Pitching tents

Yeah, this is a terrible place because it is cold

Yes I have arrived in Iceland.  Yes it is cold.  No I am not whinging about it.  Today was beautiful and sunny. I jogged up to the nearby thermal pool for a dip in the outdoor pool and it was -1 degree.  The pools are great though.  600 krona (about $6) and that includes all the pools, the hot tubs (there’s about a dozen of them varying in heat), the steam room and a locker.  Not like stingy old MSAC where it’s $7 for a swim, plus $4 to use the spa & sauna, plus $3 for a locker.

A big thanks to Natalie from work who saved me some culture shock and a world of confusion.  She gave me a book about a woman who moves to Iceland.  Luckily I starting reading it last night before going to the pool today because Chapter 2 covers the woman’s confusion and awkwardness at the Icelandic pre-swimming rituals & general acceptance of public nudity.  Going to the pool goes something like this:

·         Remove your shoes and place them on a shoe rack before entering the change rooms

·         Enter change rooms (where there are no cubicles), undress and place clothing in locker

·         Take towel and bathers (that’s right, you haven’t put your togs on yet so you’re starkers) and progress to the next room which has a number of communal showers

·         Shower paying attention to signs which instruct you to make sure you clean your feet, pits and naughty bits properly

·         Now you can put your bathers on and off you go for a swim!

On the way back there is an extra ‘drying area’ where once you’ve had your shower you must dry yourself thoroughly before going back to the locker room.  I nearly skipped this bit, but the big lady in the uniform looked like she would put me in a headlock & drag me back if I went into the locker room dripping water on the floor.

So a little bit different, but all good.

Speaking of different this isn’t the first time I’ve been to a place where they drive on the right, but it takes more getting used to that you would think.  For example, to cross the road you need to look the other way first so you just end up looking each way about 5 times before you cross.  There is a massive increase in the number of awkward sidewalk tangos that happen when people walking toward each other move the same way.  And in the pool you swim on the other side so I nearly head-butted some poor guy this morning when I was splashing along the wrong way down the lane.

The trip over was pretty uneventful.  A quick stopover in Doha which involved getting off the plane onto a bus, driving for 10 minutes to get to the airport, queuing up for a bit, laughing to myself at some guy sleeping in the waiting lounge who was pitching a tent, transferring to another bus which then drove around for 20 minutes until the bus driver found our plane.

Copenhagen stopover even less eventful, but all the staff there ride around the airport on scooters which is pretty cool.

So tomorrow off to the Penis museum.  Yeah you heard me.  Penis museum.

However the fine print at the bottom of the sign says 'No pornography or offensive material at the museum' so it may not be quite up to expectations (yes pun intended).