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art

Island

Brandon asked for a post about Iceland so you must all suffer for his sins. Beside, Killoggs needs more pictures.

Leiffur Eiricsson

Iceland is by far the strangest place I have been. It is full of conflicting images everywhere you look. It is both cold and hot, friendly and hostile, independent and needy. It is always in a hurry but it is also likes to slow down. It is definitely worth the trip.

These pictures are from my trip last spring, my second here in three years - both on business and this one with my wife joining me, the first was by myself. My text is a conglomeration of both trips.

[ 11 responses ] < Travel > < link >

[ posted by art at 04/28/2006 01:03:54 PM ]
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art [email] said at 1:05 PM 04-28-2006:

The heart of Reykjavik is like a small town. By size it is a city - 200,000 of the 300,000 Icelanders live there. There are suburbs and shopping malls around but the feel and scale of it deceives. The above is actually the center of the bar/tourist/nightlife area. The whole downtown measures only two streets by three streets and no buildings there are over three stories. The bars are all along one street with a mix of ultra hip clubs and restaurants and a scattering of Irish and British pub. Add in one swank strip joint where you can buy a dancing lady a $25 glass of champagne and you have Reykjavik.

These are two of my customers, Garðar and Pall* (pronunciation key at bottom). If you befriend an Icelander, they will take very good care of you. They will make you drink lots of wine, which they are experts at choosing.

The food is excellent. Chefs from all over Europe come here to open restaurants and experiment. The people dress very well when they go out to eat, which is every Friday and Saturday night, and I mean EVERY. These people like to eat and they like to drink. A lot. They spend about 20% of their income on alcohol and restaurants. They also have the second longest life-expectancy so maybe they are on to something.

Ten after Midnight and the darkest it got that night. By two in the morning it was as bright as six here in the summer. If you are not careful you might find yourself drinking shots until 3:30 in the morning purchased by someone you just met. You might also find yourself listening to American disco songs and dancing with some woman put in front of you that just happened to look like a female Roy Orbison. Not like that ever happened to me. No sir. It is normal for married couples to go out separately and dance with whomever they like and then meet up again and go home. They don't sleep around.

These are Icelandic horses and they have adapted to the climate by getting shorter and hairier over the 1000 years since they were brought over by the Vikings. There are also Icelandic sheep which are famous for their wool which is used for making Icelandic sweaters. Other than that there is only one native mammals and a lot of birds. The climate is not as harsh as you might think, tho. The Gulf Stream keeps Reykjavik between 30 and 50 all year long. But it is constantly windy.

[Reply To this] [#223805]

art [email] said at 1:07 PM 04-28-2006:

This is Þingvellir, an ancient meeting place the Viking named and used when they settled here 1000 years ago. They met every year and held parliamentary elections and democratically made decisions. They also convicted criminals at this time. The problem was that while they could make laws and make judgments they had no means of enforcing the laws, so people would just take the punishment into their own hands.

This is the Drowning Pool. Women convicted of crimes would be put in a sack and drowned here. Men would be hanged or beheaded.

The cool thing about Þingvellir (not my picture) is that it sits on top of the Atlantic Rift. The Earth is literally splitting apart here and widening about 2 inches a year.

Nearby is Geysir (Gahy-zir) which the word geyser came from. Geysir itself no longer erupts. Locals and Tourists in the 1920s would pour soap flakes into its maw to force it to erupt and eventually clogged it. They tried explosives to clear it to no avail.

This is Strokkur - the new star of Geysir, the area. Pre and post-eruption. There are the colored powders of volcanic chemicals everywhere. The stink of sulfur fills the air. It’s pretty cool

[Reply To this] [#223806]

art [email] said at 1:09 PM 04-28-2006:

The third part of the trifecta is Gullfoss. These waterfalls are amazing. The Icelanders generate all of their own electricity from hydro and geothermal sources. There is even talk of running a cable to Europe and selling some to them. But it is not a widely popular idea. Iceland likes being independent from Europe and for good reason.

Iceland has only been independent since 1944. They had been ruled by foreigners for almost 700 years - first the Norwegians, then the Danes. They were seized by the British in 1940 when Denmark fell to the Nazi and the Allies feared the Germans would use Iceland to strike at Britain. The US took over the defense of Iceland in 1941 and gave them full independence three years later. They are like young adults that don't quite trust their parents yet and want a few more years of fun before they become dependent on anyone. They want to become totally independent of everyone else, to grow their own food and power their own industries. But they have no oil, and because of this they are spending millions on fuel cells and hydrogen to become totally energy self-sufficient.

The land in Iceland is barren. It’s like a moonscape. Just small shrubs, grasses and mosses. All the trees were long ago cut down and the soil blew away. They are planting large sections of trees now as part of a 100 year plan to reforest as much as they can.

Between 1400 and the late 1700s Iceland was almost completely wiped out three times by starvation, volcanic eruptions and pestilence. From this Icelanders are fatalistic because of their long subjugation both by nature and by its neighbors, but they are starting to come out of it. They work 14 hours a day at three or more jobs. When I asked Garðar why they work so much he said there are so few Icelanders that they must work very hard. Also because there are so few they may only work a few hours a day at each job. So each Icelander gets good at doing many things. They are also the most heavily indebted people on earth. They like having fun now that they have their freedom.

There is steam rising everywhere. Close up you'll see geothermal monitoring stations which work with a hiss and a whine, adding to the wired aura this place has. Add in the weird bluish light this far north and some silly looking letters and you could forget you are still on earth.

[Reply To this] [#223807]

art [email] said at 1:11 PM 04-28-2006:

That's not to say it is ugly - there are wildflowers here and there and there is always the sea nearby.

And volcanoes and glaciers. This is Snæfellsjokull on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. This is where Jules Verne envisioned the doorway to his Journey to the Center of the Earth. I told my wife it would really be cool if this thing erupted while we were out here, but she was not impressed. Seeing that we were at the end of a peninsula 60 miles long and this volcano blocking the whole thing and I guess she had a point.

Fun Facts:

Keflavik airport is only about 4 hours from Boston or 5 from Baltimore non-stop on Icelandair. It is a miserable little airline but it is the cheapest way to get to Europe and about the only way to get to Iceland. If you book through to Europe you can do up to a week layover in Iceland at no added charge. I recommend either a three day stay and do what we did in this post or a full week and drive entirely around the island. Rental cars are pretty cheap or you could take a bus everywhere. Gas is expensive, as is food in restaurants.

*Icelandic has two Runic characters and one diphthong

Φ (lower case) and Þ (upper) sound like Th but with a much shorter, cutoff sounds (almost like just a T)
ð (lower case) and Đ (upper) sound like Thft but not quite. After four years I can finally say Garðar's name. It sounds like Garrrrrrfthfder
æ sounds like the a in ask

Also: ll sounds like tl

[Reply To this] [#223808]

noah [email] said at 1:31 PM 04-28-2006:
Good post. Pictures from there are stunning. I need to go SOON! Maybe I should find a “business” reason to go. Any ideas?

My favorite Iceland facts that may or may not be true....

1. Icelandic people tend to be beautiful because early vikings settlers would pillage europe taking beauties as bounty?

2. They are among the most educated in the world, most children speak multiple languages?

3. Because of the position on the Atlantic Rift, Iceland will be able to harness rising heat aiding in the production of Hydrogen for fuel. They may eventually become the world's largest energy producer.

Icelophile?

[Reply To this] [#223812]

art [email] said at 1:50 PM 04-28-2006:
1. I hadn't heard this. Iceland was settled as part of the viking expansion so it wouldn't be unusual for women to be confiscated by rading vikings and brought with them on their travels

2. They all speak Icelandic and English. Many also know Faroese (the Faroe Islands are the nearest 'country' to Iceland and a popular vacation spot) and Danish given their kinship to those countries

3. They will probably use the electricity generated from geothermal and hydro power to split hydrogen from seawater (electrolysis). At least that's what I heard at the time

[Reply To this] [#223818]

kiche [email] said at 1:39 PM 04-28-2006:
thank you for posting this.

i hope to go to iceland one day.

[Reply To this] [#223815]

art [email] said at 1:42 PM 04-28-2006:
Icelandair has packages which include airfare and three nights hotel - Thursday to Sunday. The price is pretty good, cheaper in February than March than April etc.

[Reply To this] [#223816]