested in architecture gave me the history of the fortress too; from the Etruscans to the Medieval era. You can tell the different eras from the colors of the stones they used when building. I even went to check out St. Patrick’s Well, though I still didn’t go down it. It just made the city even better than I had remembered it to be.

I am currently on the train back to Florence, which will pretty much finish off my day. It’s a 2.5 hour ride each direction. Still, it was absolutely worth it, and I can’t tell you how happy to know that not only did I get to see my favorite city, but that memory hadn’t exaggerated its amazingness; that it really was that wonderful. I liked too that on the train ride in, I could tell when I was getting close by the other hills and towns nearby. I’m glad that Umbria stuck with me so well after all these years, and that it will likely stay with me again until once more I can make it back to this fantastic region.

Pisa 2.0

Okay, so Pisa has mildly redeemed itself in my eyes. Rather the people here have done as such for the city. It's still not my favorite city, but I no longer look on if with scoffing, disrespectful eyes thinking, "Ugh, Pisa."
Yesterday I took a walk to the leaning tower. And I managed to take the big shopping street/market. It is always so much fun to walk in those areas in Europe! Markets are the best. I really can't wait to get to Florence's. I remember then having the most amazing ones, especially the leather one by the duomo!
Eventually I made it to the tower. Yes, it is just as tiny as I remember it to be. However, it is also much prettier than I remember it being. Maybe they have cleaned it up in the last ten years, but it is quite lovely. And the walk was a nice one, though there are a bunch of student protests going on right now, so I had to skirt some areas of town, because there were so many people blocking the routes.
After the tower I got some food and came back to the hostel. There really isn't much else to do in Pisa after all. My roommates are amazing though. One gal from southern Italy, and the other from England. The Italian girl is so social. We talked and talked. She is planning on going to Texas where her dad is working so that she can work on her English. It is amusing to me how they speak English rather well, and to a level where they can communicate easily, and they think they don't speak it well at all, where in the US if we can say a dozen words, people are like, yeah, I can kinda speak the language. The difference in mentalities is staggering here.
Then the Italian girl brought me a giant glass of Chianti because she said the bottle was too big to drink herself. They are just so much more friendly here. Everything is meant to be shared and socialized over. As long as you show interest and are friendly, everyone wants to chat with you.
The English gal is trying to get a job here. She's been running in and out of interviews the last couple days. She cracks me up! She's super nice, but she is just very English in an Italian world. I'm sure it's the same when people interact with me, I know I appear very American, though I have been told by locals that they don't mind because I respect the differences in our cultures.
Anyway, she had been telling me last night how she has a coffee maker and makes good Italian coffee in the mornings if I wanted to share some with her today. I had forgotten all about it and was lying in bed, when she brought me a mug to our room! It was delicious, but the sheer fact that she went out of her way to do that was incredible to me. The hostel workers here are much the same, making sure stuff is set up for you, and very cheerful and friendly. So Pisa's redemption has been the people I have interacted with.
Today is pouring rain, which will make an interesting walk to the train station. You should see my umbrella at this point. It's quite amusing. Maybe I'll take a picture of it on the walk. It is done in. Two spokes are completely dead and just dangling, and the others are bent and distorted. I think I may need to buy a new one, as my weather report says rain almost all week. Still, I am heading to Florence today, and for that I am excited!