Reykyavik, Iceland

August 31, 2006-Smelly
(photos: Downtown view from hotel)

Our group of eight assembled for a 11:30AM departure to the Stockholm airport. We went in style on a forty-eight passenger bus all to ourselves. In the group are an engineer with a literal turn of mind. We let him do the worrying for the group. His wife is a sweet person who always has a smile. They’re from California. Also along were friends of theirs who frequently travel with them and are pretty much fun. A couple from the Boston area are with us too but are used to a more physical kind of travel. They usually go with Overseas Adventure Travel a subsidiary of Grand Circle and are feeling very pampered.

We flew Iceland Air to Reykjavik. When lunch was served the smell was unpleasant. This was a precursor to the smell of this island-country. They use geothermal and hydroelectric power for heating and electricity and there’s a sulphury smell that’s more fishy than the usual smell of rotten eggs. Even the hot tap water smells since it comes directly from underground. It’s a mild Rotorua, New Zealand aroma.

Looking down from the plane as we landed all I saw was a bleak brown blob in a blue sea. It was only a three-hour flight and I spent some of it trying to figure out how the flight attendants got their chignons to stay put. They had intricately twisted buns that took on fanciful spiral shapes and never moved.

Rocky

Our guide, Ellert, met us for the forty-five minute drive into the city. The landscape was all lava fields but he promised it was different where we were going tomorrow. We passed Keflavik where a U.S. naval base is about to close. Jobs will be lost but there are plenty of opportunities for new employment. The place is booming and three hundred construction cranes dot the area. Housing is so American looking that it feels like we’re back in the 1950’s-60’s. It could be Levittown. The cost of housing has doubled in the last four years. Eighty per cent of Icelanders own their own homes. They build with reinforced concrete since the’re in a seismically active zone. They get the lime for the cement from crushing seashells.

In 2000 they had an earthquake that reached 6.1 on the Richter Scale. The volcanoes are still active although the last eruption was seven hundred years ago. They expect lots more activity in the next year. Of course they do. We visited. They also expect the first major storm of the winter on Tuesday. We leave Sunday.

Reality

Iceland is 40,000 square miles, about the size of Kentucky. It’s distorted on maps and globes so looks much larger. The population as of July is 304,256. Fifty per cent of the people live in Reykjavik and southern towns. It was settled in 874 by Norwegians. In 930 they formed one of the first republican governments. Classic Icelandic Sagas describe the Old Commonwealth Age of Independence but in 1262 it lost its autonomy to Denmark. Freedom was regained in 1944 and the present republic established. There’s a president but power is executed by the government who answers to parliament. School is compulsory until age sixteen and English is introduced in grade five. Danish is started in grade seven. Healthcare is covered by the government except for 15%, which is the responsibility of the patient. Icelanders speak a language very close to that of ancient Vikings. Iceland was Catholic in the 15th to mid-16 centuries but became Lutheran around 1550. Freedom of religion was introduced in 1874 and 90% of the population belong to the State Lutheran church.

As we approached our hotel, the Plaza, we passed a small park and lake. City Hall is built out into the water and looks intriguing. We visit there tomorrow. The Plaza is in the center of town on the oldest street. It’s modern, Spartan and looked comfortable, but there are many idiosyncrasies. The water is naturally soft and my hands feel slimy when they’re wet. Every time I turn the spigot on my hand slips. If I get traction it turns too far and I get sprayed. When my hand slips I use a towel to turn it. It’s a pain. The shower took two of us to figure out. The controls are unlike any we’ve seen. For a while I thought it didn’t work and we’d have to change rooms. Our room has three “settling” cracks that I’m sure come from the last earthquake. The four Californians in the group were unimpressed. We overlook a small concrete park where skateboarders gather. Sunset is very late so they stay until 10PM. When they leave the bikers arrive. One is revving his engine now. I may need my earplugs again.

We hope to go to the Blue Lagoon tomorrow night but it looks like the trip to the glacier might be impossible. It’s still in melting mode and the access roads are muddy. We wouldn’t have gone anyway since we walked on the Athabasca glacier in British Columbia and flew over several in Alaska. We also will take a pass on whale watching. Did that in Hawaii and Alaska. That leaves us a free day. I hope the museum that tells about the Norse mythology and Viking history is detailed. There’s not a lot else to do in this town. We went to a restaurant nearby that Ellert recommended. It was a family place like a Denny’s only smaller. I had great fish and chips and David had “the best steak sandwich in town.” He hasn’t tasted others but was sure it would live up to its reputation. After dinner we walked over to the pier to watch the hills in the distance turn pink in the waning sun. We stopped in a couple of wool shops and I decided I liked acrylic better. Scandinavian wool is too scratchy.

Downtown Reykjavik reminds me of an Alaskan town. There’s a sense of being built in a hurry and a feeling of impermanence. It has a small town old West feel to it. That might be appropriate since it was settled by renegades and outlaws.

Toby