Reykjavík etc
Oct. 14th, 2014 08:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuuagoSo, I realized that I still haven't talked about Reykjavík. This'll probably be the last of the travel-related posts, unless I happen to think of something else. Or if I get around to cutting/resizing some of the photos I took while I was away. (Not going to happen.)
One thing that I can say for certain - I really wish that I'd been able to spend more time in Iceland. Being able to visit my friends in Reykjavík was lovely, but it was only one day, and there is so much more to Iceland than that one city. If we'd had more time, then we could have done so much - seen some geographical sighs perhaps - which would have been really nice, because it isn't every day that I get to see mountains. (Matter of fact, I've only seen mountains a few times in my life... and usually in the distance.) But I digress.
The plane came in at a ridiculous hour of the morning, but that was good, because it meant that after we got back to Snu's house, I could take a long nap before heading out to downtown with Aino. I... kind of needed it. Trans-Atlantic flights ain't fun, y'all. And while flying to Iceland doesn't take as long going from Fort Mac as flying to the Continent does, it's still quite a haul.
Anyway. A nap and a cup of coffee later, I was good to go. (And it really was excellent coffee. Delicious. :9)
It was nice that day - no rain, and it was even sunny. Really surprising, because after everything I'd been told about Reykjavík, I was expecting crap weather. But we were really, really lucky that day, which was good because we spent most of the day walking. Visually, Reykjavík isn't really an architecturally impressive city, especially compared to the other places that I've been to. But it's charming, and had the sort of atmosphere that reminded me a lot of Halifax - which happens to be one of my favourite cities in the world. So. It was lovely and felt very... cosy, somehow. (Though visually, it seems to look more like Newfoundland - though I have only photographs to go by, because I haven't been to Newfoundland before, and don't have any plans in the foreseeable future.)
One of the most awesome things was when we went to the National Museum. Aino really knows her stuff, so going with her was like having my own personal tour guide, pfff. There were some things that I already knew - but a lot of things that I didn't - and not gonna lie, her running commentary made the experience so much richer (especially when she elaborated on museum descriptions that were a little too simplified, "Well actually-") In terms of the stuff they actually had there, I think my favourite was the filigree work in the traditional jewellery; holy shit was it ever fine and just plain beautiful. Well, everything to do with the traditional costumes, really; that stuff was lovely to see. (Then again I have a Thing for Nordic traditional clothing in general, it's just so gorgeous! Though some of the Icelandic women's headresses look very odd, like so)
Oh! And another thing we did, was we went up to the top of the Hallgrímskirkja. This church is seriously huge. Even the photographs don't do justice to how huge it is. IT'S BIG. And while we did have to pay in order to go up to the top, I'm glad that I did, because from there you can see Reykjavík from all angles, and I took some really nice photographs of the city down below and the mountains and see in the background and such, which was lovely.
And we did some other things - went to the Maritime museum, had some delicious ice cream on the way, talked a lot about history and writing and Iceland and cultural differences and fun stuff like that. It was nice. Aaaand at the end of the day Snu joined us for supper, as he was going to drive us back. We went to Shalimar, an Indian restaurant. And holy shit... it might seem a little silly to go to Reykjavík for Indian food but oh. My. Gods. Was it ever delicious. Expensive, yes, but worth every bit, because I haven't eaten something so good in a long time. ... And perhaps my happiness was influenced by the good company, too. ;)
Ahhh it was so nice when we got back to Snu's house though. I was exhausted, but we spent some time together in their basement apartment. I worked on some fic while Snu played some video games and Kaino and I talked a little and it was just... cozy. Very cozy.
More than anything else though, the most important part of that day was that it reminded me what it's like to spend time with people that I feel comfortable around. There was never any awkwardness or anxiousness at all; before I left to head to Iceland, I was really worried - the whole "what if we don't like each other, what if we don't get along, oh well if that happens it's only for one day" kind of thing - but there was none of that, I didn't have anything to worry about. I felt so at-ease, and never really felt like my silence made things awkward, like it normally would at home.
It was just... nice. Really, really nice.
One thing that I can say for certain - I really wish that I'd been able to spend more time in Iceland. Being able to visit my friends in Reykjavík was lovely, but it was only one day, and there is so much more to Iceland than that one city. If we'd had more time, then we could have done so much - seen some geographical sighs perhaps - which would have been really nice, because it isn't every day that I get to see mountains. (Matter of fact, I've only seen mountains a few times in my life... and usually in the distance.) But I digress.
The plane came in at a ridiculous hour of the morning, but that was good, because it meant that after we got back to Snu's house, I could take a long nap before heading out to downtown with Aino. I... kind of needed it. Trans-Atlantic flights ain't fun, y'all. And while flying to Iceland doesn't take as long going from Fort Mac as flying to the Continent does, it's still quite a haul.
Anyway. A nap and a cup of coffee later, I was good to go. (And it really was excellent coffee. Delicious. :9)
It was nice that day - no rain, and it was even sunny. Really surprising, because after everything I'd been told about Reykjavík, I was expecting crap weather. But we were really, really lucky that day, which was good because we spent most of the day walking. Visually, Reykjavík isn't really an architecturally impressive city, especially compared to the other places that I've been to. But it's charming, and had the sort of atmosphere that reminded me a lot of Halifax - which happens to be one of my favourite cities in the world. So. It was lovely and felt very... cosy, somehow. (Though visually, it seems to look more like Newfoundland - though I have only photographs to go by, because I haven't been to Newfoundland before, and don't have any plans in the foreseeable future.)
One of the most awesome things was when we went to the National Museum. Aino really knows her stuff, so going with her was like having my own personal tour guide, pfff. There were some things that I already knew - but a lot of things that I didn't - and not gonna lie, her running commentary made the experience so much richer (especially when she elaborated on museum descriptions that were a little too simplified, "Well actually-") In terms of the stuff they actually had there, I think my favourite was the filigree work in the traditional jewellery; holy shit was it ever fine and just plain beautiful. Well, everything to do with the traditional costumes, really; that stuff was lovely to see. (Then again I have a Thing for Nordic traditional clothing in general, it's just so gorgeous! Though some of the Icelandic women's headresses look very odd, like so)
Oh! And another thing we did, was we went up to the top of the Hallgrímskirkja. This church is seriously huge. Even the photographs don't do justice to how huge it is. IT'S BIG. And while we did have to pay in order to go up to the top, I'm glad that I did, because from there you can see Reykjavík from all angles, and I took some really nice photographs of the city down below and the mountains and see in the background and such, which was lovely.
And we did some other things - went to the Maritime museum, had some delicious ice cream on the way, talked a lot about history and writing and Iceland and cultural differences and fun stuff like that. It was nice. Aaaand at the end of the day Snu joined us for supper, as he was going to drive us back. We went to Shalimar, an Indian restaurant. And holy shit... it might seem a little silly to go to Reykjavík for Indian food but oh. My. Gods. Was it ever delicious. Expensive, yes, but worth every bit, because I haven't eaten something so good in a long time. ... And perhaps my happiness was influenced by the good company, too. ;)
Ahhh it was so nice when we got back to Snu's house though. I was exhausted, but we spent some time together in their basement apartment. I worked on some fic while Snu played some video games and Kaino and I talked a little and it was just... cozy. Very cozy.
More than anything else though, the most important part of that day was that it reminded me what it's like to spend time with people that I feel comfortable around. There was never any awkwardness or anxiousness at all; before I left to head to Iceland, I was really worried - the whole "what if we don't like each other, what if we don't get along, oh well if that happens it's only for one day" kind of thing - but there was none of that, I didn't have anything to worry about. I felt so at-ease, and never really felt like my silence made things awkward, like it normally would at home.
It was just... nice. Really, really nice.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.