Heading East to Cousins and Cake

Yesterday, the first sunny day we had in Reykjavik, (sunny for more than 5 minutes at a time) was of course the day Erin Johnson and I were to fly out to the east. The Erins and I woke up early (10am) and gathered our things together, preparing to leave the apartment. It was bittersweet. I was excited to see my Snorri family but sad to split from the Erins after our fun week together. We should all just buy an apartment in Reykjavik and move in together there. Don't think we didn't talk about the possibility.

We had about 45 minutes before our ride to the airport was to arrive, so we went for a walk together around town in the dim northern sunshine. We walked up to Hallgrimskirkja and then zigzagged through town, avoiding the busy streets on our way down to Tjörnin. A ton of snow had fallen over the last 24 hours or so and nobody had shoveled or plowed or anything. Tjörnin was frozen and we walked onto it to explore and for a quick photo shoot. There were oodles of tourists clustered around the end near the open water where the birds hang out. A bunch of the morons were just a few feet from the edge, practically getting their toes wet, and I seriously wish they had fallen in. It's not that deep, but would have been cold and embarrassing and totally would have served them right for doing something so stupid. Ugh, útlendingar.

Asta Sol's husband, Addi, generously gave us a ride to the airport, and Erin Jones back to her apartment. We were delivered to the domestic airport in Reykjavik with plenty of time to spare. They don't even start checking passengers in until about 30 minutes before the flight takes off. They just ask for your name at the desk and hand you your boarding pass. No passport or ID required until you are walking out to the tarmac to board the plane, and even then the kid scanning boarding passes at the door just sort of glances at it. No security, no hassle, pure travel bliss.

It was a beautiful day to fly because it was so clear and still sunny. We had a lovely, snowy view of the country from the air. Erin is even less of a fan of flying than I am, but she seemed to be keeping her leg jiggling and panicked breathing to a minimum during the hour long flight. I think she was an excellent seat mate.

Welcome to Egilsstaðir

In Egilsstaðir Bogga, Elvar and Stefan Alex were waiting for me at the airport. It was a nice warm welcome and the sun was still up, in a sunset looking sort of way like it always is at this time of year. We got to have an adventure right away and headed to Eskifjörður to check out some of the storm damage from earlier in the week. The water had gotten really high along the shore and washed lots of rocks and sand in and out where they didn't belong. Some of the big piers at the historic buildings in town there were a mess from the wind and waves. They had gusts of wind up to 116 miles per hour. Some roofs and buildings had some damage too, but all in all, several days later, it didn't look too terrible there. Mostly I was just completely mesmerized by the amazing mountains and the ocean, and the the colors of the setting sun.

We had a nice evening reacquainting ourselves and they made an absolutely mouthwatering dinner of a fish goulash of some sort over potatoes. I'm going to need to get the recipe. Bogga and I went hunting for the Northern Lights since it was a perfectly clear, starry night. I saw millions of stars, and the Milky Way was standing out as clear as anything...but no Northern Lights. Maybe the little moment I saw on the way out of the New Year's party in Seltjarnarnes will have to be enough for me on this trip. I think it is supposed to rain for most of the rest of my visit, and cloudy skies = no auroras.

Bogga and Elvar's house all decked out for Christmas

Today, I was the first one to wake up in the house. Or maybe the second. I woke for the first time at 10am and didn't hear anything in the house, so I went back to snooze for a bit. I'd been up until 3:30am or so I think. At 11am I got out of bed and ready for the day. Elvar was up by then. Bogga and Stefan Alex slept much later, long past noon. It was raining/sleeting here all day, so it wasn't like we were going to go out walking around.  Lazy Sunday. Everyone here is still on a Christmas vacation schedule as well, but Stefan Alex starts school again tomorrow so we will have to rein it in. Around 4pm today some other relatives came for a nice visit. They are a brother and sister, and both of them brought their adorable little children. Cute Icelandic cousins galore. We had cake, cake, and more delicious cake. So many desserts in Iceland.

We left the house to run a quick errand this evening, and then had more company. Bogga's sister Thorhildur, and her son, and their parents, Stebbi and Lisa, who were my hosts for the Snorri Program. I'm so horrible at speaking Icelandic, and here with my family it is more apparent to me than in Reykjavik among all the tourists and my native English speaking friends. I can still understand some, but when there is a big, multi-person discussion happening, I really can't follow much except for some key words and phrases. I need to find an Icelandic teacher in Minnesota so I can get back on track for learning more of the language. I've lost ground since my wonderful teacher, Sigga moved to Boulder, CO.

I went for a late night drive around town with Bogga and her sister Thorhildur. It was just to drive and chat, but ended up being an hour or more of adventure. The sisters became a crime fighting duo, convinced there was some sort of drug related crime occurring in the village. It was far more likely just some lost tourist that we were stealth mode stalking back and forth across the town. There were a few tense moment when I wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into.

So here we are now at nearly 2am. I'm not sure what will happen tomorrow, or the day after that. It is nice, in a way, not having a plan. At home everything in my life is so planned and so busy. Here I can be better about just seeing what happens. So that's what I will do.