yeah yeah yeah

America: Love It or Leave It

I think I was offered 10k to move to Europe and denounce my US citizenship. Interesting temptation but unfortunately the offer didn’t come with a job. The proposal came as part of a facebook discussion on the subject of socialism, European examples of socialism and an American comparison. A sort of  “America: Love it or leave it” debate.  And quite honestly, I wouldn’t mind leaving it. Not forever. I like America but getting out and seeing the world does a person good. Personally, I don’t think America is the greatest country in world. I don’t know for sure where the greatest country lies but it isn’t America. A country still struggling from the wrongs of slavery, discrimination and inequality doesn’t make for the greatest country ever. In fact the US is the 13^th best nation according to the 2009 United Nation Development Programme United Nation Development Programme’s HDI Rankings.  And I think a few obvious reasons contribute to United States’ lack of cracking the top ten: war, discrimination, poverty and elitism.

I look at the US like I do my alma mater Oklahoma State. OSU doesn’t have the best football program or (in general) highly ranked academics; but I still love OSU and still passionately cheer for my team no matter the sport, the game or the endeavor. I’m a proud Cowboy as I am a proud American – but also a realist and can see truth. OSU is a great school but it isn’t Harvard. OSU has a great football program but we aren’t USC. OSU does have the greatest wrestling program but not the greatest school of journalism. But I can recognize the faults of my Cowboys as I can recognize the faults of my country. It doesn’t make me any less faithful to either my beloved Cowboys or my beloved country.

But yes, I would love to live abroad. I would welcome any opportunity that allowed my family to live and experience life immersed in another country and culture. I fully believe that the more you can experience in life the more fulfillment you gain. I also would love for my daughter to have an opportunity to attend a more prestigious school than OSU if given the chance. Why wouldn’t I want something better for my country as I do for my children?

America IS great. Is it the greatest? Not yet. America is young, has a lot to learn, but full of potential. It is too bad that many Americans live with their minds so closed they can’t see the possibilities. Does that mean we have to completely imitate Europe? No, but there are some great examples out there of countries that take good care of their citizens. And another thing, the rest of the world doesn’t want to be America. We are envied by some but not by all. Without a doubt the US is a great world power that takes the responsibility very seriously and is superb at helping other nations in need; for that I’m proud. Because I really am a proud American. A proud American that believes that change can be good and it is okay to admit faults and recognize what others do great. I love the US but sure, if given the chance to live abroad, I’d go. But I don't want to give up my US citizenship just yet (I have faith this great country can rise to its potential) so I'll decline that ten-grand offer. 

Love it or leave it—I’d like to do both, thank you!

 

You Seriously Gotta Get Out More: Smithsonian Museum of American History

So in an effort to keep to my new year's resolution (the one where I said I will get out and do more in this great place I get to call home) we took the little one to the Museum of American History. It was bitter cold on Sunday so we decided what better place to go for a long walk then a museum. We could get out of the house, get some much needed exercise and see some cool stuff. Plus Lance had yet to see this particular Smithsonian museum. It had been closed for several years for renovations.

The American History museum is my favorite. Full of pop culture items - Dorothy's ruby slippers, Kermit the Frog, Chelsea Clinton's toe shoes and a whole section dedicated to the ball dresses of the first ladies. Plus you can also pretend you are the president and stand behind this very official looking Presidential Podium. Here she is, Sunshine Hillary, ready to bust through those cracks in the glass ceiling.

But before she starts running the country she will need to learn a bit on manners. Specifically, what is and is not acceptable in public. Farting in public - not acceptable for the commander in chief. Sweet little baby, she let one rip while we were strolling through the quietest room of the museum. The room was small but with a very high ceiling, which of course made every slight sound echo and sound even louder then normal. And here we were laughing out loud, loudly, at this echoing fart machine we are strolling around. And she just lit up with giggles and smiles, so very proud of herself. She thought it was the greatest thing to stroll around and look at sketches from the Plain Indians...while farting. 

For Auld Lang Syne, My Dear, for Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year! 

I'm happy to have 2010 behind me and the hope of a new year and a new decade ahead of me. I've been thinking for a few days now on what is to be my New Year's resolution. I of course need to start eating healthier, give up the need to have half a batch of cookie dough most days and get my ass on the treadmill. All which I plan to do. It is a must. But I've also decided my new years resolution is to enjoy life more. More specifically I need to get out there and see the world, show Sunny the world or at least the one in our own back yard. I'm such a creature of habits and can easily get stuck in ruts spending every weekend much the same – staying home and not taking advantage of all that is around me in this great city I call home. So the Hill/Smith clan is in search of new adventures for 2010 as we commit to getting out there and living. Adventures in the city, adventures in food, adventures outside of the city, adventures with the UU and adventures in our neighborhood. Oh yeah, and I got to give up the daily fix: cookies, brownies, ice cream, Sour Patch Kids, cake, frosting... ugh. Sugar is my crack. 

Number 6. Que Sera Sera. Twenty-five Lessons of 2009

Learned a lot yesterday. Air travel with an infant on Christmas Day can do that to a person. It was a great day of both firsts and lessons. Here is a recap: 

1. Babies and Christmas are fun.
2. King Cab really only picks up in Alexandria City and their drivers are DBs at six a.m. 
3. The Admiral Club - Yatzhee! (A first for mom, dad and baby). Thank you Kevin for the hook up. How will we ever go back to being commoners? It is sweet! If you haven't been in one I highly suggest it. The club in DCA looks similar to the lobby of a business hotel - like the Residence Inn. Basically you have a few large rooms filled with comfy chairs and couches and HD flat screens and of course a great view of the runway. There is a small bar (not free) and complimentary coffee and snacks and plug-ins galore. The access to free plug-ins alone makes the club worth it. And the staff is so friendly and not at all cranky. We had two of the nicest women greet us when we walked in and as soon as the club door opens you feel as if you have just entered the eye of a storm or maybe an alternate universe. The stress of air travel melts away when you enter the calm, peaceful place within the chaos of airport terminals. It is quiet, comfortable and you don't have to fight for a seat. What a great place to chill. Oh, and the bathrooms are so clean, don't smell like chemical mixed ass and have super soft hand soap and lotions. I'm officially a fan.
4. Five diapers for twelve hours of travel are cutting it close. When deciding at the last minute to check-in a carry-on—pull out the diaper stash. It was a close one thanks to two blow-outs and three outfit changes but we luckily we didn't have to go and make a diaper out of Daddy's undershirt.
5. Sunny thinks it is her job to entertain others. She was pure entertainment on both flights (when she wasn't sleeping of course). And I'm not just saying this because she is my kid (okay, partly because of that) but she even had teenage boys smiling and that is a tough group to crack. Basically she was the welcoming committee on flight 1657 to DFW and 1672 to TUL. She just stood-up on my lap and made faces and eye-contact with each passenger as the walked by her. If she liked something she cooed and smiled and bounced a little on my lap. It was quite the sight. She made lots of fans and brought some sunshine to a very stressed out group of passengers. She is already vying to entertain the world and I think she inherited her "I need attention chromosome" from her dad.
6. I'm no longer a stressed-out, anxious control freak while traveling. That is a huge first. I'm normally a crazy traveler and get into a mode of panic at least a dozen times becoming obsessed with time and breathing. I'm constantly obsessing over what time we will board, when will we leave, when does the beverage cart come down. Do I have time to use the bathroom or will I miss my flight? What about food, do I have time for food? UGH. Air travel makes me feel like a prisoner to the terminal obsessed with the slow moving hands of time. Once in the air the hypochondriac in me kicks into high gear and I start thinking I need vapor rub and cough drops to breath. I'm also certain that everyone around me has SARS or small pox and I'm next in line to die. I'm a freaking mess on the inside. (Although I appear relatively normal to strangers). I'm typically just a stressed out mess. But not today! Traveling with Sunny changed that. I suddenly had to deal with poop explosions on Christmas outfits and bottle feedings that help with in-flight ear popping and my focus shifted from my own made up anxiety to Sunny's real issues and needs. Yet I don't think it was all of Sunny's needs that made me forget my anxieties it was really just her presence. She entertained me and kept me so happy that I forgot about all my travel anxiety and could actually say que sera sera. Let it be. Whatever. As long as the three of us were together and safe nothing else really mattered. Sure she cried, had a few meltdowns but she was great. 
7. My sister has mad skills when it comes to driving on ice. Props to Donna. Impressive. And thanks for getting us home safely.
8. Sunny is a big fan of "Jingle Bells" when song by soon to be super star Joel Schisler.
9. You actually can put too much liquor in egg nog but the Hills and Coplons will still drink it. 
10. Sunny loves her Claremore family and so does her momma.

We are safely in Oklahoma and trying to work our way around the new obstacle of the week - sheets of ice and horrible roads but Que sera sera. I'm not going to worry about it, obsess over it or try to control everything. Instead, I'm going to focus on enjoying my time here.

Day Five: Takk

Day Five
Grindavík, The Blue Lagoon
November 27, 2008 - Thanksgiving Day

The Blue Lagoon is without a doubt the most touristy spot in all of Iceland. Bus loads of tourists pile out of excursion shuttles hourly and even on a cold November Thursday the place was busy. Busy, but not crowded. But not going to the Blue Lagoon while in Iceland would be like not going into a casino when in Vegas. It might be touristy, but it is amazingly beautiful, warm, relaxing and very different then any other place I'd been to in life.

The Showers
When we first entered the Blue Lagoon we paid the entrance fee and had to decide if we wanted to rent a robe or not. The Northern Light Inn had towels available for us to take to the Lagoon so we didn't need to rent a towel but we did rent a robe. Which was a smart decision. It is quite a bit more but well worth it. This is Iceland, it is freaking cold and just a towel isn't enough and a gigantic soft robe is very inviting in the freezing cold. So after paying the fees we were handed an electronic bracelet that operates the lockers and can be used at the snack bar to buy food and drinks which meant we didn't have to carry around money in our robes...quite handy, especially since every robe is exactly the same.

Then comes the locker rooms, showers, and changing area. Oh the rumors I'd heard about the showers. Because, unlike the US, the sign saying to take a shower before entering the pool actually means to take a shower before entering the pool. But this wasn't quite as traumatizing as blogs and rumors would lead one to believe. It is true that everyone is required to take this shower nude, no swimsuit. And it is also true that the showers are open but they aren't communal and each shower head is in its own door-less stall. And contrary to popular belief, a woman (a shower Nazi of sorts) does not walk around the stalls checking and verifying that people scrubbed their privates and it wasn't as bad as the horror stories I'd read. It was really no big deal. Each stall comes supplied with both body soap and conditioner. (I should have put the conditioner on my hair before even entering the Blue Lagoon and left it on for the day. But I didn't and consequently had straw hair for a few days). I brought my swimsuit into the shower with me so I could put it on afterward without having to do the nude walk to the towel racks, especially nice if you have a stall at the end, far from the racks. Being the only modest American in the area, I was the only one who seemed worried about getting a swimsuit on quickly... most others preferred to air dry as they casually walked to their clothes and towels.

Freezing Cold. Nice and Warm
After the shower I met up with TL. The men and women's locker rooms both ended in a small lounge and snack area. Off to the side was the enclosed entrance to the Lagoon but it only seemed right for us to go for it the hard way -- off with the robe and a careful run a few feet in the freezing cold before entering the water. And it was freezing outside -- literally freezing. Cold, windy and freezing. Twenty seconds in only a swimsuit outside in the cold was brutal. But oh so worth it once my feet stepped into the hot geothermal waters of about 102°F. Very similar to a hot tub, but a huge hot tub. A 53,850 square foot hot tub. And the water was the most beautiful blue. A sort of milky, light aqua blue. We couldn’t see more the a few inches below the surface because it was so milky but it was such a beautiful color. It looked like a blue sports drink mixed with part milk.

Much to our surprise, the water isn't deep at all. Around the edges of the lava rocks it is very shallow but for the most part is is about four or so feet deep throughout the entire pool. Perfect for me. TL had to bend his knees to walk around on his knees so he didn't expose more then just his face out of the water. and with the cold wind blowing - our hair, eyebrows and eyelashes would freeze if you didn't go under every few minutes or at least splash water on our faces. We could feel your face freezing and I think my sinuses actually froze a time or two.

So imagine doing in an hour long in-water massage on this cold day... annnh, it wasn't so bad. The massage therapist laid a huge towel over us that covered our entire bodies so the only thing not warm was our face and he would dunk our bodies in the water every five minutes to warm up the wet towel and the massage was relaxing and nice. I would however recommend doing an indoor massage if it is freezing outside but since we had made our appointment weeks in advanced we couldn't change it. Oh, and I didn't laugh as she massaged my toes, which is huge for me.

After the massages we spent a few more hours hanging out in the water and saunas. As recommended by everyone at the Blue Lagoon, we put handfuls of silica on our face and lounged in water looking like freaks with white masks all over our faces, but everyone else looked like too. When we finally got out of the water, we were pruned, sleepy and hungry.

The Free Show
Too bad TL couldn't use the girls changing area... he could have seen quite a show. I will explain...
The changing areas in the locker rooms are very accommodating with plenty of hair dryers and mirrors so basically everyone visiting the Lagoon is using the changing area and getting ready before leaving. Which is great, it is too cold to go outside with wet hair. But, what I didn't understand was why, why in the hell did the 10 or so women changing in my area feel the need to blow dry their hair and put on their make-up with only their pants on? Seriously, why couldn't they at least put on their bra before prancing around the changing area getting ready? So annoying. Everywhere you turned you had someone's boobs all up in your face. I'm just saying, put on the bra before fixing the hair. Please!

Thanksgiving Dinner
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Lance and I had a special dinner at the Blue Lagoon restaurant, Lava, and we couldn't have picked a better place to eat and celebrate Thanksgiving as a family. First off, we lucked out with a table right by the water with an amazing view that overlooked the Blue Lagoon. And since I'm obsessed now with Icelandic lobster, we ordered an appetizer of lobsters. They are smaller then that of a Maine lobster and they are oh so good. I think they just might be my absolute favorite of seafood. For dinner I had more Icelandic lobster, beef fillet, portabella mushrooms and potatoes all covered in a pepper sauce. Lance ordered the fillet of lamb with potatoes and both dinners were better then average and the best meal we ate in Iceland.

This was a photo of my dinner from Lava. It might not looks so appealing because I'm not very good at taking food photos but you get an idea of just how small the lobsters are. I could eat those lobsters everyday. Seriously, everyday. But the rest of meal was just good but not outstanding. I think TL and I are slightly spoiled with all the amazing places to eat in DC and Old Town. So although the dinner didn't blow us away, they were really good. Dessert, different story. The dessert that night was typical of all Icelandic dessert we experienced, not so good. Such a bummer to not find really good dessert in Iceland. But their candy bars, especially the Nizza with the candy chocolates in the chocolate, are freaking awesome. If you ever see a Nizza candy bar, buy it. 

Night Four - Never Ever Saw the Stars So Bright In the Farmhouse Things Will be Alright

Night Four
Grindavík, the Northern Light Inn
November 26, 2008

Why Iceland?
Okay, many have asked the question, "Why Iceland?" So here is the answer:
We started thinking about a trip to Iceland about three years ago after we saw an ad in the Washington Post Express promoting cheap flights from BWI to Reykjavík. Iceland really wasn't in our radar as a future travel destination but we started doing some minimal research and discovered several appealing things about Iceland.

1. Iceland is only a five hour flight from BWI or JFK - not much different then a flight to LA or Vegas.
2. Northern lights are common in Iceland outside of the major cities between Nov - March. Iceland is directly below the strongest concentration of the Aurora Borealis annulus – The Green Belt – an oval of cosmic light that circles the earth off axis.
3. Compared to mainland Europe, Iceland is less touristy.
4. The Blue Lagoon.

And from there our obsession grew. The only problem, Iceland was also one of the most expensive countries in the world to visit. Basically the US dollar did not get you far. One beer = 10 USD. For that reason we put the Iceland trip on hold waiting to safe lots of money. But of course we spent our money on other things and the Iceland trip seemed just a passing thought. But I had this annoying, nagging obsession to see the Northern Lights. So jump forward to August 2008 and I'm sitting outside having a few drinks with a very close friend and she said, "Hey idiot, why haven't you and Lance gone to Iceland like you want.  It isn't like you have kids to worry about. Don't your really want to go to Iceland?" And you know what, she was right. I really did want to go to Iceland and why the hell didn't we go? So that week I started looking for flights, hotels and bam... we were going to Iceland.

Not surprisingly, I was pretty focused on planning a trip that allowed us the best opportunity to see the Northern Lights, which is why we chose Thanksgiving weekend. Now we needed a location away from the city lights and google searching our options I found the Northern Light Inn - a small inn located close to the middle of nowhere of Iceland and a mile from the Blue Lagoon. It was the perfect focal point for the trip and everything else just started to fall into place. We especially got a big break when the Icelandic krona took a huge hit and plummeted virtually overnight. (And I don't want to sound like we were happy for our luck based on Iceland's HUGE economic crisis. It was a break on our pocketbook but I'm sorry to the Icelandic people that they are in such devastation right now. It's real bad.) 

Right Place, Right Time
Like I said before, seeing the Northern Lights takes a little planning and a lot of luck. We placed ourselves in the right location by staying a couple of nights at the Northern Light Inn and we planned our trip in late November during a peak time for the lights. We were also not competing with a full moon and the weather report called for clear skies toward the end of that week, pretty much the perfect setting for Lights.

Luck
Wednesday night we ate dinner at the inn's panoramic restaurant where they had a beautiful view of the mountains in the distance. The whole dinner we kept asking each other, "Do you think we will see anything tonight?" After dinner we walked outside a few times noticing every single clear patch or break in the clouds. Just a few minutes past nine the sky cleared and we could see our first glimpse of green squiggly, dancing light. We rushed to put on layers and layers of clothes and ran outside to see what else was in the sky.

Okay, here is the hard part, describing the lights. Because first off they are like nothing I've seen. They started off very small and then suddenly a large green rainbow like line was going over our head. That line would move and small green waves would dance far off in the north then suddenly green would stretch across the sky for a second. All this carried on for about an hour and then it stopped. Most people outside with us watching the sky packed up their cameras and tripods and went in to warm up by the fire. At that point, probably 11:15 or so, TL and I were the only ones actually outside. He didn't want to go in because he saw something "suspicious" off to the north and thought more were to come. He was right. Directly in the spot he called, light started growing and taking shape and covering the north and it looked like small green flames were emerging out of the green band of light and then suddenly the light started getting more vivid and twirling. It created an S shaped funnel until it looked like the "Hatch" (a building up on the hill and to our north - named by the UK couple we met - it is a reference from Lost) was about to get sucked up into another dimension and then, in less then a minute, and it was gone and back to a light green glowing sky of lights. No, we weren't high and we weren't tripping. It was freaking crazy, celestial. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Once the sky went back to a little more normalcy we couldn't talk ourselves into going inside. We just wanted to see more - to chase that dragon.

We had no way of getting any pictures of that nights sky. You have to have a major high dollar camera, tripod and experience - but we met a very nice couple from the UK and they were kind enough to send us a picture they captured on Friday, after we had already left Iceland. The lights that night were not as bright as what we saw on Wednesday but you can see in the picture the shade of green that was lighting up the sky and you can see the "Hatch" building in the background. Wednesday night it looked like the "Hatch" would be sucked up from Earth and the green was much more vivid then what you see in the pic.

If you hadn't guessed it, I was pretty damn happy to see the Lights, especially while wearing my awesome "Northern Lights" mittens that BFF made me. I'm pretty sure the mittens brought me the needed luck to get such a clear night in Iceland to see the lights. And you know, that night felt about as surreal as the night BFF, my dear M and I found a full living room set-up and arranged in the KD apartment parking lot. The crazy green lights in the sky reminded me of that strange night in college - a dreamlike feeling in a truly bizarre moment...I couldn't help but think how much they would both love the lights I was seeing in Iceland.

Awww, the Northern Light Inn. We love this place. Cozy, clean and new. Helpful, nice staff always ready to shuttle you where you needed or wanted to be. Great restaurant and the views were amazing. But most importantly, the view was perfect for the lights. I feel like the luckiest girl that got to see the Northern Lights on her first try. But again, I did have the mittens and that worked in my favor. And guess what... I now, no longer can say, "I never ever saw the Northern Lights."

Day Three and Day Four - I Keep Calm Admiring Your Lava I Keep Calm

Day Three and Day Four
Reykjavík - Hafnarfjörður - Grindavík
November 25, 2008

Museum Day
Tuesday was the day we were suppose to travel to Akureyri and spend an evening in the bitter cold of North Iceland but the weather wasn't going to cooperate and our 10:30 domestic flight was canceled. We were a little bummed at first but once we realized that we would get a full refund on both our plane tickets and our hotel in Akureyri we were ready to make plans for one more day in Reykjavík. The airport in itself was entertaining. Very small. It reminded me of the airport in the early 90s sitcom Wings but the building looked a lot like the Ballston Center of MU (but only a couple of stories tall).

Finding a place to stay another night in Reykjavík was easy and we got a room right in the middle of city center at Hotel Klopp. Klopp was very accommodating and even allowed us to check-in at 10 am, which we were grateful for but not surprised. That is the thing with Iceland, everyone is laid back and easy going and everything just seems like no big deal. I guess the weather keeps the Icelandic people flexible. The weather changes by the minute, no matter the season, so a plan is never a guarantee. Speaking of weather, Tuesday was definitely a cold, wet, windy Icelandic day. Brrrrrr.

Not a lot to do outside on day like that so Tuesday became a museum day. TL loved museum day, especially the Sagamuseum in the Perlan. I'm not quite into the viking scene as much as TL but the Sagamuseum was pretty impressive. It is made up of 17 exhibits that highlight sagas in Icelandic history by using plaster figures. They were very life like and one statue was moving and I really thought it was a person at first. Here are three of the scenes depicted.

After Saga we took a long, very long, walk to city center to regroup and figure out a game plan for the day. We decided to finish up touring the cities' museums and hit both the art museum and the National Museum of Iceland. Oh it was so cold that day walking along the pond with the wind whipping through my three layers of clothing. Not going to lie, I wasn't so tough and was ready to throw in the towel and forget sightseeing but some chocolate cake at the National Museum helped and the tears were short lived. 

Reykjavík Pubs
So not knowing what to do with our unplanned night in Reykjavík we decided to grab a pizza and bring it back to the hotel so we could save a little money on our dinner expenses. Reykjavík isn't known for its pizza so it was as good as to be expected. After our short food break we hit the town yet again but this time for pub fun. We started off at Cafe Oliver (where we went on day one) and watched some Icelandic Karaoke. Or at least I just watched. After several Gull's (popular Icelandic beer) TL provided some good ol' American humor as he karaoked to Tenacious D's "Tribute". Being the ham he is, TL gave the locals a laugh. But unlike the karaoke I've seen in the US, there wasn't a machine or a computer teleprompter - it was just a guy playing a guitar, two mics and a stand for the sheet music. Very cool. The guitar player looked like a blonde Christian from Project Runway. Fierce!

After TL satisfied his "I need attention needs" on stage, we headed to a quint Irish Pub where we enjoyed conservation with some locals and the bartender. Our bartender had not heard of Budweiser or Miller Lite. Crazy, but I like that fact that Iceland hasn't experienced an American invasion. Yeah, they know Coca Cola, KFC and McDonald's but that is really about it. No Walmart. Isn't that a beautiful thing? 

Day Four
Icelandic Horse Riding
We rode Icelandic horses through lava fields on Wednesday. The excursion bus picked up at our hotel before 9 am and drove us to the horse ranch outside of Reykjavík near the town of Hafnarfjörður. As soon as we got to the ranch we were picking out our safety hats and bundling up in our winter gear and loading up on our horses. Icelandic horses are different from horses in America in the fact that they are much smaller. But they are sturdy and stout and very gentle. They don't kick and you can even walk behind one with no worries of getting kicked. 

My horse, Kubbur, was a very short and stout guy and his name in Icelandic was the same as what they call the bottom fat pieces of Lego sets. He was a good horse.

 

TL on the other hand got the craziest horse in the lot. That is what you get when you tell the guides that you are an experienced horse rider. Ditta was a wild hair and had her own agenda. TL had to hold tight to her reins to keep her in line on the path. The trail took us two hours to ride and it wound around craggy old lava fields with miles of huge black lava rocks covered in lichen. The landscape was so unusual. Beautiful yet something creepy existed in its raw rustic setting.

Neither one of us had ridden a horse since we were kids. It was a ton of fun. We weren't sure if the horse ride would be worth the money, but it was well worth it. We loved it. What we didn't love was whatever TL was allergic too at the ranch. By the time we checked into the Northern Light Inn Grindavik,TL's eyeballs were swollen. Poor guy. Swollen eyeballs in a foreign country would only happen to TL.

Surprises and/or Iceland Fact
No cleaning ingredients are added to Icelandic tap water. If want, you can just grab a handful of water straight from a stream and it is safe to drink. In my opinion, you could taste the difference and the water really tasted better in Iceland.

Day Two Iceland - Something is Painted in the Snow That You'd Like

Day Two
Reykjavik - Golden Circle - Reykjavik
November 24, 2008

Skifan
So we had big plans of getting up early and starting our day with a big breakfast at the hotel but it isn't so easy to get up when the sun doesn't even rise before 10 am. We did finally get up by 9 or so and that is when I discovered that TL cannot function with music videos on TV. TL and I both like to have music in our background pretty much at all times so one of the first things we did when got into our hotel on Sunday was plug in the iPod player using our little iPod speakers and our handy European AC adapter. But, we used the wrong AC adapter and fried the iPod plug in, blew a hotel fuse thus leaving us with no music in the room and looking like dumb American tourists thanks to our rather dumb error. Luckily our music withdraw was saved with one of the four available TV channels, Skifan. Skifan is what MTV use to be... it plays videos! I never knew that music videos mesmerized TL so much. Put that kid in front of a music video and he can't do anything else, like getting ready to go out for day. But thanks to Skifan we were introduced to one of Iceland's favorite pop star Páll Óskar, or shall I say gayest pop star? Check out this video that was played constantly on Skifan - "Sama Hvar Þú Ert". I don't think our trip would have been quite the same without our daily dose of Skifan. 

Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur
I did finally pull TL away from the great Páll and we headed out to buy some Icelandic wool, some hats and a world famous Icelandic hot dog - Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur is a famous hot dog stand in downtown Reykjavik. Bill Clinton ate one a few weeks before his heart attack and they say no trip to Iceland is complete without one. We were told to order it "ein með öllu" which means with all the works but we chickened out. Since I hate raw onions it wasn't an option for me so I just got mustard and the sweet relish, I'm not sure what was TL's excuse. As far as hot dogs go, I have had better but we can at least say we gave it a try and uh, let's hope we don't suffer the same fate as my man Bill.

 

GOLDEN CIRCLE
When visiting Iceland you absolutely have to go on a tour of the Golden Circle. This is what Iceland is all about, nature like I'd never seen. We did the express tour but our tour guide was nice enough to expand the trip so we go to see three breathtaking sights - Þingvellir National Park, Geysir and the Gullfoss waterfall. No need to describe too much about these, I think the pictures tell the story fine on their own.

Þingvellir National Park
This is the original site of the oldest existing parliament in the world. The Great Atlantic rift is clearly visible so geographically speaking, at the park you have North America to your West and Europe to your East.

 

 

Geysirs
Geysir is the oldest known geyser in the world and when it goes off it can go up to 60 meters. We weren't lucky enough to see Geysir erupt but we did witness Strokkur's eruption a couple of times and it surprised me every time causing a shout of "Oh shit" a few times. All around Geysir were smaller geysers and hot pockets of boiling water. According to our tour guide if you fell into a hot pocket you would boil alive in less then three minutes.

 

 

 

Gullfoss
Gullsfoss waterfall is by far one of the most awesome things I have seen in life. I found it amazing how close we were allowed to climb around the waterfall with barely any barriers. Although you can't see it in the pictures, in the far off horizon is a glacier called Langjokull. 

 

 

 

An Icelandic Dinner
What better way to follow up a day of exploring the natural wonders of Iceland then with an authentic Icelandic dinner in Reykjavik. But finding a place to eat dinner took us forever. The trouble, we had reached that point of tired/hungry mixed with jet-lag and we were very indecisive on where to eat so it felt like forever until we finally saw the perfect menu. The Hereford's Steakhouse menu caught our eye with their featured dinner special of whale and potatoes. TL thought that sounded intriguing and I was happy to see Icelandic lobster on the menu. At least TL can now say he's tried whale, but I don't think he was all that impressed. He ordered it med rare but it was still a little dry and tasted like liver. I think that was his first and final attempt at eating whale. I however was the big dinner winner with my order of lobster tails. The lobster in Iceland is different then a Maine lobster. The tail is quite a bit smaller and it tastes more like shrimp and crayfish rather then a traditional lobster. And since shrimp and crayfish are my favorites, I was happy happy. I could actually eat them every night which is a problem since I don't think I'll have much success finding any here in the US. 

Surprises and/or Iceland Facts
Trees in Iceland do not grow tall at all. If you find yourself lost in an Icelandic forest, stand up and you will find your way.

Day One Iceland -- Holding Hands The Whole World a Blur

Day One
Reykjavik
November 23, 2008

We arrived at the Keflavík airport early at 6 am Sunday morning and took a FlyBus directly to our hotel in Reykjavik, CenterHotel Arnarhvoll. The room was small but very modern and functional. A great flat screen TV but a bit of waste since their satellite reception only got four channels: CNN World, BBC News, a channel that I would describe as the C-Span of Great Britain and Skifan (which was great fun and I will elaborate on later). The bed was super cozy and made up with two separate down blanket and we took the invitation to jump in and get some much needed sleep since in our minds it was then 3 am EST. And darn it, the beds were so damn comfortable we slept much longer then our planned hour nap but we were out the door exploring Reykjavik by 1 pm.

Our hotel was located just a block from the City Center and the "Main Shopping Street" Laugavegur. Laugavegur reminded us of King Street in Old Town Alexandria - lined with small boutiques, a ton of restaurants and bars and a few tourist information stops and gift stores. But much unlike King street and little more Bourbon Street, mixed in were a handful of strip bars and a couple of slot machine casinos. But oddly, these places didn't degrade the area or make it trashy. We were also just a few blocks from the water and the shipping port, which we had a great view of from the Panorama restaurant on the top level of the hotel.

 

Walking the fairly quite streets (it was Sunday and rumor has it that most of Reykjavik is hungover and staying home on Sunday) we noticed that the majority of Icelandic ad designs, which were very good, were heavily photo driven. Very little text but instead big, bold, beautiful photos. They even created a photo mosaic of toddler photos and we are still not sure if it was functional and hiding construction or if it was created just to view - but it was my favorite corner to walk by in Reykjavik. Most of the babies looked like blond little Hill babies. Pretty sure I saw several that looked like a baby Z or a baby Shel.

 

Not wanting to miss any of the famous Reykjavik sites, we wandered our way to Reykjavik's biggest landmark - Hallgrímskirkja Church. Hallgrimskirkja is located in the center of Reykjavik and the view surrounding the structure is unbelievable - mountains, ocean and city all in sight. But sadly and much to TL's disappointment, the majority of the huge art-deco structure was covered in scaffolding so we couldn't take a trip to its top observation deck. But at least we got to see the statue of Leifur Eriksson outside the church.

 

 

Cold, with tired feet, we headed inside for some warmth and food. We ate Tapas at a place called Cafe Oliver on Laugavegur St. While working on getting our core heat back up with a few beers, we looked at a local guide for events going on in the city for November. We discovered that the famous Icelandic band Sigur Rós was playing in Reykjavik that night and the bartenders said we could easily get tickets down the street at Skifan, a music store similar to our own Virgin Records. We bought two floor tickets for less then $20 a piece and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the big show.

Okay, so I will admit it - Sigur Rós was not in my iPod, nor was I all that familiar with their music. I had heard them once or twice, I knew they were Icelandic, that all their songs were sung in Icelandic and that people compared their music to that of Radiohead. I'm officially now a fan of Sigur Rós. What an amazing show. First off, the venue was small. The show was in a multi-functional gymnasium that held about 3,000 or so people, not nearly the size of even old Gallagher Iba Arena. So I was rather surprised by their impressive light show and special effects that included rain pouring down in front of the stage and then later snow.

And talk about great people watching, so many beautiful people. Beautiful, but trying hard not to be so pretty. Funky hair and a sort of grungy euro-trash mix of fashions. Very European and very hip. And watching the Icelandic people react to their favorite native sons was one of the highlights of my trip. It was absolutely fascinating. First off, Iceland's total population is less then 300,000 which is smaller then Tulsa and Reykjavik is only 200,000. So you would think since everyone at the show basically lived, worked and went to school in Reykjavik they would pretty much all know each other. It isn't like a ton of people are moving in and out of the country. But it didn't feel like we were in a small inside the show. Instead it felt like a small venue inside a large city like NYC or even DC. No one really seemed to know any one other then the small group they were with and everyone kept very much to themselves. We later discovered that this is the Iceland way. Icelanders like to give each other their space. This isn't to say they are not friendly, but they don't tend to socialize much outside of their immediate circle which in turn keeps the country from seeming quite so small. A little bit of knowledge I learned watching the fascinating documentary by Sigur Rós, Heima.

So the show was a perfect end to our first day in Iceland - where we got to see a huge majority of the capital city, eat some good food and take part in a true Icelandic experience by watching an amazing band play to their home crowd.

Surprises and/or Iceland Fact
TL was rather shocked to see a girl at the sink in the "water closet" then realizing it was a unisex bathroom.

We Could Hide Away in My Little Corner of the World

Let me introduce you to Woodstock, VT. I don't know if it qualifies as pro-America (I didn't see any gun shops) and I don't know if Mrs. Palin would classify it as real-America (it looked fairly artsy) but I call it my dream-America, aka my own Stars Hollow. I loved Woodstock right when pulled into town. Or actually right before we pulled into town and stopped off at the Woodstock Farmer's Market, The moment I stepped out of the van I knew I had found dream-America. The farmers market was about the size of a Quik Trip/Wawa and fully stocked with only fresh, organic local foods. Meats, syrups, fruits, veggies, seafoods, artesianal cheeses, sweets, breads - oh the place was beautiful. But the meat really caught my eye. Especially the bright red and white marbled steak with a tag reading North Hollow Farm, Rochester, VT. Vermont raised beef. Yummy! A vegetarian I am not. But actually, all the food was beautiful, I think it shines brighter since it isn't tainted by the Corporate Man. So I played a little game in my head as I walked around the store, I planned my perfect meal. My if-I-could-really-shop-for-dinner-today-and-bring-it-home-to-cook-now dream-meal. Here is what I came up with: first off, the steak strips, then some long leaf salad greens, one Brianna's Blue Cheese dressing, fresh bacon, local blue cheese block, a couple winter squashes (for a soup) and a few potatoes. Oh and a couple of tomatoes for the salad, some fresh bread and four cookies from the bakery. Ahhhh, dream-meal in dream-America. 

After the Market, we drove a couple miles into the downtown Woodstock. And it was so much like Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girl's reference - Google it if you aren't familiar). Streets lined with all LOCAL businesses. Yarn shop, bookstores, clothing boutiques, bait shop, deli, butcher shop, restaurant, drug store, art museum...everything you could possibly need is all right there in the center of town. Just in case you needed to know anything of importance, a big chalk board told the upcoming town events. And I kid you not, the PTA was selling lunch for a fund raiser under a big white tent in the town center lawn - homemade chili, soup, baked goods, caramel apples, hot dogs and more. Damn good chili, I might add. What a perfect day... sitting on a park bench eating hot corn chowder, chili and a brownie while people watching and dog watching. Did I mention that it was a very dog friendly town? Everyone had a dog and dogs in shops was okay too.

And if all that isn't enough, the town has three covered bridges. I tell you, it is dream-America. Beautiful babbling brooks running through town, covered bridges crossing over the water, hills, trees, mountains... the place is pretty much great. Actually it is better then great, skiing is close by, so it is perfect.

But I don't know if I should really be sharing this information with anyone. Woodstock is small, only 2000 in population. A place not yet tarnished by corporate America. A town still strong enough to say no to Wal-Mart, Starbucks and McDonald's and thriving with their own local stores. But I don't think it is the sort of place that just everyone should get to know about so it doesn't lose its quaintness and charm, visit and you will see what I mean. I know I can't wait to go back again with TL and Ari, maybe spend a week in the summer in a cabin with a kitchen, fixing fresh organic meals and reading books outside on a green lawn. Finally, I found my very own Stars Hollow, a place to hide away in my little corner of the world.