Hypnagogic Ramblings

WARNING: I think I am least 63% asleep while writing this

Well done, Iceland Air. You made Iceland my favorite place in the world before I even got there, with your pure spring water, your simulation of the Northern Lights in the cabin as we taxied, and yes, your blatant tourism marketing campaign got me hooked.  You made it my favorite place before I stepped out of the car and discovered that Greater Reykjavik smells more thank slightly of sulfur. Speaking of "slightly," when you wake me up on the plane to warn me of slight turbulence, I imagine it will be a bit bumpy, not that I will begin to unavoidably contemplate death with unprecedented vigor, praying that something would explode and I'd be incinerated rather than sucked out as the plane breaks in two and have a long fall. Would I die from impact, or freeze first? Impact, I did the research. That'd be a long minute 45 though. And thank you, LOST, for the vivid imagery of a plane breaking in two.

Sunset in the mostly south

After that rather terrifying short hop from Boston, I arrived at Keflavik airport around 6am. I love it, all wood and windows and welcoming. The lady at the car rental desk with the unpronounceable name was great, best welcome I could have asked for. After discovering I had planned incredibly little for this trip and the next few months, she told me I'd fit in perfectly here. Plans are always subject to the weather, so they take it day by day and just go with whatever comes along. I'm very grateful to her for recommending me to upgrade my car to one with spikes in the tires. Apparently you can't really get anywhere without them. Especially out of the driveway. And who knew? Park into the wind so it doesn't rip the doors off your car when you open them. That happens. Oh, and there are roads that cross rivers. They don't have bridges. And roads where only 4x4's are allowed. And roughly half of the country where rental cars are simply forbidden. I decided that them calling it "slight" turbulence made sense, due to what kind of conditions these people are used to, living on an island in the Arctic Ocean with a bunch of active volcanoes.

Fish-themed coinage

Due to traffic, and dark, and not speaking Icelandic, I missed a few turns. "I'm so lost," I said for the first time early today. I went back out in the daylight and it's more of a mantra now, but there's so much beautiful to see it doesn't really matter. And I finally got my gps working, so if things get dire, I can use that. I've quite enjoyed exploring in this manner though.

Can't stay awake anymore. Night Night.

Quite possibly the most delicious salt I've ever tasted.

Definitely the worst mango juice I've ever tasted: it tastes like carrots.