Mon 11^th July

It was a good day to be leaving Oslo as the weather had turned; we woke to a grey sky and drizzling rain. Our taxi arrived right on time and I only wished we had sublet space for this city-airport transfer. We had ordered a maxi taxi but instead were supplied with a 16- seater mini bus! Plenty of room for us and Daffy Defy. Mark was dreaming and imagining he was on a Tour du France team bus. 

On the subject of Daffy Defy, I have received feedback with concern about her allocation of gender. So, given the current global climate of gender discussion, I have considered a new name and pronoun for said bike. Dagwood Defy is the first name that comes to mind. You can tell my affection for him/her has not increased. The huge cost of the Oslo airport transfer ($230 AUD) being just one in a long list of reasons.

Our first stop in Iceland was in Reykjavik and the sunset for today in this part of the world was at 11:36 pm and sunrise was at 3:31 am so you can be sure I’ll be checking the bedroom curtains on our arrival. The forecast was for sunny and mild weather so our luck seems to be following us and I only hope this continues once we reach the UK. Our flight went without incident, although we had a bit of a lengthy wait to pick up the hire car. The drive from the airport into Reykjavik takes about 40 minutes and we were able to see a plume from the newly erupting /simmering volcano; this latest volcanic activity started yesterday apparently.

Our accommodation for our 3 night stay in Reykjavik was at an apartment sourced through Booking.com that turned out to be in a great location, was clean, modern and light filled and large enough to cater for the three of us. Brett will not be surprised at all that our first activity was to do a load of washing! The bedroom window dressing was probably the only area of concern I had. There was a simple blockout-holland blind, but with no curtain, so light leaching in and around the edges will likely be a problem in this environment where sun barely sets; you get a get a few hours of twilight and that’s about it. I can see why the host didn’t include a curtain, as it didn’t blend with the contemporary / Scandi aesthetic of the apartment, but function over form is the best way to operate in this part of the world.

It was around 3 pm by the time we ventured out and we went for a walk along the harbour front via the Sun Voyager sculpture, up to the Harpa Concert Hall, along to Tjornin Pond and then we ambled back towards the apartment. Our street, Laugavegur, is the main shopping street in Reykjavik and lined with eclectic shops, cafes and restaurants and is pedestrian-only for much of its length. It is one of the main areas for tourists to wander in Reykjavik and was very busy for a Tuesday afternoon. We noticed all sorts of accents and different languages being spoken as we wandered along and Mark, again, lamented how the US is really missing out on valuable tourist dollars. This small area within Iceland was chock-a-block with interesting shopping, dining and drinking venues to try and there were plenty of people in all of them making for a great atmosphere which contrasted so strongly to our travels through much of New England, USA.

We had a funny incident as we got back near our apartment though. There was a vintage shop just down from our apartment and they sold luxury secondhand handbags, including quite a few Louis Vuitton bags, so I thought I would step inside to have a quick look. Just inside the door, alongside a whole lot of other vintage items, I saw a folded Ralph Lauren handkerchief. I was gobsmacked, Mark had one exactly the same. I called out to Mark and said ‘look Mark, they’re selling a secondhand handkerchief exactly like the one that you have’.  It was at this point the young girl called out to us asking if we knew who owned it as she found it outside. The penny then dropped: our washing had blown off the balcony and this lady just happened to find it, and fold it, and leave it in the front of her shop, rather than on the street. Now I ask you, what are the chances that I would’ve found this handkerchief had I not ventured inside her store? I can tell you, none or Buckleys. At this point, I’m laughing, the girls are laughing and even Mark is laughing. Clearly, this was meant to happen, I was obviously meant to go into that store and I’m maybe even meant to go back and buy one of those lovely nice handbags? Having said that, I did go back in later on but the second-hand bags were still upwards of $1,500 AUD so it’s no surprise that they’re still in the shop.

We ventured out again later for dinner and wandered back up along Laugavegur where we stopped off for a beer at one place and then at Meze for dinner. Our meal at Meze was great but, also, rather expensive however you just have to accept the high prices here and roll with it.

 

Tue 12^th July

The sun rose at 3.30 am and we were up just after that, at around 4 am, as we were still on Oslo time! I can quite accurately now report that a blockout holland blind is not a sufficient window dressing for this part of the world. Once we leave here, the day after tomorrow, we have three separate nights in three different hotels so I am hoping they will all have more appropriate curtains for the conditions.

Our day was taken up with a small-group, 8 hr full day trip hosted by Nice-travel touring the Golden Circle and visiting Kerid Crater. The Golden Circle refers to a tourist route in this southern part of Iceland that covers about 300 km looping out and up from Reykjavík and then back and includes many of the major sites of the area including Thingvellir National Park, the Geysir geothermal area and the Gullfoss waterfall.

The sun was shining but it was quite cold as we stood waiting to be collected for our tour. It was windy too and the wind lasted all day. It was windy yesterday when we arrived as well and I had asked a young girl serving us in the supermarket if it was always windy in Reykjavik and she lamented that yes, it’s always windy.

Our guide for the tour was a jolly older fellow, Oli, who guides for 11 months of the year and then is a Santa Claus for December and you’ll see how well suited he is to the latter role from the photos. We had signed up for a small group tour but, what we hadn’t realised, was that there were loads of small, and large, group tours that were all following the same route and all stopping at the same stops. So it was lucky our guide had his Santa hat with him and hung it from his side mirror at the various stops we made so as to help us identify his bus from the multitude of similar other buses.  It’s at this point we both have a bit of a bone to pick with Peloton. Mark and I had both done a Peloton ride when we were staying in Boston and we road along, with the Peloton guy, across Iceland without seeing a single soul. However, our outing today was like being at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show. Chalk and cheese. It’s not a complaint but it just wasn’t anything like what we had been expecting and visitors to this region need to be aware of this, or rather, more aware of this than we were!

Oli gave us some interesting information about Iceland which I’ve noted below:

• Most homes in Iceland are heated by geothermal power: hot water in the city is actually straight out geothermal water and so smells a bit of sulfur. Electricity is produced by the steam from this hot water turning turbines and so is ‘green’ as well.
• There is no coal or nuclear power in Iceland: it’s all green energy.
• Iceland is located on the mid Atlantic ridge as it straddles the North America tectonic plate and the Euro-Asia plate
• Iceland is one of the youngest lands in world
• Most buildings in Iceland are only around 100 yrs old as Iceland was very poor before 1920 as it had to import everything. This fortune changed after WW2 with new shipping endeavours when they helped British and American allied forces.
• One of the first settler groups in Iceland, circa 870, were believed to be Monks from either Scotland or Ireland
• UNESCO world heritage site (the only one in Iceland) is Þingvallavatn / Thingvallavatn lake is the largest lake in Iceland and is 95% fed from underneath via the slow melt (400 yrs) of a nearby glacier and this is then filtered under a bed of lava rock and this filtering can take up to 60 years. It is a freshwater lake and very clean.
• Tax rates in Iceland are high but help to support generous healthcare, welfare and education costs, including University tuition:
  • 1-3,000 tax 32%
  • 3-5,000 tax 36%
  • > 5,000 tax 46%
• Icelandic horses are the purest form of Norse breed that remain as they haven’t been extensively cross bred. They have a short stature but are very calm tempered. They are very popular and they also have an extra smooth gate, other than just walk, trot, canter and gallop.
• Icelandic homes have to withstand 7 on Richter scale as that is the maximum Earthquake trauma they have experienced
• Icelandic major business:  used to be mostly fishing but is now about 1/3 fishing 1/3 tech and 1/3 tourism
• Iceland receives about 2 million tourists a year.
• Population of Iceland 380,000; Reykjavik is 140,000.

It was a great day out visiting these interesting geological sites and viewing more of the Icelandic landscape and it’s a tour I would recommend to take if you’re ever in this area. This is not a place I could live though as it’s a rather harsh environment; sunny but cold and windy and rather desiccating (you needs lots of moisturizer here!). It is surprisingly flat for the most and covered with lush grass / moss but there are very few trees. Oli told us a relevant joke here: Q: how do you find someone lost in the forest in Iceland? A: Tell them to stand up and we’ll find them. And that about sums the place up! 

We didn’t get home until almost 6 pm and Mark then spent some time putting his bike together before we went downstairs and across the road to Harry’s for dinner. The place was packed and the food was great; nice and lean grilled fish served with vegetables for us both. It was then another early night as we were still tired and adjusting from Oslo time and Mark wanted an early night before his bike ride and then our 10:30 am walking tour.

 

 

Wed 13^th July

It was another early start for us both at around 4.30 am but this suited as Mark got out for his bike ride and I did some yoga before we both went on a morning walk and to get a coffee. Our free walking tour of Reykjavik didn’t start until 10:30 am so that all worked out well.

Our guide for the tour was a very entertaining young (29 hrs) Icelandic native called Asi, pronounced Owsi. Our group was quite large and was predominantly millennials except for us and a few older Americans who kept asking US-based questions, the most annoying being wanting to know how to find the Hard Rock Cafe. Fancy coming all the way to Iceland and wanting to go to the Hard Rock Cafe.

Asi gave us lots of interesting bits of historical and cultural information, the best of which I’ve included below:

• Ingólfur Arnarson is the Founding Father of Iceland as he stood up to the Danes in 1851.  However independence wasn’t gained until 1944 but his birthday is they day Iceland celebrates Independence Day.
• Parliament of Iceland is made up of 8 parties. They tend to be left leaning ‘ Socialist.  They also elect a President but their role is more ceremonial.
• Reykjavik has city status only because it is the capital otherwise it would just be a town.
• Father of Reykjavik is Skulli Magnusson.
• The harbor in Reykjavik is one of the few areas of Iceland that does not freeze and that is why it was designated as the capital.
• Norse mythology suggest that a Norwegian Viking settled the area in 874 when he let two wooden beams float announcing their landing spot would be the new settlement and the beams foundered in Reykjavik
• Reykjavik name means smoky bay as settlers saw what they thought was smoke but it was actually steam from geysers.
• Iceland only suffers moderate earthquakes as the tectonic plates are diverging, not converging
• In winter Icelandic milk is infused with vitamin D to combat the lack of light
• The only building with a security detail in Iceland is the US Embassy. Iceland police do not carry guns
• There is no military in Iceland.
• Iceland is the 3rd windiest place on earth: we can vouch for that!
• Wealth of Iceland grew with WW2 as Iceland was occupied by allied forces and Denmark was under Nazi Germany. Independence of Iceland came in 1944 as relationship with Denmark stalled during the war and the US helped fund development of Iceland after the war in return for being allowed to keep a military base in the country. There is still an un-manned US military base near the airport.
• US built the airport so as to be the shortest flying distance to USA; hence the reason it’s well out of town.
• The Icelandic language is the most like original Norse language
• Iceland is a member of NATO but not in EU however they’re in the European Economic Association (EEA) which has trade and travel agreements with the EU
• One of the most quintessential Icelandic activities is to go to the public pool / sauna / baths
• Names. This was one of the most interesting concepts discussed.
  • They don’t have Surnames as such. Your second name is in two parts with the first part being your Father’s name and the second part being son of or daughter of. Thus, if a couple have two children, one boy and one girl, each member of the family will have a different second name!
  • When you greet someone you don’t give your age but your year of birth. This is because individuals can then use this info to look up a census type document to check whether you are distantly related.

 

It was a great walking tour and I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Reykjavik. We went on after the tour to sample the hot dogs, and they were very tasty, before drifting back towards home doing a bit of window shopping on the way and making one final stop for Mark to have a hot chocolate. It was then a rather lazy afternoon for us both with a bit of packing and sorting of luggage before our departure tomorrow for Vik. Our hotel rooms for the next two nights are only 17 m²  so we have packed our clothing and toiletry essentials into just the one bag to economize on space. Don’t even ask me what is going to happen to Dagwood Defy; I haven’t asked Mark but Dagwood isn’t sharing my side of the bed, that’s for sure! Mark was going to try out the local pool but ended up spending the rest of the afternoon watching a replay of the Sydney Swans game, as they had narrowly beaten Western Bull Dogs, whilst I blogged and read.

Dinner for our last night was at Kaffi Loki as this had been recommended by a few different people as serving quite good and typical Icelandic fare and it was great and is a restaurant I would recommend to any visitor. We stopped off at the craft beer place below our apartment, Micro Bar, and this proved to be a great place too and I’m sure that Mark was now wishing we had more time here!

We’d thoroughly enjoyed our short visit to Reykjavik but this is another place where an extra day or two would have been welcomed. There is plenty to see and do but the wind does get to you after a while, at least it did to me. Reykjavik is another Nordic destination that is thriving with construction / development happening at every turn you make. It is well worth a visit.