Casper v. Bike

J and I have a big eating weekend planned, and we've been making a concerted effort exercise beforehand so we could gorge without guilt.

We haven't used our little exercise corner since Casper arrived, and let's just say that Casper does not approve of this exercising business!



I think he thinks (and I tend to agree) that we should be doing a lot more of this instead...

Autumn's Here

We've had a wonderfully warm summer this year - multiple heat waves with temperatures near the 30's. It more than made up for the soggy summers we've had since we moved here when it rained most of the time, and the sun peeked out once or twice from behind the clouds.

The heat left suddenly as it came, and it feels like autumn. I'm actually pretty pleased, since London is poorly equipped to deal with heat. Most places (including our flat) don't have air-conditioning, and the heat can become pretty unbearable at times. And not to mention the Tube during hot days - it's common for people to faint dead away in the heat and TFL posts signs everywhere advising riders to carry water with them to stay hydrated.

Another plus of the cool weather is running outside is much more pleasant. It doesn't feel like I'm breathing through a hot sock, and it's not such a big deal that the water fountains in Regent's Park are usually broken. 

This is Casper's first taste of cool weather, and in spite of his very fluffy fur, he's been bundling up for his naps.

He's also been making good use of the fireplace. He's pretty fascinated with the flames, and I'm so glad I thought to buy a screen for the fireplace or we'd end up with roast cat!

The other good news is that work on our flat is finally complete, and I no longer have builders traipsing through on a regular basis. I think Casper's going to miss "helping" them...

The bad news is that it didn't mean that everything in our flat is working as it should. We had no cold water for over a week, and Thames Water was shillyshallying on repairs. Believe it or not, they told our building that they would get to it at the end of the month! Our building had to threaten them with their solicitors to get TW to get the leak repaired so that we could have cold water again. I'm still amazed at how insanely terrible a lot of the services are here. It's not abnormal for it to take two months for internet to get installed or for TW to expect you to go for a month or so without cold water. Insane!

Work Perks

J's job can be incredibly demanding at times, but there are some perks. For instance, some of the firm's vendors like to take him on various outings, and he always insists on bringing me along. I'm definitely not complaining!

We got tickets this summer to go to the Longines Global Champions Tour, which is a horse -jumping competition. I'm not quite sure why the camel was there.



We got there during a lull in the action, so we spent some timing shopping the various tents. I'm guessing the people who go to these kinds of events are a bit more posh than I am, as Harrods had a tent along with a bunch of other shops for the toffs in our midst. I picked up a fleece jacket, which fit perfectly for once - I guess I should shop in jockey stores from now on!

Anyway, it was a bit windier than we anticipated, and I ended up bundling up while we watched the horses leap about. Everyone would hold their breath when the horse would launch into a jump, and there would be a collective sigh if the horse touched the hurdle. It was almost comical how in unison everyone was!



We had some awesome seats, and the horses were literally just a few feet away from us.



After a while, J grew a bit bored, and I couldn't help laughing when he asked, "Is this it?" I was freezing cold, so we ended up going home a bit earlier than anticipated, but it was a fun day.

Another fun activity that we got invited to was golfing. We had gone the previous year, and I guess it was time for our annual lesson. We got picked up and driven down to the London Golf Club, which is down in Kent.



It's absolutely beautiful there, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! We decided to grab some lunch first, and we sat down to enjoy the view of the early morning golfers finishing up their games.





I gobbled down some fish and chips, then we all headed over to our lesson with the golf pro. We remembered a few things from our previous lesson, but it was embarrassing how bad we were when he asked us to take a few practice shots at the driving range. J and I spent a good hour swatting at balls and watching them kind of just roll away. The driving range turned out to be pretty hard work, and I was working up a sweat by the time we moved over to the putting course.



The sad thing is that I'm even worse at putting! I'm guessing I'll may be passable after next year's lesson. I'm guessing at a rate of a lesson a year, I might be able to play with my dad after twenty years or so...

Reykjavik Culture Night

It was a quick flight from Akureyri to Reykjavik, and we hitched a ride to our hotel. It turned out that it was Culture Night in Reykjavik, and we got back just in time for the festivities. Unfortunately, it meant that the roads around the hotel were closed, but we we got there just the same.

Hotel Centrum was really nice and it looked like it had been recently renovated to a high standard. J and I lucked out with an upgrade to an apartment in the building next door, and it felt a bit like we were locals for a night!

We unpacked our things and joined the crowd milling around outside and saw a blacksmith at his forge. Hm, never thought I'd see a blacksmith in action!

J and I didn't have much of a chance to look around since we were pretty hungry and we showed up thirty minutes early for our reservation at the Fish Company. The place was really cosy and well-decorated, but the food was the real star.

After being in Iceland for a week, we got used to have really fresh seafood, but this was just out of control deliciousness. I had a plate of pretty much everything that could be fished out of the water, and J had a beef and potatoes dish that he loved. I think it was definitely one of the best meals we ever had, and we didn't expect it in Iceland!

By the time we waddled out of the restaurant with our stomachs full, pretty much everyone had poured into the streets for the celebrations. All the roads were pedestrianised, and everyone was out and about despite the inclement weather.

J and I walked around town and bopped along to several of the ongoing concerts in the different parts of town, but our bellies forced us to retreat to our hotel lounge to sit down and try to digest our dinner. I'm guessing the carrot cake and hot chocolate I had in the lounge probably didn't help.

We were pretty drowsy with the combination of travelling and the large dinner, but I forced J to stay up to watch the fireworks that were scheduled to go off at 11pm.  And I'm glad I did as we got quite the show! The central plaza where we were watching was pretty empty, and it was a really amazing end to our stay in Iceland.

After the fireworks, we went straight to bed and hopped on the plane the next day to go back home. I was more than excited to see my cat again! I'm happy to report that he gained a full pound while we were away - we are now the proud owners of a seven pound kitten. Lol.

The Last Stops - Akureyri, Siglufjörður

Saturday started off with a driving tour of Akureyri. It's the most populated city after Reykjavik but it's still home to only about 18,000 people. I think that's how many people live on my street in London!

We then set off on a very long drive to visit Siglufjörður, a small fishing town not too far away. We stopped at some scenic viewpoints, but we spent most of the time driving through various tunnels.

When we finally arrived, J and I went straight to the coffee shop.



We had gotten in the habit of having a swiss mocha (J) and a hot chocolate (me) every day, and we needed our fix. J also took the opportunity to check his Blackberry.

I wasn't happy about the Blackberry's umpteenth appearance, and I gave J the side-eye of his life. Life lesson, kids: don't be a lawyer!



We walked around the very, very small town, and checked out the sights.

The harbour first, since it is a fishing town...



I noticed that every single town we visited, no matter how big or small, always had a church. I thought it a bit odd, since Herdis mentioned that most people go to church only for Easter and Christmas.

I love turf houses, but I have no idea who can fit through that narrow ass front door!



We still had some time to kill so we thought about checking out the herring museum. Yup, a herring museum. But we quickly changed our minds when I figured out that they were charging admission. Um, no thanks, I'd rather go check out the National Gallery or the V&A Museum for free than pay to look at herring.



It was finally time to leave (not soon enough, in my opinion), and we started our drive back to Akureyri. First, we stopped at the bird sanctuary at Húsabakkar next to Dalvík, but I quickly lost interest as I didn't see a single bird while we were there. I guess the birds didn't get the memo about the sanctuary.

Anyway, I was anxious to get back to Akureyri so I could walk around and see the town on foot. It reminded me a lot of Reykjavik.

The same painted corrugated iron covered the buildings...



A sculpture hearkening back to Iceland's Viking past...

It had similar graffiti...



But it also had its own quirks, like a two-headed sheep sculpture.

And a pair of trolls hanging around downtown. J swears he wasn't responsible for the woman's hand falling off.



Downtown was small enough that we finished exploring much more quickly than I anticipated. We regrouped at the meeting point, and it wasn't long before we were saying goodbye to Herdis and boarding our plane  for the short flight back to Reykjavik.

The tour was a lot of fun, but I was more than ready for it to end. Keeping in close quarters with strangers can be a bit of a strain, and the smallness of our group forced intimacy. I was looking forward to spending some alone time with J without having to socialise with others (yes, I'm an anti-social hermit), and doing things according to whatever we felt like at the moment.

Chasing Waterfalls - Litlifoss, Dettifoss, Godafoss, Jökulsárgljúfur, Asbyrgi

Our first visit of the day was to the underground bakery by Lake Myvatn where they make Icelandic rye bread aka "thunder bread" due to the noises that you would make if you eat too much of it! Too funny. It's made of molasses and rye flour and baked in the heated ground for many hours.

We took a peek into several of the pits, but alas, there were no buns in the oven. Sad.

It turned out that we were going to see a slew of waterfalls that day. After seeing Gullfoss, I was really excited to see Dettifoss, Europe's most powerful waterfall. But first, we stopped by Litlifoss, a much smaller waterfall that's in close proximity to Dettifoss. I guess it was like a waterfall appetiser.

I made J more than a little nervous by sitting on the cliff edge, but it was worth it since I got a great view of the black sand beach below.

We walked along the alien landscape to get to Dettifoss.

I'm sorry to say, but I wasn't that impressed. I thought Gullfoss was much more impressive - it's cleaner looking and easy to get close to.

The landscape got even weirder when we drove to Jökulsárgljúfur canyon to explore the rock formations there. There were more elf churches...

And the most amazing geometric rock formations that looked manmade!

We moved on to the Asbyrgi oasis, where we could see a beautiful calm lake where it's possible to see a variety of birds. There's even a purpose-built viewing platform, and the canyons provide amazing acoustics. Our guide told us about rock concerts they would hold nearby, and J and I had fun yodeling into the rocks.

We had one more waterfall we had to stop and see, Godafoss, which translates to waterfall of the gods. Legend has it that when Iceland made the official switch to Christianity, they threw the carved Norse gods of old into the falls.

It was a very short hike...

With a very big payoff.

It turned out to be a short day with a lot of driving and a little hiking, which was probably just as well since our feet were taking a beating from the rough terrain. We finally reached Akureyri, the northern counterpart of Reykjavik, where we settled in for the night.

Believe it or not, one of my law school chums was in Akureyri at the same time with his girlfriend. Or I should say fiancee, as they had just gotten engaged that morning! It's the oddest place in the world to run into someone, but I was really happy to be able to congratulate them in person on such a happy occasion. We had drinks at the lounge at Hotel KEA and ended the night with some hot chocolate at the local pub. I wonder where I'll run into them next?