Last Day in Reykjavik

I didn´t post this before, but it deserves mentioning, because it´s funny, and of course things would work out like this. The 4th through the 7th is the Gay Pride Festival in Iceland. What days are Positivemode and myself in Iceland, the 4th through the 7th of course. Figures that the time we are here is the Gay Pride festival. I think that there is actually a parade today too. Oh well, it´s funny. Back to the trip.

Yesterday we got up at 7 am and went on the "Golden Tour" which went around the south-west of Iceland. It was a nine hour tour and was absolutely worth the userous price (only $100!). First stop was a green house village where they grow all the plants, fruits, etc. in Iceland. It was more of a tourist trap than anything. Not particularly interesting. Next was a giant crater that was created sometime long ago. It was about 55 meters deep and filled with water at the bottom. Neato. After the crater was a church that was the religious center of Iceland. All of Iceland´s bishops are centered there since 1000 or so. I took some nice pictures and that was that. I couldn´t find the synagogue.

Next were the highlights of the trip: a beautiful waterfall, Geysir, and Þingvallir (national park). The waterfall was very beautiful and you could walk right up next to it. Sweet. At Geysir, there was all kinds of geothermal activity and, of course, a geyser. The word geyser actually comes from the name of the Icelandic place. There was a geyser there that went off every 5 minutes or so. You could stand about 4 feet away from that too which was pretty cool to watch. Good times. Finally we stopped at the Þingvallir, the national park (pronounced thingvallir). That was absolutely beautiful. Huge cliffs, streams, and lakes. It sits right on the break-line between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, so you can actually see where the earth is splitting apart creating fissures. Usually, you can´t see that kind of thing as it is under the sea. Also very cool and beautiful. The only snag in the trip was an old German man getting lost, but I wasn´t too concerned with that (neither was his wife which was funny), and it all worked out in the end.

Luckily for us, the weather was gorgeous (55 and sunny) and everything was absolutely beautiful looking. I´ve never seen anything like it. Of course, I took hundreds of pictures, but I don´t have the cord to upload them on this computer. I promise, they´re coming!

Last night was the great Icelandic pub crawl, where everyone in the entire town goes out to the bars from 11pm until 3-5 am. We made it out from about 11 until 3. It´s amazing to see that many people out, and it´s never completely dark out as I said before. Very good times. Of course, we had to drink at the hostel before we went out or we would have ended up spending $800 each. As I said before, this is the most expensive place I´ve ever been. A pint of beer was $10!!! Are you kidding? And, they actually raised the price at 1 am. I have no idea how people afford to live here. If any one is expecting any Icelandic souveniers, you can forget about it. I can´t afford it!

Anyway, today is our last day here. We´re gonna try and see a few more sights, then go to bed. Our flight tomorrow to Scotland leaves at 7-something am, which means that the bus to the airport is getting us at 5 am. Of course, we didn´t even get up today until noon because of the late night.

So, that´s it, my last post from the top of the world. I´d recommend to anyone to come here. It is such a beautiful country and a great city. Of course, you´ll have to be a millionaire to afford anything, but it really is beautiful. I promise, I´ll try and get some pictures up here soon.

See you from Scotland, now off to celebrate Gay Pride!