Meanwhile, back in Iceland....

Hey all

It's been a while since the last post, but I'll attempt to recapitulate some of this summer's events.

In July we went with Berglind's family to la Costa Blanca in Spain for two weeks, in celebration of Berglind's parents' 60th birthday and their 40th wedding anniversary. Spain was excellent - lots of sun, good food, fun in the pool, bodysurfing on the beach, golf, etc.

After returning home things got back to their everyday routine, nothing special, and we haven't been doing anything in addition to working and just being. These days however, we have visitors which has allowed us to drive around parts of the country showing them around. Claudia, Nikos and their 6 month old daughter Sofia are here and we're enjoying their visit immensely.

Check out the pictures that we have taken so far. First we went downtown Reykjavik and had a coffee, then we drove to Þingvellir National Park where we saw, among others, horses being ridden over a river, the site where women were drowned back in the day, unbelievably clear water in fissures/cracks in the lava, then went to Laugarvatn natural hot spring steam bath where Sofia had her first hot tub experience, and was completely exhausted after, and finished off by going to the geothermal area in Haukadalur, where the one and only Geysir is. It was a wonderful day.

Then, the next day we went for a short drive in the afternoon. We visited Gljúfrasteinn, the residence of the late Nobel Prize winner and Iceland's most famous novelist Halldor Laxness. Then we continued and drove around the fjord Hvalfjordur.

That's it for now, I'll add more from their visit soon.

Enjoy.
B.

Hey all

Sorry for the long time since my last blog. It's been a busy three months since the year started. To sum it up:

January: We spent it working hard as always, but additionally working harder on our new apartment that we just purchased. The apartment was delivered "raw", i.e. without flooring so we bought parquett hardwood flooring and natural stone tiles (to put on kitchen, bath, washroom, foyer). We managed to finish laying the wooden flooring before February, with the great help of Berglind's dad, and other members of our families.

February: I spent February in Norway, visiting a research institute there (NORSAR). It has to do with my project here in Iceland, and I had a great time. They put me up in a great apartment, close to the train/bus station and the city center. The city, by the way, is Lillestrom, just outside of Oslo. The weather was very cold the first two weeks, and I got sick. The latter two weeks the weather was a little warmer, just below freezing, and it felt a little better. During my visit I got to play indoor football every week with the guys at NORSAR and it was great to kick it around again. Then, the last weekend of my stay the center had their annual "winter seminar", which was TONS of fun. We went up to the mountains, to the Skeikampen ski resort, where we got hotel rooms, and ski-passes. On the Saturday there was a grand dinner with dancing afterwards - a lot of fun plus hangover the day after. That did not stop me because both days of the weekend I was on the slopes from 9:30 in the morning until 2pm! It was great fun. The first day I rented carving style skis, and found out (pleasantly surprised!!) that I had not forgotten much since a few years ago when I last went skiing. The second day I rented a snowboard, and after half an hour, or two trips to the top or so, I was snowboarding like there was no tomorrow (again, very pleasantly surprised!!!).
Meanwhile, Berglind spent February at work with no play, basically, while her dad and mine were so amazingly nice to lay the stone tiles in our apartment! They finished it too before I came back. I still owe them bunch of help for that!

March: Berglind and I moved our stuff from her grandma's garage into our apartment the first weekend after I got back from Norway. We then spent the next week putting on the finishing touches on our apartment, with the good help of Berglind's dad, again. NOTE: He has been the foreman of the project since we got the apartment, and once he starts something, he finishes it! Then, on Saturday March 17th we moved ourselves in and slept the first night. It was great - what an amazing feeling!
The rest of the month was spent at work during the day, and working on the apartment at home during the evenings. Right now, the apartment is in very good shape - only need to add the curtains ;-) which by the way, arrived early in April.

April: So, this brings us up to the beginning of April. I went to Hawaii for a conference the week after easter. Well, I left before easter, stayed one day with our friend Claudia and her beautiful newborn girl Sofia Polyxeni Vellou-Prada (took a bunch of pictures of them), before heading over to Honolulu on Oahu to spend a few days with our friends Cameo and Chris, who moved there last year for Cameo's work.
It was great to see Claudia, Sofia and Nikos, and wonderful also to see Cameo and Chris. it's amazing how it doesn't feel weird seeing one's friends again even after many months of separation! Perhaps this constant interchange of pictures and blog over the web helps, but I thinks it's just because we're all good friends

Honolulu: Arrived at 1pm on Easter Saturday. Cameo picked me up and put a Lei (necklace with Plumeria, the gorgeous yellow scentful Hawaii's welcoming flower) around my neck. That was pretty special. Then we picked up Chris (who by the way, is 1/4 Icelandic, and we're related 9 generations back! It's true!!!!) and went surfing. After a good day of surfing we went down to Waikiki beach where their Capuera group had a show. Then, after having been awake 27 hours (!!) we went to sleep. Woke up on Easter Sunday, went for a kick-ass-adrenaline-exhausting hike up the Koko Head Crater on the SouthEast side of Oahu. We walked up old WWII train tracks to the top on the south side, and then took a path seldom travelled down the east side. That was very difficult, but extreemely rewarding, especially when we noticed we had gone over a natural rock-bridge on the way down!
Check out the first batch of pictures.(here is the link ;-)

Then, after relaxing a little bit at their apartment Cameo and I went surfing off of Diamond Head Crater. I borrowed a surf board from their friends, Julie and Stefan, and caught my first wave!!! I saw it coming behind me, paddled like crazy to gain speed, then it cought up with me and I thought I had missed it. Then I realized that the shore approached at great speed, and I was riding the wave lying on the surfboard. I tried to stand up, but only got up on one leg It was completely amazing!! I can't wait to do that again. Easter Monday I spent snorkeling in Hanauma Bay - it was amazing to see all the fish that are in the water with you, feeding off of the coral reefs. I also went up to Haleiwa, the surfing capital of the world, on the North Shore of Oahu. My goodness the waves that the guys there were surfing!! They must have been 4 meters high!! On the way back I stopped and got a "Dole Whip", which is a pineapple ice cream, made at the famous Dole pinapple plantation! Then I went down to Waikiki beach again in downtown Honolulu, and walked around. All easily navigated through Cameo's excellent directions and instructions!!

Tuesday: Flew over to the Big Island of Hawaii, where the conference is held. Spent the first day golfing and looking around. Amazing view from the golf course, and amazing to play surrounded by the black lavafield. Something that we also have in Iceland, but the weather was perhaps not the same as in Iceland

After the conference I flew directly back, but stopped in Boston and enjoyed the hospitality of Luana and Glenn. After a day there I flew back to Iceland. I must say I enjoyed my trip and the conference, but what I enjoyed most was just being in Hawaii. I can't believe that people live there!! Lucky bastards

Anyway, check out the second batch of pictures.

Later, B.

A celebration of the winter solstice has been held since time immemorial in the Northern Hemisphere. Throughout the ages the festival has had many names. It is certain that a mid-winter festival called Yule was celebrated in the Nordic countries well before the year 1000.

Though challenged by some scholars, the fact that Yule/Jól was celebrated here in Iceland and throughout the Northern Hemisphere well before the advent of Christianity is now widely accepted. The exact date, or dates, that Yule was celebrated is not certain, but it was probably connected to the full moon nearest the winter solstice. The calendar has been changed many times since, and it is impossible to reconcile the references to an exact date.

The name itself has been retained in many languages--
Yule - Jól - Jul
even if the cause for celebration has shifted from the sun reversing its downward path, shining ever longer each day, to the birth of Jesus. This linguistic retention of the name should be proof enough that the festival has always been an important one. For close to a thousand years people have tried to explain the meaning of the name "Yule" to no avail. Some scholars believe it comes from one of the names of Óðinn, others have even theorized that it came from the name of Julius Caesar. It has also been suggested that Jól is derived from the Old-Nordic word for wheel: Hjól, the theory being that the wheel of the year has come full circle, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. There have been more attempts at explanations than one can shake a stick at. Certainly the exact meaning of the original word is something we shall never know.

This ancient festival is shrouded in mystery, but has left us a beautiful word describing a delightful occasion - Yule.

Good Yule - Gleðileg Jól

(most of the text is from www.simnet.is/gardarj/ )

...as I commute between Selfoss and Reykjavik every weekday, I am constantly admiring the beautiful nature here in Iceland, and believe it or not, the many forms and colors it takes in the many different types of weather that we have here. Additionally, the vegetation is more colorful this time of year and sometimes the view, just from the road, is simply breathtaking and makes you want to spend the entire day outside.
So, to give you a better idea of what I'm looking at every day I decided to post some of the pictures on this blog.

Other than that, last week was pretty uneventful, but productive. Then on Friday-Saturday we babysat Berglind's niece and nephew, and I went with her niece and my sister and her son to the theatre to see "Ronja Ræningjadóttir", by Astrid Lindgren, the renowned sweedish children's book author. It was great fun, especially since my sister's friend was starring in the play. The kids then got a picture taken with her and were rather, RATHER, happy with themselves (as can be seen below: Right: Saga and Isidor with Ronja. Left: Saga and Isidor with my sister).

Enjoy, and have a great week.

....as we experienced today when we went out for a morning walk on the bike/hiking paths close to where we live here in Iceland. The skies were stormy-looking and it was rather windy, very refreshing. I took some pictures while were were walking so that you can get an idea of the view. More to come.
Until then, enjoy yourselves!
B.