Smari Kopavogur

... named after the man who cut the path/puff. the lava field is called Olmet's field. (again, I think that was the name he gave for the young man). Atines has good stories.<br><br> We get out of the car many times for overlooks and views of the lava fields and ancient craters that have either collapsed or slowly been warn away. At one point there was a line of 18 craters that were all active at the same time. No wonder the lava fields were so extensive on this side of the island.<br ...

This entry is a bit of a hodge-podge, as a bit about food follows the Lagoon entry. Sorry guys.<br><br>Today was the long-awaited trip out to the Blue Lagoon. Rated #1 something-or-other in the world, it´s a bit of a must for visitors to Iceland. Maybe a bit stereotypical, but like a fellow traveler in Beijing said: things become stereotypical and hackneyed for a reason.The bus picked me up at the hostel at 9:30 and we drove the 40 or so minutes out to ...

SO in the morning Vigdis got a call from Iceland's famous fortune teller<br>saying she NEEDED a white horse for that night. ummm WHAT! Ok kind of<br>random! well anyways Vigdis calls around finds a white hose and the new<br>plan of the night is that we have to go catch this white horse ride it<br>to this spot where this famous man who is getting married has to ride<br>the horse over to his bride and carry her off (this is before her<br>bachelorette party= ok ...

... prior to your flight. Looking forward to perhaps knocking this bug out of my body. I'll report the results. The fall of the government seemed to be no big deal here as I noticed nothing that would let one know that an issue was at hand. People walked the streets as if nothing had happened. I wandered to the Parliament building where riots were held on Saturday and no activity whatsoever. Just another day in the life of Iceland.

... Viking Ship was even boarded up for the season and the area around it was under construction. After trying to visit a second museum and getting completely lost, we just gave up and decided to enjoy viewing the landscape. What we did see though was just.. beyond words. Fields and fields of volcanic rock, just slightly covered with snow, as far as the eye could see. It wasn't like the tundra we saw earlier this week--no moss or sort of flat, even land. This was jagged rock ...

... anything you want....and that's how i came to spend $20 on a bowl of soup. We went to Geysir next, which was pretty cool. The actual Geysir doesn't erupt anymore because it got clogged in the 50's when tourists threw rocks in it, but another geyser, Strokkur, erups ever 5-6min, which was really neat. You just have to make sure you aren't standing downwind of it or you'll get burned by the spray We then ...

... lot about the culture and lifestyle of the place. The late afternoon air was cool and crisp, ideal for some leisurely exploration. The streets were full of patisseries, gourmet restaurants and Couture shops, good enough to compete with Paris or Milan.And no, the couture shops were certainly not selling Eskimo clothing. An Icelandic dinner of fresh monk fish, lobsters and cod at one of the restaurants, Enricos was a gastronomic delight ...

... quirks. There´s not a Starbucks in sight and I have to say that´s fantastic, you have to wait a little longer because generally the barista is also cooking the food but it´s worth the wait. As for today - the rain came in vast quantities! It poured all day and limited my activities to writing a few post cards, doing a bit of reading and keeping dry - easier said than done when you´re in a tent the size of a postage stamp! Things have warmed up slightly from ...

... salad and a marvelous Swedish apple tort for dessert. Around midnight Björn drove Audrey and me back to camp and Þráinn to his home. As a parting gift, Þorleifur gave me a bottle of polish vodka cured with bison grass. Þráinn and I said our good-byes and promised to work together again. I crawled into my tent and must have fallen asleep before getting into my sleeping bag without realizing it. I crawled into my sleeping bag at 2:15. It was sort of darkish outside!

I spent the next day exploring the city of Reykjavik. After walking around a bit last night and much of today, I'm sorry to say that I was really underwhelmed. Perhaps it was hangover day or monday's are usually that dull, but the city was dead save for a few tourists. But even the city itself had very little to offer the sightseer. I found every area that I saw drab and uninspiring ...