Iceland Part 1 - The Roadtrip

Begga and I took a kickass road trip through Iceland in my 1st week there. The above picture is us right before we left on our grand adventure! While we were traveling I kept a log of times and events, which I will use in recalling our trip...

Begga and I in front of our Beloved Bertha (the car)

12PM - Leave Begga's Grandparent's house.

12:10PM - Stop at a local grocery store and buy road food...It's a beautiful sunny day. Perfect road trip weather!!!

Begga Driving

12:40PM - Drive by hot springs on Highway 1. Begga describes the hot springs smell as "egg fart" (they smell bad because of the sulfur).

12:50PM - Passed by our first town. Listening to 'Garden State' soundtrack - Excellent road music!

1PM - Town #2: Selfoss...mainly known for 2nd hand car sales. Begga says, "strange people live here."

1:30PM - 'Garden State' soundtrack ends. A Patty Griffin song 'Oh Heavenly Day' plays on the radio and I get happy/sad. Patty rocks.

"Which car do you think is ours???"

2PM - Stop in tiny ass nowhere town for beer, hot dogs, and a corkscrew. A man parked his red Pontiac Firebird next to our Beloved Bertha and gave her low self-esteem.

This is Bertha. She isn't the prettiest, but we love her!

2:15PM - Realize we forgot pillows! See first stop waterfall on the horizon.

First Stop Waterfall

Me Walking Up the Side of the Falls

The Lovely Falls in the Sunlight

Begga Looking Adorable With the Falls Behind Her

Me Looking 1/2 as Adorable as Begga

Us in Cave Behind Falls

Begga in Front of Mini-Falls Next to Other Falls.
(We decided to climb up to the mini-falls.)

Me As Far As I Got
(It got steep and I wussed out, but Begga made it all the way up!)

Begga Rockin' the Mini-Falls!

3PM - End of stop 1 - waterfalls we could walk behind. We hiked a little further and climbed up a small part of the mountain to get to another one. On the walk back to the car I drank glacier water from a stream! It was tasty.

3:20PM - Pass a place called Drangshlid where there are houses IN the mountains, literally! I tell Begga I want to stop and take pictures on the way back.

4PM - Next stop, another big waterfall. We walked up the biggest flight of stairs EVER to get to the top of the waterfall. Begga and I sang "the hiiiillllllssss are alliiiivvveee...with the soooouuunnddd of muuuuusssssiiiic, LA LA LA LAAAA!" at the top of the waterfall. We may have scared the sheep.

Me in Front of Huge Waterfall

View of Snake-Like River
(Took this on the way of the huge staircase to the top of the falls.)

The Top of the Falls!

"The Hiiillllssss are Aliiiivvvvveee!"
(This was also at the top of the falls, I walked a ways down, then ran back singing to Begga.)

This is What I Found on My Walk Past the Top of the Falls
(I also found a tourist couple having a romantic picnic - oops!)

Yay! Begga made it up the ginormous stairs!

Begga and I with Top of Huge Falls
(After this we go back to Bertha and commence more travel.)

4:11PM - As we drive through rugged Iceland, there's an ice cream truck in the middle-of-nowhere!?!? Seriously, music on and everything. Is he selling ice cream to sheep?

Map on Dashboard and Long Road Ahead

"What do people do for fun in little towns like this?"

Tales from the Rearview Mirror
(Those purple flowers are all over the place in Iceland!)

Rearview Mirror Speculates on What Lies Ahead and Behind

4:45PM - Stopped by a seaside town called Vik where we ate sandwiches on a bench by a black sand beach.

Me Freezing on Black Sand Beach

Begga on Blacksand Beach

Awesome Black and Blue Horizon
(Unfortunately, this water is waaaayyy too cold to swim in.)

5:20PM - Driving through Icelandic wilderness and listening to my 'Open Road' mix CD. Led Zeppelin's song 'Road to California' is playing. I've always wanted to road trip to this song. Mission accomplished!!!

5:34PM - Sophie wonders aloud if sheep ever fall off the sides of mountains. Begga cackles inappropriately at the thought. Sophie's cackling follows. It may seem inhumane, but seriously, it's a funny visual!

6ish - Arrive at our campsite. They charge you to camp, what BS! Begga and I pick out a spot and pitch our tent. The ground is unusually hard and Begga and I have to resort to imagining the tent pegs are the heads of our ex's in order to muster the strength and aggression to get those suckers in the ground. (Note: We ended up pounding some of them into the ground so well that the pegs representing Pat and Matt had to stay at the campsite since we couldn't pull then out.)

7ish - Our campsite happened to be walking distance from the base of one of the largest glaciers in Iceland, so Begga and I walked and talked to it with a few beers. We couldn't get too close to the glacier without a guide though because there's quicksand around the base the you can drown in. Still, we got pretty far.

Begga Posing with her Beer on our Journey to the Base of the Glacier
(That snowy thing behind her is the glacier.)

Me Rocking Out with My Beer on our Journey to the Base of the Glacier

Begga 80's Dancing at the Base of the Glacier
(This was as far as we could go.)

Me Jumping for Joy at the Base of the Glacier

Back at the Campsite: Me Stuffing My Face in a Million Layers of Clothing

Begga and I in Our Sleeping Bags in the Tent
(We went to bed early because we were so cold!)

9:30AM - Sophie and Begga are talking and Sophie reflects on hearing campers having happytime outside their tent after they went to sleep. Sophie had a moment of regret for being too cold to go outside and join them. But, she spoke too soon - Que the pouring rain...muahahahahahaha!

10:30AM - Sophie and Begga exit very very rainy campsite. 'Kiss Off' by the Violent Femmes plays as we roll across the rainy Icelandic countryside.

10:45AM - Sophie and Begga drive by a dead sheep on the side of the road. Sophie screams (1/2 joking, 1/2 seriously disturbed).

11:48AM - Had the opportunity to see many small fragments of glacier floating in the sea - Amazing!

Sea of Glaciers Alongside Swirly Stone Design on Right
(Nature: 1, Man: 0)

Tropical Lady and Ice Queen in Front of Lil Glaciers

Incredible.

Berg and the Bergs
(Haha!)

Full Shot of Awesomeness
(I wish I had a panoramic camera to really capture how amazing this was.)

11:56AM - Listening to Ani DiFranco while driving through Iceland - Awesome!

1:47PM - Stopped at gas station for burgers and gas.

2ish - While we are driving Begga tells me that there are 13 Santa Clauses in Iceland! They are ugly and old. Each one has a purpose, like candles. They have an evil Mom. 13 days before Christmas you put your shoe in the window and they come and put a present in your shoe. If you're bad their Mom will catch you and put a potato in your shoe. The reason Begga told me this was because we were talking about weird things we thought when we were kids and she told me she thought this "evil Mom of Santas" lived in a shed outside their house.

3PM - Took pictures of the mountains eating the houses that I mentioned earlier.

Mountain Eating House

Another Mountain Eating House
(Those white balls are haystacks, they are everywhere, but they look like Alien Pods to me.)

3:05PM - 3 horses are running in the middle of the road. I wonder where they're going? Probably not anywhere as I see a young fellow who looks like he may be the owner trying to catch them.

Later that afternoon...we arrive at Begga's unbelievable Summer house on a giant lake where we shower and eat early dinner before going to Begga's friend Torfi's Summer house nearby to spend the night drinking and partying with his friends.

8:20Pm - Going to meet up with Begga's man friends at their Summer house.

Back in Beijing

Hello Everyone,

I arrived in Beijing yesterday morning. It was the longest journey of my life. I flew from Iceland to Copenhagen, then from Copenhagen to Paris, then from Paris to Beijing. That's a lot of flying. When I finally arrived at the Beijing Airport this creepy Chinese man was following me around trying to talk to me and ask me out and I have never been so close to beating someones ass ever. I was so rude to him because I was tired and wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone's shit. He didn't get my point, which I felt I was making quite clearly, so I had to just walk in front of him and lose him.

When I got home it turned out that my parents had thought I would be arriving the previous day and were very frightened that something had happened to me. I guess it was a big mess and the airlines wouldn't disclose any info. about me since I wasn't a minor. All of my tickets and flight info. said I would be arriving the morning of July 9th, but I arrived on the morning of the 10th - oops.

So, I have to post my Iceland trip, but it seems like there's so much to tell and show, so i'm gonna work on the post this week and hopefully have it up soon. Also, i'm supposed to come back to Hawaii August 1st. I feel ready to go home and get involved in my life again. I haven't really missed Hawaii that much since I left, but now that i'm back in China for the second time this Summer I feel satisfied with my Summer experience. The only thing I would change is that I would have stayed in Iceland longer. It was a magical experience and life there seemed perfect. The 2 weeks there felt like a day and I deeply wish that I had more time. In a world without responsibility I would have said "fuck it" to my return ticket and stayed there forever. Ah well, who knows why anything happens?

Love, Sophie

Catch-up on Copenhagen

This is a photo of the view from Begga's Dad's balcony - so rockin, yay wind power!

Day Before Begga's Dad's Party - MOOSE DAY

This is the day that all of Begga's siblings arrived in Copenhagen because her Dad's birthday was the next day. We all took a train into town and went to a bar I forget the name of and had overpriced drinks. Tota and her boyfriend and Ingunn and her boyfriend went home early, but Begga, Bjorg, and I stayed behind and went to a cheaper bar called Moose and got very drunk. The above is a picture of Begga and Bjorg at Moose. The bar reminded me of somewhere I wood go in China (seedy, but in a good way). The only thing was that all these drunk people kept talking to me about my tattoo, then this drunk Danish girl came over to me and asked me if she could kiss me. I didn't know what to do, so being very dumb I said, "Ummmm OK." She kissed me and after that even more creepy people crowded around us. I decided the girl who kissed me was drunk and crazy and resumed drinking with Begga and Bjorg. We got home late and drunk and I woke up with a killer hangover.

Begga's Dad's Party/Justin Timberlake Concert

This is a picture of the lovely Icelandic sisters all dressed up for their Dad's par-tay (minus Ingunn because she was staying at a different apartment and was picking us up). Left to right: Begga, Me Tota, Bjorg, and the lil one in front is my darling Nita Maria.

Begga's Dad's party was held at this lovely little restaurant nearby where we had lobster appetizers, free-flow champagne and wine, and steak main course. It was awesome! We stayed until around 8pm, then a car picked us up to go to the Justin Timberlake concert. Yep - seriously! Begga's Dad bought us tickets because he wanted to get us out of his party a little early so that he could party with his buddies. We all agreed that even though we didn't really like Justin Timberlake we would get wasted and have a good time anyways.

Justin Timberlake Concert
So, we arrived at the concert and it was unbelievably packed! 50,000 people was the number of people there I heard the next day! We immediately bought 2 cases of beer to share, then Bjorg and I decided that wasn't enough and got 2 more, which her Begga and I pretty much drank ourselves because everyone else was already so drunk.

We danced and drank and had a really great time as you can see above. The only problem we had was a super-drunk guy in front of us falling all over us and Begga's sis Bjorg almost getting her butt kicked by angry JT fans when she was trying to force her way to the front of the crowd. After the concert, Begga and I went to Ingunn and Omar's place and they got s-t-o-n-e-y. Then, stoney Begga and I walked home. Good night overall.

Christiania Day

A little bit of history about Christiania is that it's a small place in Copenhagen that is a hippie-town where the sale of weed and hash used to be completely out in the open. No cameras are allowed - obviously! But, since about 2003 it's changed a bit and now the cops go into Christiania a few times a day and bust people so the selling and smoking of the substances is a little more low-key than it was. Still more out in the open than any other place i've been though. We went there and purchased and smoked and drank beer among the hippies. We had a few scares when the cops came, but they are pretty mellow and you can see 'em coming so you have time to hide whatever you have. Not too bad.

Above is a picture of Begga and I posing by the Christiania lake, where you are allowed to take pictures because it's where people live not where they sell. The little hippie houses by the lake were so awesome. I want one!

This is a house across the lake made entirely of windows - awesome!

Tivoli Carnival Day

Our last day in Copenhagen we all went to Tivoli carnival, which is a famous Copenhagen carnival. We had a great time going on rollercoasters over and over again. The only bummer was that like 4 of the fun adult rides were out of service. However, Begga's oldest sister Ingunn was able to get us refunds for our all day passes, so we went shopping afterwards. :) The above photo is me trying to take a picture of Begga and I at the beginning of a rollercoaster. After this, Begga and I went shopping, then home to pack and get ready for Damien Rice.

Damien Rice Concert

Begga and I arrived at the Damien Rice concert a little late, but didn't miss the beginning of the show. At first we were worried though because it turned out that the concert was a sitting show rather than standing and it looked like all the good seats were taken. However, luckily I spotted good seats in the middle of the row and only about 20 rows back from the stage. Damien was RIGHT THERE. We did some tequila shots, bought some beers, and sat back and enjoyed the show of a lifetime. Damien was so incredible. Begga and I both cried at one point. He was utterly enthralling and charming and his stories about his songs made everyone laugh. It was amazing.

1. Above is Damien and his cello player, which regretfully wasn't Lisa Hannigan. Where was she??? My theory was that and her were in love and she broke his heart, so now he tours alone. Damien played a bunch of songs he hasn't put on albums yet and they are pretty much all break-up songs, so it might be true. After the concert, Begga and I were so pumped up from the awesomeness of the concert, so we went out for drinks with some people even though we had to get up at 5AM to catch our 7AM plane to Iceland. Begga ended up getting pretty drunk and she was feeling far less than fresh in the morning. We got through it though!
   

Road Trip Afterglow

Back from road trip - so awesome! Iceland is ridiculously beautiful. Most of the island is beautiful undisputed nature. Because the terrain is so complex most of the urban sprawl is restricted the periphery of the island and the rest is pure and untouched. Day 1 of road trip was 6 hour drive to campsite with a few stops at waterfalls, a black sand beach, and various small towns. When we arrived at the campsite we walked to the base of the second-largest glacier in Iceland and drank beers and talked. It ended up raining hard that night and we had to unpitch our tent the next morning in the rain. Day 2 we drove to Begga´s grandparents Summer house which is right on the edge of an incredible lake and also right in the middle of volcanic rock field as well as being able to see the rising smoke from geysers in the distance. We ditched our stuff at the Summer house and took a bottle of vodka, some juice, and a bottle of red wine to Begga´s friend Torfi´s Summer house where we partied with him and three of his eccentric friends. It was a crazy awesome night. Day 3 we all headed back to Begga´s grandparent´s Summer house and had a less crazy night with the guys. We grilled dinner, drank beer, played poker and I went fishing on a giant lake twice with Torfi. I caught one of three fish we caught and mine was the biggest. Day 4 Begga, Torfi, his friend and I hung out at the house till the afternoon then Begga and I drove back into Reykjavik to grab pizza and watch Scrubs in bed. She has her first day of work tomorrow, so i´ll be staying home and reading in their lovely seaside homes balcony hot tub (no joke!). Yay for me. Life is good.

I still haven´t figured out the wireless password so still need to post more stories from Copenhagen and lotsa pictures from the road.

Love, Sophie