So I went to Iceland....

...and I can not believe I never thought about going there before! It's like the Viking Capitol of the world! The Mecca of all vikingeffects! Alright, alright, background story.
The company I work for celebrated 30 years in business in 2012, and thus, took a little ol' trip to the exotic city of Reykjavik, Iceland. It rocked so hard. 97 employees with money to burn, dying to get away from the office, some of whom don't really leave their hometown much, left for Iceland on a quiet april morning. The madness started before we even got through the gates, and did not stop for all of our four-day getaway. I'm not going to go into detail - what happenes in Vegas, you know...- but I don't know if Reykjavik has recovered from the shock yet. At least we did our bit to help the economy. Here are some pictures to help tell the tale of Norskie superfuntime in Vikingland:

This jolly bunch of hard working vikings entered the city of Reykjavik. Here posing in som old, moss covered lava.

Our first stop; the Blue Lagoon. 

Before even checking in to our hotel we took a detour to one of the most famous sights in Iceland, for a dip and a drink. The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. The steamy waters are part of a lava formation. The spa is located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwestern Iceland. (Yes, I am totally copy pasting from Wikipedia)

The warm waters are rich in minerals like silica and sulphur and bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis. The silica clay is also said to make your skin look younger, so naturally I looked about 16 years old when I left the place.
The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon is usually between 98–102 °F. The Blue Lagoon also operates a Research and Development facility to help find cures for other skin ailments using the mineral-rich water. Pretty kick ass.

We got set up in the hotel pretty well, had a nice, fancy dinner and made it to bed at a decent time the first night, quite weary from our escapades. The next couple of days we visited a Icelandic health institution, much like our own and went on a guided trip to all the most famous sights around Reykjavik.  

Gullfoss (or Golden Falls, if you will, but that just sounds bad), a famous waterfall. 

Gullfoss is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. About a kilometer above the falls it turns sharply to the right and flows down into a wide curved three-step "staircase" and then abruptly plunges in two stages into a crevice 105 ft deep. The crevice, about 60 ft wide, and 2.5 km in length, extends perpendicular to the flow of the river. As one first approaches the falls, the crevice is obscured from view, so that it appears that a mighty river simply vanishes into the earth. Groovy.

There has been alot of seismic activity on Iceland through the years, and yes, as we flew in I got this spectacular picture of a friggin dormant volcano! Which should explain it.

Bad ass volcano.

Cracks, from shifting ground.

While on our guided trip, our guides showed us massive cracks in the foundation of the earth, due to earthquakes and something about continental plates? I'm not always such a good listener.

Also, we could stand on the very border of the continents, and literally JUMP from Europe to America! In the picture below you can see the view of the american side of iceland, as seen from Europe. Pretty cool, eh?

Hello, 'murcah!

And right about here is where I don't really know what to fill this open space with, so I'm gonna let wikipedia tell you more about this area; the Thingvellir National Park was founded in 1930 to protect the remains of the parliament site and was later expanded to protect natural phenomena in the surrounding area. It was the first national park in Iceland and was decreed "a protected national shrine for all Icelanders, the perpetual property of the Icelandic nation under the preservation of parliament, never to be sold or mortgaged."

Onwards, on our mighty quest we came around to one of natures most facinating phenomenons, if you ask me. Yes, frigging erupting water! Hot springs, also known as Geysir. Eruptions can hurl boiling water up to 70 metres in the air, and we all stood out in the rain, risking all our fancy camera technology to get footage of this marvel. So yeah, here's an example --->

After some time of being in awe of shooting water, we were all pretty soaked, and continued to have a majestic lunch in a nearby restaurant.

It just accured to me that I think I got the days mixed up a little. We must have been out the night before we went on this quided trip, because I distinctly remember that the lever of hung over collegues was higher than normal. So to remedy my errors, here are some pictures of the previous night, full of Norskie Viking adventures, mead and shenanigans.

We had dinner at the Fjörukráin viking restaurant, where the servers dressed as the vikings of old, and the meals were made up of traditional viking courses, such as shark, lambs feet and a soup with what I can only assume was a quite exotic collection of seafood elements.

The Average Viking, mead in hand, at the left, and my long time childhood friend, Johanne,  sharing many laughs  with me that night:)

Appetizers. Little bits of shark on a stick. Tasted like rotten fish. Which it pretty much is.  "Hákarl" is a food from Iceland consisting of a Greenland-or basking shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months. Hákarl is often referred to as an acquired taste and has a very particular ammonia-rich smell and fishy taste, similar to very strong cheese - slathered in ammonia.

Excuse me, waiter? I spesifically said hold the tentacles!

Partygames are fun.

Well, that's attractive....

In the game of thrones...you win or you die!

Just like in Hollywood!

Yeah, I think this concludes my story about Iceland, it's been almost a year, and I don't know how many more Wikipedia threads this blogpost can handle. We all went home happy, tired and more knowledgeable about Icelandic ways, and all agreeing what a great time we had shared and that Iceland is a place everyone should visit. If you are as fascinated by the way of the vikings as I am, you should definately visit. Until next time, dear friends, stay warm!

Love by C. S. Lewis

I present to you....the sun!

Now starring in a region near me!

Those first rays of sun to touch your face, after months of darkness is the closest thing to godlyness I have ever felt. Pretty positive my superpowers are now restored to full capacity, and my vitamin D reserves has gotten a much needed refill. The upcoming season of full on winter is truely a beautiful one. Remind me, though, that I should really post some pics of not-so-beautiful weather too, as we really have quite a bit of that as well. Until next time!

Waiting for the sun to return

This was the view from my local gasstation yesterday afternoon. Pretty nice to have something to look at while pretending not to enjoy the petrol fumes too much.

And this I took from where I work. It's a real winter wonderland these days.

Soon.....

More nature

I promised you some good quality december sunset pictures, didn't I?

From my apartment, just before I returned home for Christmas brake.

Tried to get a closeup of the awesome frost.

My own apartment!:D

After I left the states I had no job, no place to live and things were kind of bleak for a long time. My very sweet and patient parents let me live with them for almost a year while I was searching for both a job and a place of my own. All of those things are now remedied; all is well:) One year ago I bought (!) and moved in to the apartment of awesomeness! Here it is, in pictures....

Livingroom.

One of many cat's in the neighborhood. They love peeking in my windows.

Kitchen, where I make magic viking nomnoms.

Hallway. Gotta love my coat hanger tree! Got a bench where that shoerack is now.

Movingday was messy...

My cuckoo-clock:D

The view from my bedroom window<3

Me, having a beer in my bathroom, getting ready for superfuntime:)

The view again...

Gotta love the view!

Best part about moving? All the bubblewrap.

Kitchen nook, winter sun shining...

Bedroom.

Love it<3

Meanwhile, in Norway....

Well, the time of blogneglect is over. New year, new chance to become a millionaire from my mad blogging skills. Well, maybe not, but I absolutely DO have a resolution to blog more, and keep whoever reads my ramblings updated on the wild adventures of average viking life. Insidently, it hasn't been very wild as of late, but we all kind of hibernate our wildness in the winter, I think. Or at least I do. These past months have mainly consisted of alot of work, some late night fun at the bar, general Christmas merryment and reading books. I am currently reading a book by australian author Gregory David Roberts called Shantaram. It's based on his amazing time in India, and it completely blows me away. Very much recommended!
The month of december was so cold, and with so little rain or snow that the river that supplies my parents' waterdam froze. Meaning, we used up all the water around the 23rd, and had no water for all of christmas brake, and it's still gone. So in spite of all the beautiful frost and previously mentioned "sunsets" the cold wather created, it was kind of a pain to not be able to shower, brush your teeth or flush the toilet. We made do though, showering and filling up tanks of water at work, and it is now (jan. 6th) raining, so hopefully the dam will fill up agan soon.
Work is good, keeping me busy, but my contract is up in marsh, so I'm out fishing for something new. Got an interview coming up soon, so fingers crossed.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I travelled to Turkey in November. It was nice, quite warm and got to know some good people:) Heres are some pics:

Gotta get a pic with a palmtree, it's mandatory...

Awesome waterslide madness!

So, more blogposts coming up, started one about my trip to Iceland ages ago, gonna finish that soon, I promise! Until then, try to keep the actual pillaging to a minimum:)

Amazing Polar Sunset

We can't really claim this as a december sunset, as the sun doesnt really rise here, this time of year, but the combination of really cold weather and living north of the arctic circle gave us some amazing afternoon light this past month. These were taken on the darkest day of the year, incidentally the Mayan doomsday;-) Most beautiful doomsday I've ever seen, that's for sure. Wanted to try mobile upload, but I'll post some in better quality later. Enjoy.

Happy New year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, all you bloglurkers out there. My resolutions? Learn how to play the guitar, swing dancing, blog more and be a better person. Cincerely miss Average Viking!


And, No, I did not figure out how to rotate this picture, when uploading from my cell....*snap*

Easterchristmas?

So, not only is this Norwegian christmasornament black, and about as unmerry as it gets, it's a easter knock off!! Is nothing sacred anymore?!