De sista dagarna på Island tillbringade jag bland annat med att shoppa lite. Bland annat ett vacker fat i glas med fyra blockljus på. Perfekt till advent. När jag hade ätit lite lunch tog jag ett dopp i en “hot pot” inne i centrum. Ett varmt bubbelbad på cirka 38 grader och en pool med 42 grader varmt vatten. Det senare lite väl varmt i mitt tycke. Där satt jag utomhus på ett tak (!) och värmde mina frusna lemmar en stund innan jag gick vidare och tog en kaffepaus på ett café. Jag gick förbi Domkyrkan och hamnade på en konsert där duktiga solister och en vackert spelande  ensemble fyllde kyrkan med vacker sång och musik från 1700-talet. Lite väl klassisk kanske för min smak men det var skönt att få sitta och bara lyssna. Musik når min själ även om jag inte förstår språket.

På söndagen var det dags för sista dagsturen med buss. South Coast Adventure kallades turen som gick ända ner till byn Vik på södra Island. Vi åkte förbi vulkanen Hekla och såg Västmannaöarna skymta ute i havet. Dit vill jag åka nästa gång, tyvärr kunde man inte göra det vintertid. Det var där som de hade ett vulkanutbrott 1973 och en helt ny ö bildades!

Vi åkte till glaciären Sólheimajökull som är del av den större glaciären Mýrdalsjökull vilken i sin tur täcker vulkanen Katla. Något som triggade igång min fantasi, Astrid Lindgren-älskare som jag är. Fantastiskt att se detta massiva isberg som flyttar sig lite norrut för varje år. Vi åkte vidare till Vik där vi såg Atlanten mäktigt rulla sina vågor mot stranden.

Sedan mot Skógafoss vattenfall som var imponerande vackert med regnbågen som skymtade då solen kastade sina strålar mot det. Därefter gick vi in på ett fantastiskt roligt museum intill. Det var en äldre herre som hade samlat på sig saker i hela sitt liv och visade upp dessa ting som berättade om Islands historia.

Bussen åkte vidare mot nästa vattenfall, Seljalandsfoss. Ännu ett mäktigt vattenfall med runt 60 meters fallhöjd. Här kunde vi gå bakom vattenfallet och se det från alla håll. Fantastiskt!

Solen gick ner och trötta åkte vi tillbaka mot Reykjavik. Fyllda av ännu en dag med upplevelser och sägner om detta otroligt vackra land.

And so it begins again. This is my new blog. It’s a new start !

I will try to be better at blogging. More interesting things.

For example today Jóna and I went out to the post office to finally get my birthday present from my dad. It’s a cd and a USB key with music, a whole bunch of music he’s taken from the vinyls – a few of them I recognized, I used to sit by our turn table and listen to a few tracks over and over again, especially Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2 (way before they started sucking).

Tonight we had the most amazing poutine, which we called Bepoutine. We bought some pepper seasoned oven fries, a lot of Béarnaise sauce and Kotasæla (Icelandic cottage cheese). It was all put together into something closer to a soup than a poutine. But it as greasy, thick, saucy, heavy and fat as it may sound, it was absolutely delicious. Heavy like a brick, but delicious.

But it’s okay, we’ve been eating very good food. Loads of coriander (which I used to dislike).

Also !

Yesterday I had my job interview at Mímir. It went very well. This is the story: Jón Simon, who I know through Kael, is a Brit who teaches Icelandic at this institute (where Erla used to work and where her mother teachers, too). However, for the month of February he’ll be in Luxembourg, so they need a replacement. He told them about me and asked me to go and talk with Sólborg, the woman who could hire me. We did, went there (it’s in Skeifan), and I spoke with Sólborg, had some christmas cookies (here there is christmas milk, christmas malt, christmas beer, even christmas chocolate milk).

So it looks like I will be TEACHING Icelandic to foreigners for all of February, and will get quite well payed for it (roughly it should double my money for the month, get about 120.000kr extra, which is all going into my now quite sizeable savings for the new Canon 7d. I should get it in March ! AND I CAN’T WAIT !! ).

It’s not only a very exciting opportunity but it would be an amazing achievement for me, to be able to say that after just over a year in Iceland, I started teaching Icelandic to foreigners – plus I would be teaching level 3 (of 5). I was just about to take off my clothes and start a bonfire of happiness in the office. Sólborg seemed very pleased and she even hinted at the fact that we probably wouldn’t need me to apply for a (complicated) work permit, because it’s so little.

Also !

I have been working on mastering the Leipzig glossing rules, and so for fun I’ve been glossing a couple of phrases in Alopian, just to give an idea of what the inner workings of the language are. Here is an example:

teikis takevamami suvi

t-eųi-ki-s ta-keva-ma-mi-Ø suv-i

3sg.unag.ina-carry.away/past-transloc-punc 3sg.unag.ina-float-1pl.unag-actnom.unag.trans-dat flow-nom.ina

it carried away [it floats us] current

‘Our boat was carried away by the current’

This phrase shows off what is called “action nominals”, or in simple terms a noun which has all the characteristics of a verb, yet acts as a noun. In the case of the example above, the action nominal is takevamami, which literally means ‘it floats us’, but it is used as a noun (means “our boat”).

So this is it for now. A new blog !

Listen to this song !

OK fyrsti dagurinn fór ekki eins og ég hafði haldið. Hann byrjaði náttúrulega á því að ég vaknaði 6.20 til að bera út en svo þegar ég kom heim(Megrunin náttúrulega gleymd. Ég þarf að fara að skrifa á veggina með stórum stöfum “MEGRUN”) fékk ég mér heitt kakó. Og bara það. Svo fór ég í skólann klukkan 10 eftir að hafa sofið inná milli. Og allt lék í lindi ætlaði ekki að borða neitt í skólanum víst ég væri búin í skólanum klukkan 13.50 en já nei. Ég þurfti víst að kaupa tyggjó og víst það kostaði bara 100-200 kr þá þurfti ég að kaupa e-ð meira svo ég gæti notað kortið mitt….Og keypti ég mér ekki pepperoni taco langloku….Vond Viktoría! Vond! Og svo seinna keypti vinkona mín handa mér Fanta Lemon í jólagjöf…Gleðileg Jól. Það var reyndar óskin mín víst hún mátti hvort eð er bara kaupa e-ð smá handa mér í jólagjöf þá ákvað ég bara að nýta tækifærið víst ég var þyrst. Hún mátti bara kaupa e-ð lítið handa mér í jólagjöf víst hún hafði keypt alveg HUGE afmæligjöf..Kron skó á 30000 krónur. Þeir eru svo æðisgegnir að ég geng ekki einu sinni í þeim. Ég vil ekki meiða þá. En já svo kom ég heim og mamma. Elskulega mamma hafði keypt sykurpúða og pepsi max í bónus. Svo bjó ég til núðlur handa okkur mæðgnunum þannig vægast sagt var megrunin púfft. Ég byrja á morgun…..Mér líður eins og matarfíkli þegar ég segi þetta. En ef ég byrja ekki á morgun mun ég plokka úr mér öll nefhár….Guð hjálpi mér.
En þannig er það. Annað hef ég ekki að segja í bili..Sjáumst á morgun.

Well the diet went poof. For breakfast there was hot choclate. For lunch there was a big juicy sandwhich and Fanta Lemon and for tea? There were marsmellows and pepsi max then for dinner were noodles…..But I swear I’ll start tomorrow even though I feel like an addicted person who hasn’t admitted he/she has a problem I will start tomorrow….Or I promise I will pluck all of my nosehair out….It actually hurts just thinking about it. Well I have nothing more to say. See you tomorrow

Those fresh and clear moments, mornings in Albuquerque when I’d be skipping school for some engagement I wanted even less a part of. Winter was always on its way. The sun pale, but not like Alaska – this still had some warmth to it. The air was chill and the birds singing. It could easily be a weekday in autumn, as it is right now. The smell is what a city smells like, everyone’s routine – and I’m so glad not to have one, because this realization would pass me by. This is the day people working indoors talk about how they’re missing the beautiful weather, and by the time they see it, the whole world will be taken in by the rapturous golden glow that is mocking to us all: it says I am the proof that you missed out, I am the evidence of beauty that will never exist again, not like it did today – I offered you the morning, but all of you were working, or slept in.

Spiral with my free hand. Reluctant to breathe in another moment, because I’ll have to eventually exhale – and we’ll all be breathing tragedy by three this afternoon, when exposing body parts you never would to snow, the temporary breathe visible no more to we who called it intervention. To hell with the finalities of December and July, it’s in between we really live, when there’s less trivial design.

A piece I wrote for The Reykjavik Grapevine in Iceland on Cod fishing in the North Atlantic.

Enjoy,

Ben

Cod fishing in Iceland (C) The Reykjavik Grapevine

My lonely planet guide is a bit old, so you have to check if things are still the same, and I was drawn to the words ´bacon and eggs served on thick buttery bread´ so I headed off to Grái Kötturinn, and i thank you lonely planet and the chef and the waitress and the pig who died and the chicken who laid the eggs and the farmer who grew the potatoes and the wheat and the cow who gave the milk and those who imported the oranges and wherever the coffee came from.

What’s the drooping Dollar and British Pound mean for US and UK travellers? A journey to the most European countries has become more expensive in the last year. But there is one big exception: Iceland! The country in the north Atlantic ocean has seen its banks collapse and nearly has gone bankrupt. Today the Icelandic krona is worth less than one US penny or 0.0049 GBP.

What about visiting Iceland next year and experience the great nature with volcanoes, geysers, deserts and wide fjords? On the one hand you can take a plane to get there. But of course it’s more recreative to take a ferry to Iceland. Today the ships from Europe to Iceland are both ferry and cruise ships, so that you can enjoy your yourney from the first day on. The only scheduled connection between central Europe and Iceland is from Denmark. So if you want to get to Iceland by ferry from the UK, you have to go from Harwich to Esjberg in Denmark first. But when arriving in Iceland, you will be more relaxed and you will save money, because you can go around with your own vehicle and it’s not necessary to rent a car.

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Här kommer lite bildbevis

yay!  it’s friday

via icelandish

There was a  exibition at the Goethe Institute  in Reykjavik about the comic scene in Germany and I was part of it with one page from my last book. Yipiieh!

Today we’re featuring Reykjavik through the eyes of Megan Herbert. Herbert is an illustrator and writer living in Reykjavik, Iceland. She writes television and film scripts, designs gift-wrapping paper, and produces two and three-dimensional artworks laced with narrative. You can read her ramblings and see her scribblings here.

*            *            *

1. Tie Mural – 32 Laugavegur

How-To-Tie-A-Tie Mural. Genius. Once the winter darkness has descended upon this northern rock, even the most elementary of dressing procedures can trigger mass confusion. Office workers of Reykjavík, regard ye carefully. Located just across the road from clothes Mecca Ein Vera and local record haven Smekkleysa.

2. Tíu Dropar – 27 Laugavegur

Tíu Dropar is the home of delicious baked goodies, an unparalleled latte, and an olde-worlde charm that has hipsters and grandmas alike tripping over their bowling shoes to secure a table. Lovely wallpaper and antique maps of Reykjavik adorn the walls too. Pff. As if you needed another reason to go there.

3. Theresa Himmer’s Lava Drop at Aftur – 23 Laugavegur

Teresa Himmer’s shimmery sequin-scapes pepper the walls of downtown Reykjavík. This single lava drop flags stop three of our walking tour. Aftur is the favoured fashion house of Icelandic style queens partial to the gargantuan-heels-spindly-legs-voluminous-tops genre. And oh my, do they ever do it well here.

4. Turn left down Klapparstígur and you will pass the site of much mourned bar Sirkus, closed in 2007 to a chorus of drunken shanties of regret. In its place is another of Theresa Himmer’s glittering offerings, the Glacier. Wander past this towards our next stop…

5. Bókin, Klapparstígur 25-27

Once upon a time there was an eccentrically devoted second-hand bookseller who loyally and lovingly stacked books onto carefully arranged shelves as surely as night followed day. And then, one day, he stopped. And commenced to construct rickety towers of pre-loved tomes on every available inch of floor space, in windows, on tabletops, anywhere he could really. Bókin is the result. Bless.

6. Turn onto Hverfisgata and head down the hill. You will pass a green space whose surrounding walls feature the work of the local graffitiatti. My personal favourite is the Stigis painting. Buildings piled upon buildings piled upon buildings.

7. Hardfiskur stack at Kolaportið

On Saturday or Sunday, follow Hverfisgata all the way downhill to Kolaportið, a market of the true trash and treasure variety. Food does not abound. Unless you are after root vegies, frozen seafood (including whale, gasp!), or hardfiskur, Iceland’s answer to jerky. It is fish air dried and unadorned and much like Vegemite or Facebook, you either like it or loathe it. Here is a pretty patterned mountain of the stuff.

8. Just around the corner on Tryggvagata is the Tollhúsið, where customs officials charge locals obscene amounts for the privilege of receiving mailed goods. I can only hope the funds were funnelled into the creation of the marvellous tiled mural out the front. It is truly lovely.

9. Around the corner on Austurstræti you will find Jacobsen. Many go there for crazed all-night parties and star-studded DJ line-ups. Personally, I prefer the Metropolis-esque stylings of the building’s shell.

10. Army of drink bottles at Friða Frænka – Vesturgata 3

I learned in Icelandic class the other day that Frænka doesn’t mean ‘aunty’ as I first thought, but rather ‘non-specific female relative’. Somewhat less catchy, I’m sure you’ll agree. Nonetheless, it is packed with all sorts of treasures. ‘Pon two storeys, replete with many glories.

11. Vopnaburið – Hólmaslóð 4

I feel compelled to reveal my connection with this particular place of abounding goodness and last stop on my Reykjavik walking tour.  Follow the harbour all the way around… past the moored fishing vessels getting fresh paint jobs, past the Sea Baron and his lobster soup… to the heart of the Fishpacking District and you shall find Vopnaburið (meaning The Armoury) – my own store, which I run with my man, Sruli Recht. This is one of my illustrated shields, featuring a traditional Icelandic embroidery pattern. Do come and visit.

The full set of photos can be viewed here.

considered to be a weed by many “specialists”, dandelions have simply been forgotten for its benefits. by our generation it is simply seen as the interesting flower that turns into a “cotton” ball where the pappus (parachutes) fly up and away with the wind. even though they manage to spread and grow in peculiar places, these can benefit soil to fertilize it in various ways. something else forgotten is its use in medicinal and gastronomical purposes.

This place was another tip from the Wallpaper Reykjavik City Guide and again not at all easy to find. But again, soooooooo worth it.

Saegreifinn is a proper little shack in the harbour run by a retired fisherman. It is attached to a fresh fish shop and serves simple fresh seafood.

The place is small and filled with fishing bric-a-brac and you even have to sit on plactic barrels. Brilliant.

This was my first taste of lobster and it came in the form of a creamy soup with some juicy fleshy chunks of lobster in it. I loved it. I need to try lobster properly at some point. I imagine I’d tackle it a little like Daryl Hannah in ‘Splash’. Classy.

Anyway, back to Saegreifinn.

The other food on offer was displayed in a fridge. Various seafoods and onions and peppers on skewers ready to be grilled. We decided we wouldn’t go for the mink whale for three reasons.

1. Not sure how ethical eating mink whale is?
2. It looked too bloody and the scallops looked so good.
3. We watched a man order it, eat one piece and leave the rest.

So we shared a scallop one and one called red fish(?) I don’t think it could have been any fresher.

The sea baron had it all just right.

The rain was coming down sideways, we were starving and our map was beginning to disintergrate in the wet weather but our Wallpaper Reykjavik city guide said that Icelandic Fish and Chips was round here somewhere…

Ah ha! There it is!

On the harbour front behind a very heavy storm resistant door was the most amazing fish and chips known to man. With a completely organic menu and spelt battered fish it may have even been verging on healthy.

The ambience of the place was super cosy and the ‘Viking Lager’ went down a treat.

We ordered the pollock, (as Hugh FW says it is more sustainable that other fish) the garlic hand cut chips with the lime and coriandar skyronnaise and the roasted pepper and chilli skyronnise (skyronnaise is a healthier alternative to mayonnaise made with skyr). Skyr is something that appears on lots of Icelandic menus. It’s similar to strained yoghurt. We also had an orange salad.

We were so glad we didn’t give up on that map. Delicious.

Thanks for a great tip off Wallpaper.

ISLANDIA

Laguna con agua azul

Esta isla situada en el extremo norte de Europa no sólo te ofrece un paisaje imposible de ver en cualquier otro lugar del planeta sino que además te ofrece innumerables actividades para disfrutar de tus vacaciones. Ademas de su bella capital Reykjavík, sus volcanes, geysers , ícebergs, fiordos, cascadas increíbles y caballos que todavía se encuentran en libertad, podrás disfrutar de una comida y cultura espectacular y sentir la mágica atmósfera a la que contribuye no sólo la geografía, sino también sus criaturas mágicas y elfs.

Capital Reykjavik con una montaña en el fondo

Islandia es un país de ensueño. Viajar a Islandia significa descubrir una naturaleza increíble que no existe en ningún otro país, un entorno puro, limpio y tan, tan distinto…

Geyser: Surtidor intermitente de agua caliente y vapor en zonas volcánicas

Durante el viaje a Islandia tendras la posibilidad de observar ballenas, montar caballos islandeses (con su “trote” especial, el caballo islandés puede trotar de 5 maneras diferentes), visitar desiertos de lava y una de las cascadas más hermosas de Europa, ver las auroras boreales, disfrutar de aguas termales naturales o pisar tierras vírgenes que todavía no ha pisado ningún turista. 

Iceberg en al agua

Aquí algunos hechos interesantes sobre esta isla tan única:

 - Islandia tiene solamente unos 300.000 habitantes y el 60% de la población vive en la capital Reykjavík (la capital más nórdica del mundo y su nombre significa literalmente “La Bahía del humo”.)

- En Islandia hay el doble número de ovejas que de gente.

- En el verano hay 24 horas de luz diaria y en el invierno hay muy pocas horas de luz.

Atardecer (cielo color violeta, rosado y naranja)

- Islandia fue el primer país en el mundo en votar democráticamente a una mujer como presidente.

- Islandia no tiene su propio ejército, ni fuerzas aéreas, ni guarda costas.

- Los islandeses no tienen apellidos de verdad. Sus apellidos consisten en el nombre del padre y después se añade “son” o “dóttir” dependiendo si es un hijo o una hija.

- Las páginas amarillas de Islandia tienen un listado según los nombres, no según los apellidos como la mayoría de los países.

- En Islandia no se usa llamar a las personas con Sr., Sra., porque hasta al presidente de Islandia se dirigen con su nombre.

- Los islandeses pueden leer las sagas que eran escritas hace más de mil años en su lengua actual sin problemas.

- Los islandeses creen en los “elfos” y en otras criaturas mágicas. Hasta fueron capaces de cambiar el plan de una carretera porque unos decían que allí vivían unas de esas criaturas.

Elfo en la nieve con un farol

-En Islandia tienen 13 Papás Noel

- Los islandeses calientan sus casas con la energía del agua termal que también llena las piscinas por todo el país. En el invierno también calientan hasta las aceras en la capital.

- Unos 7000km2 de Islandia están cubiertos por el glaciar. (La isla tiene 103 000km2)

- Islandia es uno de los países más caros, con la economía y el bienestar casi mejor del mundo.

- Los islandeses tienen el índice más alto de uso de móviles y ordenadores del mundo.

- Hasta el año 1989 la cerveza ha sido

- En Islandia no hace falta dejar propina porque su cultura no lo exige, pero la verdad es que los camareros no se enfadan si la dejás.

-Es un pais muy verde aunque uno se lo imagina cubierto de nieve y hielo.

Cascada con paisaje verde

The last evening I spent in Iceland was simply magical. We ended the trip with a show from the band SEABEAR at the Grand Rock  venue in Reykjavik. We were lucky enough to catch the band as they were unloading their gear for the sound check and plan a last minute interview with them.  Here are the photos!

sindri, vocals and guitar. check out his solo project at www.myspace.com/sinfangbous

örn ingi, the mean guitar.

guggý, the violin.

sóley, keys   www.myspace.com/solkottur

Kjartan Bjarnason, drums.

Iceland is one of the rare places where you can meet the band members when purchasing tickets at the door…

The performance was fantastic.

Please check em out at www.myspace.com/seabear

You should listen to Sindri’s solo album under the name of  Sin Fang Bous,  www.myspace.com/sinfangbous

]]> http://lasourcedufun.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/1760/ Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:45:02 +0000 djgrand http://lasourcedufun.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/1760/

FM Belfast – Par Avion (Retro Stefson remix)
c’est tellement à l’image de la scène musicale islandaise, c’est une grande famille sisi tous sur scène déguisés en nounours, je les ai vus dans la salle des fêtes de Búðardalur, un village islandais de 250 habitants, et les 250 dansaient… On a eu du mal le lendemain, mais ensemble on est allé manger de la tête de mouton et de la glace faite maison, en observant les mouvements du ciel au dessus de la baie.
C’est bien l’Islande.

Ray Salomone, Personal Trainer and Wellness Activist

 From Reykjavik, Iceland

Because of the collapse of the local currency, the Icelandic Krona, it was announced this week that all three McDonald’s Restaurants on the island nation will close, effective immediately.

While this may seem as yet another financial blow to this beautiful country and its wonderful people, this news should be greeted with a national day of celebration.

I clearly remember when they opened a McDonald’s in the German village where I was stationed in the US Army. The youth cheered as the statute of Ronald McDonald was raised. The middle aged and elderly cried in the streets, knowing that another part of their culture was lost.

By rejecting McDonald’s and other unhealthy foods, Icelanders can return to their incredibly healthy ethnic diet and regain their wellness. Unlike most other industrial nations, the damage isn’t irreversible.

Now, if the rest of the planet will take Iceland’s lead and duplicate this measure we would have some real progress.

 Ray Salomone   Personal Trainer and Wellness Activist

www.GrecoRomanWellness.com

Blog: www.GrecoRomanWellness.wordpress.com

The Most Provocative Wellness Blog on the Planet

Eat Fresh, Whole Foods. Exercise Intensely

PLAY ROUGH AND LIVE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!!!

 Contact Me Directly at: Ray@GrecoRomanWellness.com

Coming Soon to bookstores:

The Greco Roman Road to Wellness  by Ray Salomone and Dr. Katina Ioannidis

Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Greco-Roman-Road-Wellness-Old-World-Times/dp/0982139209/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243604904&sr=8-1

During my vast amounts of free time, I am also a fiction writer. My first novel, PEACE BE WITH YOU, a psychological drama of addiction and redemption, was published in 2007.

This is the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Be-You-Raimondo-Salomone/dp/142414812X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256656950&sr=8-1

My next novel, HUMAN TRAFFIC, a story of love and vengeance, will be finished sometime in the next decade.

[photo:  co-pilot Joey Benz of In House Image]

[photo:  Joey Benz of In House Image]

~Keep exploring~

Nitsirk