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It was amazing to fly over Iceland and see the coastline, places that I recognized from my previous trip, and especially to see the recent lava flow from the eruption of the volcano last year. We landed on time and I did not even have to go through customs or anything, and since I just had carryon, I made my way to the shuttle to the rental car agency, Enterprise this time. The guy was super nice, but it was funny to know my car was twice the cost of Norway for half the time, and a much less impressive car - not to mention, the last time I was here we got screwed on some 'damage' that apparently insurance did not cover. So, I was much more careful with driving here and did as little as possible.
I made my way to my hotel where my friend had hooked me up with an upgraded room, which meant views of the bay and access to the executive lounge. Of course, she left some yummy snacks for me too. Soon though it was time to meet my friends for dinner. We ate at Nautholl, a nice restaurant on the water south
of the city center, and it was very good.
My friend (J), her husband (A), his parents, and the reason we were here: Baby-girl-to-be-named (G). My friends live in Toronto, but he is Icelandic and part of the custom after having the baby is to have a naming ceremony. Until then, only a few people, if any, are told the name of the baby. It is an older tradition, one that originally started with a higher infant mortality and the practice of naming children after grandparents, but now seems to be more tradition as well as waiting to see the baby's personality as well. So, their daughter was born near the end of December with the naming ceremony taking place in April (an earlier one with J's family in NY state was at the end of March, but I could not make that one). I was also interested to see how they would implement the last name, since they live abroad: She is A's name with "dottir" hyphenated with his mother's name (his mother is from the Faroe Islands and has a family last name). The ceremony was held at their local church, which looked fairly new, was open
and bright, with a rainbow sidewalk leading to the doors. I was one of only three non-Icelanders here. Besides J, A's aunt was Peruvian and so we talked in a mix of English and some Spanish - man, I'm rusty! So, it was fun day and nice to meet A's family. It was a fun ceremony, even though it was in Icelandic - however, I was able to hear the formal announcement of the name and it brought a little tear to my eye! I saw my friends in Toronto in January, when G was almost a month old and she has grown quite a bit since then. But she is a relatively happy baby and so totally fine with so many people fawning over her.
Aside from the ceremony and dinner, I had time to myself, so I walked from my hotel into the city centre. I had last visited in 2016, but never really spent much time in Reykjavik. J had taken me around my first time in 2015, when we saw the Hallgrimskirkja and climbed to the top for the views, so I did not need to do that again, but I did enjoy seeing the
beautiful, iconic church again, along with the statue of Leif Erikkson up front. I walked down rainbow street and tried to do some shopping. I found a nice sweater and some clothes. But the main thing was I found this art store that carried pieces from Icelandic artists only. I fell in love with one woman's work - she had a mix of some things, but I focused on her maps. She had a couple of gorgeous maps of Iceland, but the one that first caught my attention was more of a cross section of the island and incorporating volcanoes, geological sections, and other icons of Iceland. It was so unique. So, I bought one for myself, as well as two maps, and a small picture by another artist who makes more light scenes of Icelandic life.
Other than that, I just chilled at my hotel and read some of my books.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Iceland
We've seen a fair amount of Iceland in our two visits. Thanks for sharing.