Iceland 5: Reyjkavik and Amsterdam

Jan 6th: Morning soak in the Blue Lagoon! It looks mystically blue in all the pictures, and is Iceland's most famous geothermal spa. The water in the lagoon is from the neighboring power station, having travelled from the ground, through the turbines, past a municipal water heater, and finally into the lava field that makes up the lagoon. At this point, its temperature is 37-39 Celsius.

Would have preferred it slightly warmer, but t'was a relaxing soak nonetheless. Moving from one part of the lagoon to another was a semi-awkward duck walk/crouch/swim, because the water was only chest deep-- yet the cold air made it absolutely necessary to submerge to neck level. We enjoyed the waterfall section: powerful shoulder massage. However, inevitably ended up tasting the water, which was blearghring-ly salty. High mineral (silica and sulphur) concentration. Supposedly good for skin, but bad for hair. Applied silica mud to our faces. Gloopy (like yam paste), and fun to play with, but not sure how beneficial it is. Hmm.. Thinking of yam paste is making me hungry.

Back in Reykjavik, we find a hotdog stand to stave off the hunger pangs. Delicious hotdog! Dressed in mayo, mustard, sauerkraut, and crunchy onions. very sexy. Dinner that evening was equally good. Icelandic Fish and Chips. I had the fried tusk: the batter was crispy but not too oily, and the fish.... Ah, the fish... firm meat, with bursts of juicy flavor. It was definitely a ratatouille moment for me.

I liked what I saw of Reykjavik =). Pity that the others left the next morning (Jan 7). SW and I felt somewhat bereft without the bustle of the group.

The shops had interesting and thoughtful window displays. Normal to see troll figurines in the window of a jewelry store, or any other store. And there is all this random sculpture in the streets. Quirky. =).

The cathedral (hallgrímskirkja) is a useful landmark. The exterior was designed to mimic basalt columns (like those at Reynisdrangar), but the interior looked newer, and had a stark, spartan feel (Lutheran church). It was commissioned and designed in 1937, but work only began in 1945 and it took 38 years to build! There's an interesting back story about how Iceland converted from Norse paganism to Christianity in ~1000AD. The King of Norway kept sending people over to convert them, and of course, the way to convince people in those days was to kill anyone who disagreed with you. In a final arbitration, everyone agreed to listen to Thorgeir Thorkelsson, a pagan priest. And he decided that Iceland should convert to Christianity, but the people could continue their pagan customs in private (i.e. eat horseflesh and kill unwanted babies by exposing them to the cold). Eventually, even private customs were banned, but not till Christianity and churches had gained a foothold. [This is a fantastic strategy, and totally transferrable to getting medical devices approved by the FDA. First, get it approved for a very safe indication. Then just make a series of minor modifications which will pass very easily, until you get to the one you really want.] Wikipedia also has an article on religion in Iceland.

The pond was voted 'Best Attraction' in a free tourist rag we picked up. It was stunning during sunset, and even after dark, one can spend many absorbing hours watching the swans, geese and ducks. They are extremely busy and vocal creatures. The pond would freeze over in winter, but the city keeps it hospitable for the birds by pumping in heated water.

The waterfront, where the viking ship sculpture resides, has a great view of the mountains. One can see  all the way to Snaefellsnes. Reminds me of Seattle, but even better, because there are more mountains. Went to an art gallery nearby, which had an exhibit of photographs from the 1920s. Divided roughly into studio portraits (grim looking, well dressed people), and fishing village pics (grim looking, wizened fishermen). There was also some modern art. One large piece had a bunch of green, brown and red, which I am convinced (after all the vampire movie discussions), depicts a zombie attack. I think modern art is like Harry Potter's Room of Requirement. It should be whatever you need it to be at that time. That being said, I'm not sure how to interpret my zombie attack imagery...

Lunch on Jan 7th was at Mamma Stein's, which claimed to serve traditional icelandic home cooking. We had fishcake (tasted like sotong ball, with texture of croquette), and lamb soup (lamb and celery, potato, carrot, leek). The lamb soup tasted like something Seok would make, but saltier. SW and I had an epiphany: throughout the trip, we'd been enjoying icelandic home cooking by Seok! We are convinced that she could've set up her own restaurant, and put Mamma Stein out of business...
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Jan 8th: Amsterdam! We spent our 8hr layover taking a canal tour, and going to the flower market. The city started from the 13th century as a small settlement on the banks of the river Amstel. As it expanded, concentric rings of canals were planned and built.

Canal tour was interesting. Learnt stuff like
1) Houses are taxed based on their widths. Hence, they became narrow and deep.

2) Because of the narrow frontage, furniture don't fit through the doors, staircases and lifts. Instead, stuff is moved in through the windows. A hook is provided near the roof for this purpose. Houses also tilt forward to provide more clearance.

Smell of pot everywhere. Walked into a mushroom and pot store at the flower market, which sold supplies for the home grower, and cannibis lollipops for 1 euro each =).

I like the buildings in Amsterdam. Old. Got character. Huge contrast between Hallgrímskirkja and Amsterdam's Oude Kerk. I like to go into churches to test if I can feel God. Even though Oude Kerk is Calvinist (that's quite close to Lutheran, yeah?), it feels more hallowed (??) somehow?? I think it's the old stones, the darkened interior, the expanse of width and height.