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Published: March 30th 2011
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Monday, August 30-Wednesday, September 1--Iceland
This is the first day of a 10-week trip to Iceland, Finland, Russia, and Lithuania, where Valerie will teach International Business and Macroeconomics. We decided to fly from Atlanta through Boston so we could break up the long transatlantic flight.
Arrived in Reykjavik at 6:30 in the morning on Monday from Boston and took a bus to a downtown bus station where we caught a hotel shuttle bus. We were really surprised at the amount of tin architecture, the volcanic-looking landscape, and the distance to town from the airport. As soon as possible we checked in and went to sleep. Got up about 2:30pm and did a walking tour of Reykjavik as the hotel is right in the middle of the old town with a tourist information center right next door. We were really pleased with the centrally-located hotel and enjoyed watching the people in the square outside our window. Then, we walked the whole downtown in an afternoon----no need for a hop-on-hop-off bus (map available at info center). The Houses of Parliament are housed in a building about 60 feet wide and maybe 30 feet deep. There is a park in front of
it and when Parliament does something the people don't like, they gather in the park and heckle. The park is not as big as a city block. We were surprised to learn that the popular Prime Minister is gay and lives openly with her partner.
Looking at all the restaurant menus as we followed the walking trail, we concluded that most dinners were running about 30 dollars each so bought some lunch meat and made sandwiches. Fortunately the hotel is right next to a nice bakery.
Tuesday we met friends from El Paso (Frank and Patricia Hoy--he was there teaching a class) the next morning and went on a bus tour of the countryside. This is a strange land! Volcanic rocks is the "soil" with NO trees. The ground is green with mosses and lichens growing on the rocks. Iceland sits where the American and European plates meet and that is why they have so many volcanoes and earthquakes. They also have a tremendous number of geo-thermal power plants and all hot water to all homes is provided through a pipe from these plants. The plaza in front of the hotel is heated underneath. On our tour, we
first toured a power plant, then went to pretty area where the plates meet, with a stream in this valley. The plates keep moving further and further apart. Sheep and horses are scattered about everywhere. The horses are used to herd the sheep---more like a wild pony in looks.
Went to a waterfall that is almost as big as Niagara Falls--2/3 maybe. From there went to some geysers and watched one go off every 4 minutes. Apparently the word “geyser” came from Iceland. We had a good lamb soup for lunch with the crusty rolls I like. Got back about 5 and went with Frank and his wife to dinner. I had lamb with veggies and Valerie had a seafood soup----declined the whale, puffin, sheep’s head, eel---surf and turf is lamb and lobster.
Hitting the bed early tonight as the plane leaves for Helsinki at 7:30am, which means we get up at 3:30am to take the hotel bus to the bus station and then another bus to the airport. Only word I learned in Icelandic is “thank you,” which sounds like "talk". So can't say “nite, nite” except in English.
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We found Iceland to be a
Iceland Reykjavik jail
One of the few stone buildings fascinating place and worth exploring by car at a later time. It would be especially great for outdoorsy people. Be prepared to spend a little more on restaurants, but there are plenty of small grocery stores where one can get food without exorbitant costs. Remember, Iceland is a little like Hawaii—almost everything has to be shipped in.
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