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Published: October 26th 2014
Even still at Gatwick airport on the way to our adventure in Iceland we had evidence of Viking genes - where the Icelandic family in front of us in the queue were all taller than I, including mother and twelve year old son. We read in the Lonely Planet that a particular restaurant we would visit had an owner who was affectionately referred to as "The Hobbit" because of his height. Maria Chiara joked that it would be interesting to find out if I am shorter than the hobbit - low blow! As it happened he wasn't there that day so we'll never know.
As well as bestowing the English language such words as "berserk" and "scorn", particularly significant is the word "saga". The Icelandic sagas are legendary. Iceland's early history of settlement is told in huge books, many of which can be proven as true, with tales of bloodthirsty Vikings, shamans, curses, and fairies. As we drove into Reykjavik, we passed towns with evocative names such as "Village of the Lava Flow", "Village of the Vikings" and "Village of the Fairies". Apparently in Iceland most adults do still believe in fairies. That may seem a bit silly, but after
a few days in Iceland you do start to understand why. The wild and extreme weather, the ocean, the volcanoes, lava formations, geysers, Northern lights... all these natural phenomena need explaining, and so Iceland is very conducive to mystical flights of fancy.
Reykjavik is a lovely little city - although with 200,000 residents that's two-thirds of the entire country's population! As in New Zealand most of the houses are free standing and made of wood, and even mansions and embassies had corrugated iron exteriors. We saw Icelandic hipsters - with long red braided beards and "jolly" wooden jumpers featured heavily. We ate some exquisite food, and some downright strange food: rotten shark (more on that later), curried herring (for breakfast, of course) and reindeer burgers. MC fell in love with langoustine soup. I didn't fall in love with the beer prices.
For the sake of simplicity I am going to pretend to interview myself, asking the very obvious questions that everyone seems to ask when they find out that someone went to Iceland...
Q: Was it cold?
A: Yes. Yes, it was. And thank you for asking. It was the start of winter basically - although
Tjornin Lake
In Central Reykjavikthankfully it wasn't perpetual darkness... yet.
Q: Did you see the Northern Lights?
A: We went on a tour our first night there and we saw an absolute doozy of an Aurora Borealis. It started small (I'm sure MC was the first person to see it) got slightly larger, turned into a lion shape, then a horse, then got much bigger, and faded. All in all the experience lasted over an hour. It is not only a miracle in itself (I won't delve into the science) but it was a miracle that we saw it at all, considering the other three nights we spent in the country the dodgy weather rendered northern lights viewings an impossibility.
Q: Did you see whales?
A: Indeed we did see
a whale. On our second morning we took a boat tour, dressed in thermal suits to guard against wind and tempest. After some unsuccessful pootling about the seas of Reykjavik we finally saw a single minke whale. Our guide recognised him - his name was "Humpy". Although I am thrilled to have seen a whale for the first time, the experience was rendered slightly underwhelming due to the fact that
Geysir
The original! Humpy came out of the water four times only in two minutes and then proceeded to leave. Such is nature. We were also crowded out by a very large group of 11-13 year old scouts from England. Not what you need.
Maria Chiara had many flash backs to her year living in Trondheim in Norway. As we're both avid fans of "Nordic Noir" (think "The Bridge", "The Killing", "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" etc.) it was such a pleasure to experience the "Skandi" vibe. The Icelanders were taciturn, funny, down to earth and practical. No-one at all seemed to use curtains, so we were able to rubberneck to our hearts' delight into peoples' houses with their libraries and minimalist Nordic interiors. People seemed to like the simple life. For our one night out of Reykjavik we stayed in a B & B in Stykkisholmur. There was a sign on the door saying there were no free rooms. It turned out that we had the gigantic house to ourselves. There were numerous other bedrooms that the owners could have let out, but they weren't greedy and couldn't be bothered!
I on the other hand had major flashbacks to my
Gullfoss
Europe's biggest waterfall beloved homeland and in particular Rotorua. All the thermal activity going on meant that in certain places (including the shower often times) the atmosphere smelt like eggs! Also, we saw a geyser. In fact, we saw
the "Geysir" - the word is Icelandic. This geyser made very compelling viewing: wait a few minutes as the water from the previous explosion floods back in to a giant hole in the ground, let the molten lava below the surface heat the water to boiling point and beyond, a bulbous otherworldly luminous blue body of water floods out and a second later... BOOM! And then the process starts again. Brilliant.
Having been to Iguazu Falls in Argentina, MC and I are unquestionably massive waterfall snobs. I have to say that Gulfloss in Iceland was extremely impressive, even by our exacting standards. Not only is it Europe's biggest waterfall, it is beautiful - with a two tiered, odd angle thing happening. We saw it surrounded by the russet-coloured hues of Autumn. In summer the surrounding land is bright green with flowers and in winter almost completely freezes over.
We did a road trip from Reykjavik northwest to Snaefellsness peninsula. I went absolutely
"berserk" when I saw mountains, volcanoes surrounded by placid lakes and the mighty North Atlantic. I have to apologise for the large amount of photos, but we simply couldn't edit out any more than we did, that landscape was so beautiful!
The largest town in the Snaefellsness region, Stykkisholmur (almost 2000 residents!), seemed initially sparse, wild and a bit lonely. After dinner, where we were entertained by a local trio, we had an extra treat. A very large proportion of the town were crammed into the tiny central church for an event called "Guitar Party", where a large and eclectic band (ranging in age from 12 to 60 years old) were singing Icelandic singalong favourites to an appreciative crowd. Young children were sleeping in their parents' arms, and the general feeling was cozy, extremely pleasant and not lonely in the slightest.
We had a day exploring Snaefellsnes Peninsula. There were fjords aplenty, beautiful lakes and mountains. Its gigantic volcano starred in "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne. We walked up a far smaller volcano - really small in fact - but high enough to see that we were surrounded by many miles of old
lava flows covered in moss. We drove on a bizarre road that seemed to go nowhere in particular through a massive lava field of jagged rocks. According to one saga this road had been made in virtually impossible conditions by two Viking warriors - "Berserkers" - one of whom had been promised, upon successfully completing the task, a certain landowner's daughter's hand in marriage. Much to the landowner's surprise they completed the job and so the two of them were promptly murdered. The remains of two very tall Vikings were found buried very near this road only a few years ago!
One recommended touristic activity is visiting the farm where they prepare putrefied shark meat. At the end of a dirt road wending through volcanic rocks we reached a farm by the sea. The farmer invited us to inspect the drying shed and try the sufficiently rotten shark meat afterwards, free of charge. The shed, with hundreds of large chunks of shark drying un-smoked and un-cured, had a repellent smell and was extremely sinister. I was very proud of MC who despite her misgivings tried the shark. Its taste was powerful - the fermentation process gave it a slightly
chemical taste. Still it was an experience. It turned out that the proprietor who had come out to look after us was right in the middle of his niece's baptism party... how hospitable is that?! It took a couple of hours for my breath to stop smelling like rotten shark. Oh how we love our romantic holidays!
We embraced the Skandinavian bathing culture, visiting two public baths including the legendary Blue Lagoon, a large natural thermal pool in the middle of a volcanic field. That is Iceland's equivalent of Disneyland. It was our last day, just a few hours before flying out and the weather had turned from bad to nasty. While our heads were exposed to near freezing temperatures and heavy sleet, the rest of our bodies were bathing in the natural thermal pools with luminous turquoise water at a perfect 38 degrees C. Looking around we could see many heads of the other people there, many of whom were drinking beer and wine from the bar that was perched in the middle of the pool. Living the dream!
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Patricia Rose
non-member comment
What fantastic reading with wonderful photographs. It really entices one to visit Iceland.