some things about travel in foreign countries baffles me...

...like why the guards at american embassies pitch fits whenever you try to take a picture there, lol. after i photographed a nice little gem, a beefy and angry (icelandic) guard-- who was not pleased with my presence or my photographic abilities (and that is after i presume he didn't know i had gotten the shot)-- came running out to, um, greet and question me (who are you! where are you from! why are you here!), and i had to surrender my passport to a background check that took about ten minutes. the world hates americans, and the government knows it, it's more than clear. thanks, george.

but in the end, i won and didn't have to surrender the shot.

up to well over 600 other (legal or legal-ish) shots: give a photographer a digital camera and these things happen.

philharmonic tonight, then i'm told they party like rockstars until the wee hours of the morning. maybe i'll see bjork?

even more love from reykjavik--

i know i said i'd update this thing,

but i'm having too much fun here. in a nutshell--

1. rented speedos for the town's hotpots is fun.

2. lay's is holding out on us: cheese and onion potato chips are the shit.

3. chiquita is holding out on us: ever had red orange juice? THAT is the shit.

it finally cleared up: off to the hotpots, again, then down to the harbor to watch the northern lights. i'm hellbent. the same harbor, by the way, of which our beloved bjork spoke in 'there's more to life than this':

It's still early morning
We could go down to the harbour
And jump between the boats
And see the sun come up

maybe i'll do just that.

love from reykjavik--

iceland, what can i say...

this place is fucking amazing.

the people are beautiful, the city immaculate, and so easy to navigate. i did have to take out a home equity loan to buy lunch, but that's ok.

the gay scene... well... i went to the gay center yesterday evening-- it's only open until 11 mondays and thursdays, you know-- just to find myself there with the one barista and another patron (and two other guys in the smoking room.) i was 1/5 of the gay population out to rip up reykjavik, but it seems reykjavik is just on a different speed. 'yes, it's monday in iceland. what did you expect, christopher street?' (the world standard... how funny...)

convinced that flight attendants and bus stations are internationally horrid experiences.

hit the most beautiful christmas concert in this little local hometown church allllll the way on the other side of town that i found out about quite by accident. took a bus and a whooooole lot of hoofing, but nothing sends shivers up your spine like standing up and hearing a pipe organ belt out 'o come all ye faithful' with all the towns people singing along in icelandic. unbelievable.

and ps, i know i've said this before, but it's warmer here than new york, kids. sorry to gloat. from my same barista: 'it's never all that warm in the summer, and never all that cold in the winter. it's a secret.'

ssh! so don't tell anyone...

wish you were here--

--t