Category Archive Iceland

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All-Ages Airwaves

A family watches a set at Airwaves

Watching Asgeir Trausti

At first it was easy not to miss the kids during my trip to Airwaves because everything I was doing would have been sheer torture for them. Alone, a seven-hour flight felt much shorter than the five-hour flight I shared with the kids last summer. As I spent hours reading every last plaque in numerous museums, I thought to myself, “Thank god the kids aren’t here for this.” Sliding along the icy trail to Gullfoss Waterfall, I thought, “Good thing the kids are at home, I wouldn’t try this with them.” At Laugardalur Swimming Pool, I remembered one girl’s refusal to approach water without floaties and another’s refusal to approach water at all and felt relief that I could just relax without keeping an eye on kids or arguing with them about full participation in family adventures. Read More

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Museum Tuesday at Airwaves

Maritime Museum in Reykjavik

Maritime Museum, Reykjavik

Tuesday was supposed to be a journo day, but I ended up with only one interview scheduled, and that at 8 pm. So it turned into Reykjavik museums day. I took it easy in the morning, walking along the harbor with a latte and taking as many pictures as my frozen fingers would allow. The wind picked up on Tuesday, and I had to drop my “It’s not that different from home,” refrain. Read More

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A Case of the Mondays

Costa Rica Ostional

I watched sea turtles lay eggs at Ostional.

A few years back, I took a trip on a whim to Costa Rica with a girl I barely knew. It was about as good as travel gets; quixotic adventures, beautiful forests, picturesque beaches, interesting encounters, free tequila. We even got to watch endangered sea turtles lay eggs on a moonlit beach. We met a nice couple on that beach walk who were planning to drive their rented car to Liberia the next day, and invited us to join them. We had planned to take the bus to the Santa Elena cloud forest. There wasn’t really any reason we couldn’t ride to Liberia and take the bus from there to Santa Elena, but we decided to stick with the plan, and declined their offer. Read More

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Crowded Little Rock

rock in ThingvellirA rock theme seems to be emerging here. I guess geology is a little hard to ignore in Iceland. I’m trying to break up the tourist posts with a little bit of reflection, and today I’m thinking about crowded little rocks. I’ve always had a fascination with isolated island nations, and have over the years been infatuated with Japan (before it was popular), Sri Lanka, and now, Iceland. Developed almost in a vacuum, external influences on these places can become disproportionately significant, transformed beyond recognition. Read More

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Keeping the Sabbath in Iceland

HallgrimskirkjaYou didn’t really think this post would be about church did you? My Sunday was all about music.

After spending Saturday evening in journalistic research and preparation, I took three melatonin, put in earplugs and went to bed at ten. And praise God, I slept until 9 am. I joined my new roommate, Amandine the French fashion-finance whiz, for breakfast, where we talked about food standards, immigration, and social programs. Read More