Our Saga Continues, Wednesday

We are going back a day before the previous post since that was on Thanksgiving Day. We had good internet out in Selfoss, but our hostess at the guesthouse has to pay-by-use with her internet service, so I didn't want to burden her with all my photo-heavy posts!

So let's go back in time! Here we are on Wednesday, November 26. We had a very busy morning, starting with a helicopter ride, generously donated by Haukur at Helo Helicopter Service. Haukur was one of the first to kindly offer us something to experience in Iceland. And what a great experience! None of us had ever been in a helicopter, so it was so fun and exciting for all!

Haukur is on the left.

Once we were done with our helicopter ride, we went to Hallgrímskirkja. We had met Auður there on our first day, but we didn't go inside. It's a gorgeous church with a beautiful, unusual design. The statue out front is of Leifur Eiríksson.

You can take an elevator to the top of the church and then climb a flight of stairs to the tippy-top. The view is incredible and we had a gorgeous morning to see it all.

To top off the morning, we were given a very special private tour of Sundlaugin, "the swimming pool." It is now a recording studio where Sigur Rós has recorded and used to wholly own, but it had previously been the town's swimming pool. Another band was recording while we were there, but were on a few days' break. 

Here is what started it all for us and Sigur Rós. Kevin loved this image on the cover of their Ágætis Byrjun and so he bought the record based on the cover alone! I guess this is where I say "and the rest is history."

One of Jónsi's shredded cello bows.

Sigur Rós master tapes.

Kari, our wonderful personal tour guide and the first person we met from the Sigur Rós organization, is on the left. Harry is the super nice guy on the right. He also works at Abbey Road Studios. I said to him, "That must be awfully nice to say: that you also work at Abbey Road!" He heartily agreed. He knows how very lucky he is! 

We went inside the studio in the snow...

And we came out in the sunshine. Such is the weather in Iceland!

Álafoss

Bench face. We aren't sure if he's Happy Bench Face or Meh Bench Face.

The woolen mill at Álafoss.

Holy jeez, that was a jam-packed day! That afternoon we went to stay outside Selfoss, at the guesthouse Höfðatún. We couldn't find it, it was a long ride in the dark (not so long when you know when you're going, but long for us!), and out in the country, finding someone who speaks English well enough to help is not as easily found as in the city! But we found it. A lovely house, very cozy, and decorated for Christmas, tree and all.

Next post: Waterfalls!

Begin the Begin

Here we are. I've written a very, very short version of life up until now in the right sidebar. More can be explained in the articles posted below. So why the video above? Well, we need to begin this story at the beginning, so begin the begin. If you know Pippa's mom, me, Megan, you know that I am an R.E.M. fan from way, way back. (And a former Athenian, at which time I was acquainted with Michael Stipe, but that was a million years ago.) Michael called "Begin the Begin" "a song of personal, political activism." And that relates to me because Pippa is the fire of my personal activism. I can't fight all the fights in the world that I want to. I am just one person. But I can fight the fights that relate to Pippa because those battles — and the betterment of her situation and how the world relates to her – are easy. I fight for her from a place of love. Sometimes the things that come out of my mouth (or keyboard) don't sound like they come from love (some of you know of my rants about handicap parking violators)! If my fights for Pippa result in her life being easier and the lives of other people being easier, then every rant is worth it.

So the fundraiser started by my girl Tamara was rolling along, and Then. It. Exploded. The darling Auður of I Heart Reykjavík spread the word around Iceland, unbeknownst to any of us. On the morning of Friday, September 26, I was awoken by my phone's Facebook Messenger dinging its head off. Tam — who had not slept yet from the previous night — was begging me to wake up because Pippa's story had been written about online. In Icelandic.

Then that afternoon Pippa's "Boys," as she calls them, Sigur Rós, had made an extremely generous donation.

Then there was another article on Saturday.

And second one on Saturday. 

And then Sunday.

And it all was wrapped up and tied with a bow by me — me?! — having an interview with the Reykjavík Grapevine.

It is now Monday, November 17. On Friday we are flying to Iceland. Pippa talks about nothing else all day at school, so I am told. We are still stunned by the kindness and generosity that we have been blessed with.


[I do apologize if some of those article links don't work. They were from DV.is who might not keep their articles online.]