Strikes, rain, and wool. Oh my!

Part One: Iceland. This land is full of way more than ice. Volcanoes, lava, geothermal areas, and mountains as far as the eye can see!

Well the trip started off rocky to say the least. Enroute to the airport we got a lovely email saying our flight had been cancelled from Toronto to Reykjavik. Needless to say we were pissed. IcelandAir pilots are on a passive strike of calling in sick... And we were lucky winners of "sick pilots". After Stephen sat on the phone for 45 minutes we finally arranged a new flight from Toronto to Amsterdam and then to Reykjavik. Making our total traveling time 27 hours with a 9 hour layover in TO. It did give me a good excuse to see some family (Hi Aunt Nette!) and Stephen to see a friend from childhood, but I was ridiculously grumpy by it all.

After receiving a VERY thorough "pat down" (boob and butt lifting included) from security in Amsterdam and then a thorough inspecting of my bag (including every pair of my underwear) we were on our way to Reykjavik!

We arrived in Reykjavik, where we got a rental car - a beauty 1998 Rav 4. We did arrive in Reykjavik 10 hours later than first planned, so it was pretty crappy we missed out on almost an entire day of exploring. Next stop - The Blue Lagoon. It's a geothermal spa built on a lava field. Making the waters naturally about 37-40 degrees. Initially it was runoff from a powerplant that everyone started bathing in. Seems legit right? It's about 2/3 saline solution. The locals advise not wetting your hair in the water... Silly me decided it would be OK. WRONG. Haven't been able to brush my hurr since. Poor hair.

Next we went downtown Reykjavik for best meal I've ever had in my entire life. (Sorry mom) Local fish/lobster with a million different sauces and goodies. Words can't even describe how good this was. Only noises.

The next day we set off to explore the island. Stopping in villages, waterfalls, beaches etc. It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes here, in a 10 minute drive you are surrounded by unique surroundings unlike the last. We picked up some hitchhikers from Slovakia. Paid $2.40/L for gas... Saw some touristy sights. I'd rather post some pictures than go into boring detail about what we saw. Plus I'm already bored with typing this post. Yay A.D.D!

Fun Fact: We discovered Iceland has a cool/weird/complicated way of naming. If the first name you want to name your kid hasn't been used before it has to be approved by the Iceland naming committee. So no stupid names like Apple, Blue or any other fucky names us retarded North Americans come up with. And then last names are not passed on. You take your fathers first name and add an ending based on your gender. Example: Jaleesa Georgesdottir (George's daughter). Or my brother would be Jordan Georgesson (George's son). Kind of cool, but makes it impossible to trace history or know you aren't marrying your cousin in a small country of 450 000. Ew. The language here is nothing like I've ever heard/seen. Their incredibly thick accents with rolling r's and outrageously long amounts of letters on everything makes it hard to read/speak ANYTHING.

And to answer the question I know you're allnwondering: no I didn't see Bjork in a swan dress. Le sigh.

Anyway.... Bring on the pictures already Jaleesa. Geez.