You know how when you’re in Vegas, at, say, The Venetian or Bellagio and you see the Mandalay Bay and it looks super-close, when in reality, it’s like 2 miles away?

Yeah. Reykjavik is like that. Stuff seems really close and then you realize you’ve walked a 10k. Really, though, the air quality is so good that it’s nice to just walk around. I think tomorrow I will get on a bus and go see the country if the weather cooperates again. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and it was way more comfortable than wearing the same thing in LA.

Today’s highlights:

Visited the Laugurdalur, which is kind of like Central Park. It has a zoo, sports complex, botanical gardens and aquatics centre, which has geothermically-heated pools. The water has an extra slippery feel to it, which I think comes from a high silica content. There’s an indoor Olympic pool, an outdoor Olympic pool, an extra heated happy funtime for the kids pool, and several hot tubs, including one at 44 degrees Celsius that ensured my sterility for years to come. Very refreshing, though, you just feel healthier having soaked in mineral-rich, chlorine-free water.

Before going swimming, I walked through the botanical gardens, which was meh until I found the edible plants section. Next time I go, I’m brining ranch dressing. They had broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, herbs, beets, chives, kohlrabi, chard, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Also, bushes and bushes of red, black and white currants, and a stevia plant that when chewed with peppermint leaves was like eating an after-dinner mint. People seriously do their grocery shopping there–the lettuce, chard and broccoli plants had all these knife cuts on them. So I made like Bear Grylls and foraged for food. It was pretty cool, and I’m kinda sure that none of it was sprayed with poison.

Ran into some exchange students who had never seen an iPhone. Thought it was a device the white man uses to steal your soul (not far from the truth). On the way back, we ate at Devito’s Pizza, which was surprisingly tasty and sort of authentic, although I’m pretty sure Mario Batali would shoot you in the face if you ordered a banana pizza at Mozza.

Food eaten: Salami sandwich (the grocery store bread here is tits), strawberry skyr (delicious Icelandic cheesecakey fat-free yogurt-like concoction, available at Whole Foods for a 500% markup), ground beef, mushroom and bell pepper pizza, Coke made with real sugar, Toppur, which is my new favorite beverage, a lightly-sweetened orange-flavored sparkling water. Given all the walking I’m doing, I’m consistently Duran and the food here hasn’t disappointed one bit.