Páll Óskar and Sinfó

I am extremely fortunate, in that I have a good friend who takes it upon herself to organize fun outings for her girl-friends, which is awesome on so many levels!  About a month ago she sent out a notice that a fun concert was on the horizon, featuring Páll Óskar, who is one of the most beloved singers of Iceland, and the Icelandic Symphonic Orchestra (plus a four-piece regular band).  She was kind/wily/persistent/quick enough to call and book tickets for us as soon as they began selling them, because the two shows (later four) sold out in a couple of hours.

Tonight was the night, and I walked over to the concert hall to meet them (5 mins walking).  Right from the get-go it was obvious we were in for a treat, and we all walked out with smiles pasted on our faces.  I must admit that Páll Óskar turns out to be a much better singer than I’d ever imagined (I haven’t really seen him perform live before, at least not in this capacity).  He isn’t a fancy singer but he’s got a direct link between his heart and his lovely voice.  He also happens to be flaming gay and boy oh boy did he have fun with his costumes! 🙂

We sat in the third and fourth rows from the stage! This is from before it all started.

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Kids in snow

Anna got a stomach bug last night, but when I arrived home with Bjarki this afternoon, she was feeling much better.  I therefore used the opportunity to take the kids out sledding in the ‘back-yard’ (it’s a mini-park) while there was still snow.  Apparently there are warmer days ahead, so there might not be picture-perfectRead more

Snow!

It won’t stay for long, but it sure is a sight for sore eyes! 🙂Read more

Eyrarbakki

Today was ‘women take the day off’-day, during which the vast majority of Icelandic women took off from work at 2:25 pm to bring attention to the fact that women get paid some 66% of what men get paid (I’m assuming this statistic is for the country as a whole), and should therefore be done at work then.  Some 50 thousand people congregated downtown to protest the salary situation, as well as violence against women, even though the weather decided to suddenly turn super-sucky.  It should be noted that there are about 200 thousand people that live in the capital area.

Anyway, the ‘day-off’ combined with the fact that Anna is on ‘winter vacation’ from school these days, prompted us to go visit Elsa and her kids in their ‘summer house’ at Eyrarbakki after lunch.  As we left for Eyrarbakki (about 50 min driving distance) the weather got windy and it started snowing!   I was a little apprehensive about traveling, but it soon became apparent that the ever vigilant road-service had already salted and scraped the roads so there were only a couple of places where the road was covered in snow.

When we got to Eyrarbakki shortly before tea-time it was quite chilly out.  We had waffles (yum!) and ginger-snaps (piparkökur) before deciding to go for a walk to explore the tiny town of Eyrarbakki.  Once we got everybody suited up, the snow had turned to rain.  We marched the kids out to the local convenience store anyway to get some rice, took a quick look at the ocean, and headed back.  Once inside again we lounged around, reading newspapers and chatting, while reclaiming lost body-heat.

Elsa cooked a scrumptious dinner and dessert, which we gobbled up.  We then gathered up all our belongings (a non-trivial task due to the mountains of mittens, socks, hats and outerwear) and drove back.  Kristborg, Elsa’s oldest, got to tag along with us into town to meet up with some of her friends.  Ironically, she was the only one to fall asleep in the car, while our two little energizer bunnies kept going and going and going… 🙂

In the living room at Eyrarbakki.

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Freeeeeezing

It looks like winter is finally here, at least if the weather is any indication (um… what?), which means it was time for some spring cleaning around the apartment…  (wait, what?). In our world that basically means taking turns, one person tidies up and the other restrains the kids from making a mess (left handRead more

The View From my Office Window

I am very fortunate to have quite a nice view out of my office window. These days the sun is rising lazily somewhere past 8am, and soon Anna will be walking to school in darkness.  These photos were taken on Friday, 22 October 2010.Read more

What happened on…

… October 14th that brought twice as much traffic to our blog as usual?Read more

The past few weeks

So yes, for those that keep track, it’s been quiet here.  Why?  Because ever since teaching began, there’s been one thing after another that’s been due outside of my regular teaching duties (which are making lectures (this involves actually reading the book!), homeworks, solutions and grading).  And I’ve found that as soon as there isRead more

Boy Signý- and Pétursson

My brother, Pétur, and his girlfriend, Signý, had a baby boy yesterday morning!!  Since all looked well, they left the hospital yesterday evening, but will be visited by a nurse for the next few days for routine checkups.  Anna and I went to visit them today, and met Nökkvi and Jóhanna there too.  The little boy is aaadoooooorable!  Congratz to Pétur and Signý!! 🙂

Boy Signý and Pétursson

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Fall Colors

I took the kids out back to release a bit of their pent-up energy, and take pictures of the pretty fall colors.

I don't recall ever seeing these white berries before, but they're all over the backyard!

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