ÍSLANDSFERÐ SEX

PART TWO:  STREET LIFE (REYKJAVÍK)

Friday, 30 December

Midday. It's beyond grey outside. It's some shade of grey turning into blue or something. Well, unfortunately we missed I Adapt last night. We got to Kaffi Hljómalind as the last band, We Painted The Walls, was wrapping up their set. I couldn't believe it. I thought everything here in Iceland ran late, late, late. It was a real shame as I really wanted to see them. So, with nothing else to do I set out by myself on a lonely, pathetic little pub crawl. Went first to Dillon, ordered a $10 beer and sat and watched the band playing. They were OK. Then I went to Sirkus. Same thing, minus a live band. I tried to go to Bar 11 next, but it was strangely closed so I went to Kaffibarinn instead. Same thing. I looked all over for someone I might know, but I couldn't find anyone anywhere. It was a pretty useless & expensive venture. I have no idea what I'm doing today. Gotta put my thinking cap on...

Saturday, 31 December

15:30. Another extremely grey day. Last night we all went for a nice swim at Laugardalslaug after Hildur got out of work, then for a bite to eat at Nings. I wasn't impressed with Nings. Terrible service and the food wasn't even really good. Later on we got together with some friends at Dillon. 5 beers ($50) and a hell of a good time. The polar opposite of the previous night. I have to say Dillon is my favorite bar I've been to so far here. Mostly because they play such great fucking music. Awesome place. Villi swung by this morning & I gave him a bunch of Out Cold shit. He saw us when we played here in 2001. I think he's the only person I know who saw us that first time. Well, tonight is the night. Less than 9 hours left of 2005. The plan is to go have dinner at Þórunn's parent's place, and after all the craziness of fireworks and bonfires, go to a Grapevine party at 1:00. Páll's friend Sveinn recently got a job there and put us on the guest list. Should be a fuckin' bitchin' night, man! Ég hlakka til.

Sunday, 1 January (2006)

Sitting in Ari Í Ögri having a bagel, coffee, and beer. I think it might just be like the only place open right now. Very nice place. Dimly lit by candles and Moon Safari playing. Pretty much perfection. Too bad my piece of shit PDA refuses to work, so I'm forced to write on order slips! It's so typical. On the walk over here I had a strange conviction that it wasn't going to work. I'm becoming convinced my negativity can accomplish anything. Last night I walked to Þórunn's parents' place in a light freezing rain/snow and got there right on time. It was nice to see Guðjón and Emmy again. We soon all sat down to a nice meal of ham, potatoes, and assorted vegetables. They served the wine I gave them in July. They said they were going to save it for Christmas/New Years, and that's just what they did! I was happy to find that it was quite good and everyone enjoyed it. It was strange to have another American there (Melanie), but in a good way.

After dinner we went to Ægisíða, right across the street from Björk's house, for the bonfire. There I saw her for the second time, but this time I realized it was her. She was there with her kid. I tried taking a picture, but I didn't have my flash attached and it was pretty dark so I really doubt it came out. Melanie reminded me afterward about the time she attacked someone who took her picture, so I was relieved to have avoided that. However, that would've made the ultimate story to take back home: I got my ass beat by Björk in Iceland! Hahaha! Quentin Tarantino was also there and, again, I attempted a photo but I believe the result will be equally poor. I walked over and stood right next to him for a good 5 minutes or so, just to hear what he was talking about. He was obviously in a very good mood and thoroughly enjoying himself, but his voice was very hoarse. Apparently he was there with that Eli Roth guy. I'm not sure as I don't know what he looks like. We also saw Eggert Þorleifsson, probably Iceland's most prolific comedic actor. Unfortunately, at that point my camera was inexplicably not working again. Technology is my sworn enemy. The fire was fucking awesome, just like last time, but it was much warmer out which actually kinda detracted from the experience a little. Ah, now they're playing Leonard Cohen. This place is the Dillon of coffee houses!! Anyway, after the fire we went back to the parents' and watched the mandatory year-end comedy program, which, incidentally, featured a lot of Eggert. After that it was again to Veðurstofan for the fireworks. We set some off, watched a whole lot more, and drained a bottle of champagne. It was just as unbelievable as I remembered it from two years ago.

Some sights on the walk to Þórunn's parents'

The bonfire at Ægisíða

My picture of Quentin & co. which came out surprisingly well!

The fireworks at Veðurstofan

We went back and I had another jólabjór (a special Christmas beer) and by then it was 1:00 so I had to go. I called Páll and he said it'd be best if I walked back, so I copiously thanked everyone for everything and set out back down Miklabraut. I think it was like 2:00 when I finally got back to Páll's where he told me that he decided that he was going to give the party a miss. Bummer, but I went anyway. He gave me the 500 kronur admission cuz I don't have any cash left (virtually everyone here takes credit cards) and I set out with high hopes. The pool hall where it was was just a little ways down the street, so I was there in no time. I told them my name and they said, "OK. The beer is free. Gjörðu svo vel." I immediately "helped myself", thank you very much! The place was pretty crowded. There were a lot more people there than I expected. Singapore Sling were getting ready to play. Things looked very promising.

I looked all over for Sveinn but couldn't find him anywhere. I really believe he mustn't've been there because he's a pretty easy dude to spot. I saw Bart Cameron and tried to get his attention. I wanted to tell him how much I liked his publication and thank him for printing my letter. I wanted to talk to him about all sorts of shit, but he was busy with other people. Plus, it was really loud and crowded in there. The kind of place where everything has to be shouted. I hate that. So, with no other options, I got another beer and sat down to wait for the band to play. Some guy started to talk to me. Cool. Oh, wait, he just wants to tell me that he's saving the seat for someone. I go somewhere else. Same exact thing happens. Disgusted, I get up and sit on the edge of a nearby sofa. I start to get very morose. I'm a cold, desolate island in a sea of hot chatter. Faithful reader, you know what comes next, as sure as the sun sets every night... I got severely depressed and left. What a fucking surprise.

In retrospect that was a really stupid thing to do. New Years Eve on a Saturday night in Reykjavík with one of the hottest bands playing, free beer, tons of people...so much opportunity. But when that anxiety and depression settle over me, I just can't take it. I just had to leave. Luckily it wasn't far back to Páll's and I was able to put the whole sorry episode to sleep. All in all, though, it was a great New Years. I really enjoyed it. I even called my Mom when I got back to the apartment to wish her a happy one. I wish the Grapevine party had gone better, but you can't have everything.

Monday, 2 January

10:43. Yesterday was an extremely lazy day. Most everything was closed for the holiday so I couldn't go shopping or wandering around shops or whatever. It was also so completely alskýjað that you couldn't even really tell exactly when it was day and when it was night. It all kinda blended into indistinguishable shades of black, blue, and grey. Today looks to be the same. So, we watched War Of The Worlds. Such an awesome movie. After a lot of hanging around and a nice dinner of burritos I decided I had to get out so I took my flask of vodka and hoped a decent bar was open. I struck gold. Dillon was. Forced to switch to mixing my own drinks by the frightening amount of money I've spent thus far, I ordered some generic non-alcoholic substance (cheap at $3.25 a pop) and discreetly spiked the shit out of it. I sat alone near the door to keep an eye out for who was coming in. I was hoping someone I knew would come by, but no luck. It was a little less boisterous than normal, more than likely due to the fact that many people were probably still sleeping or at least recovering from the night before. It was uneventful, but enjoyable nonetheless. Fu Manchu and Dear Prudence in the same half hour just reinforced my belief that it's the coolest bar in the country. It was as if I was DJing myself. I left there around midnight with an empty flask. Exciting, man!! Hopefully today will be better.

Tuesday, 3 January

12:12. Yesterday I did some more shopping. Bought some horse books for my mom and a couple CDs. Had lunch at Bæjarins Beztu then came back here. It was windy as fuck on the walk back. I have to remember to dress for all weather when going out. The weather here changes like crazy, even worse than in New England. It was snowing a little while ago, now it looks like it's clearing up. Who knows. I've learned not to hang my hat on what things appear to be at any given moment. I got back and waited for Páll & Hildur to come home. We hung around for awhile and Páll cooked up this sort of a quiche made from pretty much random stuff. It was very strange, but not bad!

Afterward I gave Birkir a call to see if we could hook up again before I left. He was at The Blue Lagoon (Bláa Lónið) entertaining a visitor from Holland. He said after they had something to eat in Grindavík that they'd swing by. After waiting for quite a while Palli suggested that we wait for them at Dillon, so we put a note on the door and split. He showed up not too long after and we eventually joined another group of people there he knew. I was again discreetly mixing my own drinks to avoid having to take a mortgage out on my house when I got back. We had a good fucking time. I don't know what time we left but it must've been late because we were there when they closed the place up. I smoked a cigar alone on the steps outside the bar and then went "home". I was expecting a motherfucker of a headache this morning, but nothing really...yet anyway.

Today should be brilliant. Þórunn is picking me up at 13:30 to go horseback riding, then to Bláa Lónið, the biggest tourist trap in the country, but still very cool nonetheless. Since we're going east for the horseback riding I'm gonna try like crazy to see Kerið, something I've wanted to visit for years but could never even find out where the hell it was, until I spent about an hour yesterday pouring over a huge atlas of the country. Turns out it's just southeast of Þingvallavatn. We probably won't be able to go, but never say never.

Wednesday, 4 January

14:11, Massachusetts time. On the flight back home, chasing the sun over the horizon. We look to be over the southern tip of Greenland at the moment. Yesterday, Þórunn picked me up and we went to the Laxnes farm (of Halldór Laxness fame) for the horseback riding. It was really good. The scenery was unbelievable, as usual. It would've been perfect if not for two things. One, they didn't tell us we'd be crossing streams. We crossed like five streams, something we didn't do at all when we went horseback riding in Hafnarfjörður some years back. At first I was like, oh cool! This is really awesome. Then, after like the third stream I noticed my feet were getting wet. They weren't that deep, but there was a lot of splashing. By the time we were done after almost two hours, my feet were soaking wet and freezing. I was not happy about this at all. They even had rubber boots there for people to use, but they didn't tell us we'd need them. When asked if we were supposed to use them, the response we got was, "if you want."

Secondly, there was a British family with a couple of young boys, maybe 10-12 or so, who were totally freaking out every step of the way. Screaming curse words, yelling for the leader to slow down or stop, calling the horses retarted, and nothing was even going wrong!! They obviously had absolutely no sense for horseback riding and were being extremely obnoxious and disruptive. God, I could not believe it. I wanted to tell them to shut the fuck up. I kept waiting for their mother to do it, but she didn't. It totally ruined the whole atmosphere of the thing. Still, the scenery was breathtaking, and the few moments we actually got to accelerate beyond a simple walk, before the kids would piss their pants each time, were pretty exhilarating. There was an Icelandic dog (who I later found out didn't officially belong there but who just hung around all the time) who followed us the whole route of the trip like some kind of escort or something. It was pretty hilarious. I didn't even know there was such a thing as an "Icelandic dog". Looked like a mix between a husky and a german shepard. My horse, named Pjakkur, was very well-behaved. He would insist on eating grass every time we stopped and paused mid-stream to drink water more than a couple times.

When we got back to the farm I asked about Kerið. I found out exactly where it was, but by that time we were quickly losing daylight so I didn't even suggest that we try to see it. We went straight from there to Bláa Lónið. It was dark when we got there and we were pretty hungry so we all had pylsur and beer before going into the lagoon. Good stuff. It got to raining quite a bit while we were in there, but it was no bother. Kinda nice, actually. We stayed in there a good two hours until we were badly pruned. Well, I was anyway.

After leaving there we went to Þórunn's parents' and hung out for a bit. Her cousin Helga & her husband Gilli were there. Þórunn and I stayed at their house in Akureyri this summer, but this was the first time I met them because they were away at the time. Very jocular people. Probably the most so of any Icelanders I've ever met (besides maybe Birkir). After hanging out there for quite a while we went to eat at Hlöllabátar, then to Café Victor for some drinks. I insisted I wasn't going to drink because I couldn't afford to spend any more damn money!! However, after a couple of hours and an increasingly parched throat, I couldn't resist. I surrendered and ordered a nice, big, cold Víking for my last night in the country. It was exceptionally pleasing. We had a really good time even though Gilli didn't speak more than five words of English. After a while we got to communicating thanks to my very limited Icelandic and the relaxed atmosphere. We closed the place and they dropped me off at Páll's. It was a nice night. Helga insisted that if I'm ever up in the north again I could stay at their place, which she has taken to calling Hotel Helga because she has so many people staying there. I thanked her and bid everyone a fond adieu.

Horseback riding

In the Blue Lagoon

Gilli & Helga

When I got back Páll & Hildur were long gone to bed. I despondently went to bed myself, knowing it was my last night there. Really had a hard time getting up this morning. Páll was already awake and he soon made coffee. My plan to go to Sægreifinn was smashed when Palli told me that they don't open until 16:00! OK, fine, how about one of the other places I wanted to visit, Ísbúð Vesturbær? He said that was open and would I like to also go to The National Museum (Þjóðminjasafnið) since it was nearby and admission was free on Wednensdays. Indeed I did. So we met up with one of his friends, Kobbi, and went there together and killed some time at the university Páll attends until they opened. It was a pretty kick-ass museum, but a lot to take in the short amount of time we had. Again at his point my camera stopped working so I missed some more photo ops. Fucking piece of shit.

After that we went to Ísbúð Vesturbær only to find that they weren't open after all. So I suggested Hamborgarabúllan, where I wanted to go the previous night instead of Hlöllabátar, but they were closed at the time. Well, third time's the charm. They were open! This is a new, really small, really cool hamburger joint down by the harbor. The menu is small but the food is great. After that, all we had time for was a quick stop by 10-11 for me to stock up on nammi (Icelandic candy) for me to take home, then back to his place where his father was nice enough to give me a ride to the bus station. I thanked Páll heartily for everything and before I knew it I was on my way to the point of departure: Keflavík. No such luck getting bumped and earning a free ticket this time.

So, man, another great trip. I spent waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much fucking money, but I had a damn good time. Next time I come I'm going to have to be more strict with my spending. I think this time I went a bit wild knowing that I got that free ticket, so I felt like I was ahead of the game. The thing that really kills you is eating out and drinking in bars. I think if I could've abstained from that I would've only spent a lot of money instead of an insane amount. Well, if anyone ends up reading this, much thanks to Páll & Hildur for putting me up and putting up with me, showing me around, taking me to the stunning Snæfellsnes, and to Þórunn for everthing she did. I'm so looking forward to coming back next summer. If all goes as planned, that will be fantastic.

FIN