Iceland trip, 25 March 2016

I made friends with a neighborhood cat and I'm sad to say goodbye to her this morning. Her collar has rhinestones on it and a little bell. I lure her inside again for photos and she's not very happy about it. But she pouts when I put her back outside. Cats are the same no matter where you go, I think. 

Displeased.

Still displeased. 

We fly out this evening, so there's time in the morning and early afternoon for a few more stops in Reykjavik. This is weird to me- I usually start trips early in the morning so there's never time for more stuff on my last day anywhere. We go to Laugardalslaug, the largest public pool in Reykjavik. The pool and hot tubs are geothermic water, of course, and I'm excited to try them out. Before you enter, everyone must take a fully nude shower in the open locker room. I don't mind the group nudity, but I think about how you'd never see this in America. I wish our culture were less Puritanical, less squeamish of the human body and vulnerability. Is that it? Is that why? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe America just doesn't like showers where you have separate knobs for hot water and cold water.

Walking outside in my bikini is a shock. The air is so cold! I get into a pool as quickly as possible. It's an in-ground bowl, basically. Shallow at the edges and maybe 24 inches deep in the middle. People lay like wagon wheel spokes. We bob in and out of the water, too hot and then too cold.

After the pool, we try to get lobster from a food truck, but a lot of smaller things are closed early for the Easter weekend, food trucks included. We go back to the bakery from the day before. Kate gets me a sourdough roll, which is delicious, and I try some of Renee's cinnamon roll and it's divine. I stay in the car while they visit the Perlan. We drive to the Thufa, and earthwork near the Harpa. It's a perfectly rounded mound, a slow spiral of flagstones marking a narrow path up and around to the top. The view is fantastic, but it's so windy and cold that I stay at the top for about 5 seconds before returning to our car. 

The Thufa.

View of the bay from the Thufa.

Building artwork downtown.

It's time to drive back to Keflavik Airport. I don't like flying, but I love the thought of being home. Check-in and security is so easy, nothing like America. The Icelandic version of TSA are happy and friendly. For Easter, the airport has hidden 100 foil-wrapped chocolate eggs around the concourse. Joe finds one and I find two. They have fortunes inside of them, but I can't read mine because I don't speak Icelandic.  

Chocolate egg at the Keflavik Airport. 

Renee and I somehow end up on a different flight than the others. We all wonder how it's possible that there are two flights headed to Seattle from Iceland a mere 20 minutes apart, but both seem full so it was clearly necessary. I sit in an exit row so I can't have my bag with me. I stuff my pockets full with charger, headphones, snacks, and wallet, and fret about my bags not being with me. When we land, I'm the second person off the plane and walk as fast as I can to customs. The agent at the front of the line barks at me "What kind of passport do you have?" When I tell him it's just a passport, he gets more aggressive, asking "Is it a visa? A green card? Certificate? Permit? What do you have!" I'm tired and confused and have no idea how to answer his question. "It's just an American passport, I'm an American citizen," I stammer at him and show him. He waves me away with a gruff "Oh, okay." I think about what a terrible first impression that makes, how I feel embarrassed foreign visitors are greeted like that. 

I get outside as quickly as I can and look for Jason. My trip was great. But the welcome home hug I get from him is even better. 

Mount Rainier above the clouds, from the plane.