On Reykjavik

The quirky surprise piece of my itinerary, I have wanted to visit Iceland all of my life and this year, saw an opportunity not to be put off once again. A bus mistake and traffic chaos in london nearly resulted in missing my flight, until I spent £65 on a cab to take me straight to Heathrow. Cursing the meter (and my casualness about getting to Heathrow easily) along the way, I wondered if I was making a ridiculous and expensive mistake with the whole trip. But once checked in and underway, self-berating gave way to excitement. Landing at Keflavik airport in bright sunshine (that was up 21 hours per day) I saw the barren volcanic landscape that stretches to the horizon, interrupted only by occasional volcanos and monolithic foreboding mountains. This is truly "big-sky" country - you could turn the sky a different hue and have an instant set for a science fiction planet unknown to humans. Steam billowed up from little spots in the distance as the bus took me into the city. In the city, people milled about drinking and singing - the Gay Pride parade had just ended and it seems that most of the population had descended on the inner squares and streets. At 11pm I went to the local gay bar and watches locals drunk and dancing to cheesy europop hits on the tiny dance floor, then went upstairs to the "club" to listen to only slightly less cheesy stuff. I saw Hera Bjork perform her (not successful but very camp) Eurovision entry from 2009 live on stage which was a boon, followed by a disastrous trio of old men singing what I can only think was old Icelandic odes with updated beats. I left about then - around 3am. The queue to get IN stretched back to the main street. The sun was about to appear once again. Weird.... But the weather was wonderful, the city so very pretty in that Nordic kind of way, the people "efficiently-friendly" and the prices were about on par with Sydney. I saw everything I wanted to see as I walked around the various landmarks unhindered by excessive tourists and inclement weather. I ate shark and cured herring. I drank aquavit and Viking (sic) beer. I bought a candle holder with ash from the Eyokafuyukjull (or whatever it's called) volcano and gave it to the parents. I nearly bought mum the similarly named womens fragrance (true) but that was possibly taking the cheesiness to far :-) On the last day I was able to take a bus from the hotel to the incredible Blue Lagoon (www.blue lagoon.com)for a few hours of amazing geothermal bathing in the sunshine, then the bus took me onto the airport directly for my flight. Sunburn from Iceland on my head and shoulders. Who could have guessed such a thing? I have many photos that I am unable to display here, until I get home to Sydney in 10 days time. A shame, as the experience is worth seeing. But now I am home in Ireland and finally relaxing after the non stop travel. Being at home now is like taking 5 valiums after living on caffeine and guarana for the last 10 days. It's time