8th March

-7C

Snowing

Woke up this morning to a thick, thick layer of snow.

Last night we had dinner at Perlan which is a revolving restaurant under a glass dome and built on the city's hot water tanks. It has wonderful views and l could see it would be awesome durnig the warmer months. I had a steak which was cooked perfectly but it didn't taste like the steaks back home. Same with the veges and even the watermelon isn't as crisp and fresh tasting. What they say is true....Melbourne does have the best food in the world.

This morning we hired a taxi to show us around the town. The taxi driver said it hadn't snowed this much in about 3 years! He took us to Hofoi House which was originally the French Consulate. It's believed to be haunted and dates back to 1909. Winston Churchill stayed here in 1941 and the presidents of Russia and the US, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, ended the Cold War here in 1986.

He then took us to Perlan where there is the Saga Museum which brings alive the Viking period with wax dioramas. We were given headsets and we walked around listening to all the sagas (hahaha) of the Vikings. It was very interesting and very well done. We headed up to the 4th floor where we had lunch of soup and a bread roll and bought a few souvenirs before we braved the cold and wandered around the outside of the building to take some photos.

We called the taxi to collect us and take us back to the apartment. When we got back we called the lobby to ask if there was a bigger room available. Lucky for us there was so we shifted our stuff upstairs to an attic apartment (which is reached through a seperate entrance door) about twice the size of our original room. We should be more comfortable here.

After we settled into the room it was time for dinner. We had heard that you haven't been to Iceland if you haven't had a hotdog and while the taxi was driving us around we passed the hotdog stand that served Bill Clinton so that's where we headed. We got a little lost so we stopped an Icelandic fellow to ask directions and he ended up walking us there. We both ordered a hotdog which cost 300ISK ($1.64) each and we stood there devouring what was an absolutley beautiful hotdog.....mmmmm, although we had to eat quickly 'cause it was bloody freezing! Then we made our way back to the hotel in plenty of time to grab the clothes out of the washing machine, don our wet weather gear and walk to the meeting point where a bus was collecting us for a Northern Lights tour. When we tried to open the entrance door we couldn't push the key in the lock. Both of us tried but to no avail so l went to the lobby and called the receptionist and she said that it will fit you just need to push a bit harder. So we did but it still wouldn't go in so l called her again and she said that it's because it's so cold and to warm the key up and really force it in, which we did but the key broke in the lock! Now l'm in panic mode 'cause l didn't want to miss the tour. To make a long story short, they had to get in a locksmith and he drilled out the lock and installed a new one and we made the tour on time, phew!

So, the lights were amazing! We were on a large bus full of other light watchers and we headed east out of the city in one direction however there was too much cloud so they turned back and headed in another direction which took us through a 6k long tunnel which goues under one of the fjords. It was freezing cold standing outside the bus watching for the lights but it was well worth it. They move around so quickly and every minute sees a different formation. We haven't taken photos as you need a camera with a lens that can stay open for about 5-10 seconds. We arrived back at the hotel at 1.45am and were in bed by 2. Set the alarm for 7am as we are being collected for a tour at 8. Night!