I have done a bit more exploring in the short daylight hours, and Magnus took me to Perlan, a very unusual building high on a hill, with a great outlook over the city. Later in the afternoon we drove out of the city to the lighthouse at the end of the rocky headland. It still surprises me how little distance you have to travel to be completely away from the city.
After my interview with reporter Sara, my story appeared in the local newspaper, Frettabladid, and I was contacted by Heimir via emeail, who was interested in meeting for a coffee. He lives quite close to Magnus, it turned out, and we met in Mjodd at a cafe and chatted for a while.
Later, having been at Magnus’s house for three days, it was time to move on, and my couchsurfer host friend Hildur collected me. On the way to her house I asked if we could stop off at the swimming pool quickly, as I thought I had left my shampoo bottle there. I had to put blue plastic shoe protectors on to go to the changing rooms to check the lost property there, and decided to check the shower stall I had used too, just to be sure it wasn’t still there.
Coming out of the showers, I hear someons shouting “Ian, Ian!” and turned to see Heimir again. Reykjavik seems to be a very small town! I wish I could have got a photo of the moment, as it must have looked so odd, me in my full winter gear, blue plastic bags on my feet, shaking hands and chatting with a completely naked guy in the shower room!
That night I tagged along with Hildur, and her friend Berglind, and we went to the movie to see “Avatar”. I had no idea what the movie was about, and had only seen posters for it, so had no pre-conceptions. It was in 3D, so we wore the special glasses. I was absolutely blown away! It is the most incredible movie, and in 3D you just become immersed in the stunning world that is created before your eyes. I highly recommend it, especially if you can see it in 3D.
Afterwards we wavered between going for a quick drink or not, and decided we would. I have learned that a quick drink in Iceland means partying until 5am! We went to a bar in town, and mid way through the night Hildur said, “Oh look, there’s Bjork.” I thought she was joking, but no, I was in a small bar in Reykjavic, where Bjork popped in, wandered around, and did a bit of celebrity DJing!
The next day was a very late start, and began with an extremely cold walk into town to collect Hildur’s car. We took a drive into the countryside, and stopped off at the “Bridge Between Two Continents”, where the European and American tectonic plates meet. We also stopped by the very inviting, but very expensive Blue Lagoon for a quick look.
Later that night we headed out again, meeting up again with Berglind, and fellow Brit now living here, Tim. We were also joined by Inga, and in town saw several Icelandic bands play in concert. The final act was called Hjalmar, and they played some great reggae, with Icelandic lyrics, a very strange combination.
After another 5am finish, it’s a very late start this morning, but hey, the sun doesn’t rise until 11.30 am, so it’s easy to sleep in!
I haven’t made much progress yet towards either of my goals here, despite having been out each evening to see if there is any glimmer from the Northern Lights, but conditions are improving for the next few days as the air turns colder, the sky is clear, and the wind has dropped. Hopefully luck will be with me in the next day or two.