Travelling Solo During the Holidays Kinda Sucks

Since today is Christmas, here’s a depressing post about what it’s like travelling during the holidays.

I don’t usually get the holiday blues. In fact, my usual attitude towards Christmas is a mix of Scrooge and Linus; I don’t like all the hype that surrounds it. But this year it kind of got to me, for various reasons.

First of all, the holiday season is all about being happy and with family and all that nonsense. I’m solitary by nature and not really given to that kind of sentimentality. This year I think it pushed me over the edge.

I think the main reason was the fact that I was alone for the majority of the time. I’ve been travelling solo, which is great because you can do what you want, but it sometimes does get lonely. As a result, I’m not that close to people here, and my home friends are together and far away from me. And then there’s also my family, but they’re pretty far as well. And on top of all that, I just said goodbye to my friends in Scotland and am missing them a lot.

I’m stuck in a kind of limbo where I don’t want to leave my friends here, but I really want to see my friends back home. It makes it pretty hard to be alone because then I’m missing both groups, and with anyone because I’m missing someone.

And it’s starting to hit me that it’s going to be a while until I am home again, since I’m travelling in January. Which is sad, because that’s where I really want to be now.

Having said all that, I know that this is also a passing thing that will leave once the holidays are over. I’d be surprised if I don’t get my energy back and get back into the swing of things past New Years, it’s hard to be sad when you know that there’s a whole world out there to see.

So merry Christmas and happy holidays in your respective language/culture, but also pour one out for those poor souls that are alone and feel pressured to be happy when they aren’t. Because you’re never alone. <3

This is Iceland

I took a couple days after finals to go on my last solo trip. This time it was to Reykjavik, Iceland. What would have been a more cost-effective way to go about this would have been to do one of the free stopovers that Icelandair offers on the journey home. Unfortunately, my dad already got a non-refundable return ticket for my sister, and my parents weren’t about to let me ditch her and stop at Iceland by myself on the way back from our January adventures, so I had to fly solo and on my own time for this one. I didn’t mind, I’ve come to really enjoy travelling by myself.

Iceland is an amazing, beautiful country. It’s one of the top places that I’ve visited so far, and one of the few where I could actually see myself living there. I’m not quite sure why, a mixture of the people being so friendly and the culture being fascinating I guess. I’d love to go back and spend more time and money there, haha.

I flew out from Glasgow last Sunday, and arrived in Reykjavik around 6. Navigating my way from the BSI bus terminal to my hostel was interesting, but I managed. Transportation in Reykjavik is a little different as there isn’t a subway system, it’s just buses. So if you have the money and the need, renting a car is probably the most convenient way to go. (However you can make it just by walking, as I will describe shortly.) Since vehicles are the most common mode of transport, it often seems like you’re just walking along the side of a highway instead of in a city, which can be a little strange. Stuff is also really expensive in Iceland, similar to other Scandinavian countries. Thankfully most places take credit cards, and you can find dinner for around $20 if you know where to look.

On Monday I started my day by visiting Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik’s most impressive church. (Note: the sun doesn’t really rise in Reykjavik in December until around 11 am so 9 am looks pretty similar to 12 pm.) The inside didn’t impress me as much as the outside, but there is a pretty cool organ. You can pay to get up to the top of the tower, but I wasn’t interested in that. There’s a free way to get a pretty good view of Reykjavik from high up that I’ll describe later. After that I headed into the city center, and walked along Tjornin Lake/Reykjavik Pond (I saw it called both) for a bit. The lake (or pond) was frozen over, but there’s one corner near city hall that didn’t have ice, and that’s where all the geese and swans congregated for bread. Quite the sight. I walked past that to the University Library, which is a really cool building before you even go in. There’s a small moat-like thing around it, and the inside is nice with a pretty good view as well. Then I walked back to the Parliament building for the free CityWalk walking tour done by local history students. I can’t recommend this enough, it’s a great tour, Eric was a great guide and very friendly! Definitely do this if you’re in Reykjavik! After that I walked past the Yule town nearby. It’s tiny and cute, you can go ice skating for a small fee. In addition to this, there are a few Christmas creatures hidden around the city. They’re the Yule Lads, or Iceland’s 13 Santa Claus equivalents, one for each day of advent. There’s 5 hidden around the city, and spotting them wasn’t hard but a lot of fun. I then checked out the Reykjavik Art Museum, which is spread out between 3 buildings. It’s not that expansive of a collection, and the buildings are kind of far if you’re walking, but was a neat way to spend the afternoon (and admission isn’t too bad either). There’s also the photography collection in the city library next to the art museum that’s free!

The next day I started off by going to one of the public pools in the city, Sundhollin. This one is the oldest in Reykjavik, but also only has outdoors hot tubs with an indoor pool. Still a cool experience, and they’re building an outdoors pool so that will soon change. It was essentially me and a bunch of locals going for a dip before work, which was really interesting. There was also a small device to dry your bathing suit and a hair dryer! A really great way to start the day! (You can go to the Blue Lagoon, but this is a fraction of the cost and essentially the same, all of the pools are geothermally heated and everything. Only difference is that Blue Lagoon is natural while these are manmade.) Afterwards I went to the Saga Museum because Vikings. This was a neat museum, although I might have gotten more out of it if I already knew more about Icelandic history. Essentially they built statues and models to illustrate the more important and exciting parts of Iceland’s history, which looks really cool, but is kind of disjointed if you don’t already have a general sense of what Iceland’s history is. Afterwards you can dress up as a Viking, which I did (got a few strange looks too, but I don’t care). Another museum I checked out is the Einar Jonsson Museum. The museum itself costs money, but the sculpture garden is open 24/7 and looks really cool, so I walked around that for a bit. Finally I went on a long walk to Perlan, a restaurant a little outside the city. The food itself is expensive, but it has a 365 degree view around it, and on a clear day you can see mountains and all the buildings and it is absolutely gorgeous. I was stunned. Having finished that long walk, I took an even longer one to Ellidaardalur, a park even farther outside the city. It has gorgeous waterfalls and rivers, but it was really ice-y so I couldn’t walk around too much.

That night the Northern Lights were supposed to be pretty active, so I thought I’d try my luck at seeing them on my own. I walked down to the Grotto lighthouse, in the Seltjarnes area. I didn’t see anything that night, but I talked to others who did. I don’t know, try it if you get the chance! I also did one of the bus tours (with Sterna) the next night, had similar luck, but I don’t think there’s huge difference between the two. The nice thing about the tour was that I didn’t have to walk far, and they take you farther away from the city so the sky has less light pollution. Try a bus tour early on in your trip, since you get a free voucher for another one if you don’t see the Northern Lights.

Wednesday was my third and last full day, so I had already booked a glacier walk with Icelandic Mountain Guides. It was a great way to spend the day, the bus picks you up at your lodgings and takes you out to the glacier. The driver tells some tales along the way, to keep you awake and interested, and the guides at the glacier were incredibly friendly. I didn’t have hiking boots or waterproof pants with me, and I was fine, they didn’t charge me extra to borrow boots or anything. And you get some awesome pictures, the views are spectacular from the glacier. (Literally if you like the Scottish highlands you will love this.) Our guide said that it’s estimated that the glaciers in Iceland will have melted in 150 years at the rate that they’re going, so check your energy consumption and try to see one as soon as you can! There were even two stops on the way back at some waterfalls that had a magnificent view of the sunset.

Then the next day I had to get up and get back to BSI to catch my plane. And that was the end of my arctic adventure. The weather really put Glasgow in perspective, at least I wasn’t slipping on ice everywhere in Scotland. I loved it in Iceland, it’s a gorgeous place and the people are great. The literacy and education rates are ridiculous, and I didn’t see anyone on the streets during my entire time there. It’s also a very feminist and liberal country, with gender equality much better than many other places in the western world and a huge pride festival in August. I loved it. The different language is also fascinating to listen to, Icelandic sounds musical and lovely. And nearly everyone there speaks Icelandic, English, and Danish, which seems ridiculous to my American only-English-speaking brain. And the ability to hear Icelandic while still interacting with people in English is remarkable.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the food a little. The candy in Iceland is really different and cool! Icelandic people really like licorice and chocolate, so it’s pretty common to get a random candy bar that includes both. There’s also Skyr, the not-yogurt-but-no-one-cares snack in Iceland. It has ridiculous levels of protein and no fat or something like that. Tasted pretty similar to yogurt to me. The main delicacies of the country are fish and lamb. The fish of course is always freshly caught and delicious, especially the salmon. Then there’s the more traditional dish of fermented shark. I tried a little, it didn’t taste too bad, expect for the funny aftertaste. (For people worried about the environmental impact, as far as I know Iceland is pretty good about stuff like that, but it doesn’t hurt to do your research beforehand! Investigate the restaurant and the fishing practices before buying!) The lamb is also very special in Iceland because they roam around the farmland freely, eating any plants or herbs that happen to be around. This means that they’re essentially marinating their entire lives, and gives them a unique taste. The more traditional dishes include half a sheep head and ram’s testicles. I didn’t have the testicles, but the café in BSI is apparently the only place in Reykjavik where you can get the sheep’s head, so I had that and is was definitely an experience. Tasted pretty good, but the fact that you were cutting the meat off of an animal’s face was interesting. Also Scandinavia seems to have a fascination with hot dogs? Reykjavik has the famous hot dog stand near the harbor, but you can also get more fancy ones in most restaurants. I had both, and they were both delicious!

So that’s Iceland, essentially real life Berk. I don’t know why, but I really jived with the place, definitely want to return again someday, hopefully for longer. I can see why people want to leave, there are tourists everywhere and it’s just an island in the middle of the Atlantic. But it has an amazing, fascinating culture, great people, and tons of things to do and see. I personally couldn’t get enough of it, and fully intend to return and experience more of it.

“How to Train Your Dragon” the Book Series

I really really love the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”, but I’m also insanely in love with the book series that the movie is based on as well. They are two completely different things, essentially, but they are both clever and cute in their own way. This is me giving a little bit of love to the book series.

Now there are several differences between the book and the movie, so once again, don’t expect them to be the same thing. Think of them as two distinct stories and it’ll all be ok.

The charm of the book series is the quirkiness of it. Here’s a story about a skinny kid named Hiccup who is a very un-Vikingish Viking and has to someday rule his tribe of the Hairy Hooligans. His best friend, Fishlegs, is another skinny kid with asthma and eczema. During the first book, both boys get their hunting dragons. Hiccup chooses Toothless, a very very small green common dragon with a lot of rudeness and sass. Fishlegs gets Horrorcow, and I don’t think I need to explain how un-terrifying of a dragon she is.

The two boys eventually meet Camicazi, a Bog-Burglar from a neighboring tribe who becomes friends with them. Camicazi is a great female character, and is more often than not the character getting the other two out of the trouble that they have inevitably gotten themselves into.

The entire story is chock full of warrior women, such as Hiccup’s mother who is off Questing while Hiccup’s dad looks after him. It’s wonderful.

Of course, shenanigans ensue. But the beauty of this story is the sheer mediocrity of the main characters. It is emphasized again and again that Hiccup really isn’t Hero material. And yet despite all of the odds against him, he manages to go on these adventures and outwit these dragons and pull it off. It shows what an ordinary kid can do. You don’t need to be a hero to save the world, you just have to be you.

There’s 12 books in the series, and the final one just recently came out! (I still need to get my hands on a copy.)

It’s a wonderful series, very entertaining and rewarding to read. You don’t even have to be a kid to enjoy it, I’m in college and I get a kick out of it! Since the next movie isn’t coming out until 2018, go read these to hold you over until then!

Oh and I heard that the books and the movies will eventually end up at the same place, so it is kind of cool to read two different methods of getting there.

Just go read about the dragons please, I love this quirky, amusing series too much to adequately express it here.

“Loamhedge” by Brian Jacques

It’s funny, I can remember when this book first came out as the most recent in the series.

Anyways, this book evokes a lot of “Mattimeo”, which is pretty nice actually, since that one is one of my favorites. It’s also one of the more familiar books since it’s one of the three to be made into an animated series. Examples of this are during the summer games at the beginning. Saro wins by jumping to the top of the pole, which is exactly what Sam does in “Mattimeo”. There’s also the same walltop race from “Taggerung”.

The main example of a throwback to “Mattimeo” is that the quest to find Loamhedge covers directly over the same path that Matthias took in that story. So landmarks are the same and all that. It also shows how they have changed over the years, with the Lord of Mossflower falling over. The Badger and the Bell remain though.

And of course, the Abbey is being attacked, same as “Mattimeo”. Same as most books really.

Now the reason why this journey to Loamhedge was undertaken was that Martha is a young hare who has been in a wheelchair her whole life. (Note the fact that this series deals with ableism quite well.) She has a dream that a mouse from Loamhedge, who also couldn’t walk but then was mysteriously healed, could help her. Therefore, an otter and a squirrel decide to go and find out what this cure is.

The resolution of this is actually very nice. I don’t want to give it away, but it works out very well. (Although we never do really find out the secret from Loamhedge…)

One nice touch is that the poem that sent them on their way to Loamhedge only mentioned two beasts, the otter and the squirrel. However, three Redwallers sneak off and join them. And it’s fine. Shows how the poems and such don’t have absolute control over the actions in the story, haha!

And a new tribe of shrews is mentioned here, the Guoraf shrews. I wonder if the Guosim turned into them, or if they’re entirely separate?

There’s so much more information that I wish I had about this series, sometimes I don’t think the stories really do it all justice.

50th Anniversary of Rubber Soul

We take a break from our regularly scheduled nonsense to bring you this important announcement: today marks 50 years since the Beatles' album "Rubber Soul" came out.

This is quite an important album, and is often ranked as one of the best (both ever and for the Beatles). It marks the first album where they really started to depart from just run-of-the-mill rock and roll and into more experimental stuff. It also includes only original songs, no covers, which was still unusual for groups in the 60s (even though the Beatles had already done that with "A Hard Day's Night").

The sitar is introduced on this album and is included for the first time ever in Western music into a pop song. The song is "Norwegian Wood", and of course George Harrison is playing it. This is a great indicator of where the Beatles would take their music next, as George got more interested in Eastern music and philosophy. Songs like "Nowhere Man" and "Girl" show how far John Lennon has come with song writing, and are great examples of how different the Beatles started to sound now. And there's also "In My Life", which is a song that's responsible for many tears. Paul McCartney is contributing songs like "You Won't See Me" and "I'm Looking Through You" (but overall I would say that John dominated this album). George even contributed "Think For Yourself", a rather harsh song but pretty catchy. And then there's the harsh-but-catchy song to dominate them all: "Run For Your Life". Really John? Ringo also gets to sing on "What Goes On", and he sounds good! People always assume that Ringo is the weak link of the group, but I'll literally fight them on that, Ringo is a good singer! This album also has pastiche songs, or songs where they would imitate other genres. Most notable is Paul's "Michelle", an imitation of a French chanson.

I could go on about this album for a very long time, but I won't, I'll just leave it with the fact that it's one of my favorites and has a lot of my favorite songs on it and go give it a listen in honor of its anniversary, please.