Strange Icelandic Dances and Museums...

So usually I'm thinking being lazy is a bad thing but taking things slow today yielded a nice surprise.  I was standing near the town square (I posted a pic of it in my previous post) and was walking over to the local "kwikmart", Kvosin, for a few items when I saw what looked like some type of a procession towards the square.

Others noticed it too and were snapping pictures.   My first thought was, I hope that isn't a funeral procession because a whole mess of gawking tourists taking pictures would be so very inappropriate.  I am not sure what the hell it was.  It may have been a wedding or maybe the Icelandic version of a Quince?  Or maybe some type of a spring ritual?  Anyways, It was a whole mess of icelandic teenagers (or thereabouts in age) in couples, wearing fairly formal dress, dancing in a circle.  It was very nice and I took lots of pictures.  I think Thor actually made an appearance at some point, see if you can spot him.

Here is a video of the dancing.  I have more pics and videos but I didn't think it wise to upload them all so I put up what I thought were the best.

Once the kids were done with their little dance, I returned to my regularly scheduled program and hopped a cab to Laugavegur 116, the site of ...

Iceland's Phallogical Museum.

Needless to say the sights were impressive....

Some were disturbing...













Some where rather humbling...

And others completely INSANE...

I have tried to keep today's blog as PG as possible considering the topic.  If you are curious about what else I saw there, let me know and I'll get the pictures to you.  They were quite impressive. Lol.  Btw, some of you ***WILL*** be receiving items from the gift shop.  What you do with them is up to you.... :)

Tomorrow I will go whale watching and see some natural sights.  Geysers, waterfalls.  Hopefully I'll get some good pics.    Until then I leave you with this...

On my way to and from the Museum we went by the harbor, Beautiful place. Thought I'd share the sights...

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Intermission: Getting Organized...

Good Morning!!!  I slept fairly well last night but I went to sleep very late.  I think it's a mix of change in time zone and just my nerves but I had a hard time getting to bed.  It also doesn't help that the sun didn't go down until 10 pm.  Talk about mind fuck.  ;) 

Anyways,  I have just booked a trip for tomorrow 4/30/2014 with a company called Gray Line.  Their website is www.grayline.is.  I booked trip number  AH74 which is a penguin catching excursion.  No  no no ... Just kidding.  I could just imagine certain people smiling wryly.  In the morning, you get on a boat and do some whale watching.  It's not guaranteed you'll see a whale (like obviously, it's nature not a zoo) but from what I've read of the reviews if you don't see a whale, you get a voucher for a free tour within the next 2 years.  After the whale watching, I have the "Golden Circle" tour booked which takes you to various natural excursions.  Thingvellir National Park, Gullfoss waterfall, hot springs areas (probably see some geysers).  

Today however, I am going to the Phallological Museum as I have promised many.  I found out you can indeed take pictures so the next blog may just be PG-13 and above.  :) 

I am thinking of going to the hot springs today. It's between 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit.  I am not sure if that's ok for the springs.  We will see I will call and find out.

Ok, until I update----PEACE!!!

My First Day Traveling...

So first thing. I really hate the train/metro mover in JFK.  It's common knowledge that if you are standing in the metro mover in downtown Miami you have to hold on to something or have very good balance or you will go flying.  I don't think that can even save you on the one in JFK.  That thing takes momentum and inertia to a whole new level.  After having walked like 20 gates in arrivals to the mover to get to the correct terminal for Icelandair, I had to hold on for dear life and pray to the heavens for protection to make sure I didn't topple over and look like a total fool.  The gods were merciful. I escaped jostled but intact.

When I arrived at terminal 7, I was greeted by this advert:

I am sure we've seen similar ones in Miami, however this is just creepy.  Mark of the beast much?   They should have just replaced the QR barcode with 666 and it would have been perfect.

Yes, I know.  My mind works in mysterious ways.

So, I arrived in Keflavik Airport around 7 am, April 28, 2014.  I couldn't ignore I was in a different country.  All the signs were in Icelandic.  Thank God there were English translations or I would never have found the baggage claim.  Everything went smoothly however.  I was outside looking for a taxi cab within 5-10 minutes of arrival.

The ride from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik is about 50 kilometers (roughly33 miles) and takes about and hour.  You go via road 41 shown below:

The scenery was beautiful rocky terrain.  A bit plain but pretty nonetheless. 

Below you can see a geyser expelling fumes in the background.

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The next two are just the general rocky terrain on the ride to Reykjavik.

 Maybe an Icelandic outhouse? :)

All and all a nice trip.  However it was very expensive.  Like 16300 ISK (Icelandic Kronars) which was roughly like $150.00.  Comparatively, I remember the trip from SAO airport to Sao Paolo proper was like $250.00 (thankfully business trip so company paid) so I guess that's not a horrible price. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to exchange like $500.00 USD to ISK before my flight out.


The hotel I am staying at is called Center Hotel Plaza.  Here it is from the outside:

 As you can see it is regularly stocked with taxis in the front (very convenient)

and there is a nice plaza where I noticed some teenagers tend to skate.

 This is the grocery store where I get my vittles from.  It's a short walk from the hotel.    Yes that is a cute little viking in front.  I have no idea what a KVOSIN is yet.

Even the lichen is pretty in this country.

 Here is the local tourist information center.  Conveniently right next to the hotel.  The Icelandic translation of the word "Tourist Information" has the word "singa" in it. I'll try not to read to much into it.

So did you notice how bright it was out in all the above pictures (not including the initial ones from the ride from Keflavik). Well this is the time they were taken at.  9:05 PM.  Yep, hello to 16 hour days.

Tomorrow, I will probably go to the Phallogical Museum.  There are two people on my list who have earned something from the gift shop.  I will also plan the next two days.  On the list?  Whale Watching, Nature sights. Maybe hot springs.  Will keep y'all updated.

Lessons Learned

JFK was the first leg of my trip to Iceland. JFK is huge.   Don't believe me.  Here's a map.  There is a train that runs between terminals and the NY subway.

These two pieces of information and other various bits of information during the trip that go along with them have made me realize a few things.

If I want to make traveling worthwhile and to do so comfortably, I have to be more organized.

-I booked my flight leg from MIA to JFK departing Miami at 7 am and landing in JFK at 10 am.  This was done to give me enough time to get to the baggage claim, get my baggage, do the check in and security check for my Icelandair flight.  

Small snag.  My Icelandair flight leaves at 8:40 pm.    The counter for Icelandair doesn't open or do check ins until 5:15 pm.  Guess who was sitting their ass bored in JFK for roughly 10 hours?

I was afraid I wouldn't have enough time so I over exaggerated the span of time between flights. I would have been fine with a flight that came into JFK by 3-4 pm.

-As was pointed out to me also by a colleague at work, (*cough* Bob *cough*).  I could probably have tried to book the flights together or work with the companies in some way so that the baggage would be turned into Icelandair by Delta and I could have skipped baggage claim completely at JFK.

Finally, when I got to the hotel, it turns out I could not check in till the afternoon ( 2 pm).  Mind you, I got there at like 9 am so I was about to lose my shit.  I left my luggage at the front desk and took a walk around, went to the grocery store and hung outside for a bit taking in the surroundings for restaurants, bars, etc (pics will come soon).  I also spent some time emailing my parents to let them know I was alive.  I returned around 11 am and my room was ready.  Next time I make sure I add early check in to my travel check list.

NB: Not extremely necessary but convenient.  Whenever economically feasible, I am so going 1st class.

If I want to continue traveling, I need to lose weight.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

The walk from the JFK departure to baggage claim was long and painful. I know I was carrying my laptop bag and my CPAP machine which are quite heavy but still.  It was uncomfortable.  Once I got my large suitcase, moving around was unbearable.  Would it still have been a pain in the ass if I were skinny?  Hell's yeah, don't forget I am lazy too.  However, it would have been considerably less of a challenge.

Then there was the fear of rather being kicked off a plane for being over weight or simply ridiculed. Thankfully, the staff for both airlines (Delta, Icelandair) were extremely accommodating.  Both provided seat belt extensions without being asked (I could take that personally but ummm..yeah) and the Icelandair staff offered me the double seat next to the doors when they found it was available sparing me a very tight fit 6 hour trip.

Finally, there was this GEM I found upon first entering my room's bathroom.  Please keep in mind my "general" size and look at this bathroom and you tell me what could possibly be an issue.

  

 

Yes, I did finally take a shower.   Yes, it did take some creative steps.  I will not post pictures. :P I do have some self respect.

Finally, my legs are killing me.  I've taken my pills and the swelling has gone down but spending almost a full day walking around or sitting in awkward positions has been rather hard on them.  This sucks because if the swelling doesn't go down fast enough I will essentially lose a day.


TLDR: I am too fat and too disorganized for enjoyable traveling.  Gotta work on that.

I have some more stuff to post, like sights, funny stuff. Actually enjoyable events and stuff. I promise that I'll do that later today or tomorrow.