Iceland and the first Day of Summer

Arriving at the airport, I met—and met up with—Giselle, my travel buddy. Checking in, I've never had such a friendly airline employee: she was telling us all about Iceland, and her sister who lives out in Nova Scotia (I forget the relevance, or how that came up). Giselle changed her seat so we could sit together, and we lucked out having an empty seat between us, so we could spread out a little.
The flight from Toronto to Reykjavik is only 5 hours, which is almost civilized, but at the same time it means that the flight isn't quite long enough to get any sleep, especially as Giselle and I talked more than half the flight. Arriving in Reykjavik at the ungodly hour of 6.15 am, we stumbled through security a second time, immigration, and luggage claim, with a brief stop in duty free to pick up host gifts for Dan -- I learned that from Martha Stewart, though I don't know if she would have approved of a bottle of vodka.
Dan met us at the bus station, where Giselle and I gave into the temptation of greasy breakfast (you have to pay for your meal on Iceland air, the only down side), though I ordered Giselle bacon that she didn't want. We stumbled to Dan's, but had to sneak in so that his crazy landlady, Helga, wouldn't notice us. Dan even coached us on our cover story: we were just visiting for the day, but were sleeping at his friend Claire's.
We then went for a walk into Reykjavik proper, and Dan showed us around a little. After giving us a tour of the city (it isn't that big, as the whole population of Iceland is about 300,000), we sat for a while in one of the many little coffee shops, called (I think) "Tiú droppa" ("Ten drops" or something similar). A couple of Dan's friends were there studying, so we chatted with them for a while. In fact, each time we walked into a coffee shop, Dan knew at least two people. After a while, it seemed like he knew everyone in town.

Giselle and I had originally planned to push through without a nap in order to get over the jet lag, but by mid-afternoon decided we wouldn't make it, so we snuck back into Dan's and grabbed a quick nap. Even just being horizontal for half an hour was sheer bliss. After our nap, Dan actually introduced us to Claire, at whose apartment we were supposedly staying, and we went for yet another coffee. (We drank lots of coffee).
Friday was really quite cold, though the sun made up for it; Dan and I went swimming in the morning, at one of the many, many natrually heated (and sulfurous-smelling) outdoor pools. The water was pleasant, but getting out was not! Later on, and in between more bouts of coffee drinking, we wandered around Reykjavik some more, and saw the Viking ship sculpture (above).
Saturday, my last in Iceland, we got up bright and surly and went off to our car rental so we could do the Golden Circle, a trio of Icelandic sights including Thingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss. I got to drive since Giselle doesn't and Dan's licence had expired the week before. Luckily they drive on the right, so it wasn't too nervewracking, though the roundabouts were a little exciting! Iceland is absolutely beautiful, an amazingly harsh landscape that is breathtaking. I can't wait to go back.