August 22 (PM) - Reykjavik Culture Night
The Reykjavik Marathon was scheduled to split the day with Menningarnótt (a.k.a. Reykjavik Culture Night) in the afternoon and evening. After a rest and a shower we headed out into the light-but-persistent drizzle to find the streets already quite full, though most of the live bands had chosen to play from the dry safety of inside the store windows.
(Aside: A public service announcement to everyone under six feet tall: when you are carrying an open umbrella the spokes are at eye-gouging level for those of us who are over six feet tall. Please take this in consideration when charging at us in crowded spaces. While I'm sure you're quite fond of staying dry in the rain, I'm quite fond of the sense of vision.)
The Reykjavic Gay Pride festival was a few weeks earlier and they had painted the rainbow flag on one of the hilly streets leading up to Hallgrímskirkja. (Photo taken early the next morning when the crowds had dispersed.)
This instantly reminded me of the "Slide the City" event that Jessica & I attended in Calgary a month ago, and gave me a great idea: replace the Gay Pride Parade with "Gay Pride the City": instead of driving the floats down 17th avenue, slide them down a rainbow flag on 10th street, with music blasting and water cannons in hand to douse the protesters. I shall have to send a recommendation off to Pride Calgary when we get home.
Despite the crowds we managed to find a table in a bar labeling itself as an "Authentic English Gastropub" (it was close enough) for some beers and snacks before returning to our flat for a late-afternoon siesta. The evening promised an outdoor concert and fireworks over the harbor at 11, so we figured we'd recharge before heading back out for a proper meal and to see the events. Unfortunately, when we went back out the drizzle had turned into a heavy downpour and the crowds had gotten even thicker, barring us from getting anywhere near the concert nor standing a chance of finding a spot in a restaurant.
A bit tired and fed up with the crowds, we agreed that we couldn't be bothered to stay up for the fireworks. Instead we settled for trips to the liquor store and kebab take-out before retiring to our apartment for a "room party" and a collapse into bed. Again we slept a solid eight hours from about 10PM to 6AM, jet lag be damned, suggesting that a great way to defeat jet lag is simply to kill the day by running a marathon!
(Some might argue that the cure is worse than the disease here, as spending five hours running in the morning rain is less pleasant than spending five hours awake in a warm bed at night. I suppose there's no accounting for tastes.)
(Aside: A public service announcement to everyone under six feet tall: when you are carrying an open umbrella the spokes are at eye-gouging level for those of us who are over six feet tall. Please take this in consideration when charging at us in crowded spaces. While I'm sure you're quite fond of staying dry in the rain, I'm quite fond of the sense of vision.)
The Reykjavic Gay Pride festival was a few weeks earlier and they had painted the rainbow flag on one of the hilly streets leading up to Hallgrímskirkja. (Photo taken early the next morning when the crowds had dispersed.)
This instantly reminded me of the "Slide the City" event that Jessica & I attended in Calgary a month ago, and gave me a great idea: replace the Gay Pride Parade with "Gay Pride the City": instead of driving the floats down 17th avenue, slide them down a rainbow flag on 10th street, with music blasting and water cannons in hand to douse the protesters. I shall have to send a recommendation off to Pride Calgary when we get home.
Despite the crowds we managed to find a table in a bar labeling itself as an "Authentic English Gastropub" (it was close enough) for some beers and snacks before returning to our flat for a late-afternoon siesta. The evening promised an outdoor concert and fireworks over the harbor at 11, so we figured we'd recharge before heading back out for a proper meal and to see the events. Unfortunately, when we went back out the drizzle had turned into a heavy downpour and the crowds had gotten even thicker, barring us from getting anywhere near the concert nor standing a chance of finding a spot in a restaurant.
A bit tired and fed up with the crowds, we agreed that we couldn't be bothered to stay up for the fireworks. Instead we settled for trips to the liquor store and kebab take-out before retiring to our apartment for a "room party" and a collapse into bed. Again we slept a solid eight hours from about 10PM to 6AM, jet lag be damned, suggesting that a great way to defeat jet lag is simply to kill the day by running a marathon!
(Some might argue that the cure is worse than the disease here, as spending five hours running in the morning rain is less pleasant than spending five hours awake in a warm bed at night. I suppose there's no accounting for tastes.)
posted by Paineroo @ 2:45 AM
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