Summer

Even though we're getting a lovely soft blanket of new snow even as I speak, I thought it would be nice to post a happy scene from last summer, replete with trampoline. This house is such a huge part of my childhood experience, sitting as it does nex to the house my mother spent many years in at Óðinsgata 17 in the Þingholt neigborhood of the city center. Valentina, Óðinn and I live just around the corner on Baldursgata.

My grandmother Ásta lived next door to this house for, I think, nearly forty years (Mom, can you correct me here?) and for at least the last thirty this house has been pink. There were three girls around the same age as my sister and me who lived here (Sibba, Sigga and Nanna) and we played together every time we came to visit Iceland. Sigga and Nanna's families still live here and I see them every once in a while. We all have at least two kids now and have lost the innocence I see in our faces in old photographs, but we still have smiles for each other and hugs. I love watching their kids play in this yard because it brings back memories of Iceland the way it used to be, when there was two kinds of soda, Appelsín and Coca Cola and they came in little bottles and there was really only one good candy bar, the Prince Polo, that fizzled in your mouth when you washed it down with a sip of coke. And the corner store sold black licorice and peru brjóstsykur and we could pay with aura or just a few króna.

Those days are over and Capitalism has come to stay, but at least kids still play in this yard and thank goodness the house is still pink.

Burst

Gleðileg ný ár, or Happy New Year!

Here's a shot of a bursting firework just outside our balcony last night. It's always absolutely amazing to watch all the thousands of pretty little bombs and flares in the sky. Every home in Iceland, it seems, has at least a sparkler lit on New Years Eve. Unfortunately such a thick blanket of smoke gathers after the first ten or fifteen minutes of serious explosion, that's to say by quarter after midnight or so. Regardless, it's a beautiful sight.

Quaint

Sprinkle some snow into this picture and you have a lovely holiday scene from downtown Reykjavik. Those of you who've been here will most probably recognizethis charming house on Bankastræti, right next to the tourist info center. It's one of my favorite buildings in our little city. The very nice restaurant Lækjarbrekka is housed here, and in the greenish building farther off the street is Humarhúsið, or The Lobster House. Both are highly recommended.

More soon...

Rink

Ice skating at Ingólfstorg in the heart of Reykajvík

I took this photo today before this evening's storm hit. I'm wondering how the skating was when the wind picked up and started slamming wet snow all about...I'm sure there were at least a few hearty souls braving the weather to get in a few minutes on the ice. There's always one or two.

A local insurance company is sponsoring this rink at Ingólfstorg plaza downtown. It's a great idea. The plaza is generally considered a metropolitan design disaster. It was intended as a gathering place for locals in the heart of the oldest part of Reykjavik, somewhere where you can rest your feet and chat with friends and such. The square is depressed a few feet from ground level and lined with benches, but nobody ever sits on them. It's become a skateboarders paradise, with short ramps, steps and rails to slide. No one dares walk through it for fear of getting a board in the head (the skaters aren't very good!) and aside from the occasional rally or concert, this is the best use its been put to in years.

Choir

It's that season again, when choirs of children sing angelic songs at Sunday services and Advent candleabras grace windows across the country. Strings of Christmas lights are twined through bare tree branches and thousands of tiny lit bulbs outline houses, making the long darkness of winter more tolerable.

Right now, at 9 a.m., it's nighttime black outside, with a few hours left to go. I like the coziness of the dark days, personally, but I thank the stars for sweet holiday music, warm scarves and the wonder that is electricity!

Art

Just a little something from a wall in downtown Reykjavik...

Bloom

My daughterss like a bloom (an ice cream eating bloom) amongst the foliage at the Eden greenhouse and gift store in Hveragerði, a half an hour's drive east of Reykjavik. Stopping by there is definitely a must for travellers, both foreign and local alike. They even have a banana tree or two!

By the way, I have reposted this photo in the size I want it to be in and was going to delete my last post to avoid duplication, until I realized that I would be deleting a small bunch of very nice comments at the same time. My solution? I've copied and pasted the comments into this post so they will be saved for posterity. Thanks you all for the lovely words!

Jen said...
I really love your photos. I had no idea what to expect when thinking of what Iceland would look like. Its really very beautiful.


Lovewine said...
Hi Maria
I'm also wondering about the blogger beta thing and you mention having trouble. I think I'll hold out as long as possible. When I left a comment on your last post I thought it was lost when it didn't show up but it appears to be there now.
Yay winter!


Anonymous said...
Just glad you're back posting. I have been a reader for a couple of months and find your blog very insightful, informative and entertaining. BTW, my niece is named Valentina and I thought, until recently, that was a name unique to our family :-)


Luis said...
Glad you're back posting. I always enjoy the photos and descriptions on your blog.

There is something so unique and appealling about Iceland and I feel you capture it very well.

Hope to read further posts soon.


Barb said...
I was just going to take a quick peek at your blog after searching for one from Iceland and now an hour later, I've had to force myself to stop reading and head off to bed. I thoroughly enjoyed every post and your photographs are stunning. I'll be back!


Faye Pekas said...
Your daughter is very pretty and it looks as if she is enjoying her ice cream :)

I've had the beta blogger since the beginning and just started using flickr. I don't have any problem posting from flickr with it. I do love the beta now that the bugs are ironed out.

(Thankfully, all is finally well with beta here, too!)