Outside Our Window

The Leibnizhaus staff came this morning to count the dishes and glasses before we move out. I still don't know the names of all these household items in German and haven't used all of them: various buckets and basins and a floor brush (which I thought they were saying was to scrub the floor, but it turned out they meant the dustpan). Their literal translations into English weren't always helpful. Anyway, I'm trying not to panic and instead pack calmly and enjoy the last two days. My brother comes mid-day on the train. We finally booked the last night in Iceland. Even the youth hostels there are frighteningly expensive and already full for the nights we needed. The pictures of glaciers and beaches are enticing though.

I'm trying to take pictures I've neglected to take. Or maybe I took them in March or April with snow on the ground. Now it's summer and actually is supposed to be 92-94 degrees tomorrow. Fortunately, Sarah took my winter coat home. However, the high in Iceland today is 57 F.

We never get tired of the view out our window. There's a kinetic sculpture we can see from our living room window in front of the Historical Museum. The top curved sections turn in the wind.

Kinetic Sculpture

There's the fountain, which we've sent pictures of before. We can hear the water flowing all day if it isn't drowned out by traffic or tourist guides talking about it. On the railing for the fountain there is a metal ring. If you turn it, you are supposed to get your wish. I've turned it for my kids this year and for my job interview yesterday. I don't really make a wish so much as take a moment to pray while I turn it. You can see it's been polished by repeated rubbing against the metal of the railing, like the toes of statues of saints in churches polished by people touching them as they pray.

Good-luck Ring on Fountain

 

Early Saturday morning we take the train to Sweden to spend a few days with Swedish friends who were on sabbatical in Claremont. Then we have 2 days in Copenhagen before we catch our flight to Iceland. We have plans to see waterfalls, glaciers, volcanoes , beaches, and birds. It seems a nice bookend to the beginning of our trip in New Zealand. Hope it doesn't rain every minute. We arrive back at LAX at 1 a.m. August 14, just 2 weeks to move back into our house and prepare for orientation and the beginning of fall semester, exactly 8 months since we landed in Sydney.