Jul Time

Christmas is in the air. And, in Sweden, they're not going to let a little "bad economic weather" rain on their holiday. A poll taken in December showed that most Swedes were not going to curtail their spending despite the gloomy national and global economies. So, shoppers are out in full force. The pedestrian sidewalks have been packed with shoppers.

The image on the left is our hood. Looking down Kungsgatan towards city centre, there was a mass of hurried buyers as far as the eye could see. Note the decorative lighted crowns that guard over the pedestrian street. The image on the right is a view into Haga, the historic section of town. There has been an outdoor Christmas market all along the street each weekend in December.

It was in Haga that I made my ultimate Christmas and ultimate fun purchase. A tomte. How cool is he? He was made in the 1920's or 30's. I found him in an antique shop last year on our pre-visit. But, I did not buy him at the time (frugal, moi?). Now, there were only three left and this little guy was in the best condition. Best of all, his price had come down. Way down. Lucky, frugal, me. For a brief description of a tomte, click on the image.

So, besides a tomte, what else defines Christmas in Sweden? Well, I guess there would be the julbock or Christmas Goat. The goat is made from straw and wrapped in red ribbon. He is placed under the Christmas tree or near the fireplace waiting for tomte and guarding presents. There is a famous large-scale version of the straw goat in the town of Gävle. Merry pranksters tend to light it on fire every year. This year, it is untorched...so far.


More on Chritsmas in Sweden can be found here. I have to file this tradition under odd: black Christmas decorations. Saw these in a shop at the Christmas Markets at Liseberg.


I mean, we did think it was a bit odd that there were very few green Christmas lights around the city. Red? Check. Green, not so much. But, black decorations? Just plain odd.

For traditional holiday drink, eggnog comes in far behind something called Julmust. It's a holiday drink specific to Sweden.


Julmust is a non-alcoholic malt-flavored beverage that, in my opinion, tastes like a cross between Mr. Pibbs and Dr. Pepper. Apotekarnes is the preferred brand to drink (thanks, Sofie). Coca-Cola, which experiences a severe drop in sales during Christmas as Swedes switch to Julmust, has begun marketing its soda as "a Must for Christmas." Oh. So. Clever. not.

Speaking of clever, here is our Christmas greeting for 2008. Click on the image for a [much] larger version. Or click here and try to find the following:

1. A cantankerous or tame blue-eyed julbock
2. A slutty or saintly St. Lucia bearing lussekatter
3. A tuneful or screeching Singing Christmas Tree of Göteborg
4. A naughty or nice tomte

The Leeky Cauldron

So, there is a food mystery here in Sweden. Where did all the green onions go? I was so used to buying a bunch of green onions (aka scallions) that when they disappeared from the produce department seemingly overnight, I thought there must be a mistake.

Now, TJ and I usually shop at two stores: ICA Maxi and Willy:S; one right after the other (cheaper produce and Diet Coke at Willy:S). The green onions. Gone from both stores. I checked the local Hemköp around the corner from our apartment just to be sure. Nada. What happened? Did the local or regional suppliers just stop growing it?

What remained in the produce department was another vegetable. One that I had always seen. A long green stack and a white bulbous bottom. Like a green onion on steroids. I had wondered what it was. It is purjolök. So, it was some type of onion or so I thought. Lök is the word for onion in Swedish. But, it is used indiscriminately (to thwart people like me). For example, garlic is vitlök in Swedish: white - onion. Hmmm.

So, the upshot is that I bought this uber onion and used it. The flavor was oniony, but just a little off. I figured this was the new onion for Winter. A whole lotta onion.

Then, one day we were in the self-checkout line at Willy:S. It was our first time buying a purjolök there. We selected onion from the menu on the touchscreen and placed the purjolök in the bag. Warning! Warning! An attendant comes over, inspects our bag, and informs us that the item in question is not an onion. Rather, it is a leek. How embarrassing. Who knew my Vegetable IQ was so low?

But, that still leaves me wondering. Where did the green onions go?

Lübeck Christmas Markets

Our trip to the Christmas markets in Lübeck, Germany was quite a fun adventure. We drove down, took a short ferry from Denmark to Germany, and arrived in Lübeck in late afternoon. Immediately headed toward city center and found the main Christmas market at Breite Straße (a pedestrian area). It was still early but the crowds were gathering. We picked the only night of the Christmas markets season when all markets and stores would be open until midnight.

So, we walked around and did a bit of window shopping. But, not before TJ had some piping hot glühwein. I had some as well. But, I really liked the spiced apple cider (äpfel punch).

The next day, it snowed. The forecast had called for party sunny skies with temps just above freezing. Um.....no. But the snow was a bonus. It's not something we get a lot in Göteborg. Of course, we did decide to drive into town instead of walking.

What better to do on a cold, snowy day then to head indoors. Which is what we did. Several of the Christmas markets are indoors. The best was the market inside Hospital of the Holy Spirit on Koberg. There was a line to get in. But, it moved. Eventually. The quality of the crafts was better than other markets around town. But, most importantly, there were three older women who were cranking out fresh waffles. Oh. My. God. Those were good. I wanted to get another, but a huge line had formed. How sad...for me.

Of course, at the market at Breite Straße, there were several booths selling small pieces of fried sweet dough covered with powdered sugar. That was a highlight. I have pictures from our little adventure posted online here. Or just select any of the images above to see them.

I end with this little guy. A genie of some sort. A grantor of wishes, perhaps. He oversaw a children's ride at the Christmas market on Koberg. I insisted that we walk back across town so that I could take a picture of him. We were in the process of deciding on a restaurant for dinner. After I "got the shot", we headed back to a Turkish restuarant we had passed. The name: Ali Baba. The meal was excellent. Our wish was granted.

Mood Today: Devilish

Just a fun little photography/Photoshop project for [another] cold, wet day in Göteborg. Clicking on the image will take you to my Flickr Photostream.

Daylight Fading

And one more thing...

The sun has just set. It is 3:40pm. That is another reason why lights are such an important part of the holiday season in Sweden; they help chase away the darkness of Winter. Most store fronts also now have candles burning outside on either side of the entrance. Inviting.

Back to the fading daylight. In December, the sun sets around 3:30pm for nearly the entire month. At the beginning of the month, the sun rises at 8:30am; later in the month this tops out at 8:54am. On December 21st, the shortest day of the year, the times are as follows:

Sunrise: 8:52 AM
Sunset: 3:25 PM

Daylight: 6 hours 33 minutes

Good times!

So as not to succumb to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), I have a six-month supply of St. John's Wort. Hopefully, I won't have to resort to a lightbox. But, just picture it: me and the dogs sitting in front of a lightbox every day.

To Market, To Market

Ooops. Forgot to mention that we are heading to Germany this weekend to experience the Chrismas market (Weihnachtsmärkte, in German). Several people strongly recommended that we visit the Christmas markets.

Although there are markets in both Göteborg and Stockholm, the ones in Germany are supposed to be the best. The absolute best is in Nuremberg. But, that a bit too far to drive, so we are heading Lubeck in Northern Germany. The Christmas markets in Lubeck should be fun.

Will have a full report when we return. Including what we bought.

God Jul, Already?

Here in Sweden, there is no major holiday, such as Thanksgiving, to prevent the start of Christmas season. Although I finally found a whole turkey at ICA Maxi, we are foregoing the traditional meal this year. No turkey. And, at over $3.25/lb., I can't say I'm too sad. Of course, not having pumpkin and apple-cranberry pies (freshly baked by yours truly) or my special corn bread and cranberry stuffing is a bit sad. We are going out that evening and depart the next day for a weekend trip.

So, some Christmas decorations went up around the city a few weeks ago. Large stars and snowflake with lights that stretch across narrow roads around city center. The bulk of the decorations will go up around the city on December 1st, or so we have been told. Including some hideous shapes with blue lights on the Aveny that I saw last year.

The stores have been pushing Christmas odds and ends since October. TJ has been in the holiday spirit and a diligent shopper. For my part, I bought some cookie cutters for the annual Christmas cookie bake-off and decorating event. And so it begins.

TJ has already decked our halls and walls with shiny red and silver ornaments. Cinnamon-scented candles liven the air. And this:

This is a tomte candle that you burn starting at the beginning of December to count down to Christmas Day. The tomte originally started off as a more pagan creature, but has now been folded into the traditional Christmas story involving St. Nick - the Christmas tomte. There are many variations of a tomte. I like the ones that look like gnomes. Like this one (clicking on image will take you to my Flickr photostream):

I plan on buying an antique, traditional looking tomte in the next few weeks. Expect a photo.

We attended our first holiday party - a glögg mingle. We met old faces and new in the most spacious, wonderfully decorated apartment just off the Aveny. Glögg is the Swedish version of mulled wine. Sweet, warm and tasty. A recipe if you are so inclined.

Unfortunately, we are missing a Lucia party this weekend. What fun that would have been. The actual date of the Lucia celebration is December 13th. It involves a young girl dressed in white with a crown of burning candles on her head. Glögg and lussekatter (St Lucy buns) are consumed. The buns, which I will have to try, are made with saffron. And, there is a Lucia song. More here. And here.

Halloween Party Post-Mortem

Well, the scariest day of the year is over. And, I am not talking about election day. No, the aftermath of our Halloween party has been cleaned up and put away for next year. Yes, there will be a next year. Click on the image above or here to see photos from the party.

Special thanks to David and Simon for providing me with supplemental photos (and video) from the party. Still, between the three of us, no one had a picture of TJ in full costume as Ghostface from the Scream movies; he discarded his mask and knife quite early. TJ is sneaky that way.

A note about the photos. Many people in the photos have red eye. I decided not to correct them. Mainly, because it was too time-consuming. But also, because the red eyes fit with the demonic theme of the party. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

So, the next day was recovery day. Now I remember why I don't drink a lot of tequila. Two words: massive headache. And TJ? Well, they say that happiness is a warm puppy. But, I think a couple of Advil would have helped more.

Feeling Good

The fog lifted overnight here in Göteborg. I awoke to a crisp, clear morning.

sun in the sky, you know how I feel...

it's a new dawn
it's a new day...
and I'm feeling good

'cause this old world is a new world
and a bold world
for you and me

Bump in the Night

There is nothing scarier than a good Halloween pumpkin (mine was good, not great).

Except, of course, waiting for election results. So, I'm hoping there is no bump in the middle of the night. No strange new dawn of uncertainty.

No, I would like to think the real nightmare is over. That suspense will be minimal. The joy, overwhelming. The healing? Well, we can always hope.

The Great Pumpkin Disaster!

Our Halloween party is rapidly approaching. It looks like the the turnout will be robust. Planning has been going along smoothly. Up until now.

While in the US, we purchased candy corn, candy pumpkins, and Peeps (yes, Peeps!). A little taste of traditional Halloween candy for our Swedish friends. Well, traditional except for the Peeps part. Also found costumes for ourselves and the dogs [party pix to be posted next week]. Lots of scary decorations for the apartment. And this guy...

Yes, a Devil Domo plush toy! In fact, we got two additional little Halloween-themed Domos from Target. Don't judge. I have had a Domo for 7 years. I like strange and cute figures from Japan. No comments from the peanut gallery.

Anywho, we decorated the apartment this past weekend. TJ did the bulk of the heavy lifting. Stringing cobwebs and setting a plastic spider into said cobweb. Hanging bats from our circular staircase belfry. Gluing a plastic skull onto a beer bottle. Did I mention that TJ was putting up the decorations? On Saturday we went grocery shopping and picked up two pumpkins. A postmortem analysis:

Buying your pumpkins 6 days before our Halloween party - Seems logical.
Carving your pumpkin 6 days before your Halloween party - Shouldn't be a problem.
Keeping the pumpkins indoors - Might be a problem.
Pumpkin becoming soft and squishy in places 3 days before your Halloween party - A bad problem.
Mold growing on your pumpkins 3 days before your Halloween party - A very bad problem.

The autopsy photo clearly shows the problem.

So, if you happen to be attending our Halloween party on Friday night and see one or two [skillfully carved] pumpkins, you will know that the pumpkin elves were hard at work Friday afternoon.

Absentee Blogging

Okay. So the frequency of my postings has slowed a bit. I've been wrapped up in things (how specific of me). But, I did vote. The ballot was mailed on Monday. And barring some unforeseen event, my vote will be counted. I hope all my dear friends and family in the US are voting. It's too important for you to not let your voices be heard. Participate or don't bother complaining about the result.

We're certainly sailing through uncharted waters with not only the US economy, but the global one as well. I've been following along here in Sweden. And while I find a silver lining in that the US Dollar has staged an amazing rally against European currencies, it's pretty bleak otherwise. Still, TJ and I have decided to keep traveling and not let the opportunity to see Europe slip away.

For those who know me well, you probably can guess how I voted. But, this video uses both humor and poignancy to illustrate why it's time for real change in the US. I'm hopeful.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is fast approaching. A scary day during some scary times indeed. Even here in Sweden. So, we've decided to throw a Halloween Party. Halloween is not celebrated on the same level as it is in the US. The holiday and associated marketing are just making inroads into Scandinavia and, for that matter, most parts of Europe. Candy corn is unknown to most Swedes. The horror!

We aim to change all that.

But how will we acquire the requisite orange, yellow and white sugary gold? Well, a trip to the US, of course. Luckily we already had one planned. A very brief trip to Upstate New York. But long enough to do a little shopping and help prop up the US economy. We're both bring an extra suitcase! And we will return with candy corn, some decorations (which are few and far between here), and perhaps the makings of a costume.

Yes, it is going to be a costume party! In that spirit, I designed an apropos Halloween greeting. Click on the image below (or here) to be taken to an interactive page where you can reveal who is scarier...

Glad Kanelbullens Dag!

Much to my surprise, October 4 is Kanelbullens Dag. A day to celebrate the cinnamon (kanel) roll or bun (bulle). That Sweden has a special day set aside for a pastry should really come as no surprise. But, I would have thought that the French would be the ones to honor such delectable treats. Perhaps they do. I am always willing to be enlightened about such matters.

So what is Kanelbullens Dag? Well, this handy website would surely tell me, if only I were more proficient at Swedish. Luckily, I found this bit of info on another Swedish blog. "The Cinnamon Bun Day is invented by an organisation called Hembakningsrådet. Hembakning means home baking, and this organization works for supporting knowledge about cereals, baking and other bun-and-bread-related issues."

So, there you have it. I cannot think of a better reason to celebrate. In fact, thanks to TJ, I've already "celebrated" this morning with two lovely warm kanelbullar. Two down....many more to go!

After The Fall

Sure. It all seems so pleasant and unassuming at the moment. Looking out my window, there is not a cloud in the sky. Truly beautiful. But, the air has a slight chill. A hint of what is to come.

The weather stopped being warm a few weeks ago. The turn came in late August. Snap! Just like that. One morning, I awoke to this scene.

A gray day. An ominous cloud stretching across the sky. Gray days are nothing new here. But, coupled with the change in temperature, the falling leaves, and the sun's rapidly advancing march South, the signs all pointed toward the impending dormant cycle. So, I took the picture above to illustrate the change. But, this is what I really saw.

Seasons shift rapidly here. Although technically Fall now, it seems as though we've moved past it already. The leaves just need to catch up. The final nail in the coffin will be when all the outdoor seating areas at cafes and restaurants are disassembled and put away until next year. I hear that will take place in mid-October. Then, outdoor life here will slow down noticeably. And it will all be about dressing in layers. Crisp morning air. Frost. Runny noses. Hot chocolate!

Still, on a day like this, I think Winter just got pushed back a bit. But, it's out there. Waiting.

UPDATE: Okay, we're in Day 2 of Indian Summer. Who knew?

Scene: Photo Vignettes III

Lördagsbarn Stopp!
Surbrunnsgatan and Stora Badhusgatan, Göteborg, Sweden
September 20, 2008 2:24pm


Lördagsbarn Gå!
Surbrunnsgatan and Stora Badhusgatan, Göteborg, Sweden
September 20, 2008 2:25pm

The Trials and Tribulations of a Spastic Hund

Yes, hund is Swedish for dog. And, isn't this a picture of one sad little hund? But, looks are deceiving. The bandage is more for protection than a determinant of actual injury.

So, how did this come to be. It starts, as usual, with new and unusal behavior from Zoey. In this case, she started acting strange in our favorite backyard restroom area behind the Otter House. Last week, she began to tiptoe (best description I can come up with) at the edge of the grass. She didn't seem to want to walk into the yard, let alone do her business. Occassionally, some unknown force was nipping at her feet and head. Then, she would sit down and stare out away from the yard. Curious. We had to move onto to other pastures, equally as green, but farther away.

So, some of this may be my fault. I failed to notice the small bugs on her. They were, in fact, mosquitoes. And, it appears, they were biting her. Somehow, I thought given the colder temperatures that the bugs would have gone to their permanent slumber. Apparently not. Zoey began licking her paw. Swollen and a little red. A bite.

Now, dogs seem to think their saliva has curative powers. They apply it everywhere. To everything. One side effect of continuous licking is hair loss. Another is irritation. Zoey had both. Thus, the bandage. Which lasted all of 15 hours. She is a clever girl. Still, there was a little time for the affected area to heal.

No need to send cards or flowers. The patient is doing well.

Scene: Photo Vignettes II

Leo Pacifier

Højbro Bron, Copenhagen, Denmark
September 6, 2008 4:14pm

Zoey Pacifier
Norra Allégatan, Göteborg, Sweden
September 5, 2008 1:48pm

Scene: Photo Vignettes I

Street Corner Buddha
Skeppsbron, Göteborg
August 29, 2008 9:25am

Musik i Full Fart [Music at Full Speed] v4

This post contains a list of new and notable music I've been listening to of late. Feel free to comment with your favorite songs and artists. I always welcome suggestions for music. To find out more about my musical tastes, check out my profile on LastFM.

Artist links will take you to an informational website (Myspace page, artist website, etc). Song links will take you to a video of the song.

I’ve dug a little deeper into world music for this edition. Some artists are repeat offenders; I’ve previously recommended their music. Enjoy!

Pop
From Australia, Gabriella Cilmi, with a full-throated voice like Anastacia, delivers in-your-face pop-rock on Save The Lies, the follow-up to Sweet About Me. Her next single is Don’t Wanna Go To Bed Now. Pretty smart lyrics coming from a 16 year-old. She's got the voice to back up the bravado. And, finally, in Gabriella’s case, who doesn’t love a good cover of Echo Beach! Also from OZ comes Vanessa Amorosi with her soaring Perfect. Yes, it is. For a sweet redux back to the 60’s pop landscape, there is UK artist Beth Rowley on So Sublime. Canadian singer Esthero is Never Gonna Let You Go. Now, if she could just offer this unreleased song for sale. Swedish rising star Veronica Maggio sings in Swedish, but her voice translates Stopp and Mandagsbarn into mod 60’s-esque pop gems. An Iranian-born Swedish artist, Arash (featuring Rebecca), was all over the airwaves last month with Suddenly. And, then there is Belgian singer Kate Ryan. Her last song (Voyage, Voyage) was pure europop. But not my cup of tea. And repetitive. The same can be said of her new song, Ella Elle l’a. Still, I cannot get it out of my head. The final Pop entry is huge in Europe. I’m not sold, but I’ll pass it along anyway. The Script from Ireland with the somewhat drippy The Man Who Can’t Be Moved. Maybe a new category: schmaltz pop.

Dance
Shine (Ian Carey Mix) is yet another dance song off of Booty Luv's debut album. More grooves to shake things up on the dancefloor. Laurent Wolf (featuring Éric Carter) brings on the euro-dance beats with No Stress (Club Mix). Bellatrax (featuring Sophia May) loses control on I Can’t Help Myself (Sunfreakz Mix). One of those songs where you want to be in the center of the dancefloor waving your arms over your head. Well, I do. On Mike Polo’s I Love U Baby (Extended Mix), I think we get it. Emphatically. I finally jumped on the fun, sexy Lady GaGa bandwagon. Teamed with Colby O’Donis on Just Dance, Lady GaGa may not be able to see straight, but she knows the ultimate destination is the dancefloor.

Alternative
Wow! When I first heard Stop The Clocks by German band Donots, it was like listening to WHFS in Washington, DC back in the early 90's. Ah, the good old alternative radio days. And I dating myself here? Probably. Still, how can you resist a music video with puppies? Someone who caught my attention then is back again: Juliana Hatfield. She teams with Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs on This Lonely Love. The song is a long way from Everybody Loves Me But You or Universal Heartbeat. Her voice and tone has matured nicely with age. From Spain, Amaral puts it out there on Kamikaze. If only Shakira had gone in this direction.

Adult Alternative
The search for the next retro-cool singer (think Amy Winehouse or Duffy) has turned up a young Swiss singer, Stephanie Heinzmann. She’s big in Germany and her voice is spreading across the continent. Check out Like A Bullet, My Man is a Mean Man, and Revolution to get a sense of her talent. Norwegian singer Maria Haukaas Storeng sang Hold On Be Strong in the 2008 Eurovision contest. I missed the performance. As such, I didn’t hear her song until it started flooding the airwaves this Summer. Finally, Irish singer Laura Izibor follows up the promise of From My Heart To Yours and Don’t Stay with breezy, bright Shine. Check out this talented voice!!!

Hip-Hop
In 2007, Norwegian group Madcon remade Beggin’ and garnered success in a few corners of Europe. What a difference a year makes. The song, an amalgam of hip/hop and retro pop, has made its way all over Europe in a big way. Dig deeper and check out their song Liar.

Guilty Pleasures
Swingle Singing. Huh? Say what? In Swingle singing, songs without lyrics are sung using the sounds doo's, boo's, dah's and bah's. It originated out of the 60’s from a group of French session singers led by Ward Swingle. Hence the name. The Swingle Singers have been through several incarnations, but are still around today (sans Ward).


Archive Posts
Musik i Full Fart Volume I
Musik i Full Fart Volume II
Musik i Full Fart Volume III

Ooh, it really makes me wonder...

There was a story at the English language news site, The Local, regarding pedestrian crosswalk signals. The signal (shown above) is manufactured by a Swedish company, Prisma Teknik, and is ubiquitous in Sweden. It is also found in a number of other countries around the world. Be on the lookout for it.

Seems innocuous, doesn't it? A warning light, a figure of a pedestrian, and a helpful hand that points up to the button that should be pressed before crossing the street. But, in reality, the hand actually is a hidden symbol for God. The president of Prioma Teknik states that "We want to show that there is only one way to reach God and that is up and through Jesus." Now that's a subliminal stairway to heaven!

Of course, it is possible that if you don't press the button, but still cross the road, you might end up reaching God a lot sooner. Having said that, I use the hand to guide me to the button every time I cross the road. Heaven can wait!

Parting Shots [Iceland]

The postmortem on Iceland as a photographic subject. In a place with unending panorama landscapes, I ended up taking a a good number of [classical] abstract images. Go figure. Not surprisingly, these abstracts are some of my favorite images from the trip.

Close up of boat docked on land. Red port hole. Orange rust. Flaking white paint. A hint of green through the port hole.

Some type of industrial propeller. Taken as a black and white. Heavy contrast.

Rusted part of shipwreck sitting in a sea of rounded black stones.

Piece of ice with great reflective/refractive light sitting on a black sand beach.

These images were taken with my Canon 5D digital SLR. Photos (and full captions) of the Iceland trip taken with my point and shoot camera can be found here.

Iceland: Fire and Ice Adventure

Iceland is vast. An amalgamation of varied worlds. It's the size of the state of Kentucky (TJ read that somewhere) but seems a million miles from the bluegrass state of mind. Except for the horses. There are a lot of horses in Iceland. They're hardy, like the people. They've survived fire and ice. And live in the great wide open. A visitor sees seemingly endless vistas like this one in the Westfjordlands. Icelanders live it. [click on images to see a larger view]

Getting around this island country was an adventure in itself. We had a Volkswagen Polo as our trusty steed. Manual. Which means TJ drove. And, brilliantly maneuvered across the variety of road surfaces that exist in Iceland. The Ring Road encircles the entire island. And it is paved. At least the sections we were on. But, straying away from the Ring Road is where road adventures begin. Most interior roads are called F-Roads. Rental cars are not allowed on F-Roads. We did not travel on F-Roads. But, we did drive on a lot of roads that were unpaved to varying degrees. Narrow. Occasionally steep. Usually with no guardrails. Like the road shown below. The posted speed limit was always much higher than what we felt could be driven given the conditions. But, not for the locals.

In Iceland, there were two things that stood out in the pockets of civilization. Restored churches and land-dwelling ships. There were churches everywhere...and anywhere. Many were situated adjacent to a homestead in the middle of pasture land. Sometimes with no means of access except to drive up to the adjacent house and park in the their driveway. We did not do this. Instead, we looked for the signposts indicating a church and access. As such, we did not visit a lot of churches. Most churches look like they were just built. Wood, stone and cement. Painted white with colorful roof and trim accents (usually red); though some churches were black. It turns out that many have been restored by the descendants of those who built or maintained the church (back in the day). Picturesque. Maybe that is the point.

As for the ships. Was this how [coastal] communities displayed their connection to the sea? Were the ships simply out of commission after years of sailing service? Had they all been blown ashore in big storms? Probably the truth resides in equal parts. Regardless, it was still kind of unique to see a ship moored on dry land. Smaller boats had been placed in playgrounds. A connection to the sea for young and old alike.

Water surrounds Iceland. And water flows out of Iceland. Water, water, everywhere. Falling. Thundering down to the sea. A land of waterfalls. Some were grand, like Gullfoss waterfalls.

Others were smaller (relatively speaking - note person in photo for scale). You could walk right up to them. And, in the case of Seljalandsfoss waterfalls (below), you could walk behind them.

Iceland is a land between two continents. It sits atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the North American and Eurasian plates are spreading apart. As such, it was born of volcanoes. Everywhere there is evidence of current and past geo-dynamic activity. Some violent, some beautiful, some both. TJ and I ventured to a couple of geothermal areas, mainly in South/Southwest Iceland. In one town, you could walk right up to the boiling mud. This was as close as I wanted to get. Still, it made me a bit nervous.

At another, we walked past warning barriers and into an unstable steam field. After a strong earthquake in late May, the activity shifted across an access road. We walked in and surveyed the spread of escaping steam. TJ walked out onto a lookout and boardwalk that had been closed for obvious reasons. Luckily, he only came away with dirty hands.

Other terrain in Iceland is a bit more benign. Lots of old and new lava flows. During the cooling of thick lava flows, fracturing can lead to the formation of hexagonal columns. Known as columnar basalt, these formation are found throughout Iceland. Sometimes, just the tops of the formation are exposed.

In a guidebook, we found some interesting statistics. Iceland comprises a land surface of about 100,000 square kilometers. Of this, glaciers represent 12 percent and pasture land another 24 percent. But, according to this source, the majority of Iceland (65%) is referred to as wasteland. At first, we thought that was a bit of a misnomer. But as we drove high above the fjords or across the moss-covered lava fields, we realized that wasteland was an apt description for this alien landscape.

In South Iceland, the Ring Road cuts through kilometers of coarse black grit surrounded by nothing but an occasional [large] boulder. This is glacial debris deposited by catastrophic floods when Katla, the volcano underneath Myrdalsjokull Glacier, erupted and melted the glacier. Katla has erupted 16 times in historical times; the last time in 1918. Driving on this flat black plane our thoughts turned to disaster scenarios. What would happen if Katla erupted while we were driving? Where would we go? Would/could we survive? We identified a high promontory on the coast that might offer safety. We were only here for a vacation, the farms and houses around us live with this doomsday scenario every day.

This mixture of fire and ice is what makes Iceland unique. But, with the fire, you likely want it small and contained. A hot springs or geyser will do. A violent, erupting volcano. No thank you, please. Yes, ice. Flowing ice. Melting ice. Sometimes, just eating ice. Here I am enjoying some ice that is likely over 1000 years old. Yes, in a sense, I am contributing to global warming. But, it was oh-so-enjoyable.

The highlight of the trip was seeing icebergs lying on a beach. Now, technically, I am not sure if they are still considered icebergs if not floating in water? But that's beside the point. Look at the colors. Look at the size. There was clear ice and coarse granular ice and snow cone ice. There was white ice, blue ice and black ice.

There were small icebergs and large, bigger than TJ, icebergs. It was a landscape like no other I had ever seen. And that is a lasting memory I wish to share with you.

I have posted more photos from our trip on Picasa here. Enjoy!

All photos shown on this post and on the Picasa link were taken with my new digital point and shoot camera. It is a Canon Powershot SD1100 IS in Bohemian Brown and I really like it.

Skyr: The Gelato of Iceland

I hadn't really given much thought to what food marvels I might discover in Iceland. If any, I assumed it would be a fish dish. But, on the Icelandair flight to Reykjavik, they served a creamy deliciousness called skyr. The in-flight magazine described it as a type of cheese product made from skim milk. But, it really fits into the yogurt family. However, in Iceland, they use the product in all types of dishes. So, it's not just a dessert sensation. Regardless, with low fat and high protein what's not to like. Skyr.is is the most prominent skyr product.

The taste is very familiar and, yet, quite different. I am tempted to say that it had a taste doppleganger in Yoplait's Custard Style Yogurt. But, I believe, Yoplait has changed the name (now Thick and Creamy), packaging, and maybe even the taste of that product since I last tried it. Damn those marketing execs!

Fret not, eager Americans, Whole Foods offers this delectable, cultured product in select regions of the country. I can only imagine what unimaginable price they charge for it, but try it anyway. At least once. Hopefully, it won't eat up your entire paycheck. For those of you in the rest of the world (myself included), a(nother) trip to Iceland is in order.