Travel diaries

I’m too lazy to sit down and write any proper stories to accompany the pictures that I’m posting, so here are just some notes and highlights from the past few weeks:

Snaefellsnes:

I took a trip to the Snaefellsnes peninsula with some of the other girls at the residency. It’s this little finger sticking off of the west coast of Iceland. ‘Twas Jules Vernes’ inspiration for Journey to the Center of the Earth and I can see why. It’s got an otherworldly kinda feel.

Unfortunately, the road to the glacier itself was closed, but we were able to see the installation by the artist Roni Horn, explore the fjord around Grundarfjordur, climb up to an old volcanic crater that is now filled with moss, hike through a lava field to a black sand beach with huge lava rocks and visit the cliffs where a flock of seagulls nest.  We stayed in a cute little cabin that was sandwiched between a conical mountain and a massive lake. It even had a hot tub!

Meanwhile, back in Skagastrond:

After being convinced it would never happen, I’ve now seen the aurora borealis four times. It a tough phenomena to pin down- it fades in and out of visibility, sometimes taking an hour to come back after fading from view, only to disappear again. It hasn’t been particularly strong any of the times I’ve seen it, but was still an amazing experience. Word on the street is that after April 6, there is going to be a hole in the sun's upper atmosphere that should cause really strong auroras. Keeping my eye on the sky...

Another exciting thing is that I won the most recent quiz night at the country western bar! It was a crushing defeat, getting 24 out of 30 questions correct (after last time’s pitiful 12 out of 30). Victory was mine and it was sweet!

Reykjavik:

My Iceland buddy Jon is leaving tomorrow, so I made a visit down to Reykjavik this past weekend.  I was excited to eat some good food (cod chins!) and go out, but the highlight was renting a 4x4 and driving out to see the volcano that erupted last week.  

It was a couple of hours drive outside of the city past dramatic lava cliffs and freezing waterfalls. You can’t get too close to the volcano without paying like $1,000 for a helicopter or snowmobile ride, but from a few miles away you could still see red plumes of smoke and glowing lava spilling down the mountain. We had to off road (yeah!) right through a couple of rivers to get closer. It was a little scary, but just added to the adventure. We also saw the moon rise over the volcano (perfectly aligned with the erupting lava) and later as we were driving back to Reykjavik, we could see the aurora.

Now I’m back in Skagastrond in the midst of a two day snowstorm. I’m listening to Billy Childish and procrastinating doing any work. I’m getting new housemates today and going to play bingo at the community center on Sunday.  Really, I’m so spoiled.