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I guess I’ve been taking this vacation thing too seriously, haven’t been posting much lately 🙂 But I am enjoying my time here in Iceland, have been exploring Reykjavik on foot quite a bit, and using my Icelandic whenever possible. Still just simple stuff, but makes me feel good. I walked to the bus station at Hlemmur and bought some bus tickets – all in Icelandic, but the woman behind the counter was rather humorless when I asked for 10 tickets (they sell them in sets of 9 apparently) 🙂

We managed to visit 2 of the 3 museums associated with the Reykjavik Art Museum – if you buy a ticket to one, you can visit the others the same day on the same ticket. The guy at the downtown museum was really nice, I spoke some Icelandic at first with him, then we enjoyed an exhibit of Erró‘s work. Then we actually walked all the way to Kjarvalsstaðir to see an exhibit of works by Kjarval, one of Iceland’s most famous artists. The woman there was very serious, but tolerant of my Icelandic while I explained that we had been to the downtown museum earlier in the day and so didn’t need a ticket. She then pointed out the two exhibits to me (in Icelandic!) and we were on our way. So another success with speaking Icelandic 🙂

I’ve still been keeping up with the news, watching TV, trying to improve my listening comprehension. I also admit I eavesdrop while out on the street – real spoken colloquial Icelandic is a bit different from what you hear on a newscast – trying to catch bits of an real conversation and understanding it can be fun 🙂

I saw this story on TV the other day, and apparently the wallet is still unclaimed. This blurb makes for a great short lesson:

Eigandinn enn ófundinn
Owner still not found

Eigandi seðlaveskis sem tvær systur fundu í Þórunnarstræti á Akureyri á föstudag hefur ekki enn gefið sig fram. Veskið er alsett skræpóttum myndum og er talsvert af peningum í því að sögn lögreglu. Engin skilríki eru í veskinu eða aðrar vísbendingar um hver eigandi þess er.

The owner of a wallet found by two sisters on Þórunnarstræti in Akureyri on Friday has still not come forward. The wallet is covered with pictures and contains a considerable amount of money according to police. There is no identification or other clue as to who the owner is.

seðill m          bank note
veski n           wallet
gefa sig fram     come forward, make oneself known
skræpóttur adj    dappled, mottled
tals·vert adv     considerably
skil·ríki n pl    identity papers
vís·bending f     clue, hint, indication

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