So, I slept thursday-friday night in New York at Jamaica Day Inn, a really low quality (by european standard) hotel. It's a hotel with a free shuttle bus to/from JFK that specialize on overnight guests traveling through JFK and it tells. The included breakfast is about as cheap as it's possible to get, nuke-em-donuts( the kind that can be kept in room temperature on the counter for months without any signs of mould), Jam in small containers and a instant-waffel mix dispenser with a waffel iron. Really, I've never paid 100USD for something so shitty in my life.
I have to give them some credit though, it did seem like the bedsheets were clean and the staff was polite. I didn't feel the need to harass them, they are probably paid like crap anyway. :/
The TSA checkin was exactly what I expected it to be.. you get 3 different choices. a) Stand in the 1.5 hour line with the rest of the pleebs and lower classes.
b) Bring children so you get to bypass he 1.5 hour line and stand in the 30 minute line.
c) Submit to a pre-approval and pay a special "quality service fee" so you get to stand in the 10 minute line. Probably also involves a obligatory anal probe, submitting a blood sample to TSA and agreeing to only take the blue pill if given the offer.
Beyond that, I was positively surprised by the Jetblue service and quality. The flight to Houston was 3.5 hour and went without a hitch. I had expected to arrive at Bush international airport, but I did end up at William P. Hobby airport.. good that the representative from Innovation Norway (Eric) didn't try to pick me up at Bush international after all. ^^
The apartment looks good btw. I've seen better from my childhood at different diplomatic homes and embassies, but it could have been much worse. The kitchen is lacking in utensils though.. How can a chef make proper food without even a proper chopping knife? *horror*
The weekend was spent a) buying food from the local food court with the help of Eric The Driver(tm). Then a lot of walking the 15 minutes to the nearest mall (The Galleria) to buy utensils and watch my female roomies go crazy shopping clothes and lingerie at Victoria's secret.
Eric also threw a nice party at his parents place with his parents stepping in as wonderful hosts. Free margaritas, good food and getting a chance to know the other grunderskolen students. Some of them are obviously just kids, but thankfully not obnoxious kids. :)
My roomies seems nice to, I think we can get along as soon as they get used to my peculiarities. ;-)
PS. Pictures will follow in the next post.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
03: Blue lagoon, outside keflavik
Blue Lagoon is an outdoor spa about 1 hours bus ride from Reykjavik (or 20 minutes from Keflavik Airport for those who would like to go there directly). It is quite relaxing and I'm so going to come back. I can imagine spending a whole weekend in luxury on Iceland if I can just convince someone to come along as entertainment. Reykjavik has good food and the spa is amazing. Far better than the hot springs I enjoyed in Hakone, Japan (less sulphuric smell from your hair afterwards).
An the name Blue Lagoon? It's not a just a marketing word.. Look at the image and imagine yourself with a glass of wine/beer/beverage of your choice, a good book and good company.. and a whole day to spend on turning into a prune. Including the bus fare, towel and a robe it cost about 10000ISK (~450NOK).
On the way to the Blue Lagoon I started chatting with a couple in the bus, it turns out they were from Portland, Oregon (Hi Hillary!) and were both recently pensioned. She was a former teacher and he a seed salesman. We ended up talking a bit both on the way to the spa, in the spa and while going to the bus. And they were nice to take a picture of me with wet hair and not looking my best.
Unfortunately we missed the bus going back to Reykjavik by 20 seconds and were left fuming as the next bus was scheduled 2 hours later.. Fortunately another US couple were in the same situation and had the presence of mind to just call the bus company and tell the driver to return to pick us up. So it all ended well.. and I repaid both the US couples by tipping them of about the great restaurant I went to yesterday. Yay!
An the name Blue Lagoon? It's not a just a marketing word.. Look at the image and imagine yourself with a glass of wine/beer/beverage of your choice, a good book and good company.. and a whole day to spend on turning into a prune. Including the bus fare, towel and a robe it cost about 10000ISK (~450NOK).
On the way to the Blue Lagoon I started chatting with a couple in the bus, it turns out they were from Portland, Oregon (Hi Hillary!) and were both recently pensioned. She was a former teacher and he a seed salesman. We ended up talking a bit both on the way to the spa, in the spa and while going to the bus. And they were nice to take a picture of me with wet hair and not looking my best.
Unfortunately we missed the bus going back to Reykjavik by 20 seconds and were left fuming as the next bus was scheduled 2 hours later.. Fortunately another US couple were in the same situation and had the presence of mind to just call the bus company and tell the driver to return to pick us up. So it all ended well.. and I repaid both the US couples by tipping them of about the great restaurant I went to yesterday. Yay!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
02: In Reykjavik
Today I'm walking around Reykjavik and I intend to visit Blue Lagoon outdoors spa. The water is heated by the local geysirs so expect 25+ celsius water temperature while the air temperature is +5 celsius.
I did take some pictures of Reykjavik and the buildings, enjoy!
I hope to get a few good landscape pictures later today .
I did take some pictures of Reykjavik and the buildings, enjoy!
I hope to get a few good landscape pictures later today .
01: to Houston by Reykjavik
I'm currently traveling to Houston, Texas to work as an intern in the spring 2012. The internship is part of my Masters degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation management and it lasts from 18th of march until 8th of June. I plan to then do a roadtrip through the US before my visa expires, but I'll get more into that later.
Just now I'm in Reykjavik, Iceland. I booked a flight from Norway to Reykjavik and will spend two nights here enjoying the moon landscape of Iceland during the winter. It's not a good picture, but it gives an idea of what you can expect on Iceland during the winter. (Or maybe not?
)
It's weird to get on the bus from Keflavik airport to Reykjavik.. The only trees you see are those planted outside the airport, and in fact.. Every single tree on Iceland have been planted there by man! The uninhabited areas are baren, wind blown stretches covered with green moss and lichen. It doesn't help that the area around Keflavik airport is one of the youngest (geologically speaking) volcanic areas on Iceland. Wind and weather haven't had time to scour down the jagged rocks yet.
When I arrived at my hotel (Bjork) it was 18:00 in local time and I was famished. I asked for a recommendation on a restaurant and I ended up at a place called Fiskfélagið ( Fish Company ).
It's an esquisite restaurant, probably one of the most expensive local places.. I had a 5 course meal called 'Around Iceland' and it was a fabulous meal! I recommend both the place and the menu. It costs around 8000ISK (or around 360NOK with the current exchange rate).
Just now I'm in Reykjavik, Iceland. I booked a flight from Norway to Reykjavik and will spend two nights here enjoying the moon landscape of Iceland during the winter. It's not a good picture, but it gives an idea of what you can expect on Iceland during the winter. (Or maybe not?
)
It's weird to get on the bus from Keflavik airport to Reykjavik.. The only trees you see are those planted outside the airport, and in fact.. Every single tree on Iceland have been planted there by man! The uninhabited areas are baren, wind blown stretches covered with green moss and lichen. It doesn't help that the area around Keflavik airport is one of the youngest (geologically speaking) volcanic areas on Iceland. Wind and weather haven't had time to scour down the jagged rocks yet.
When I arrived at my hotel (Bjork) it was 18:00 in local time and I was famished. I asked for a recommendation on a restaurant and I ended up at a place called Fiskfélagið ( Fish Company ).
It's an esquisite restaurant, probably one of the most expensive local places.. I had a 5 course meal called 'Around Iceland' and it was a fabulous meal! I recommend both the place and the menu. It costs around 8000ISK (or around 360NOK with the current exchange rate).
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