Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Wednesday, August 19- Our flight to Reykjavik



We started our journey two days before our flight to Reykjavik from Boston.  This accomplished the dual purpose of giving Ron time to recuperate and keeping me from having anxiety attacks over missing our flight to Reykjavik. 

After a couple of nights in Boston, having dinner with friends and enjoying the Museum of Fine Arts, we went back to the airport for our 5-hour flight to Reykjavik.  Although IcelandAir doesn't have a lounge in Boston, we were able to use the Air France Lounge.  Win-win; I was able to read through a lot of French periodicals while we waited.



The flight path took us over Greenland, which is ordinarily so clouded over you can't see much; we hadn't gotten a clear view of Greenland on a transatlantic flight since a trip to Scotland in late 2001.  We were extraordinarily lucky this time; not only was the sky clear, but the evening light cast a beautiful glow over the landscape.
Note the glacier at the top of the picture.



The small dots are icebergs "calved" off the glaciers.












The National Museum

The National Museum turned out to be close to our hotel, but in a different direction, offering us views of another corner of Reykjavik.




The Museum itself was a well-organized collection of items from the past, with interesting commentary (fortunately, in English as well as Icelandic).  We found items chronicling the development of Christianity in Iceland particularly interesting.










Near the end there was an exhibit covering 100 years of feminism in Iceland.  Below is a picture of women protesting laws that have different requirements for what men and women must cover up in public.  We like Europe's openness!


Thursday, August 20- Exploring Reykjavik

We didn’t schedule anything the first day.  I was a bit disgruntled when Ron woke me at 9:30 so we wouldn’t miss breakfast- and when I saw the breakfast I appreciated it.  This was a typical European hotel buffet- good crusty bread, cheeses (including Camembert and bleu), yogurt, fruits and muesli in addition to bacon and eggs.  Two uniquely Icelandic additions:  a bottle of fish oil with spoons for taking your daily dosage, and two kinds of pickled fish.  I never could bring myself to try pickled fish at that hour of the morning.



Our hotel was in an area that was mostly residential but we soon found how convenient it was to all the main attractions.  Our first stop was the Hallgrimskirkja, which can be seen from just about everywhere.  It was commissioned in 1937 but construction didn't start till 1945.  It was finally finished in 1986.  It was named after Hallgrimur Petersson, a prolific Icelandic hymn writer.  The nave was closed that day due to a rehearsal for an upcoming concert, but we had a great walk through the area and a good first day exploring the city. 

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The weather was mostly cloudy, with temperatures in the 50s (Fahrenheit) and occasional rain.  We expected that, and it didn't stop the natives, either.  They were always out walking, bicycling and shopping no matter what.  They also managed to make their own color on grey days, whether with paint or flowers.


We saw a lot of people with cameras focused on this doorway.





This couple, outside a souvenir store, was a popular subject for photos.






 After Ron settled into the room for a rest, I asked the front desk staff where I could find the nearest geothermically-heated public pool.  The hotel didn’t have a Fitness Center.  Who needs a Fitness Center when you have access to a uncrowded, indoor Olympic-sized pool with people speaking Icelandic all around you for less than $5?  This was definitely Europe; you were required to shower without your suit before using the pool in a shower room with no doors on the stalls.  I do not have pictures.  There were signs threatening dire consequences if you used a camera in the locker room and trust me, it was mostly not something you’d want to see.


Friday, August 21- Into the Volcano

When I was exploring the Extreme Iceland Web site, I found the link to the Inside the Volcano tour.  I couldn't get it out of my mind- a sure sign I ought to book it.  This one was too extreme for Ron, who was happy to hang in the hotel and watch reports of stock market declines and terrorist attacks and murders on the BBC back in our hotel room. 

Thriningur is the only known volcano in the world with an empty magma chamber.  No one knows how this happened, but the prevailing theory is that a crack opened up near the bottom of the magma chamber and the magma that had not yet melted drained away rather than solidifying into a hill.  This left a “shell” with varieties of magma from various eruptions (the most recent being 4,500 years ago). 

Our destination is the one on the right.

 
First, we hiked to the base camp which was an experience in itself- two miles over lava fields that had been covered over with green moss and a surprising variety of tiny flowers that sprang up from the volcanic ash and moss. 
 
Even better, since Iceland is also the only place where the rift between two tectonic plates (in this case, the North American and Eurasian) is on land, we were able to stand on a small bridge spanning the two plates.  The guide told us that previously you could stand over it without a bridge, but the gap had grown by so much over 4 years (because the plates are drifting away from each other) that they built the bridge.
 

At the base camp we met more guides and their pet fox kit, Naesti (Icelandic for “Sparky”).  They adopted him when he was orphaned but said that eventually he’d go on longer and longer trips into the wild and probably disappear in the winter as he went south in search of food.  We also learned that we were in good company:  previous people taking this tour included Charlie Sheen (who was accompanied by women in 6-inch heels and had to be stopped from using cocaine on the premises), Bill Gates (who was grumpy about some mess-up in his schedule and whose protectors had required a background of everyone working there) and Tom Cruise.  All had arrived by helicopter.  They missed a good hike.
We descended into the volcano via an hydraulic lift designed for window-washers.  It accommodated only 6 people at a time, plus the guide. 
 
Ready to descend.  Note the safety belt at my waist.  They don't take any chances.

Going Down!
It allowed a very peaceful exploration of the chamber.  The most interesting rock formations were well-lit.  Different colors were an indication of minerals in the rocks brought to the surface by intense volcano heat:  yellow sulfur, blue or green copper, and reddish iron.  Gentle drops of water kept drifting down; the guide said that it was groundwater percolating through the surface of the volcano and it would end up in an aquifer beneath the volcano.  Iceland uses up only about 2% of the fresh water generated every year.  I told her not to worry- they’d find a way to pump it out to California.
The size, content and textures of the rocks varied because they were from different eruptions.  Temperature and mineral content both affect the lava.







 
Back at the hut we were served lamb stew by the guides and had a chance to play with Naesti.

Saturday, August 22- Checking out the Museums


The weather was grey and rainy so we decided to find some museums.  Fortunately, many were in the same area.

We THINK this was the Maritime Museum!  It was totally open-air but had exhibits of ships than sank in the seas around Iceland at various intervals.  This poster was from the World War II years.


On the way to the Maritime Museum we encountered this excavation; clearly it had interrupted some development project.  I took a picture of the explanatory poster but even with a good Icelandic-English dictionary I wasn't able to figure out much more than that.


From there we went to the Reykjavik Art Museum.  This turned out to be very cutting-edge art.  Below is an example- it was from a whole room full of teddy bears and teddy bear parts glued together and coated with wax.  No, I am not making this up.  The artist had studied in San Diego but she now lives in Iceland.


Ron discovered something more interesting on the lower floor.  Drawn by the sound of organ music, he went to a curtained-off room where they were displaying a piece of performance art taking place in the Hallgrimskirkja (the landmark church in the middle of Reykjavik).  One screen showed the organist, playing the church organ, which has over 5,000 pipes. 


Another showed views of the church as seen from a drone.  A third screen actually filmed the drone itself and the fourth showed the guy below, dressed in a giant diaper and crooning with the organ chords.  No, we don't know why he chose that particular outfit.  It's art.  If you have to ask, it just shows you don't understand Art.



I went out again on Saturday evening and since it was a national holiday, the streets were lively even though there was a light rain.  There were people dancing to bands in the streets, families out walking, and people on bicycles. 


 



There was also a long line outside Dunkin' Donuts.  I avoided Dunkin' Donuts.



I learned early to take a camera (even if it was just the one in my cell phone) with me any time I went out- there was always something interesting to see.

Sunday, August 23- Our Amazing Golden Circle Tour


This is a staple of every tourist’s itinerary; we booked a Super Jeep tour that promised no more than 8 passengers and found that it was just the two of us- we had the guide to ourselves.  What luxury! 

As we left the city, we drove through a field of pseudo-craters.  They appear to have been created by a traditional volcano, but are actually the result of flowing hot lava crossing over a wet surface, such as a swamp, a lake, or a pond causing an explosion of steam through the lava. The explosive gases break through the lava surface, and flying debris builds up a crater-shaped structure.


We then stopped at Braurfoss, a waterfall that was impressive to us, but the guide told us it was only a preview for Gullfoss, which we’d visit later. 
 
 
He was right, but we found the salmon run interesting and when I went into the small restaurant to use the bathrooms, I found a display of hand-knitted mittens and bought a pair for our granddaughter.

Our next stop was a small fishing village, with a helpful display of the types of flowers found in Iceland.  I’d been taking a lot of pictures of flowers but hadn’t been able to identify them.  Ron also noted racks of drying fish.

 

As we passed a sign pointing to Selfoss, I asked the guide how far away it was; Jonathan had jokingly asked that I pay my respects at Bobby Fischer’s burial site.  When I found that it was 60 km from Reykjavik I’d told him we’d probably miss that site, but our guide told us that Sellfoss   was just a short trip from where we were.  Although Fischer wasn’t particularly religious, he’d become friends with a local priest and had wanted to be buried in the churchyard.  It was a beautiful, tidy little church and there was already an Asian family there.  Someone had left a couple of chess pieces on his gravestone.  Fischer died relatively young, after refusing treatment for a urinary blockage that eventually led to kidney failure.

 
Gullfoss was somehow more spectacular than Niagara Falls and far more beautiful because there was nearly no development in the area.  This is partly due to the influence Sigrithur Tomasdottir , an early environmentalist who fought to save Gullfoss from development.  The sheer power of the thundering waters made it a natural candidate for hydroelectricity.  Even after an Englishman got the rights to lease the land in 1907, she mounted a legal battle, repeatedly making the arduous journey to and from Reykjavik on horseback.

 




It was fitting that the first time either of us saw a geyser was at Geysir, the place that’s the origin of the English word.  The original Geysir isn’t very active now, but Strokkur, nearby, erupts every 5 to 7 minutes, delighting the tourists who stand around it, cameras poised, waiting.  I climbed up to the top of a hill overlooking the geyser to get this shot.  Most of the plume in the picture was steam but it was still impressive.  Later we had lunch, where Ron enjoyed one of the local beers and I discovered Skyr, which is an Icelandic version of Greek yogurt.

It's easy to get a picture of an erupting geyser when it erupts every 4 to 6 minutes.
 
I climbed it because it was there.

 

Much of the eruption was steam, but still pretty impressive.
 Our next stop was Thingvellir, the site of the oldest continually-meeting governing body in the developed world.  (“Thing” is the Icelandic word for “meeting”.)  Originally, chieftains from all over Iceland would meet there to make laws and settle disputes.  What’s interesting is that it’s certainly not central- it’s on the coast.  They couldn’t have known 1,000 years ago that the area was in the rift between two tectonic plates, but somehow they knew it was special.  Our guide claimed that you couldn't point to any particular crack and claim that that was the actual plate boundary but it was still awe-inspiring.