Iceland and more

This is the first European update coming to you from the Northfields hostel in London. After a little more than 24 hours, several bus rides, two planes and a short stint on the tube I finally arrived at a much needed bed. The surprise of the day was a stamp in my passport that I hadn’t planned on getting: I ended up with a 9 hour layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. 9 hours in an airport is never an exciting prospect so I decided to take a bus into the city and see what I could find. It was at this point I made my first traveling friend Katie. She was on the same flight as me and also had time to kill before we continued on to London. We boarded the bus and away we went, but the problem with our decision was that an unplanned layover of this length meant that we left North America in shorts and sandals. The temperature in Iceland was a lovely 5 degrees and extremely windy, so needless to say our clothing was less than appropriate. My coat and warm clothing had been checked through to London in my big bag so I had to make due with what was in my carry on. After putting on 2 t-shirts, my UBC hoodie and a pair of jeans I was able to brave the weather and do some minor exploring of the city (still in sandals without socks). The city of Reykjavik appears to be quite new, clean and use a large amount of green energy. The landscapes were like nothing I've seen before. Shaped by the large amount of volcanic activity the grass covered lava fields extended as far as the eye could see similar to the farms of the prairies back home. If my adventures ever take me back to Iceland I will make sure that I have enough time for a stop at the blue lagoon and its thermal hot pools. It was only fitting that I boarded the plane to leave Iceland with its most famous resident, Bjork. I didn't take a photo of her and seeing her in person did not make me appreciate her music any more. I had the room at the hostel all to myself and was able to get a pretty good sleep. This morning I feel like I'm pretty much adjusted to European time and ready to head to the airport to "Finnish" the rest of my journey to Helsinki.