He Made It!

To anyone who has become invested in my brother's travels through Iceland over the past month and a little bit, I'm happy to say that he made it home safe and sound this afternoon.

We are all very excited, relieved, and a little daunted by the fact that he has about a million pictures for us to see.

A Place to Lay Your Head

This is where Mitchell slept last night. Kinda neat huh?

The two pictures above are the view from outside the hostel Mitchell slept in the other night

Better Late Than Never

I found this picture in my email last night. It's from quite awhile ago, but I thought I'd post it anyway cause I think it's pretty.

This is looking over a sander below Skaftafell

Why Do They Call It "Swiss Miss"?

Yesterday Mitchell and a Swiss couple he's currently hanging with got waffles and hot chocolate at (I think) this hut.

The hot chocolate was Swiss Miss hot chocolate, which apparently baffled the Swiss couple who, according to Mitchell said, "We don't know why it is they call it, what is it, Swiss Miss? We do not know marshmallows, we do, but not enough for this to be Swiss."

I have the answer! Swiss Miss, originally Brown Swiss, was named for a popular breed of Swiss dairy cows, responsible for the milk part of the hot chocolate. It wasn't very clear why they decided on the name change, but I think Swiss Miss is way catchier than Brown Swiss. Thank you Wikopedia, which by the way, has a very very long and boring bio on the history of Swiss Miss.

Mitchell went horseback riding for two hours today. He also informed us that he had eaten puffin. On further inquiry, mom found out that he had bought it, not killed one and cooked it himself as my dad had suspected.

Dynjandi Falls

Puffins!

Yesterday Mitchell took a trip down (or up, I'm not sure which) to the west fijords. He saw puffins. I want one.

Rain! Finally!

After what seems like weeks and weeks of hot, hot weather that seems unbearably dry and muggy all at the same time, we're finally getting a wet spell. Fingers crossed for a slightly cooler Saturday!

In other news, my brother has started his solo journey around Iceland. Fingers crossed for his safe arrival on at the airport in three weeks!

Stkkysomer, 269 km from where he started this morning. Tomorrow he plans to take a ferry north to the west fjords. He also said that he met a very nice Isreali couple and some locals.

Nature is Seriously Amazing

According to Mitchell, this fluke of nature is called the church floor. Apparently the people who discovered it thought that this was church ruins (I guess that they thought it was floor tiles or something). But really, it's a natural formation of basalt columns that were sheared off by a glacier, leaving these tile like rocks. Sooo cool!

Feeling hot? Check out these pictures...

My dear brother was kind enough to send us this picture of an icy ocean, with a caption akin to "hope this makes you feel cooler."

It's been a balmy 98 degrees down here... it's about 55 in Iceland.

Mitchell went swimming in this water. In a speedo. He is crazy.

More Icelandic beer

His favorite waterfall so far, the Svartifoss

Skaftafell glacier

Seljaneafoss. They walked behind this waterfall.

Scenes from Iceland

Hrutrefull Glacier

This is Gulfoss the most famous waterfall in Iceland.

Another shot of Gullfoss

Landmannalaugar

Kolufoss, Iceland

Mother Nature is Wayyyy Prettier Than A Lab Bench

Mitchell sent us two more pictures from Iceland today.

"This is our camp site for the night. The white on the far left is the glacier Sara [his research advisor] studies. You might be able to see the flock of sheep to the upper right of our tents."

I'm pretty sure that the little grey tent on the end is Mitchell's...

I think it's amazing that he fits inside!

This is their study site by the drangajokull glacier. Try saying that five times fast... actually, try saying that once.

I'm Already Jealous.

Olver, Iceland

Bitrahale, Iceland

PIctures from Iceland

Mitchell says that he will occasionally send a picture to me to post for our family and friends to see that 1. he is still alive, 2. he's seeing inordinately beautiful sights, and 3. we should all be very very jealous that we are stuck in the states. Enjoy!

Today, he was generous enough to send two...

Iceland beer... I think he and the polar beer are now great friends.

A first view of Iceland (specifically Keflavik) from the plane

Happy Trails To You!

via

Well, today my brother is flying to Iceland for a 5 week fling with nature. For the first two, he'll be doing research on glaciers with one of his professors (I never ever got to do research this cool in college). Then, for the final three weeks, he'll be backpacking around the country (literally) on the ring road, which apparently runs around the edge of the island. That's 830 miles of road. I'm sending out this cosmic message in the hope that this Irish blessing will bring him all the luck he needs to make it back to the airport in time : )

Good luck Mitch and happy trails!