Jordan planted radish seeds a month ago so we had some radishes ready when we got home yesterday.  He got excited about the potential for selling some at the markets this year so today he and I built this large raised bed and then Jordan filled it, raked it, and even planted the seeds.  It was really cute!

Kevin and I got up early. We had primping to do. After a bit of consideration, Kevin decided to switch categories to the freestyle sideburns. The Garibaldi category was heavy with Americans already – some with really impressive beards. So we shaved a line down his chin. It really worked well with his outfit. I spent a bit of time waxing up my beard into a star and stripes. I had decided to go with a patriotic style.

By the time we were all fed and ready to go it was time to leave so Kevin and I could register.

Then we all went back to the cathedral for the Beard Team USA rally. We took photos and then collectively marched through town and into the competition venue. Which, I must say, was pretty awful. There wasn’t enough space for everyone. It was difficult to see what was going on. Seating was a premium, and the temperature just grew hotter. Or maybe that was my nervousness.

Don’t get me wrong. I had no expectation of placing. I know I can’t grow a beard for two months and get an award. But imagine if you could just passively compete in the Olympics. It might not even be something you’re good in. And you don’t even have to practice. It really is a fun group of people doing a fun thing… But you’ll naturally get a little nervous I think!

After my category I was overheated. I needed to get out of there. Kevin was hot with that western gear on too. So we took off and missed the full beard judging and the finals. We went back to the apartment and relaxed a bit. Kevin lost and then found his GoPro camera. Which is funny because Kevin also lost and found it in China when we were there last year.

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We had to have the rental bike cards returned by 2 PM because the Visitor’s Center closed at 2. But the cathedral also closed at two. We had a slow start to the day though – it’s tough with only one bathroom and dining out being so expensive!

We returned the cards to get Kevin’s deposit back (the deposit was pretty substantial – $40 per bike). And then we high-tailed it to the cathedral. When Pepper walked up to the counter to buy a ticket to see it she was told she couldn’t. For a moment there was huge disappointment. Then the woman said that she couldn’t because there was going to be a free organ service and that the church would close right after that. So we nipped in and were awestruck by the interior. However, photography was not allowed. We stumbled upon the entrance to the crypt where they had some of the older tombstones partially restored and on display. Some dated into the 13th century.

We saw a bit more of the cathedral and then sat down for a brief service that primarily involved the large pipe organ in the center of the church. Afterward we went to the archbishop’s residence which had a museum about the cathedral. it had some incredible artifacts found during restoration work. Also housed here are the regalia and crowns of the Norwegian royalty. The cape, crown, scepter… just like a king and queen have in the storybooks. They were all beautiful works of art. But once again, photography was not allowed.

We went to the town’s main square which was set up like a farmer’s market. There were fresh cheeses and meats, soap, and other handmade goods. We all found food to eat and it might have been our least expensive meal outside of the apartment! We hit a grocery store on the way back to the apartment and then spent the rest of the day prepping for the social event that was part of the beard contest.

We were up and moving earlier than Kevin and Trina so after waking them we took our bags to the lobby and trompsed around a bit. We went to the old city wall where there were cannons and then walked around the town a bit more. We arrived just a bit later than planned and Kevin and Trina were waiting for us already with the ride to our apartment. We were on the 4th floor and it was a spacious place. Four separate sleeping areas – two bedrooms for two and two for one. But just one shower that we soon found out seemed to not have enough water for even three people.

We did some walking around as a group and started thinking of things to do with the next day. The idea of renting a car popped up but then when we did some research on the bikes that can be rented we decided to just go with that. We had lunch while it rained and then walked to the mall to pick up a few things before going to the visitor’s center to get the bike rental cards. It is a pretty cool system – the racks have a kiosk that reads cards. You just swipe your card and then it unlocks one of the bikes. You just ride it for up to three hours before returning the bike to a kiosk. It seems to use an RFID chip to read which bike has been returned to which spot. The bikes were pretty nice – solid rubber tires so no flats. They have a hand brake and coaster brake, fenders, internal shifting hub with four gears… Fairly maintenance free!

So we got bikes and then rode them to an old fort atop a hill overlooking the city.

Unfortunately, one of the cards malfunctioned and so we only had four bikes for the five of us after that first ride. So Jordan rode with me…

We had an 8 AM departure flight so we had an early transport lined up. They were at our hotel at 4:45 in the morning. Ugh. We had a few hour flight to Bergen, Norway and many members of Beard Team USA were on our flight. They got off for a day and a half long cruise to Trondheim while our flight continued to the city. When we landed we walked a short distance to the taxi line and snagged a small van for the five of us and our bags. On the ride to the city there was a little confusion because Trina had two addresses. She called and found out that they had overbooked our first night so we would be staying in a hotel for one night before moving on to the apartment.

First we were hungry. And our taxi driver said that the fast food joints were the least expensive places to eat so we headed to a Burger King. To feed four of us (and Jordan just got a cheeseburger) it cost the equivalent of $60! After eating, Pepper, Jordan and I did some stomping around the city.

We first stumbled on and let ourselves into Vår Frue Church and then continued on to walk around the outside of the Nidaros Cathedral.

Then Pepper navigated us to the only microbrewery in Trondheim. They had a great range of beer compared to the normal availability. It was so good that we went back for dinner!

That night I did some preliminary work on shaping my beard with Pepper’s help.

Travel: 2.5 hours in the air.
Highlight: No more mustache!

On our last full day in Iceland the three of us spent the day seeing some of the sights around Reykjavik that we had planned to catch. Our first stop was Hallgrimskirkja. We briefly checked out the interior before paying to ride the elevator up to the observation deck. From here we had great views of the city. Out in front of the church is a statue of Leif Erickson that was a gift to the city from the United States on the 1,000th anniversary of the nation’s founding.

Then we drove to the Saga Museum which is tucked away in the creative building tucked between the town’s water towers. We took the half-hour audio tour which covered many of the nation’s most pivotal moments. Perhaps the coolest part of the tour was the collection of weapons, helmets, and armor at the end that we could pose in and take pictures of.

From there we headed to the volcano museum. Or, rather, the film that a dedicated photographer and videographer has put together. Unfortunately, once we found it we learned that instead of the show every few hours there was only one at 8PM. So since we had already paid for a few hours of parking, we left the car and walked around to find a place to sit in the sun and get some lunch. In the end, we sat down just a hundred feet from the entrance to our apartment.

We started off with a hot dog that we shared. The place near our apartment had a line usually so we figured it must be a decent hot dog stand. We got the pepperoni pizza dog. Which, besides having pepperoni and pizza sauce on top, also had a bed of chili on the bottom. We ate more at an Italian restaurant which had a patio full of people. They had some wonderful pasta that they make on site.

We walked back to the car and then the three of us went back to the Blue Lagoon for another warm soak. Pepper got the massage that we had planned for her to have on Mother’s Day.

That night Pepper, Jordan, and I went to dinner at a place we had seen the day before. We went there for the whale and puffin menu they had advertised on the street. We ordered an appetizer of smoked puffin with a raspberry sauce that was absolutely delicious. It was almost like smoked salmon in flavor. Then our main courses came out and we had a whale steak. The meat was from a minke whale. It was a darker red flesh than steak from beef is. It had a strong flavor and a very slight fishy finish to it. And now I feel like I’m writing about whale meat like it is a red wine.

Before you judge too much… A friend of mine was in Barrow, Alaska a few weeks ago and had whale meat. And I had whale blubber 15 years ago at a native potlatch in Sitka too.

Highlights: eating whale and puffin

We rented a car so we were sure to hit the prime sights in Iceland. The “Golden Circle” features three main sights. The original Icelandic parliamentary meeting site, the geyser that geysers are named after, and a waterfall. Without much research I figured that only the geyser would be very interesting. I was wrong.

These are constructed at Þingvellir. (The Þ symbol is pronounced with a “th” sound.) Over a thousand years ago Icelanders gathered here (this area – the buildings were not here) to have a big meeting and they started the world’s first parliament.

We stomped around the area and missed a few busloads of people so had areas to ourselves.

We drove to the place where Geysir is next. Sadly, Geysir erupts very infrequently now. But just a few steps away a geyser a little less tall than Old Faithful erupts every six minutes or so… Strokkur.

We had lunch at the cafeteria at the geysers and then drove on to the waterfall Gulfoss.

We were all getting cold and it was getting into the afternoon. So we set out with Pepper navigating the backroads of the area to get us back to Reyjkavik.

We had a strange night of sleeping. Because of our lack of sleep we crashed early. We woke a few hours later and were up for a while before going back to sleep and then sleeping in. By about 11 we met up with Kevin and Trina and we started walking to the place where we rented a car from – Cheep Jeep. We got a manual Suzuki Vitara and then set out for an “abandoned village” mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide we had.

Not far from Reykjavik we smelled strong fish smells. Off to the side of the road we saw large racks of drying fish out in the sun and wind. So of course, we had to go check that out. It was a bit stinky at times but really neat to see and hear the fish out to dry.

We drove on to a geothermally active park area. We saw mud pots, steam vents, and fumaroles.

We were seeking that abandoned village… and the church marked on the map we got from the rental car agency. We finally found the spot where the old church had been. But it was burned to the ground.

We did some exploring and part-way down a dirt road Trina noticed our gas level. Plans changed. We worked our way to a town, and quickly realized that Europeans really do pay a lot more than we do for gasoline. It cost the equivalent of $128 to fill up the tank of our Suzuki Vitara. I have the same vehicle at home and when gas was above $5 spent about $75. I would guess that they pay about twice as much as we do. We got pizza at Mama Mia’s – the only place to get a meal in town other than at the other gas station.

We spent the rest of the day driving around the southeastern coastal area of Iceland.

Travel: Quite a few hours in our rental car.
Highlights: Geothermal active areas, and random sights on the roadside.

There was an assortment of cheese spreads in the grocery store in Reykjavik, Iceland that we went to. I couldn’t help myself and put this one in our basket. We grabbed some crackers… and after gettingg back to the room and letting some hunger develop I learned that it is delicious. Probably not very healthy… but delicious!

If these Paprika Lays, the paprika french fries Kevin got yesterday and the paprika cheese we saw in the same store are an indicator, Icelanders love paprika.