Friday, August 18, 2017

Tuesday/Wednesday, August 8-9: Getting There




I started my trip Tuesday, going as far as Boston, then spent the night there.  My flight to Reykjavik was at 2:30 PM the next day.  I got to the airport early to make full use of the Air France Business Class Lounge, which IcelandAir business passengers may use as well.  Good food, open bar AND all the French periodicals I can read!



It was a beautiful flight, as expected.   I started to get tears in my eyes as soon as I saw the Icelandic language in the in-flight magazine and heard it spoken by the crew.  It’s not as beautiful as French or Italian but it’s so close to Old English that I've heard that Icelanders can read “Beowulf” in the original Old English and understand it.  After seeing both I'm not sure.  Here's the Lord's Prayer in Icelandic, starting with the paragraph beginning with the letter F.


   
 Here is a version in Old English.
 
I found that the seat next to me was empty- that’s where Ron would have been, of course- in the Aisle seat to accommodate his long legs.  I was glad it was empty- it made me pause occasionally and give thanks for all the wonderful trips he and I had together.  It felt right to be returning with his ashes, so part of him would be there forever.




For dinner I selected Reindeer Sausage, game pâté, hunter’s sausage and “white mould cheese”, accompanied by a hearty French wine.  Hey, how often do I get to eat reindeer?

As I thought, they sold Vodaphone “starter kits” on board. It was the best $27 I ever spent and unbelievably easy to take out my USA-based SIM card, put it away in a safe place, and put in a new one.  Suddenly I had a phone that worked in Iceland, as well as an Icelandic phone number for incoming calls.  It saved the day more than once on the trip.



I’d booked a shuttle from the airport to a hotel near the apartment where I stayed.  It was a 5-minute walk from there but those last 5 minutes were a challenge.  I relied on my phone because the map I’d printed at home was too faint to read in the dark.  Thank heaven the SIM card worked- for awhile.  I took a wrong turn (how was I to know which way to go to turn “North”?) and couldn’t refresh the directions, but was able to backtrack.  Fortunately, Iceland has a very low crime rate and I felt perfectly safe.  At that point it was 1 AM.   I was VERY relieved when Hafdis, the owner of the flat, showed up as I was trying to figure to where the key was hidden.  She was a warm, gracious lady who obviously loves plants and artwork; the apartment was beautiful and sun-filled.  This was my first Airbnb rental and it will not be my last.  Hafdis and I gave each other mutually glowing reviews after the trip.

Between the time zone change and my own excitement, I didn’t get to sleep till after 3 AM, but it was a happy sleep.

Thursday, 10- Not All Who Wander are Lost; Haunted Reykjavik

I had nothing planned for today and realized that, since I was on my own, I could just wander where I pleased for as long as I wanted.  First, though, I had to go shopping.  The Airbnb deal does not include a full supply of food.  That's the guests' job.


Morning view from my living room.  I may be done with hotels on long trips forever. 

I headed out to a shopping area where the cheaper grocery store didn't open till 11 AM (which tells you something about the culture).  The one across the street, however, was open and had everything I needed, coffee being my main priority.  I loved being able to get out of bed, put the coffee on and have breakfast at the dining room table every morning. 

I hadn't expected to encounter the Berenstain Bears in the grocery store!
It took me awhile to motivate myself but eventually I got out, and grinned from ear to ear as soon as I saw the mountains across the bay, down at the end of the street.  




Once I knew where I was, I put the map away and just wandered.  

Hmm.  Wonder if this kids' bio of Martin Luther is available in English.

I ended up at the Hallgrimskirkja just before a concert by an organist and a double bass player.  They were fantastic- a Handel piece that was so beautiful I got teary-eyed and then 20th-century pieces that were not to my taste but still interesting to watch.  One was a solo for the double bass that really required him to go through a wide range of sounds.  I'll always be grateful that I went to a university with a good conservatory,  I learned a lot just by going to performances there. 


Despite its impressive appearance, the Hallgrimskirkja is not a cathedral.  It was named after Hallgrimur Petersson, who wrote an extensive collection of Icelandic hymns.



 After lunch I went for a refreshing swim- the nearest geothermal pool was outdoor and I'd thought it might be a shock getting out of the water (air was about 55 degrees) but I was fine. I tried not to think about the fact that the source of the comfy warm water was the volcanic "hot spot" that lies under Iceland.  These pools are popular even in winter, when people congregate in the hot tub while snow falls on their heads.


Finally, since I still hadn't had enough of Reykjavik, I went out at 8 PM for the "Haunted Reykjavik" walk. It wasn't particularly scary, especially since it was still light out by the time we were finished, but it was an interesting look into Iceland's culture.

This is the Elf Stone.  It stood in the way of grading the road for a major highway and nothing could move it.  Finally, the construction company, suspecting elves were the problem, consulted  and expert who could communicate with "the hidden people".  The elves would be happy to move if construction ceased for a week and they stone could be moved to a  pleasant area. They complied, the stone moved easily, and the elves are apparently happy in their new location.

The Lutheran cathedral.

Facade of the Parliament building.
 
Gardens behind the Parliament building.



Friday, August 11: Whale Watching

I chose today for a whale-watching trip.  Ron and I had done this on our visit two years ago and had seen quite a few whales as well as puffins and other critters. It's all a matter of luck, though;  this time we saw several pods of playful porpoises and a lot of seagulls.  The guide suggested that perhaps the puffins were scarce because this time of year the fledglings are learning to get their own food so the adult birds stay closer to the nest and don't have to go as far to forage.  


I still enjoyed it- it was a beautiful day out on the water and -bonus!- one of the passengers was a woman from Paris and she and I had a good time chatting in French.  The guide brought his dog on board and the dog did a good job of cleaning up the crumbs from my snacks as they fell on the deck.





More wandering after lunch.


Very common in Iceland but, at about $36 excluding beverages or dessert I passed it up.

This hot dog stand always had a line- maybe because, at $5 each, they were cheap by Reykjavik standards.


Saturday, August 12- The Maritime Museum and Dinner with a Friend

Ron and I had wanted to visit the Maritime Museum on our last trip and never found it.  His stamina had decreased even then to the point that wandering around endlessly was out of the question.  I found it this time and he would have loved it., especially the reconstruction of the radio operator's cabin.  Ron still remembered Morse code at age 78.

A separate room had a very good exhibit on the Cod Wars, a long, sometimes violent, ongoing struggle between Britain (they loved their fish and chips) and Iceland over territorial rights along Iceland's coast. 

A vintage calculator from the national bank, source of funding to strengthen Iceland's commercial fishing industry.
 o
Name plate from a very early (c. 1946) Loran navigation device.

Part of the exhibit on cod fishing.
Cod liver in its own oil- Icelandic product labeled for export.  I doubt it would be very popular in the USA.



Today was the Gay Pride March in the center of Reykjavik.  Have I mentioned lately that I love this city?  I wasn’t there for the actual parade (I was swimming) but arrived as it was breaking up.  There were rainbow flags and ribbons in shop windows and entire families decked out in rainbow colors as well as many same-sex couples.


My friend Chris was coming in from Amsterdam today with his 18-year old nephew.  Chris is one of a handful of wonderful people I know from a travel discussion board on the internet that I joined 15+ years ago (definitely pre-9/11) and we always get together when we’re in the same area.  He posted on FaceBook when he couldn’t reach the host of his Airbnb rental and when I responded he asked if I could call the host- Chris’ phone didn’t work in Iceland and, although he could access public Wi-Fi, his phone was down to 6% power.  I called the owner, who was in the highlands on vacation, was told where the key to the unit was hidden, relayed the info to Chris, and all was well.  Later that evening Chris and I had a long, enjoyable dinner of pizza and beer.  He arrived bearing a bottle of French wine which he’d bought in France as thanks.

Sunday, August 13- Day Trip to Greenland




This is my favorite picture from the whole trip.  The village of Kulusuk is in the background.

The day did not start off well.  I called the taxi company and they said one would be there soon.  After about 15 minutes of waiting out in cold, cloudy, damp conditions I called them.  Oh- my cab had picked up someone else.  Sorry.  They’d send another driver. Ten minutes later I was wondering if I should just start walking (this was the small domestic airport, only 2.8 km) and my driver called.  The dispatcher had given her the wrong street, due either to my faulty pronunciation of the street (Brekkustigur) or to the dispatcher’s poor hearing.  She arrived a few minutes later and cheerfully drove me to the airport, slamming on her brakes at one point when someone came down the road leading to the airport on the wrong side of the road.  British, maybe?  I told her that if she were a NYC cab driver she would have leaned on her horn and shouted nasty words at the other driver.

The security line.
 
The plane.  Looks like my hand got in the way!


(Fast forward to my arrival back at RKV:  I chose to walk it and arrived at my apartment 35 minutes after landing.  Good decision.)

A picture from the IcelandAir lounge showing debarkation from a commercial flight pre-1946.  There was no airport so seaplanes were used.



In the waiting area I met a group of 5 people heading off to a ship in Kulusuk from which they’d go kayaking every day.  They’d brought dry suits and spray skirts.  The accommodations sounded like something I saw the day before in the mockup of the crew cabin of a fishing trawler at the Maritime Museum.    No, thanks.


Approaching Kulusuk.

I took this shot on the return to Iceland; I noticed the proliferation of algae and wondered if it could be due to fertilizer runoff from local farms.  A local later confirmed that I was right.

Arrival at Kulusuk.  They really ought to give their employees better ear protection.

The Kulusuk Airport was loaded with all kinds of pretty things for sale, including sealskins and reindeer skins.  They ran around $100 each.  Prominent signs in the airport noted that they had been hunted by Inuit with permission under an international treaty with careful focus on sustainability.  The signs also subtly accused Greenpeace of hurting the local economy with its propaganda.




Kulusuk is actually an island with a population of about 240 (and decreasing).  The residents are mostly hunters- in fact, I’d seen some dead seals by the shoreline at one point.  We visited small museum, where the guide pointed out an anorak made of a combination of polar bear and dog fur.  When the dogs are too old to work or die from other causes, he said, they put the fur to good use.


We did a lot of walking, up and down scenic hills, into town and even down a glacier at one point.  I had had a light breakfast, there was nothing but empty calories (candy and chips) available at either airport and no food on the flight.  I was relieved when we stopped at a grocery store, but supplies there were quite limited.  Happily, I found a can of tuna with a pop-top lid (imported from Thailand!) and a loaf of crusty bread, and improvised a sandwich.  It cost me 53 Danish Kroner (Greenland is a Danish territory).  I didn’t care what the exchange rate was- I was hungry.  Turns out my lunch cost about $8.50- well worth it! 




Inside of the Lutheran church.  The ship model was built by sailors who  had been shipwrecked off the coast; they spent the winter there and built the model of their ship.  The prayer books were in the Inuit language.



This pipe contains electrical lines.  They can't be put overhead because they'd be blown down and they can't be buried underground because it's too hard to dig into the rocky surface.

 We were offered the chance to go back to the airport by water- for another $40, most of which went to the hunters who would use their boats.  They didn’t have to twist my arm.  They drove slowly (8 knots/hour) so we could take in the sights and admire the icebergs, and we arrived in plenty of time to make the flight home.

This mountain looked as if the side had been blown off in a volcanic explosion.


Iceberg ahead!
I lead an interesting life.