Peaceful Revolution in Reykjavik!

Well, I arrived safely in Reykjavik, Iceland, after a 5 hour flight from JFK. I think it was more challenging getting to the airport than it was getting to this beautiful island nation. A big shout out to Robert and Timothy for getting me to the airport safely and in time.

This Viking island is cool and breezy, with a definite European style that I love. I am staying in a brand new hostel, right in the heart of Reykjavik. I have enjoyed walking around the city, which is extremely pedestrian friendly, and showcases lots of attractive Icelanders with their babies in strollers. At this point in the year, Icelanders bask in 23 hours of sunlight a day, which surely rivals the 3 hours of sunlight per day that they get in winter.

Yesterday, I had this whole story written about this peaceful protest that I had participated in, but the internet connection was cut and I lost it all! Long story short: Iceland is bankrupt and the people are pissed, because, like many other countries in the world, the banks are privatizing the gains and socializing the losses with government aid. This means that the loans are harder to repay since the currency has been halved since October (good for tourists like me, though!). The Parliament was meeting on this issue and a crowd of people were protesting in the courtyard: angry grandmas clanging pots and pans, Viking bikers snarling their engines, and children sidewalk-chalking for peace. So as any good activist would do, I joined in by keeping the beat with my safety whistle! One lady said that if this were France, they´d have burned the building down by now, but apparently Icelanders are pretty peaceful despite their Viking past.

Today, I relaxed in one of the public geothermal pools, and then was completely baffled by what I was appreciating at the National Art Museum (you think modern art is challenging to interpret, try Icelandic modern art with swords!). Now, I am off to the park and another soak! I bought a Welcome Reykjavik Card, which gets me into any city swimming pool, all of the museums, and provides me some internet time and bus fare to all local stops. Tomorrow, I am off to the Blue Lagoon, another geothermal pool for which Iceland is world famous.