Day 29

July 8, 2018

8:15 PM Iceland Time

Today Þora and Jonbjorn took me to Arbæjarsafn. It is an open air museum that had about 20 different historical buildings to portray what life was like in Iceland. There was an exhibition of turfhouses that was really neat. The exhibition focuses on turfhouses in Reykjavík from the beginning of the settlement until the early 1900. We had a little guided tour where they talked about day to day life. They also had an exhibition of the underestimated contributions women made to Icelandic society over the years that was really interesting. Woman´s rights was a struggle in Iceland much like the rest of the world, where woman were expected to be homemakers, and not much else. It wasn´t until the ´Redstockings´movement in Iceland that women started to demand for equal rights and the opportunity to get education and be able to work for wages. The other exhibition that we saw was an exhibit about consumerism during the turn of the 20th century in Iceland. All in all, it was a really neat museum!

 

 

 

After we finished walking around the museum, we went for a bite to eat, and then we went to visit Þora´s other sister Guðbjörk. Every time I have gone to meet Þora´s siblings, they always have acoffee party! (coffee parties are common in Iceland-no tea parties here. Though I do love tea, it has been perfect and fitting for a coffee fanatic like me!) It was really neat to meet her! She was very sweet, and she gave me a photo of our common ancestor, who was the sister of my great, great, great grandmother. Now I have officially met all of Þora’s siblings except one of her brothers who passed away earlier this year.

Guðbjörk and I

We went home and relaxed, had dinner and enjoyed each other’s company. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventures!