The second stop on my adventure brought me to Reykjavik, Iceland where I met up with Gena and Chelsea coming in from New York. The Golden Circle is the triangle of "national parks" in Iceland including the Geysir for which all other geysirs are named . . . . suck it Old Faithful;) Anyway, it was beautiful in its own unique way. Iceland apparently has no trees that are more than 20 feet tall, and they are not indigenous. Did you know the only indigenous animal is the land fox and the birch tree is the only indigenous tree? The island is basically one giant mass of lava rock. It seemingly resembles Big Bend National Park in west Texas, though the lava rock is much more intriguing than the desert. Today as we drove through the countryside it felt like we were on the set of "The Land Before Time" only things missing were the dinosaurs and the cartoon effects.
The food in Iceland has also been a bit of an adventure. Last night we tried smoked Puffin, Minke Whale, and Kangaroo (or as we prefer to call it, everyday steak). Today we had the best lobster of our lives at Fjorubordid in a small coastal town that makes Van Buren look like a booming metropolis. For those of you not from northwest Ohio, think of any town you know with one traffic light . . . this was smaller!
Lastly we need to discuss the people. Though everyone we met was extremely friendly, and very helpful when necessary, and even when not, we couldn't help but think they're all a bit "crazy." Gena and Chelsea encountered a few lovely Icelanders upon their arrival, one petting Gena's suitcase and asking what its name was, a very friendly, middle-aged "escort," and an out-going group trying to force their half-drank beers on them, not understanding that rufies are actually a thing. Also, the bars are open until 6am on weekends, and the lines don't get crazy long until about 3 am. We managed to enjoy the festivities until 3 on Saturday, but we also wanted to enjoy our trip to the Blue Lagoon on Sunday. Which, definitely makes the whole trip to Iceland worth it. Imagine utter relaxation, 100 degree blue geothermal water, and face masks making you looks years younger . . . . and that's the Blue Lagoon!
Tomorrow I officially make the move to Salzburg, by way of a quick airport stop in Munich and of course a drink at the Munich Brewery (no matter it will be at 8 am), to start work on Wednesday!
Perhaps I should also quickly mention that most of Iceland smells of sulfur. The geysirs, the coast, the bath water, all of it. Tolerable, but strange. Everything makes Iceland worth the stopover!
