Cafe Paris

Palmer and I returned to the scene of the crime today, Cafe Paris. Palmer was only slightly better behaved, insisting on taking off his shirt and then yelling every time he was about to drift off to sleep (about every 5 minutes or so). But he stayed on my lap, so I was happy. Funny how little difference it makes to me how bad he can be sometimes, because I always know the reason why. He's tired, he's hungry, he's stressed out. 

Anyhow, I enjoyed the chance to people watch, even with a sleepy wiggle worm on my lap. So many ladies downtown had on the nicest dresses, and this is just adding to the building realization that I must go shopping soon. Nothing in my closet fits, really, well, except a few things that are now mostly worn out. When we went into Victors and I saw even that place has been redecorating, I thought this was also a sign that my wardrobe is in need of updating. 

The colleague visiting me--her first time in Iceland--had perhaps a slightly less favorable opinion of Reykjavik ladies. This was primarily caused by the fact that shortly after I dropped her off, a lady grabbed her at the public bathroom and insisted she act as the missing door, so that the repairman would not see her pee. Ah, to be high at 11am on a Wednesday. 

When she told me this story at Cafe Paris, Palmer's behavior took on a whole new light. Why, we are downright civilized, us two.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow ...
Read more

Cultural tourism in Iceland

I just finished writing a chapter of my dissertation, which resulted in a much larger discussion of cultural tourism in Iceland than I had intended. But the fact is, this is an issue I have been extremely interested and concerned about for at least 15 years, if not 20. I have never, ever liked the way Iceland is marketed to tourists in the U.S. Everything from the unspoiled nature to the crazy city life in Reykavik. It has always left the part of Iceland I loved--the simple joy of being in a relaxing and lovely place with my family--completely out of the picture. In 2001, I went to Hvollsvöllur to examine the Saga Centre as part of a study commissioned by the National Park's service to look into cultural landscapes as heritage tourism. I thought that endeavor might represent a change in how Iceland was presented to tourists. But in the last 10 years, and especially while working at Vikingaheimar, and at meetings with the Saga Trails Association, I came to see just how completel...
Read more

On Icelandic doctors

My friends and family here in Iceland were very enthusiastic about me going to the krabbameinsfélag for an exam. I was really impressed how easy it was to get an appointment--booked online even! And when I got there this afternoon, the efficiency continued: they have a well oiled operation in place there, all very organized with computers asking questions and keyed lockers to keep one's personal belongings in. Then when it came time to see the doctor, well, that lasted all of 2 minutes. And I paid 3420 kroner. So I was overall a little disappointed. When I mentioned to the front desk clerks that I was wondering if it was possible to actually get an appointment where I could speak to a doctor, I was given a variety of phone numbers. None of the ones I called had appointments within the next 6 weeks. In the United States, when I want a doctor's appointment, I can usually get it within a week of calling, though sometimes I have had to wait 10 days or so. The highest co-pay I hav...
Read more