I´ve seen enough stray ponies and puffins to get me through ´til the end of May
The "meeting people" situation is not quite yet where I would like it to be (that is, finding someone I like who wants to travel with me for a bit) but it has greatly improved.
Yesterday afternoon, after I returned from the internet cafe, I met a group of 50 something year old Canadian couples who were in Iceland for this past weekend´s Reykjavik Marathon. Coincidentally, they were running on behalf of Team Diabetes, raising money for the Canadian Diabetes Association. After talking to one of them (Mary) for a long time about her diabetic son, the group invited me to join them at the hostel dining room table while they ate a light dinner. I was offered (and accepted) some soup although I wasn´t hungry, and a glass of white wine, although I wasn´t thirsty, but the 7 of so of us had a hearty conversation about politics, Cuba, Churchill (the town in Manitoba), marathon techniques, diabetes, and Icelandic geography. By the time we were done talking, it had become evening. Mary and Yvonne (one of them) and I went for a walk down Laukuvegur and browsed a book store. By now, I was starving and ate 2 more pylsur (Icelandic hot dogs). I made it to sleep by 10:30, but woke up several times and finally at 5 AM I gave up.
After breakfast (bread, ham, salami, cucumber, butter sandwich and skyr, an Icelandic yogurt, both super good), I caught a tour bus to the "Golden Circle", a region featuring some of Iceland´s most popular tourist features. I of course, having not so long ago travelled to Thailand, have trouble remembering to not call it the "Golden Triangle", which would be something entirely different.
I listened to Tappi Tikarass, Björk and the Fiery Furnaces to get in the mood while driving through lava fields. I would say that the lava fields reminded me of Big Island Hawaii, but because the eruption had taken place a thousand years ago, moss had grown all over the Icelandic lava.
1. We stopped first at a village famous for the hot steam that comes out of the ground and the greenhouses it houses, from which most of Iceland´s fruit production takes place. The town was mostly a tourist trap though, and I declined to purchase a postcard or a reindeer skin.
2. Next, we visited a water filled volcano crater. Because we only had 20 minutes to see it, I jogged and briskly walked around it, and took some pictures of deep down. Here, I first met a guy named Julian who asked me to take a picture of him in front of the crater.
3. A waterfall. I ran down to the bottom to test the temperature of the water. Freezing cold. Notable was the staircase that had been built to facilitate upstream salmon migration.
4. Another, much better waterfall. This was perhaps one of the most striking natural features that I had ever seen. The water was terrifying. I imagined myself in a barrel, floating down. And then stopped imagining it, because it was an unpleasant thought. I explored the area, running up and down the surrounding cliffs.
5. Ate my lunch on the bus: a liverwurst and flatbread sandwich and a coke. Delicious!
6. Geysir! The original one, after which all other spouting bursts of geothermic steam are named. Here Julian and I explored the area, saw some bright blue springs and then climbed a muddy hill to get a view of the entire area. If only I could upload pictures. We did see the geyser explode a few times and heard a German dude curse in his native langugage after failing to photograph the explosion after minutes of waiting.
7. The site of the Icelandic Parliament that ran from 900 and something until 1800. Located where the North American tectonic plate meets the European one. That is, we saw the edges of these two major plates. Huge ridges, with a lake in the middle.
Along the way, I saw few birds, but MANY Icelandic ponies. Icelandic horses are a unique breed, as they were first brought by the Vikings about a thousand years ago and have not been bred with any other horses. They are small, friendly looking, and supposedly have a fifth "gait" that other horses do not have. It is described as the "bus gait", because it feel so smooth to the rider.
I´m back in Reykjavik now, less tired than I was yesterday, and am thinking that i would like to "go out" tonight, if I can. Tomorrow, I may rent a car.
Oh, it turns out that I was wrong about the geothermal beach. I missed the spot by about 100 meters. Floyd, one of the Canadians, had gone that afternoon and said it was spectacular. Thus, I take back anything mean I said about the geothermic beach. I maintain any criticism of the beach upon which I actually walked.
Yesterday afternoon, after I returned from the internet cafe, I met a group of 50 something year old Canadian couples who were in Iceland for this past weekend´s Reykjavik Marathon. Coincidentally, they were running on behalf of Team Diabetes, raising money for the Canadian Diabetes Association. After talking to one of them (Mary) for a long time about her diabetic son, the group invited me to join them at the hostel dining room table while they ate a light dinner. I was offered (and accepted) some soup although I wasn´t hungry, and a glass of white wine, although I wasn´t thirsty, but the 7 of so of us had a hearty conversation about politics, Cuba, Churchill (the town in Manitoba), marathon techniques, diabetes, and Icelandic geography. By the time we were done talking, it had become evening. Mary and Yvonne (one of them) and I went for a walk down Laukuvegur and browsed a book store. By now, I was starving and ate 2 more pylsur (Icelandic hot dogs). I made it to sleep by 10:30, but woke up several times and finally at 5 AM I gave up.
After breakfast (bread, ham, salami, cucumber, butter sandwich and skyr, an Icelandic yogurt, both super good), I caught a tour bus to the "Golden Circle", a region featuring some of Iceland´s most popular tourist features. I of course, having not so long ago travelled to Thailand, have trouble remembering to not call it the "Golden Triangle", which would be something entirely different.
I listened to Tappi Tikarass, Björk and the Fiery Furnaces to get in the mood while driving through lava fields. I would say that the lava fields reminded me of Big Island Hawaii, but because the eruption had taken place a thousand years ago, moss had grown all over the Icelandic lava.
1. We stopped first at a village famous for the hot steam that comes out of the ground and the greenhouses it houses, from which most of Iceland´s fruit production takes place. The town was mostly a tourist trap though, and I declined to purchase a postcard or a reindeer skin.
2. Next, we visited a water filled volcano crater. Because we only had 20 minutes to see it, I jogged and briskly walked around it, and took some pictures of deep down. Here, I first met a guy named Julian who asked me to take a picture of him in front of the crater.
3. A waterfall. I ran down to the bottom to test the temperature of the water. Freezing cold. Notable was the staircase that had been built to facilitate upstream salmon migration.
4. Another, much better waterfall. This was perhaps one of the most striking natural features that I had ever seen. The water was terrifying. I imagined myself in a barrel, floating down. And then stopped imagining it, because it was an unpleasant thought. I explored the area, running up and down the surrounding cliffs.
5. Ate my lunch on the bus: a liverwurst and flatbread sandwich and a coke. Delicious!
6. Geysir! The original one, after which all other spouting bursts of geothermic steam are named. Here Julian and I explored the area, saw some bright blue springs and then climbed a muddy hill to get a view of the entire area. If only I could upload pictures. We did see the geyser explode a few times and heard a German dude curse in his native langugage after failing to photograph the explosion after minutes of waiting.
7. The site of the Icelandic Parliament that ran from 900 and something until 1800. Located where the North American tectonic plate meets the European one. That is, we saw the edges of these two major plates. Huge ridges, with a lake in the middle.
Along the way, I saw few birds, but MANY Icelandic ponies. Icelandic horses are a unique breed, as they were first brought by the Vikings about a thousand years ago and have not been bred with any other horses. They are small, friendly looking, and supposedly have a fifth "gait" that other horses do not have. It is described as the "bus gait", because it feel so smooth to the rider.
I´m back in Reykjavik now, less tired than I was yesterday, and am thinking that i would like to "go out" tonight, if I can. Tomorrow, I may rent a car.
Oh, it turns out that I was wrong about the geothermal beach. I missed the spot by about 100 meters. Floyd, one of the Canadians, had gone that afternoon and said it was spectacular. Thus, I take back anything mean I said about the geothermic beach. I maintain any criticism of the beach upon which I actually walked.
posted by Jed at 11:03 AM
1 Comments:
Actually, Iceland is NOT a great place to drink. Beer can often cost as much as 10 dollars. Iceland is good for a million things. I will try to do a few of them.
Post a Comment
<< Home