Day 6

(Current Time & Place: 1/5/17, 9:00pm, day 2 of back to real life and work...  Finally getting to the piles of laundry)

Day 6 - 1/1/17

Mike:
Finally a kitchen!  I've gotten a little bit tired of the Scandinavian meat breakfast, and after our many attempts on the way here yesterday trying to find anything open (all the convenience stores, groceries stores, and most of the restaurants had been closed yesterday, so I wasn't very optimistic we would have better luck today) I was prepared to cook us something tasty!   There was a container of pancake mix in the cupboard as well as oatmeal.

Unfortunately all the instructions were of course in Icelandic.  I gave it my best shot, trying to make pancakes but all my taste testers, once they dragged themselves out of bed, informed me they were not very good... I suspect that these were the add oil and egg type, rather than water/milk type, but there wasn't a plethora of ingredients in the kitchen.  Fortunately, I can make tasty oatmeal blindfolded, and Lauren had also packed some tea bags, so it was a very nice breakfast.

After breakfast, 1.5 adults made it through a warm shower.  Yes consider that 0.5......  Bryan's shower ended cold, and no one else was interested in getting in after.  About 95% of Iceland gets there hot water from geothermal sources...  This home was one of the 5% that instead has an electric hot water heater, and it was small (think college dorm fridge size)....  Oh well...  No one better smell me for the rest of the day.

We finally made it out of the house, and drove down to a local hydro plant we had passed the evening before after dinner.  The plant tour was unavailable on New Years Day, but there were some great signs outside the plant, and the view of the dams were impressive.  The company that owns the plant, Landsvirkjun, is owned by the state and produces 75% of Iceland's electricity.  The company  operates 13 hydro stations and 2 geothermal stations.  99% of Iceland's electricity is renewable.

Not in a rush to get into the city, we took a smaller meandering road around the lake, which provided some more excellent views.

Lauren took the initiative to start searching for and calling grocery stores around the city.  We were determined to not starve again and have a repeat of yesterday afternoon.  We found one grocery chain with a couple of open stores, and went grocery shopping...  Our meal plan:
1.  Mac and Cheese made with gluten free barilla fusilli pasta, cheddar and gouda cheese, and an Icelandic brand of hot dogs (we were told hot dogs are sort of a thing in Iceland, and are often made with lamb)
2.  Cajun chicken pasta, with a milk sauce, and a side of butternut squash layered with parmesan cheese.
3.  Eggs for our two remaining breakfasts!  Frozen veggies for omelets?
4.  Snacks!  Crackers, meats and cheeses, chocolate and ice cream.

Anyway, we clearly bought enough food to get us through the rest of the trip.

Arriving in downtown Reykjavik at the apartment we had rented for our last two evenings, everything was so much easier then yesterday.  The apartment was easy to find, the combination worked to get the house key, and the apartment was beautiful, there were linens on the bed, a wifi connection, and unlimited hot water (even if it smells like sulfur as a result of being pumped through the earth)!  So much better.  I immediately started making the Mac and cheese while some snacks were prepared.

Food!

Well fed, I enjoyed my hot shower, and joined everyone else for a game of Phase 10.  Then it was bedtime.