Blogs from Southwest, Iceland, Europe - page 49

Full Blog on Blogger The sun sinks through the clouds on the horizon, bringing pink dusk to the small iceburgs dotting the ocean below. Minutes later we land on a strip in the scrubby green landscape. "Welcome to Iceland. The time is 20 to 12." Pause. "Midnight." The passengers smile at each other. The dusk lights the fields and ocean glimpses on the 40 minute bus ride to Reykjavik. My Icelandic friend from a Venezuelan adventure, Gudrun Helga (we call her Helga because we are so horrible at pronouncing her whole name) picks us up at the bus depot for another 90 minute ride north to her home, arriving at 4am at Bifrost University.... read more

Another day, another try: the alarm rings at 7, and we drag ourselves out of our sleeping bags. Stefan and Elinborg said something about breakfast last night, but they don't seem to be up for it now - there is no sound in the house. So we pack up, and start moving everything out of the house. We even find the back entrance to the cellar, to get at the bikes. Once everything is loaded up, and the bikes are ready to go, Stefan and Elinborg appear. But time is short, and we really want to catch this bus today - none of us is in the mood for yet another day of Reykjavik! Off we go to the bus station, arrive much too early again, and manage to squeeze our bikes on the bus to ... read more

Good stuff! In the morning, I feel a lot better, and we decide to try to catch the 8:30 bus to Geysir, and continue our bike tour there. So - everything packed up quickly, a quick dash downstairs for breakfast, handing over waaay too much money for the hotel, and off to the bus station we go. We arrive half an hour early - plenty of time to buy the tickets and get the bikes on the bus...but what's that noise in my rear wheel? The wheel's had me worried for a while now: as Mr. Do-Everything-Myself, I had to build it up myself, and must not have pulled the spokes tight enough, so the wheel has been running quite noisily for a while. But today, things seem worse. And indeed - a quick check shows ... read more

Not much happening today...I manage to drag myself out of bed for some breakfast, aided by Paracetamol. While I spend most of the rest of the day sleeping, Nadine is out in Reykjavik, buying food and checking out the pool. In the evening, I start feeling slightly better, and we go for a small walk around town - again, helped by some paracetamol. Here's to hoping this whole mess will be better tomorrow morning!... read more

Day 4: Thursday, June 25, 2009 REYKJAVIK, ICELAND Fell in and out of sleep all night. It was light all night, but that wasn't it. Up at 6 am. Took shower. water smelled a little of sulfer. Was told at power plant yesterday that even when they heat cold water, they add sulfer to remove oxygen so as to kill off any organisms that might be in the water. Had breakfast just after 7 am. Breakfast was continental and typically european, consisting of a couple types of cereals, milk, juice, yogarts, lunch meat, cheese slices, some sliced fruits, and some different breads. It was ok. I had yogart over cornflakes (something I picked up in Austria), orange juice, bread, and an orange wedge. About the time I was finishing, others started to appear. It was very ... read more