I'm back from Iceland! I already know what you are saying..."Why Iceland?" For a number of perfectly good reasons. It's not Saudi Arabia. In fact, in terms of climate and culture, it's about as far away as one can get from the Magic Kingdom. It is green, wet, and cool, and populated by people who don't bathe in cologne, who think backpacks are the best way to carry one's stuff around, and who can't wait to get outdoors and do something. But Iceland is also geologically unique, a volcanic island that sits astride a tectonic plate boundary (the midocean spreading ridge in the North Atlantic). It is chock full of volcanoes, geysers, waterfalls, and glaciers. The ever practical Icelanders make full use of their natural, although certainly at times hostile, resources. From Wikipedia:
Iceland has an interesting human history as well starting with the first settlements back in 874. It's a hard place to make a living. Even now after more than 11 centuries (!), there are fewer than 320,000 people in the whole country; about 180,000 of them live in Reykjavik and its suburbs. Iceland doesn't have really harsh winters because of the warm Gulf Stream waters but it is a harsh landscape nonetheless. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and geysers make for awkward neighbors. There are some trees in Iceland but they are few and far between (i.e., no forests). There aren't any big animals except for cows, sheep, and horses, introduced by man, of course.
I had some difficult arranging a hotel for my first two nights--every hotel in Reykjavik was booked solid. Who the heck were all these people visiting Iceland in late August? After watching people for a few days, I concluded that most of the tourists come from Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and then perhaps North Americans come in a distant fifth. A few Japanese were scattered about as well. I asked a Swedish woman why her countrymen and women would choose to have their holidays in a country so similar to their own. She said, well, culturally it's similar but the landscape is very different. A lot of them come to bathe and swim in the hot springs (I dubbed this the "sauna culture").
The country has no major industries or exports (can't export steam) except for tourism. The tourists come for the gorgeous scenery but also for inventively and playfully designed textiles, clothing, housewares, furniture, jewelry, and art. Iceland has a vibrant music scene as well. With all of the tourism focused on outdoor activities, there are several outdoor gear companies that make extraordinarily beautiful and functional outdoor clothing. And of course there are the woolen goods: sweaters, hats, dresses, vests, mitts, socks, scarves, blankets, and more. You can easily spot the items made with undyed wool in black, grey, white, and brown. After a while, I could see common decorative patterns and themes.
The food was nothing to write home about. In my opinion, it was typically bland Northern European variations on a fish and potatoes theme. I did try some puffin. And no, it did not taste like chicken. It had an odd texture like very firm seafood, kind of like a scallop but not as smooth. It wasn't gamey like pheasant nor meaty like herbivores. Grocery stores have a few extremely hard or sadly limp vegetables in limited supply; green vegetables and fruit don't comprise a large part of the Icelandic diet. They do grow and eat a lot of berries, though, which are probably the source of key vitamins. My favorite food discovery is skyr, a type of thick, creamy cow's milk yogurt.
One thing that did surprise me was how expensive Iceland is. On a scale of 1 to 10, this place is a 10. And I wasn't even paying for five-star activities and accommodations. I saw tourists spending money like mad on all sorts of luxury goods (i.e., things they didn't need to survive). Despite their recent national financial crisis, the Icelanders seem to have a pretty good attitude about it all. This was also the height of tourist season when they make most of their income for the year so the locals were at their charming, helpful best.
Like most Europeans, Icelanders put Americans to shame when it comes to language. All of them--ALL of them--speak excellent English as well as Icelandic and at least one of German or Swedish or Norwegian, sometimes all three. Swedes and Norwegians told me that they can sort of understand Icelandic but they can't speak it. I purchased a very funny tourist Tshirt which says in Icelandic, "I can't speak Icelandic": "ég tala ekki íslensku". Yeah, exactly.
So by now I'm sure you are saying, alright with the damned social studies lesson already, where are the pictures? For that, you'll have to check back soon! But I'll leave you with a few teasers.
Five major geothermal power plants exist in Iceland, which produce approximately 26.2% (2010) of the nation's energy. In addition, geothermal heating meets the heating and hot water requirements of approximately 87% of all buildings in Iceland. Apart from geothermal energy, 75.4% of the nation’s electricity was generated by hydro power, and 0.1% from fossil fuels.How about that math? More than 99% of Iceland's electricity comes from renewable sources.
Iceland has an interesting human history as well starting with the first settlements back in 874. It's a hard place to make a living. Even now after more than 11 centuries (!), there are fewer than 320,000 people in the whole country; about 180,000 of them live in Reykjavik and its suburbs. Iceland doesn't have really harsh winters because of the warm Gulf Stream waters but it is a harsh landscape nonetheless. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and geysers make for awkward neighbors. There are some trees in Iceland but they are few and far between (i.e., no forests). There aren't any big animals except for cows, sheep, and horses, introduced by man, of course.
I had some difficult arranging a hotel for my first two nights--every hotel in Reykjavik was booked solid. Who the heck were all these people visiting Iceland in late August? After watching people for a few days, I concluded that most of the tourists come from Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and then perhaps North Americans come in a distant fifth. A few Japanese were scattered about as well. I asked a Swedish woman why her countrymen and women would choose to have their holidays in a country so similar to their own. She said, well, culturally it's similar but the landscape is very different. A lot of them come to bathe and swim in the hot springs (I dubbed this the "sauna culture").
The country has no major industries or exports (can't export steam) except for tourism. The tourists come for the gorgeous scenery but also for inventively and playfully designed textiles, clothing, housewares, furniture, jewelry, and art. Iceland has a vibrant music scene as well. With all of the tourism focused on outdoor activities, there are several outdoor gear companies that make extraordinarily beautiful and functional outdoor clothing. And of course there are the woolen goods: sweaters, hats, dresses, vests, mitts, socks, scarves, blankets, and more. You can easily spot the items made with undyed wool in black, grey, white, and brown. After a while, I could see common decorative patterns and themes.
The food was nothing to write home about. In my opinion, it was typically bland Northern European variations on a fish and potatoes theme. I did try some puffin. And no, it did not taste like chicken. It had an odd texture like very firm seafood, kind of like a scallop but not as smooth. It wasn't gamey like pheasant nor meaty like herbivores. Grocery stores have a few extremely hard or sadly limp vegetables in limited supply; green vegetables and fruit don't comprise a large part of the Icelandic diet. They do grow and eat a lot of berries, though, which are probably the source of key vitamins. My favorite food discovery is skyr, a type of thick, creamy cow's milk yogurt.
One thing that did surprise me was how expensive Iceland is. On a scale of 1 to 10, this place is a 10. And I wasn't even paying for five-star activities and accommodations. I saw tourists spending money like mad on all sorts of luxury goods (i.e., things they didn't need to survive). Despite their recent national financial crisis, the Icelanders seem to have a pretty good attitude about it all. This was also the height of tourist season when they make most of their income for the year so the locals were at their charming, helpful best.
Like most Europeans, Icelanders put Americans to shame when it comes to language. All of them--ALL of them--speak excellent English as well as Icelandic and at least one of German or Swedish or Norwegian, sometimes all three. Swedes and Norwegians told me that they can sort of understand Icelandic but they can't speak it. I purchased a very funny tourist Tshirt which says in Icelandic, "I can't speak Icelandic": "ég tala ekki íslensku". Yeah, exactly.
So by now I'm sure you are saying, alright with the damned social studies lesson already, where are the pictures? For that, you'll have to check back soon! But I'll leave you with a few teasers.
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| Reykjavik. View looking northeast. |
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| Bubbling hot pot; the hole is about 12 inches in diameter. The water comes out of the hole at boiling temperatures. The white bits are bacteria and mineral deposits. You can also see feathery green algae and farther away where it's a bit cooler, clumps of grass. |
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| Icelandic pony. |
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