Say No More ;-)

Another Christmas View

An Icelandic Santa Claus!

Christmas Tree Close-Up!

Christmas Conservatory

Leaving work today

Christmas View

Here is the christmasy view from our window (for Penny).

Oh happy day!!!

Gay Pride 2008 Reykjavik

...and here´s a nice picture of us from Gay Pride 2008 - thanks Palli!

(For original context, click here!)

Birthday Fun!

Gay Pride Reykjavik!

Beautiful Surreal Blue Lagoon!

Pongy Krýsuvík

From the very edge of America!

Searching for steam in Hveragerði

Going whale watching

Brother and nieces in Iceland

Summer in heiðmörk

He's back!!! :-)

Hilton: High Tea - Innovative Cuisine - Compromised Service

I have just returned from High Tea at the Reykjavik Hilton with my mother and thought I would report the experience here. Although the quality of the food itself was extremely high (of which more shortly), the overall experience was let down by incredibly slow service and a poor pricing decision on drinks.

We pre-booked for 14:15 and arrived slightly early. Our order was taken promptly and we then waited for half an hour for our food to arrive. This strikes me as an exceptionally long wait - even for a starter at a restaurant - but for high tea in a lounge it is absurdly long. This was made worse by the fact that a couple who arrived and ordered at 14:30 (15 minutes after us) received their food at the same time. I asked once when our food would be ready and was told it was due any minute - but it did not arrive for another 10 minutes. My impression was that our order was held as it was being prepared alongside the second order. No apology was offered or any recognition showed that this was an unacceptably long wait.

This delay was made more significant because of the drinks pricing policy. In the UK, High Tea includes (filter) coffee or (regular) tea (though speciality coffees and teas often have to be paid for); at the Hilton, no drinks are included. We ordered a coffee when we arrived and finished it long before our food arrived. We could easily have had two more cups before the food arrived. We had two more cups with our food. This is no small additional surcharge on the almost kr 2000 of the High Tea itself. The longer the food is delayed the more money can be made from drinks orders. This was not an attractive equation!

First impressions matter and so it was unfortunate that the delay and the drinks charges made such a negative impression as the food itself was excellent (and the waiter´s presentation of the food courteous and helpful). As I had hoped, this Icelandic High Tea was inspired by the British model but quite different in content, showing an imaginative translation into modern Icelandic cuisine. The sandwiches were rich and unusual from a British perspective - salmon with gravlax sauce (maybe with horseradish?) and caviar, red pesto and prosciutto, egg and salami. Fresh fruit kebabs were also included on this tier. The sandwiches were high quality and original but the real masterwork was the dessert tier. A zesty lemon tartlet and a luscious chocoate brulee. An Icelandic take on the British scone, delightfully conceived - the jam sharp and satisfying, the scone very different in texture to the British version but with exactly the right flavour and a whipped cream and sour cream confection in place of clotted cream that worked precisely and satisfyingly with the other elements. Three minisponges with savoury flavours I would have preferred on the sandwich tier but were beautifully done. The only ordinary element was a Danish kransakaka which was entirely unobjectionable. My mother chose the "healthy" High Tea which included muesli biscuits (delicious) and a walnut and ?date sponge which was startling.

Overall, the food was a triumph but its late delivery and the apparently money-grubbing attitude to the drinks compromised this achievement. I couldn´t recommend that someone not try this but I would echo the reaction of another friend who had a similar experience - caveat emptor (buyer beware)!

[High Tea at the Hilton]

Thank goodness it´s clearly labeled!

This delicious bottle of "drink" is lemonade from Euroshopper. Thanks, guys! ;-)

The new sofabed!

Well, I finally bought the new sofabed yesterday. It was a bit of a shock when it arrived in 3 bulky pieces but it actually all fitted together very easily. So here it is - sofa-style and bed-style! ;-)

Happy 1st May!

What a glorious day!

Worked on a conference abstract this morning and sent it off after lunch. Then had coffee with Douglas, on his way home from Háteigskirkja.

Then it was off to Frosti and Palli for revolutionary pancakes! Here is the pancake master himself...

...and here are the happy hosts!

On the way back the weather was just stunning - and so to soak up the holiday atmosphere - and work off some of those luscious pancakes! - I decided to have a walk through Laugardalur. The air is still a bit chill but boy it is feeling like summer - and the trees, though still bare, have clearly decided to risk it and are budding beautifully:

..land now back home to crash out, chill - and blog!

Happy 1st May!

...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALMA!!

Ásmundur's Garden

Not only children play in Ásmundur's garden! :-)

Afoot a glimpse o' home!

Yes, in an extraordinary break with established convention, I actually WALKED to get some shopping - on foot! Here is my glimpse of home as I walked back down into Pool Dale and gazed across the urban landscape! ;-)

Spring Cleaning Day!

...or should that be summer! <blush> but somehow it doesn't seem so bad with the glorious soaring voice of Joan Sutherland :-)

Not just another day!

I needed a break today and something totally different - and that´s just what I got (thank you, Douglas!).

We went to the Afturelding-Fram handball match - I´m afraid Afturelding lost but they can at least console themselves with the fact that they held their own most of the match (though Fram were a much classier outfit, I´m afraid) - and in the end, they only lost by 6 points - could have been worse!

So after an hour sweat and testosterone, off to the contemporary elegance of the new Mosfellsbakarí - same old luscious food and coffee - snazzy new location - beautifully done!

Then back to Douglas´ pastoral paradise to crash out - and of course explore his phenomenal classical CD and DVD collection. Highlights included a fabulously directed, acted and performed aria from Handel´s Giulio Cesare; the damnation scene from Mozart´s Don Giovanni (makes my hairs stand up every time); and a revelatory performance of Beethoven´s Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas on an original fortepiano - tempest and lightning indeed!!!

And after such a mix of testosterone and intellectual stimulation, clearly the only choice was a brain-dead action thriller - in all the glory of Blu-Ray - S.W.A.T. ;-)

Afturelding-Fram

Yes, I'm actually here!

Another glorious day in Pool Dale!

Why are computer books so damn big?!!

Sæmundur rides the seal through a snowy sea

Well, even though it SHOULD be Spring, I can´t deny that these snowy views from the University take my breath away! A beautiful end to a very busy couple of days which have felt a bit like wading through treacle following the tummy bug but I´m over it now - and even the snow is glorious! ;-)

The joys of Spring driving in Reykjavik

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Well, this weekend has turned out rather differently than expected. Got up yesterday to get ready for Hugvísindaþing and spent the first half an hour being violently ill - the rest of the day with fever and rushes to the bathroom - oh glorious glorious day! A bit better today but feel like I´ve been run over by a tractor!!! I´m afraid that the world will have to wait for the wonders of age-based variation in Icelandic resultatives!

Variation, Violation and Verse at Hugvísindaþing 2008

When I got out of today´s session of Hugvísindaþing, I was greeted by this beautiful view (and two traffic cones). Very interesting papers in the Icelandic linguistics seminar - and more than a little excitement - a drunk man came in - kept breaking into poetry and song (it is Iceland) during one of the lectures - and was thrown out - but not before he nearly punched the session chairman - so don´t tell me that Icelandic linguistics is not full of excitement and blood-racing drama!

Now I just hope that there are no other such fisticuffs before my paper tomorrow :-O

Hugvísindaþing 2008 begins!

Hugvísindaþing 2008 is just about to begin. Lots of interesting stuff on linguistic variation in Icelandic - my paper is not til tomorrow.

On the way home

Took this on the way home from the pool. Beautiful afternoon after a blustery cold morning. Spent most of the day on my talk for hugvísindaþing - but mid-afternoon decided my brain and my back needed some free movement and fresh air! Now it's back to that data!

Bright, beautiful - and quiet!

Well, managed another three hours sleep - which I think I will be very grateful for later in the day! It is a glorious (if windy/chilly) day in Reykjavík and the flat is bright and beautiful - roll on spring and summer!

But of course what I want to do is go out for a drive with Hjölli and soak up the day - sigh, this will take some getting used to!

Áfram, áfram! :-)

Hjölli starts the big adventure!

Well, I delivered Hjölli safely to the airport this morning and left him with Jói to check in for the flight to London. I have a really good feeling about this three month course he will be doing at Escape Studios - but, boy, it was still a really lonely drive back home! The only compensation was the chance to see the slow tranquil sunrise over the Reykjanes penninsula - Iceland really is beautiful!

And now it is a matter of sitting with a hot chocolate, blogging and trying to wind down in the hope of catching a few more hours sleep...

Hjolli @ Brons

Packing done - rubbish dumped - hangover receding - yummy food at the new Kaffi Brons - and he leaves early tomorrow :-( :-( :-(

Hjolli @ Hereford

Hjolli enjoying a luscious peppery red wine at Hereford Steakhouse on our 3rd anniversary dinner. :-D

Hjolli at Grotta

Two and a half days before Hjolli goes to London :-( Here is the handsome man at the Grotta lighthouse in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland.

3 IT Cultures

...and following discussions of mobile platforms and different operating systems, here are some comments on 3 IT cultures (please take with large pinches of salt) ;-) :-)

Macintosh
Everyone should want the one thing that we offer because it´s the best (and so we´re the best - and those that want it are the best)! If you want anything else/more then that it is just because you´re rubbish!
[fascist elitism]

Microsoft
People can demand whatever they want - as long as they get it from us and our friends - if they try anything else we´ll have to make them an offer they can´t refuse (as the godfather said).
[cut-throat capitalism]

Linux
There is a whole world of possibilities and aspirations out there - let´s share resources so that everyone can work towards their individual goals as efficiently as possible.
[moonie-eyed communitarianism]

Long live Android! A true open mobile platform!

Feeling excited by the prospect of a genuinely open mobile phone platform that will allow free and open development across the developer community - the Android platform from Google and partners. Microsoft is famous for its corporate control but its platform does support extensive third-party development even if it is ruthless at cutting out competing platform and disfavoured third-party developers. Ironically iPhone, for all its impressive innovation in user interface, is even more fascist in its restrictive development strategy - they took forever to release a development framework for third party developers and when they did it still contained unbelievable restrictions (third party apps can´t run in the background!) which cripple whole areas of development - and of course there is only one piece of hardware you can have that platform on - not much choice however gorgeous that single model may be. Even the sorts of platform you find on Nokia phones are subject to the current fragmentary nature of the market. If Android can put together an open flexible mobile platform that invites developer innovation across the board - and allows hardware manufacturers to exploit that platform across a range of devices, there will be a true revolution in the area of mobile technology - roll on the day!!!

Fun for all the family - watching youtube on the phone!

A happy icelandic Easter morning!

A thorougly nerdy Holy Saturday

What a nerdy Holy Saturday this is turning out to be! No surprises for those that know us ;-)  Hjölli introduced me to a new web browser a couple of weeks ago - Flock - the "social web browser"! As cliche as that sounds it has turned out to be a revelation - basically Flock is a spin-off from Firefox but it integrates into its sidebar a whole bunch of socionetwork sites - facebook for general social networking, flickr/picassa etc for photos, eblogger etc for blogs, delicious and magnolia for social bookmarking etc etc - and makes info from these sites easily accessible and reviewable during the process of web browsing.  I wouldn´t have thought I would be that interested given my pretty limited use of these tools but in fact the browser has reactivated my use of facebook, got me trying out e.g. delicious and eblogger, and generally got me exploring ways of using web2 in a way that works for me.  It´s been great fun.  I´ve even learned how to post )photo) blogs from my phone and post photos from my phone to smugmug. All a lot a fun (yes, I AM a nerd!).

I´m surprised that they haven´t got any integration for lastfm which seems a major omission (sharing sounds) in light of their other coverage - and I´m sad that smugmug isn´t on their photo site list. But otherwise, well worth checking out even if you are a bit dubious first ;-)

The Bear.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Enjoying a mellow saturday morning!