Yep, it's still snowing...

Last weekend, we were invited by friends to a "Summerhouse". A summerhouse is basically a house in a non-urban area outside of Reykjavík, with a distinct 'wooden' look, and includes all standard amenities such as a working kitchen, a TV... And a hot tub! Many people own such homes, but work unions also do, and they rent them out to union members for cheap.

We enjoyed the stay very much, and socialized and soaked in the hot tub at night for a couple of hours while the snow was falling softly on us. Classic Icelandic stuff :).

On our way back, we decided to stop by Gullfoss since it was quite close to the summerhouse. It looked quite nice, with the snow and ice on the sides. As you can see from the rest of the pictures, the dominant color here is white. That's because it's been snowing quite a bit this winter, and we're getting a bit tired from that... Anyway, on to the pictures:

Maybe I should Photoshop these tourists out...

Closer

And even closer

A very bundled up Jó

I could make this my secret lair

Snow covered lava fields

The sun managed to pierce through the cloud cover at times

Lots of horses

The wind was pushing the snow over the road, making for a cool effect


Reminds me of a chocolate cake covered in powdered sugar...

More snow!

So we keep getting more and more snow. We're not talking about massive amounts, but still on many days we get a few more inches.

After getting up late from bed on a lazy Saturday, Jó and I went for a walk on the SW coast of Reykjavík. We ended up by a spot there with some disused buildings, that were once used for drying fish. There were also pulleys and tracks leading to the sea, to pull boats/fish.

Small tree

Snowy yard

Abandoned Christmas tree

Abandoned equipment

Pulley

Tracks

Shacks

Nets

Looking in

Corrugated iron, graffiti, snow

Angelica, from above

The popular neighborhood ice cream store. They have two vanilla flavors, "Old" and "New". Notice the line of people. And the snow.

A couple of geese we saw on the way back

Our gloves, made by Jó's aunt :)

Snow!

For a place called Iceland, you'd think we get a lot of snow. But while it snows sometimes, it's usually a light coating, and it disappears quickly. Or it turns into very slippery ice (the temperature often oscillates around 0 degrees, so the ice melts and refreezes).

But not last night! We got a pretty decent snowfall, maybe 6 inches. So Jó and I did what we had to do... A snowman!

Our car was getting covered pretty well

The snowman! The pink background and slight fuzziness is due to the lack of flash. Trust me, it was dark.

For an idea of scale, here is our lovely model Jó (sporting an Inuit hat) beside the snowman

Isn't he just likable? I think he has a very approachable smile.

Morning commute

In the mornings, I walk about 10 minutes from home, then I take a bus that drops me off near work (except when the weather is bad, then I just take a bus closer to home but with a much more winding route).

I took these pictures last week, when the sun was rising by the end of my commute. By now, it's obviously darker, as the sunlight keeps receding until the winter solstice.

For the commute, I could shave a few minutes by walking along a main street of the city. But I'd much rather walk in quieter and less polluted areas, so I end up going through courtyards, alleyways and a cemetery parallel to the main street.

Oh, and it had snowed a bit the previous night.

Obviously, I wasn't the first person to go to work that day

Snowy leaves

Red Nintendo mushroom graffiti guy

Green Nintendo mushroom graffiti guy

Tree, stone, and former prime minister

Snow on moss

Leaning tree

Brave flowers

Cemetery alleyways

Graves here often have professions listed on them. This guy was a doctor.

The sky was looking slightly ominous

The university library, built to look like a fortress (complete with a moat around it)

Strætó

Sunrise

Esja in the pink light