Raising Voices

Here is just a sampling of the nearly 50,000 women (and a couple hundred men) who took to the streets of Reykjavik on Monday to protest wage discrimination here in Iceland. At 2:08 pm, many thousands of women left their jobs for the day to meet up in front of Hallgrímskirkja and march down Skólavörðurstígur.

Why the odd time of day? Well, some clever statisticians figured out that that is the time of day when men, on average, make what it takes a woman to make for a full 8-hour work day. Not such a pretty picture, is it?

The date, October 24th, commemorates thirty years since women throughout Iceland walked out of work, all work. Even the daily chores of home and hearth. Iceland basically shut down for a day. The men were in shock, the children hungry. It was an amazing moment in Icelandic history...

The day was successful in raising awareness, once again, of women's place in modern society. But it's ultimately up to us parents, aunts and uncles and instructors to teach our children, boys and girls alike, to respect and value each other as members of the same nation and, ultimately, the same human race.

P.s. the signs say "We deserve better"

Castle & Sky

This attractive crenelated building, named Galtafell (meaning Hog Hill), was built in 1916 by Petur Thorsteinsson for Bjarni Jónsson, brother to Iceland's most famous scuptor, Einar Jónsson. It's actually for sale for $1.9 million, if you're looking to buy property in Iceland. It's 4700 square feet and in an absolutely lovely location. Think it over...

I had thought that this building had housed the consulate to Malta here in Reykjavík because I was in University with a girl who lived here: her father was some kind of consulate and Malta always stuck in my mind. But it seems its been a guesthouse for a while now. Just goes to show how creative our minds can be with bits of information.

Malta is very interesting, though. It's a country with an only slightly larger population than Iceland, with 400,000 citizens who are jam-packed onto two rocky islands totalling only 115 square miles. Talk about crowded.

Without meaning any disrespect to my own island culture, I have to say Malta's history kicks Iceland's Viking butt any day. Thought to have been settled by an ancient civilization in the very early bronze age, more than 7,000 years ago, Malta has been changing hands ever since: from Vandals to Arabs to Brits, the country has been plucked from the Mediterranean as a prize by countless land-hungry rulers, and pawned for trade a number of times. Icelanders, on the other hand, have written a couple of famous books and have managed to cling to their lava rock for about a thousand years or so. A mean feat in itself, but slightly less fantastic sounding than the saga of the Maltese.

Back to the house: this castle style was very popular here in Reykjavik in the early part of the past century, and particularly at the intersection of Laufásvegur and Bragagata (on the lower left edge of this map). There are three large and impressive structures with castle tops there, including my daughter Valentína's pre-school alma mater, Laufásborg. Though a slightly odd design element, the crenelations definitely add an interesting touch to the mid-town Reykjavík scenery.

Pit

Icelanders are notorious for their hole-digging, an activity which often leaves roads and sidewalks unusable for indeterminate amounts of time. These holes appear literally overnight and are of various depths and dimensions. Whole streets are trenched and refilled summer after summer, creating a kind of seasonal, and very mysterious, work load for young Icelandic ditch diggers, renters of heavy earth-moving equipment and, of course, paving stone manufacturers.

This hole, near the intersection of Bankastræti and Þingholtsstræti, appeared miraculously a few weeks ago. Sadly, I barely remember what used to fill it, though I once lived on this street and walked past this site many times a day. What will this hole's future be? We'll just have to wait and see...

By the way, this Uncyclopedia is a funny and unique take on Iceland and the world. Read and enjoy...!

Park Love

Love, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

A pretty statue by the town lake in Reykjavík, just the other side of the driving bridge that crosses the water. Unfortunately, some funny guy (or girl) marked over a certain sensitive spot with their black indelible marker. Kids, eh?

I'll have to add the artist and title of the piece later. Otherwise, all is well in our pretty little city. It's cold, with a crisp fall wind thrashing the leaves off trees and snow falling in the more northern cities. I'm busy with school and so have slacked off the blogging substantially. Not gone, though, just önnum kafinn í bili.

More pix soon...promise.

Leaves III

A close-up of my favorite type of bush changing into its fall colors.

Missing

Ahh, change...

There used to be a bench here at the intersection of Óðinsgata, Baldursgata and Nönnugata. As in yesterday there was a bench here, but now its gone.

The bench was always kind of odd because it raked slightly downhill which made you slip while you sat. It wasn't a very popular bench, but it gave you the feeling that this wide intersection had once been, or should be, a gathering spot of sorts. As a matter of fact, up until just a few years ago a popular neighborhood shop called Maggabúð had a home behind the two farther windows shown in the photo. I used to go buy milk for my amma at Maggabúð when we came to Iceland for visits when I was little and I know my mother and father, who were both raised within yards of this corner, have their own memories of the different businesses that used to flourish at this intersection including, I believe, a licorice factory. This used to be a thriving location, a gathering spot of sorts for the wider residential neighborhood. Now every one of the old store fronts has been turned into an apartment and we drive to supermarkets to do our shopping. A shame. Only one local specialty store has survived, aside from the very popular Þrír Frakkar restaurant, and that's the fish market on Freyjugata at Óðinsgata, owned and operated for years by a dedicated couple, of whom the husband happens to be my cousin. Oh, and right next door to them is the Venus sex shop, but that doesn't count somehow.

No, this bench wasn't very often used, and in the fall leaves would gather at its feet to rot over the winter. But there were a few old timers who sat there nearly every day, who met at the bench to chat and to watch the activities of the neighborhood take place around them, the children skipping and laughing, the tourists wandering by wtih their maps, well-dressed surburbians drive up for lunch or early dinner at Þrír Frakkar across the street.

It seems like, with this bench gone, an era is finally ending.

Lovely Day

Lovely Day, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

No fancy text today...just a pretty picture of University of Iceland students kicking a ball around on the front lawn of campus, with downtown Reykajvik in the backround and a big blue sky.

Smile...

Oh, by the way, I've changed my comments to get rid of those pesky auto-spam-advert comments I just started getting. Thanks for the tip, Professor Batty!