Road Trip
October 3, 2009
I’ts been a while since I posted last, due mostly to my laziness, but a lot has happened here in the meantime. I’ll offer some of the highlights of my last couple weeks.
First of all, I saw Sigur Ros (a soaring Icelandic band) playing at a Reimer concert, which is a form of traditional Icelandic poetry set to music. I didn’t know quite what to expect. As it turned out, the members of Sigur Ros were on the Glockenspiel, while poetry was recited in a language I didn’t understand. It was still pretty cool, as you can see:
On my way back, I went to a store renting VHS videos! Here’s the proof:
About a week and a half ago, my mom visited. I had a great time showing her around the city and enjoying some upscale, cosmopolitan dining that I could never afford on my own. The film festival that I mentioned earlier was still going on, so we saw a couple movies together. One film, Dogtooth, was a remarkably disturbing (fictional) portrayal of three children raised by their parents utterly isolated from the outside world–I recommend it.
We also spent a few days driving around the country. We made it up to Akureyri (Iceland’s second biggest town), a bit further on to Lake Myvatn and Europe’s most powerful waterfall, Dettifoss, before returning. I’ve included some pictures from the trip below. Along the way, we bathed in a natural hot spring, Grettislaug, saw breathtaking views of snowcapped mountains, hiked through lava formations and pseudo-craters, visited a grouping of turfhouses converted into a museum on historical Icelandic living conditions, conquered a Viking fortress, saw some seals (or sheep?) out on a rocky island outcropping, and paid homage to a troll turned rock formation, caught by the rising sun.
A couple experiences stand out from the rest. First of all, we encountered some resistance in the form of horse round-ups while attempting to drive down a narrow, dirt road. Let’s just say that horses aren’t the most conscientious road users. It took us a fair while to pass them, and their human herders seemed to sympathize.
On our way to Dettifoss, we accidentally turned off on a road before the one we had intended, upon seeing a sign labeling the way. We didn’t realize at the time that it was a four-wheel drive vehicle only route. Had we known, we might not have proceeded in our tiny, rented Euro-car. Nevertheless, I made pretty quick time, if I may say so myself, even passing an SUV on the return trip (which may have taken even longer than the horses. My theory is that the driver was embarrassed to be passed by a car half the size of his or hers). Of course, once we came to within three kilometers of the waterfall, we finally confronted a puddle that seemed to formidable to risk fording. At that point, we decided to hike the rest of the way, which turned out to be quite an adventure, traversing ridge after ridge of barren Icelandic tundra. The waterfall was, in the end, spectacular and worth the hardship. I included a picture below of the view of our car on the hike back. It’s the tiny gray speck in the distance…
Back in Reykjavik, my mom came out with us on a Friday night to see some live music (there was a music festival going on at the time, which at this point is barely worth commenting on, giving the regularity of such events). She stayed out until about 2 and even shared a tequila shot with us! A very good night and a very good visit. Any of you considering a trip out to Iceland would do well to think about all the fun that awaits.
