Our first international trip in the post-pandemic is Iceland!  So excited! Our plan is to circumnavigate the island clockwise from Reykjavík.  As of this writing--we've landed! This trip was a bit uncertain at the last minute due to a health scare in the family though...

Cats and Dogs

This was our first trip boarding our dog Parker.  He's a trooper and we'll miss him!  Still hard to leave him behind. He'd love this trip 🙂

We had a scare with our 14 year old cat...Shiina had a routine blood panel that showed her liver enzymes way out of whack a week before we left.  Shocking news to get about a pet who shows no signs of sickness!  Fortunately we were able to get her started on a recovery diet, and follow-up blood work showed the levels improving 🤞.  

We were fortunate that Brenda's mom and sister were willing to take on the nursing duties and monitor her dietary therapy for us while we're out. I don't know what we would have done without their save 🫶.

Driving in Iceland

Iceland driving is quite different than back in Michigan. First impressions are that the roads we've used so far around Reykjavík are in immacualate condition. This can't be said  about any city in Michigan!  I'll withhold judgment until we see the rest of the island, but so far...wow!

My second observation is the speed limits are...so low!  From what I can tell the highest speed limit is 56 mph.  It's not uncommon to be on arterial streets in Reykjavík with posted limits of 19 mph!  (Im converting from km/h and rounding).

Lastly: roundabouts are everywhere.  If there are three lanes converging, count on a roundabout managing the show.  I'm a fan of them, but roundabout haters be warned!

First Woonerf!

Encountered my first Woonerf in Reykjavík.  A Woonerf is a Dutch word for a street that is a travel space shared by pedestrians, bicycles and cars.  And other vehicles...e-scooters are popular here.

On a Woonerf cars can come through, but don't "own" the street as they usually do. The word means "street for living" and no user is prioritized over any other. A woonerf is "share the road" taken to its logical conclusion.

Hallgrimskirkja

We visited the famous Lutheran church.  I found it most impressive. It has the presence of many European cathedrals, but is much more stoic in design.  Having an armed Viking guarding the front elevation and shaping the building like a sword makes it clear this is intentional!

The design is meant to evoke Icelandic basalt lava flows, and this intent is realized; it certainly does evoke that imagry.  Must see destination that's also easy to get to.

The interior is as impressive as the exterior, and we were fortunate to witness its impressive pipe organ being played.

Andrymi

My favorite structure award goes to this cool old house used by grassroots organizations.  So creative and fun in design and execution.  Not a landmark, just a demonstration of how old, plain buildings don't have to be boring. The paint job communicates the work that's done here and the spirit and passion of those who use it.

National Museum of Iceland

Next we visited the National Museum of Iceland.  No surprise our professional educator daughter planned this as the first actual itinerary entry.

I enjoyed it a lot, and yes she was right...knowing the history of the place will put the next 10 days in perspective and enrich the experience.  Knowing that (male) Vikings settled the place (with women from Ireland...possibly not relocated by choice?), how the culture evolved, and how Iceland went from a vassal of Norway and then Denmark to become an independent European state was a crash course I'm glad I took.

If I got any of that wrong...its because in my jetlagged state I felt like a student struggling to keep his eyes open in an 8AM world history class on a Monday morning 😂.

Apple Pay and Google Translate

My first trip abroad was to Germany when I was 16.  I had American Express traveler checks that I had to peridocally cash in at local German banks. I almost missed my flight back from Berlin when I got lost in a residential neighborhood and couldn't find any English speakers to help me find my way back to Templehof.

On this trip I don't even need cash, and every purchase so far has been with a tap of my Apple Watch on a point of sale terminal--just like back home. What a small world modern tech has helped create!

My favorite tech hasn't been Apple Pay, but Google Translate.  Its so fun and easy to just point my iPhone camera at text and have the app show me what a sign says.  A Star Trek Universal Translator must be right around the corner!

Jet Lag

After the redeye flight that landed us here at 2am (US Eastern time), we had to spend the next 8 hours finding activities to keep us awake and busy until hotel check-in time.   As of this writing I honestly don't know what day it is or how many hours its been since I last slept.  Hopefully this post will help me remember what happened today 😂.