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Little bit about Iceland

July 6, 2015 • By Kelly Glynn

Reykjavik, known as Cove of Smoke, is the capital of Iceland with roughly 2/3 of the population residing in the city and it’s surrounding parts. It’s a relatively small area but it’s compact with design studios, art galleries, an active port, shopping, heated swimming pools, lots of fantastic food plus the Harpa and bars for music. It’s summer in the city and tourists are crowding the streets, highways, waterfalls and glaciers.

view from the docks

Icelanders enjoy roughly 24 hours of sunlight from April – October. The sun gods are rewarding them for they will savor these days when the calendar turns October and the sun makes an appearance only three-five hours a day until the end of March. When I asked a local how he survives such darkness, he professed nothing changes. They just use more street and indoor lighting.

Iceland is the 18th largest island in the world with about seven percent habitability as the topography of the island consists of mainly mountains and glaciers – wasteland as locals refer to it. Iceland is relatively young having formed on the ocean surface about 16-18 million years ago by a series of volcanic eruptions in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The island is located at the juncture of two continents and lies between the North American and Eurasian plates, which spread at a rate of 2.5 centimeters per year. Geological depictions that map Europe and North America some 65 million years ago and today actually show Iceland moving closer to North America but it will probably be another 60 million years before Iceland attaches to other land. Americans are rooting for a North American connect.

The earliest settler arrived in Reykjavik around 874 from Norway. At that time, the Vikings “seafarers” were setting out from Norway and Denmark some to seek freedom from tyranny in their homelands or possibly for food as their communities grew crowded. My guide Jon informed me that the Vikings lived and died by the sword, which may explain why Icelanders are so resilient, strong and happy today. They have fought for generations to survive. Iceland can blame the Vikings for the rats and mice and cats and horses. The only native animal to Iceland is the Arctic Fox and Arctic Tern(bird) .

To learn more about the Vikings

Icelandic Flag

Iceland is one of the Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Aland Islands and Greenland). The locals may resemble a Norwegian, Dane or Swede or German (think white blonde hair, tall, natural) but they are Icelandic people speaking Icelandic, a sub-group of the North Germanic languages. Please save us all and don’t try pronouncing anything. You will be wrong like way off! It is believed that if one of the earlier settlers returned to present day Iceland he/she would have no issue understanding as Icelandic is an insular language.

Give it a go if you must!

Góðan daginn – GO-than DYE-inn

(Hello)

Ég tala ekki íslensku – YEG TA-la EK-ki EES-len-skoo

(I don’t speak Icelandic – DUH!)

If you didn’t master that lesson, not to worry, everyone speaks English perfectly fine in Reykjavik and locals smile and giggle when you try speaking Icelandic anyway.

View from the water

Europe

First day in Iceland

July 3, 2015 • By Kelly Glynn

How did I get to Iceland? I flew of course because the Queen Mary didn’t seem like a great option for eight days of travel. My journey took me from Chicago O’Hare to New York LaGuardia and then by bus to JFK where I patiently waited for a delayed Delta flight to whisk me to Reykjavik, Iceland a short five hour flight.

My incredible spot for 3 nights

A 13,000K taxi later (or $98USD), I arrived at my Airbnb apartment. My gracious host Daiva greeted me at the door with a warm hug and delivered me to a gorgeous, sparkling clean living quarters equipped with a full kitchen, spacious living room and darling bedroom mere steps from the hustle and bustle of downtown Reykjavik. As this was my first Airbnb experience, I was very nervous but Daiva spared no detail. She stocked the refrigerator with some goodies and the counter with fruits and chocolates (I of course opted for the sweets) and she even supplied the bathroom with fun toiletries. We walked through the basics and I was out the door for a half day of sightseeing.

Solfar Sun Voyager – by Jon Gunnar Arnason which may resemble a Viking ship, but is in fact a dream boat and ode to the sun.

My first stop: The Atlantic Ocean just a 10 minute walk from my apartment. The crisp and fresh Icelandic air greeted my skin and awakened my senses. The sun shined brightly but the clouds loomed over the mountains and ocean. From my understanding, changing weather patterns rain, sun, wind, and repeat is an everyday occurrence in Iceland. The country is sandwiched between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean and has a population of about 330,000 people. Reykjavik is the capital and also the largest city in Iceland. I’m basing myself in Reykjavik for a few days before heading to the countryside.

After a brisk walk along the coast, I decided to get a sense of the city by jumping on the hop on hop off bus. It seemed like a relatively good idea at the time but taking into account I slept for only a few hours here and there the warm seats and sun beaming in through the windows my body said otherwise and I nodded off a portion of the 45 minute loop. Back on the streets, I wandered the downtown shops and eyed a few purchases for later when I have my whits about me. It’s not surprising but the stores are peddling Nordic sweaters, jewelry and some very interesting designer clothes along with lots of warm weather gear, which I suspect is very necessary here. I didn’t want to exhaust myself further because I had a big night ahead of me so I retreated to my cozy Airbnb abode and napped.

Beautiful Reykjavik scenery

Tonight, I celebrated the July 4 holiday in Nordic style at a local museum. As a guest of the American Ambassador to Iceland, Robert Barner, I joined about 1,000 people also celebrating American independence. I dressed in my American blue dress (a Brooks Brother special accented with black block patterns and a black cashmere sweater) and sparkled in red beads (my friend Megan added my skin is pale enough to constitute white) and technically my hair is red. It was a beautiful event filled with flags representing each state and fiery chili from Texas, American burgers, chocolate cake and red and white wine with nothing other than Sam Adams beer (the Ambassador is from Boston).

Feasting on chili and burgers at the American July 4 party in Iceland

I met a few locals and talked about whales and the weather and an Embassy staff person shared with me her job and what it’s like working for the State Department abroad. She focuses on economic development and I really enjoyed hearing about her work. It’s very important that we continue to have strong partnerships abroad.

Cocktail party at the July 4 celebration with Ambassador Barber

Finally, I ended the night with a 3-course surprise food and wine pairing at Fridrik 5. My New York friends Cary and Charlie recommended as their favorite go to Reykjavik restaurant so I ventured there on my first night. The flavors in their food dance and sing on a hungry person’s tongue. The sweet taste of the tomato and applesauce soup, the buttery yogurt for bread, lobster “coffee” shot, cod chips, shepherd’s pie, lanka fish (like cod), rhubarb jam and brown gravy. The last course included a variety of sweets like chocolate mouse cake, strawberries, and mouthwatering bites of sauces and chocolate squares. Fedrik 5 is a must eat. The food is delicious and made even more enjoyable but the kind serving staff.

Fridrik V – Surprise 3-5 tasting meal. Delicious