Youth Hostel Strond Innri-Njarthvik

... anyone who could make a path through the lava. (Atines accent was at times hard to understand - took me several stories to realize when he said "Puff", he was actually meaning "Path") So a willing young lad shows up and says he'll cut a Puff through the lava. He does that very thing and comes to get the daughter in marriage. Old farmer never wanted to part with his daughter so he kills the lad. Atines says that no one remembers the farmer's name or the daughter's name but the lava ...

... br>
The place was so great I went back again tonight, but decided to order some different tapas (variety is the spice of life, after all). I ended up with slices of kangaroo meat, escargot (had to make up for France, see! They were probably my least favourite dish on the trip - I´d take a scorpion over those suckers any day) and duck in Grand Marnier sauce (how tame), washed down with a Cosmo. Hey, even a sea monster has to have sustenance...

This geothermal pool, near Reykjavik, is said to have healing powers. According to the official story, it was opened to tourism after a worker at the nearby geothermal energy plant began bathing in it and found that his psoriasis cleared up. Even if your skin could care less about magical healing powers, the Blue Lagoon is an enchantingly beautiful place to relax in comfortably hot water, especially during the chilly winter. 

... as I was walking around, but behind the scenes, the current government fell. Oh well, chalk it up to a new experience. Still feeling no hunger, I decided to stay in and try to beat the bug. Hopefully, Tuesday, my last full day, will allow me to get out and see the city right. As I write this, all TV channels (all 8 of them) have gone out. I hope this government thing is not more than what has been reported.

... Inside one of the tanks is the Saga museum, which I just realised I already told you about, so hmmm the next day... Wednesday I went to two awesome museums. The first was the Cultural house where there is an excellent exhibition about the Sagas and why they were written and how they were written (way more interesting that the actual Saga museum, but not as gory). On display were many illuminated manuscripts each between 500 and 750 years old, and also a room ...

... the local experience was like. I went to see "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." About halfway through the movie all of a sudden the lights went up. It didn't take me long to figure out that this was an intermission. Everyone got up and headed out for refreshments or a smoke for about ten minutes. It was strange to chop up the movie this way. Let me tell you something else that was interesting; I found out that no matter what country you're in, Matthew McConaughey is ...

After three connecting flights, I´m finally here. I start to figure out my next three weeks in Iceland. First day here, Reykjavik was a sunny 14 degrees Celsius. Apparently, everyone I asked said this had been a beautifully warm summer. That quickly changed over the next 2 days. It´s now 7 degrees Celsius at best with a constant rain. I now have the chance to wear ...

... were greeted by Þora, a very warm and gracious woman. Their son, Björn picked up Þráinn at the airport. I could not turn down Þorleifur's offer of dark, black oak-cured polish vodka. It turns out he is a historian with interests in labor unions. He just published a volume I of 3 of the history of Iceland's labor unions. Most of his travel business involves bringing Icelanders on tours of Poland. We ate a marvelous meal. Arctic char was the main course with carrots ...

... we left the hotel for the train station, we spent a good hour searching the web for a hotel in Iceland. It turns out that Iceland is RIDICULOUSLY expensive (more to come on that topic later). We decided not to book the $220/night guest house outside the city and wing it. You know Jose - "we'll figure it out" has become one of his standard phrases on this trip! Anyway, THREE trains and what felt like 3 hours later (ok, an hour and half really), we finally made it to the airport ...

"There are two kinds of people in this world who wear Hawaiian shirts: gay people and big, fat party animals! ...and Bart doesn´t look like a big, fat party animal to me." - (Homer Simpson) Before thinking, I nearly wore my flowery Fijian shirt to work at the gay bar the other night. But then I realized I might-as-well be wearing pink pants with an "I Love Ric***********s" shirt. Either way, I wouldn´t be taken by anyone as being straight, and more guys than ...