DAY 22: HEADING HOME: ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

The day started before the crack of dawn.  My alarm went off at 5 AM.  I had done the hard work last night of completely repacking.  I even packed my backpack and pulled the backpack traps out of my carryon.  That way I had less to fret with since we were economy. 

Down in the lobby we met up with Neil.  He wasn’t going with us to the airport afterall.  Our van was picking up another OAT group from the airport and taking them to Selfoss.  They were at the beginning of their adventure.  I have to admit that I cried.  Neil has been a phenomenal trip leader and just an all around wonderful person.  He’s become family.  He never failed to educate as well as entertain me.  Saying goodby is always such sweet sorrow but this time even more so.  I was really going to miss him and his quizzes on Iceland.  Shoot, I’m going to miss the beautiful, pragmatic island country that I have come to love so much.

Traffic to Keflavik was mild at this early morning hour.  We made it quicker than I expected.  We all got out of the van and went our separate ways.  Most of the people with us were traveling Delta back home.  We were on Icelandic Air for the first leg.  We had to use a kiosk to check in and then it only gave us boarding passes and no bag tags.  We had to go up to the desk and get those as well as new boarding passes.  Oy vey!  However, they could only give us one boarding pass although our bags were checked all the way to Tampa.  We would have to get the pass from Boston to Tampa when we arrived in Boston.

Security wasn’t too bad.  We both whipped through quickly and easily although Doug’s camera case got flagged.  His water bottle had a quarter inch of water still in it.  Crazy.  After security we found a place to sit and began the long wait. We knew better than to go down to the gate.  There was little seating down there.

We grabbed some breakfast in the food court.  They actually scanned our boarding passes.  That was different.  Then I got a latte.  They scanned it there as well.  Before we settled in we grabbed sandwiches and chips for the flight to Boston.  Since we weren’t Business Class, we knew we wouldn’t get fed.  Icelandic Air doesn’t feed feed on this flight because it is so short.  I was glad we knew this in advance so we could prepare.

We both read and the time passed.  Waiting around in airports has gotten to be old hat although we have gotten spoilt with flying Business Class and waiting in the lounge.  Today we were out with the rest of the travelers.  It was no big deal, just not as comfortable and no free food.  

When it was time to head to the boarding gate, Doug and I had to scan our passes.  I made it through fine carrying his camera case while he took my carry-on.  He seems to have the worst luck in getting “randomly” selected for further screening.  I had to head to the gate by myself while he went to where ever they did the screening.  Sigh…..

I made it to the gate only to find a HUGE line.  It was actually two gates all in the same line.  The gate people wanted to have room for the people exiting the two aircraft.  As a result, the line was ginormous and getting longer.  We were all hoping that we were standing in the correct line.  It was impossible to tell.  I figured that Doug would beat me on the plane.  We stood there and stood there.  Eventually the line began to move a little bit which beat just standing there twiddling our thumbs.  It really moved when the gate people broke us back into the two separate lines.  After that we stood there some more waiting.  

That is when Doug finally caught up with me.  The additional screening had taken him that long.  It was my carry-on with all of my electronics that had slowed him down.  They had to swipe EVERYTHING in it for bomb residue.  Now I had downsized what I could since I knew I would be carrying it all day but it still had a camcorder, a still camera, iPad, Kindle, chargers, charging cables, backup batteries…..And that carry-on had a plethora of pockets, each of which they had to open and check.  I don’t think Doug will ever carry my carry-on again :-). I don’t blame him!

It took  what seemed like forever but eventually we were able to board the plane.  Doug noticed as we did that there were two empty seats in Business Class.  So after everybody was onboard, he explained our situation to the flight attendant.  She couldn’t promise anything but she said she would ask if she could upgrade us.  She came back a few minutes later and said she couldn’t.  However, she did say that they would give us a meal and do all that they could to make us comfortable.  I thought that was very nice.

At least I had been able to go online last night and chose seats for us.  We got the last two aisle seats available that were across from each other.  Actually I don’t know if there were any other aisle seats left at all.  At least we weren’t stuck in middle seats.  Doug was extra fortunate in that there was nobody in his middle seat.  All of my row was full.  The young man next to me liked to man-spread :-). At least I had the aisle seat.

Although we ended up not getting fed on the plane, we did get free alcohol which was nice.  Since we had bought sandwiches and chips at the airport, the lack of a meal was no biggie.  The 5.5 hour flight flight was fine.  It passed quickly.  I watched movies as usual.  “The Judge” was good but sad.  I rewatched “Music & Lyrics” with Hugh Grant and it was as cute as I remembered it being.  I love a good movie that makes me laugh and cry.  It was perfect.

We landed just fine on time in Boston.  They had the new Global Entry machines that snap your photo which much easier than the old ones in Tampa so we scooted through that easily.  We grabbed our bags which came out pretty darn quickly and then checked them in.  Our biggest hurdle was getting our boarding passes for the flight to Tampa.  I had tried and tried while we were in Iceland but couldn’t get them.  The boarding person in Keflavik couldn’t give them to us either.  Peachy!  So we had to get them somehow.  Fortunately, there was a lady where we turned in our bags that was able to do it for us.  Whew!  I was so glad that we didn’t have to go to the ticketing area and get it. and make the LONG walk to the terminal we needed to be in for our gate. 

It was nice that we didn’t have to go through security again as well.  I figured that we would but since we had we had a 4.5 hour layover  there was more than enough time.  We had plenty of time for almost anything.  Since this was our chance to have dinner, we found a place to sit for a while, drink a beer, and grab something to eat.  I got chicken nachos and Doug got a burger.  It passed the time nicely.

On the flight to Tampa both Doug and I were in middle seats.  However, we were in an emergency row so we did have extra leg room.  However, the arms of the seat were solid down into the seat cushion and the seats were narrow so it was a bit tight.  The good thing about that was no man-spreading into my seat :-). The flight itself went smoothly and quickly which was nice since it was over three and a half hours.  

Once we landed, we got a text from Sam that she was in the cell lot waiting.  Our luggage came out relatively quickly for Tampa.  And soon we were loading out bags into Sam’s car and whizzing down I275 home.  Leia, our basset hound (Sam’s actually) was in the car and she was SO happy to see us.  She is happiest when her whole family is home.  Dog hair was flying all over the interior of the car as her tail went ninety miles an hour and she wiggled in ecstasy at trying to lick up and get pets.  Happy dog, happy people.

And speaking of dogs, I just realized that I forgot one sad part of our time in Greenland.  While we were in Kulusuk two of Hailey’s puppies went to a new home.  Jacob gave/sold them to a man whose dog died (or was put down, I didn’t get or want any details).   We saw the pups being led away as we walked to the dock for our boat ride to the glacier.  I found out later they were going to their new home.  It about did me in.  These puppies were so happy to be around people and loved attention.  Now they were going to live in isolation, chained to a dog house to be used as a polar bear alarm.  They will get fed a couple times a week and not get much if any human attention. Those happy-go-lucky puppies won’t be that way for very long.  I could never be a Greenlander.   My puppy kisses will always be one of my favorite memories of the post-trip.

But I don’t want to leave this phenomenal trip on such a sour note.   The entire experience was one I will always cherish and unless you have experienced Iceland for yourself, you cannot understand the strong pull it has.  How can I explain the beauty of the sun peeking through waves of fog lighting up iridescent green grass?  Or the impossibly dark blue of the wild ocean as it crashes into rough basalt stretching up into the air as if to touch the sun?  The verdant fields spotted with countless sheep grazing peacefully?  The quizzical look in the Icelandic horse’s eyes as it trots across the open fields?

Iceland countryside

Then there are the people of Iceland, hardy, strong, warm, and generous.  They are the embodiment of of the saying “that which doesn’t kill me makes me strong.”  Homes buried under volcanic ashes, they shrug their shoulder and dig it out.  The country crippled by the financial crisis and they dust their hands off and work to make it better.  They just get on with it instead of feeling sorry for themselves and moaning about how unfair it is.  They are resilient.  They are intrepid.  They are survivors.  Of course, they are descendants of Vikings.

Despite this innate toughness, Icelanders are some of the kindest and warmest people I have ever met.  Never once did I hear about crime unless it was centuries old.  When unsure of how to get somewhere when we were on our own, they were always quick to lend a hand.  A twinkle in their eyes and a smile on their lips and a generosity of spirit as deep as the sea.  

These are the intangibles that I am bringing home with me, far more meaningful and lasting than coffee mugs or refrigerator magnets.  I have seen the pot of gold at the end of a waterfall rainbow.  It is the fire and ice of Iceland.  Harsh yet beautiful.  Young at heart yet eternal.  Unyielding yet endlessly changing.  Iceland is simply magical, full of hidden wonders and  abundant nature.

Although our time in Greenland was short, it, too, cast its spell on me.  So different from Iceland but no less majestic and beautiful.  Harsh, barren mountains, harbors dotted with colorful buildings, startling blue waters sprinkled with icy sculptures created by snow, wind, and water.  Rivers of ice flowing down to the fjord, deep blue and craggy all add to the beauty and mystery of this vast island in the north.  The people who call this less than green land home are as tough as the land.  They’ve had to be to survive here.  Pragmatic, strong but warm and generous, these Inuit people hang on to age-old traditions such as the drum dance and hunting to bring meaning to life on this hunk of rock.  It was a true privilege to see the small piece of Greenland and meet some of its people.

Tasiilaq

And as I promised, here are some tidbits that I gleaned along the way.  There is always so much to share and usually not enough hours in the day to do it.  So here we go….

No trip to Iceland is complete without the story of the Christmas cat.  Likenesses of the cat are available all over the country.  Now the Christmas cat story is not for the faint of heart.  It certainly isn’t a love story, more of a horror story.  One version of the story has the Yule cat being the monstrous house pet of Gryla a giantess who has an insatiable appetite for naughty children.  She is the Yule Lads’ mother.  During the holidays she comes out of her cave and searches out children misbehaving.  She makes a stew out of them and gobbles it down.

The Yule cat is her pet.  This giant cat lurks about the countryside and eats people who don’t get new clothes before Christmas Eve.  Lovely holiday story!  It is thought to have it’s roots in the wool business.  Workers that helped process the wool from the fall shearing would receive clothes in return.  The workers that didn’t help, got none.  The story was a not-so-subtle threat to get people to work.  Some versions of the story have the cat merely eating the food of the people who didn’t receive new clothing,

This tale and others about Gryla were popularized by good ole Snorri whose name should be familiar.  He is one of the famous saga authors.  The Gryla stories were from his Edda.  The story of her sons, the Yule Lads, has been popularized in a picture book by Brian Pilkington.  We saw it in every gift shop and bookstore in Iceland.

Now Ireland isn’t the only country that has the “little people.”  Iceland has their version of fairies called the “Hidden people.”  They are not little like leprechauns or fairies.  They are more like elves.  The “hidden” men are handsome and the “hidden” women beautiful.  They have a sophisticated social system and are generous to humans when humans help them but harsh when they don’t.  You definitely don’t want to cross a hidden person.  Why do they have this belief in the hidden people?  One train of thought is that it is a form of escapism.  It developed because life here was difficult.  Many Icelanders fiercely believe in them.  In fact one neighborhood my first trip leader Gudrun lived in had a large boulder in the middle of the road.  Hidden people lived there so they brought in a person who could talk to them.  Apparently it was not a successful negotiation because the boulder is still there in the middle of the road.

How did the hidden ones come into being?  There is a story for that, of course :-). Back when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they had many children.  Most of the time Eve let them run and play and get dirty as kids will do.  However, when she knew that God was coming, she would dress them in their finest and make sure they were clean.  One day God showed up without notice.  Eve gathered up her children who were still tidy and clean and brought them before him.  He looked at Eve and asked where the rest of her children were.

“I have no other children.  These are all.”

God did not believe her so he asked again.  Yet again she answered that the children before him were all she had.  Three times she denied her other children.  At last God sighed and looked at her.

“Let it be so then.  Those that are hidden from me today will be hidden from all from this day forward.”  Eve never saw her hidden children again.  They became the fairy folk.  And now you know 🙂

And just maybe this tradition is responsible for the elves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series of books.  Tolkien visited Iceland and fell in love with the country and its language.  He learned to speak Icelandic and used it as the basis for his Elvish language in his books.  Even the countryside of Iceland shows up in his tales.  Peter Jackson wanted to film the movies here because of the connection of the country to the trilogy.  However, at that time the Iceland wasn’t thrilled about movie companies coming in.  They told him “no” and the rest is history for New Zealand.  However, now we know that many of the settings from the books, some of the mythology, and languages of Middle Earth have their roots in Iceland.  

Of course now Iceland is more than happy to welcome film companies.  They even offer the companies massive tax breaks to encourage them.  However, the film companies have to agree that they will be in Iceland for a minimum of six weeks, thus insuring six weeks of income into the country.   The Star Wars franchise has filmed here as well as the Game of Thrones television series, two James Bond movies, some of the Fast and the Furious franchise, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” (the new one with Ben Stiller), and the new version of “Journey to the Center of the Earth” with Brendan Fraser.  

The film industry isn’t confined to Iceland.  I was surprised to learn that a few things were filmed in Greenland as well.  Of course we know that Dr. Knud Radmussen’s “The Wedding of Palo” was filmed entirely in Greenland in Tasiilaq.  However, a few others have been filmed in part here as well.  “Eight Below” which took place in Antarctica was actually filmed partially in Greenland.  Scenes from “The Rise of the Silver Surfer” took place on Russell Glacier in Greenland.  So now you know 🙂

And that wraps up this true adventure on two islands rich in history and natural beauty.  Would I do this trip again?  You bet I would, in a heart beat.  For both places there is so much more to see and discover and I can’t wait to discover them.

DAY 20: KULUSUK & WEATHER PROBLEMS: ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

Today has been a complete fiasco.  It didn’t start out that way but it definitely ended up that way.  Doug and I got up and ate breakfast.  So far the day wasn’t looking promising for flying.  It was so foggy that I couldn’t see the mountains out of our window.  After breakfast we had a nice walk with Neil just to stretch our legs and pass the time.  I had dressed in my one warm shirt as well as a couple of my jackets.  That was way too much.  Even though it was foggy and blustery, I started sweating.  But I enjoyed the brisk morning air and seeing a bit of new scenery around the hotel.  Neil showed us where the crow berries were and we sampled them.

Foggy day in Kulusuk, Greenland

Back at the hotel we finished packing up our stuff, not that there was a good deal since we were using carry-on, cleared our bill, and walked the mile to the airport.  Thank goodness the bags went in the van along with the people who didn’t want to walk in the mist.

There was already a gaggle of people at the airport when we arrived but we got checked in just fine.  We just had to do it in groups of seven.  Weird but that’s how the lady wanted to do it.  Once we were checked in, the long wait began.  We weren’t suppose to start boarding until 11:30 and it was just 10 AM.

Now the airport in Kulusuk is tiny albeit larger than the airport in Gustavus where they shoved your luggage through a slot in the building.  You had to wait for it outside.  There was no waiting room there at all.  Here at least we had a waiting room, toilets, and even a snack bar but that is as far as the amenities went.  But at least we had a place to sit.

As time passed more groups filtered in for the flight.  Eventually we were told to line up for security.  We were excited because we thought that meant the plane was close to arriving.  We weren’t sure if it would because of the foggy weather.  And apparently there was no communication between the plane and the airport which seemed weird to me.  

We had found empty seats at the sole gate and had just gotten comfortable when Neil told us we had to go back to the waiting room.  The plane had had to turn around and go back to Keflavik because of the fog.  We were to wait to see if the pilots were going to make another attempt.  None of us could figure out why we couldn’t just wait by the gate.  Being good travelers though, we grabbed our stuff and went back out to the waiting room.  I was sorry to leave the gate area though because the chairs in there were much more comfortable than the ones in the waiting area.

We figured that out several minutes later when the man from the hotel came and told Neil that he was taking us back to the hotel that no flight was going out today.  Now why hadn’t the airport people told us that?  Our luggage was already outside on a flat trailer so we fetched it and put it in the van and began the trek back to the hotel.  At least we knew we had a room to sleep in tonight as well as a place to get lunch.  One of the groups was having to sleep at the airport.  Yuck.

Jacob gave us our old rooms back.  Unfortunately the poor girl had already cleaned it.  I was hoping she hadn’t gotten around to it yet.  It would have saved her some work.  They only clean the rooms here when you leave.  At least we had fresh towels and Doug had more coffee.

It was after twelve by the time we got into our room and everything sorted.  Lunch was already being served so we made our way to the dining room.  We dined on soup and sandwiches.  Then we all began the process of trying to connect with home and the people who needed to be notified that we would not be back tomorrow.  Doug and I never use cellular when we are overseas.  We stick to WiFi.  Today was the exception since the Internet connection was down.  I tried my phone and it didn’t connect.  Doug tried his and it appeared that it did connect.  It hadn’t.  So I tried again and bingo!  I got the connect text from AT&T about having international calling.  I immediately fired off a text to Sam and let her know the situation.  I knew she was at work so we wouldn’t hear back from her until her lunch break.

I also knew she had a dermatology appointment this morning for a dark patch of skin behind her ear.  I wanted to know how the appointment went.  As the day passed and I didn’t hear from her, I began to get concerned.  I admit, my imagination was running away with me.  I did my best to control my rampaging mind but it wasn’t easy.  I knew my texts were going through because I got a text from a friend.  

The day passed slowly.  At 3 PM we had an update meeting with Neil.  OAT was working on getting us out of here.  That was the good news.  The bad news was even if the flight goes tomorrow, we may not get on it.  The people already booked on that flight have priority.  We will get whatever is empty.  And there were LOTS of people here trying to get out.  More than seats available, I’m guessing.  Even better news, the plane doesn’t fly here on Sundays so if we don’t get out tomorrow, we won’t get out until Monday.  No wonder Neil wanted to tell us the good news first :-). He did add that Icelandic Air does occasionally send a plane on Sundays when there is a backlog of people needing to get out.  He said he’d seen it happen.  So now it is a waiting game.  At least we knew our flight for tomorrow was cancelled.  They really can’t book us on new flights until they know we are getting out of Greenland for sure.  Ah, the adventures of traveling 🙂

Meanwhile, I kept waiting to hear from Sam.  I texted her every few hours.  I texted Joyce as well but didn’t hear back from her either.  That didn’t concern me.  She doesn’t always answer our texts when we are traveling.  Sam is usually good though.  I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t heard from her on her lunch break.

Slowly the afternoon passed.  I read for a while.  Some of the group went berry picking with Neil.  It was foggy and misty.  I had already been out walking in it several times today and I didn’t feel like picking berries.  I just wanted to get a text from Sam.

At 5 we all converged in the bar for Happy Hour.  I had $60 U.S. dollars and we knew that we could get two glasses of wine (generous glasses at that) for $10.  So we drank wine and chit chatted with the others about our situation.  Most everybody was hearing from people back home.  Still no word from Sam.

Dinner came and went. Considering Jacob had thirteen extra mouths to feed, he did a great job.  We ate well.  We actually had beef which was a first since we’ve been gone.  It tasted really good.  I periodically checked my phone.  Still nothing although I knew that I probably wouldn’t hear anything from Sam now until 8 PM our time.  That would be 6 PM in Tampa when she gets off work.

At 9 I texted her best friend in desperation.  I asked her to call Sam and please have her text me ASAP.  Bless Ryiah’s heart, she got right on it.  A few minutes later I got a text back from her saying that Sam had been trying to text and had even called.  I hadn’t gotten anything.  So I tried calling Sam.  Thank goodness the call went through although it constantly cut out.  We did have contact.  Yes!  Her appointment had gone fine.  All was well.  They had cut off the area behind her ear and sent it to the lab just to make sure it wasn’t anything to be concerned about.  The nurse practitioner didn’t think it was but just wanted to make sure.  I told her the situation here and that we would let her know what was going on when we knew.  Then we hung up.

We also figured out that I was only getting texts from people with Android phones.  Messages weren’t coming through with iPhones.  I have no clue why but when Sam changed her setting to text message rather than iMessage, I started getting them.  What a relief!  Since Joyce has an iPhone, Sam was going to call her tomorrow and explain the situation.  I didn’t want her to get worried if she texted us and didn’t get a reply.

So that was our adventure for today.  You just never know what’s around the bend when you are traveling.  The key is staying flexible.  We are traveling with a great group of people and we are all making lemonade :-). And we will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.  But I can sleep easy tonight knowing that Sam is okay.

DAY 18: BOAT TOUR OF ICEBERGS: ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

I can sum up our morning in one word—spectacular!  Our boat tour of the icebergs was fabulous.  We boarded the boat after breakfast.  In preparation I wore my long johns under my waterproof pants and all three of my jackets over my shirt.  Although the boat had a closed in cabin, I knew we would be spending all of our time outside admiring the bergs and watching for sea life.

Unfortunately there was no sea life to be found.  Neither Doug nor I were surprised.  If there were seals or whales, the locals would hunt them and kill them.  That’s just their way of life.  It puts food on the table.  These people are not fishermen.  They are hunters.  What they hunt mostly is sea life, just like yesterday when they were hunting the pilot whales in Kulusuk.

We did find icebergs in spades though.  These were big beauties.  You could tell that at some point a few of them had flipped over.  Their sides were eroded to a smooth exterior from the water.  Others were still all sharp lines and points.  They came in all shapes and colors.  Some had black stripes on them while other had blue stripes.  Others had dirty looking facets while others were pristine white shading into cool blues.  There wasn’t an abundance of icebergs but they were big and they were fantastical.  One looked like a ship while another reminded Neil of the Sphinx.  One reminded me of a camel lying down.

Bergs in the fjord at Tasiilaq

Doug and I stood at the bow for the entire trip.  It actually wasn’t too cold with all of my gear on.  I loved feeling the wind on my face and breathing the fresh, clean air.  It was exhilarating.  The day couldn’t have been more perfect.  We have truly been blessed with good weather this trip.

Iceberg with blue stripes

All too soon we headed back to Tasiilaq and the hotel.  The van hauled us up the steep hill and we made it back just in time for lunch.  It was sea food Wednesday.  The buffet was loaded down with smoked salmon which thrilled Doug as well as pickled herring, pickled salmon, something that looked like prawns but I’m not sure they were, pasta salad, potato salad, French fries, and fried shrimp as well as a sausage that I assume was lamb.  Not being a huge fish fan, it wasn’t my favorite meal but the fried shrimp was pretty good and I can always make a meal out of French fries 🙂

This morning before we left for the boat, we had been trying and failing with the Internet.  I was able to check email and then couldn’t connect at all.  We found out at lunch that the Internet was down.  Normally that would be no big deal.  So what that we couldn’t text or send emails.  However, for us it meant something in addition.  We couldn’t pay by credit card.  Until the Internet was restored (and they didn’t know when that would be), we were on a cash only basis.  Yikes!  We didn’t have that much cash in Danish kroner.  They would take U.S. dollars and euro as well so we weren’t in dire straits.  We would have to carefully consider purchases, however.

We had a bit of a break before our city walk.  Then Mike who owns the hotel drove us down the hill and acted as our local guide.  Our first stop was in front of the post office.  They don’t have postmen deliver the mail.  People have boxes and have to fetch it themselves.  However, it is the stamp center for Greenland.  Twice a month new stamps are issued and the post office in Tassilaq distributes them to all other Greenland post offices.  They use to print stamps here but don’t do that any more.

Next we headed to the carving center.  This building is dedicated to the artists who carve figures out of bone and antler.  The village wants to preserve that piece of their culture so they have given the artists a place and equipment to do their carving.  When we went in there were only two men working.  Mike said at times there are up to 25 inside plying their skills.  The carving culture is not a family thing handed down to the next generation like the drum dance is.  Carving is done by whoever feels the yen and has the talent.  

We were interested in buying a carving.  We had seen some in the gift shop at the hotel.  However, there was only one carving in the shop.  Previous tourists had wiped them out.  It was a nice carving but we didn’t have the cash for it as Doug had left his money at the hotel.  I didn’t have enough on me.  Oh, well….

We stopped at the local store where Mike showed us their “newspaper.”  It was flyers stapled to a bulletin board.  This was their means of communicating important news items to the people of the village.  Hunters come here every day to check the quota number for specific animals.  Hunting certain animals like polar bears and pilot whales are strictly regulated.  The men check here to see what they can still hunt.  Seals, however, are unlimited.  Hunters can kill as many as they want.  I didn’t like that.  I think everything should have a quota.  I believe narwhals are unlimited as well.

We made our way up the muddy dirt road to what use to be the old church.  It is now the village museum.  It didn’t have an abundance of displays but what they had was interesting. They had an old kayak that the Inuit use to use for hunting as well as the accouterments for hunting.  We saw an old wooden sled with a cushion made of seal skin as well as clothing made from seal skin and even polar bear skin.  

Tasiilaq Museum

The clothing fascinated me.  The women put such detailed decoration on it using almost microscopic bits of dyed leather  and beads to create patterns.  They used threads of sinew to sew them on.  They used their teeth to pull off these threads.  Their seal skin boots were decorated as well.  The whiter the leather of the clothing and boots, the more scraping they had done to the skin.  This is what the women would spend those long dark days and nights of winter doing while in the winter house.

At the museum Mike also talked some about the shaman culture.  We saw an example of it in the movie last night.  Shaman could be men or women.  It wasn’t something that was passed down through the generations of a family.  You had to have a calling.  The shaman tradition in East Greenland died in 1970 with the death of the last shaman who happened to be a woman.  She was the grandmother of the gentleman who was going to show us the drum dance tonight.  There is a statue of her in front of the museum in Kulusuk where she lived.

We also learned that the men’s kayaks were made for each individual.  The opening that they sat in was measured to their specific hip measurements so it would be a tight fit to keep water out.  Then a seal skin skirt was used to make it watertight.  The men also had seal skins suits that were waterproof as well.  These watercraft were exceedingly tippy.  It didn’t take much to make them flip.  Young boys from an early age were trained in how to use a kayak.  The museum had a kayak trainer that you could try.  None of us gave it a go.

Even the hunting tools the men used were decorated.  The Inuit believed that the more decorated their harpoon handles and paddle handles were, the more animals they would kill.  This was because the animals wanted to be killed by pretty things.  Strange but true.

Wood is rare in Greenland, or at least the east coast.  There are no trees here so the only wood is driftwood from Siberia.  On the west coast the driftwood comes from Canada.  The Inuit carved masks of the Tubilaq which are spirits.  They were scary masks and could be male or female.  You could tell the female masks because of the knot of hair on the top of the head.

Because wood was so precious, the people did not burn it for cooking or heating.  They carved soapstone fireplaces which were really shallow bowls and burned seal oil in them.  The fire was kept going during the day but carefully put out at night.

Just down from the museum was an old winter house that reminded all of us of the turf houses in Iceland.  The winter house was constructed of both turf and stone.  It, too, was an unhealthy place to live.  They really didn’t have much choice.  As many as twenty five people would be crammed into one small winter house.  Small divisions separated the space into the living areas for families.  None of these areas was as large as a king size bed and they would fit the entire family inside it.  When occupied, he floor was slick with blood, blubber, and all manner of nasty things.  I can’t imagine living in one for months and months at a time.  I’m just a wimp.  The winter house was a permanent structure.  The families of a tribe would return here every winter.  It was their one permanent structure.

Back then the life expectancy was around 40.  It was a tough life.  Single women with children were the bottom of the totem pole.  The single mother did all of the nasty work of the tribe.  She did it because she had to survive and she wanted her children to survive.  She had no choice.

We learned that it was in 1883 that the Danish people first came here.  West Greenland was actually discovered 100 years earlier.  Why?  Pack ice.  The east coast was socked in with pack ice and nobody could get here.  That is another reason that this part of Greenland is so isolated.

Mike shared with us that they get most of their supplies from supply ships.  From June until October they are suppose to get ten supply ships.  After October, they get nothing except what can be flown in.  So you can imagine that when the June supply ship arrives, it is a huge deal.  They shoot three tiny canons off three times to salute the ship.  Then the ship blows its horns three times.  It is a joyous occasion.  By then the shelves in the stores are getting pretty darn bare.  Mike told us that the latest supply ship is a month late.  Holy cow.  It’s incredible that they have manage to feed us at all.  No more complaints about anything!  

The government keeps the price of diesel down because the people use that here for heating their homes.  They also need diesel to fuel their boats so that they can hunt.

In 1984 the village got a new church.  That’s when the old church became the museum.  The new church was high on a hill and was simple yet lovely inside.  The walls were all painted a sky blue.  On one side there was a set of mountains on the walls.  On the other side I saw doves in flight and then stars.  I loved this church for its simplicity and its serenity.  

Tasiilaq Lutheran Church

The church has had its problems.  It cracked down on the drums dance years ago.  The priests thought it was too pagan.  Just recently a priest did the drum dance in his church as part of the service.  He was fired.  I don’t get it.  And maybe that’s why I have an issue with organized religion.  Sometimes it just isn’t open minded enough to suit me.

Just down from the church was another building that housed an old women’s boat.  Back in the nomadic days, the men traveled in their kayaks while the women and children traveled in the women’s boat.  They also carried the food, dogs, tents, and supplies.  The men just carried themselves.  We saw a women’s boat and it was the same one that was in the 1939 movie which was amazing.  Unfortunately, the seal skin had split because it hadn’t been cared for.  It was still neat to see.  

As for schooling in East Greenland, the children have to go through first to ninth grade.  Students who want to attend senior secondary must go to the west coast of Greenland to do so.  On average half of the students that go to the west coast return home.  They just can’t deal with how they are treated.  They are looked down on and treated as “less than” by their fellow students.  West Coasters consider Easter Coasters no better than hillbillies.  On top of that, it’s a long way from home and the kids miss their families.  They do have a trade school now in Tasiilaq so that is a good thing.  They can learn how to be carpenters, plumbers, electricians, any of those important jobs.  It is a good thing.

There are 60 teachers here in Tasiilaq.  Half of them are Danish.  Why so many Danes?  This is a Danish colony, protectorate, whatever you want to call it.  Each class has a Danish teacher as well as a local teacher.  The main teacher is Danish.  If a student doesn’t understand, then the local teacher translates..  That’s not ideal.  As for senior secondary and the dropout rate, they are trying distance learning but the internet is so iffy here, it is difficult.

I had been admiring all of the different colors of the homes here and today I learned why they have different colors.  The color coding was to help people find key personnel more easily.  The medical personnel’s houses were yellow.  School and government buildings were red.  Green was for the telegraph and people who worked for the telegraph.  Utility workers had blue houses.  After the 1940s and 50’s you could have whatever color house you wanted but most people kept to the tradition.  Thus, Tasiilaq has a cornucopia of colors which I love.

There are three doctors in the village.  They are all foreign.  The pilots are Danish.  The nurses are Danish.  It seems like all of the educated positions are e taken by non local people.  What a crying shame that is.  The educated Greenlanders are finding it quite difficult to get a job that requires the education they have.  The Danes have taken them all.

As for housing, there is a real shortage here in the village.  There are more people needing housing than there are places to live.  People have to wait ten years to get an apartment.  The government promised to build 30 apartments here.  Political deals, however, have shrunk that number down to three and they have yet to materialize.  Greenland would like to be independent from Denmark but currently they just can’t afford it.

At one point Greenland was a part of the European Union.  However, they left it and never consider rejoining.  Right now their pillars of commerce are tourism, fishing, and mining for minerals.  China is their second trade partner behind Denmark.  

Here the people don’t own the land their house is on.  The government does.  They have to apply to live on it.  If they sell their house, the new owners have to apply to rent the land.  I’d hate to think of what would happen it their application was denied!

We learned so much from Mike on our city walk.  My mind was bulging with all of the new information.  As a result when we were finished, Doug and I volunteered to walk back to the hotel.  Really, what was I thinking!!!  The hill was an upward battle that I thought was going to do me in.  It was tough.  I only had to stop once to catch my breath so I was proud of myself.  Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I walked into the front door.  I was ready for Happy Hour.

We cleaned up, enjoyed a beverage, and then enjoyed a nice dinner.  Afterwards we had a special treat.  We were able to enjoy the talents of a drum dancer.  He came from a long line of drum dancers.  However, it wasn’t until later in life that he followed the vocation.  When he was young, his family had moved to Pennsylvania.  He lived in the U.S. for quite a while and then moved back to Greenland.  Of course his command of English was excellent.  He had his young son here with him.  The kid was cute as a button.  He was six and was learning the drum dances as well.  He was singing the words right along with his father.  If I’m honest, I thought his father was his grandfather.  He was ten years younger than me but looked much older.  His daughter is learning as well as his six year old son.  So it is being passed down to a new generation.

Our drum dancer

The drum dancers use drums made from wood and polar bear stomachs.  They don’t actually hit the skin itself.  That would tear it as the skin is fragile.  They hit the wooden rim of the drum in order to make the music.  It is definitely different.  He performed several dances for us.  Each was different.  Each told a story.  It wasn’t what I had expected at all.  He has traveled the world performing and spreading a piece of his culture.  I was glad we had gotten a chance to experience this unique music form.

On the morrow we will bid a fond farewell to this quaint town and head back to Kulusuk.  We will spend the night there and then fly back to Reykjavik.  Our time is rapidly winding down.  I can’t begin to describe what a blessed trip this trip has been.  I am so fortunate.  And I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for me.

DAY 17: TRAVELING TO GREENLAND: ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

Hurry up to wait is always the motto in air travel.  You rush to be at the airport hours ahead of time and then have to sit and wait for hours to board.  Today was no exception.  Plus today we had a hour-long drive to get to the international airport.  As a result, this morning it was a 6 AM wake-up and Neil told us we were lucky.  On weekends the flight to Greenland is later than it is on week days.  I didn’t even want to know how early that would have been.  Thank goodness today is Saturday 🙂

We were all disappointed when we found out that Jón wasn’t our driver this morning.  He had become ill during the night.  So we had a substitute driver.  He drove us a different way to the airport.  We went by the City Hall building which has a 3D map of Iceland in it.  We also drove by the small lake which is a favorite spot for the people of Reykjavik.  You could see ducks and swans floating out on the water.   Right in that vicinity was the most exclusive senior secondary school in Iceland.

As always, Neil used bus time to further our knowledge base.  I had no clue that they found hot water here in Iceland when they were drilling for gold.  I guess they just found it, just in a different form than they were looking for.  The hot water is one reason why swimming pools are so important in Iceland.  Since they have warm water, Icelanders can utilized them all year long.  In fact they are the place where Icelanders socialized.  Many a deal has been sealed in a hot pot in Iceland.  Kids are required to learn to swim in school because of the plethora of swimming pools.

I was saddened to learn today from Neil that the gentleman who created the Sun Voyager was dying when he created it.  It is such a hopefully piece.

In preparation for Greenland, Neil started our education on the ride to the airport.  We discovered that no dogs are allowed into Greenland.  Their dogs are like horses in Iceland.  They are a pure breed that came over with the Inuit and they don’t want it diluted.  They are also working dogs, not pets.  They serve as an early warning system for polar bears.  They are  chained out on the outskirts of town and only fed 2-3 times a week.  When they bark, the people know they have spotted a polar bear.  They are also used for dog sleds.

It is a mystery what happened to Erik the Red’s settlement here.  It just suddenly vanished.  Some theories floated as to the cause were disease, lack of growing season so agriculture was a failure.  Maybe they couldn’t grow enough fodder for their livestock.  We do know that the Vikings hunted walrus for their ivory and killed them all out.  They are rarely seen in these waters now.

The native people who live in Greenland now are relatives of the Inuit.  They came over to Greenland from Alaska via Canada.  They never crossed paths with the Norse settlement.

I was surprised to learn that three time the U.S. at least thought about purchasing Greenland.  The first time was when Seward of Alaska fame floated the idea in the late 1800s.  The last time was when Trump was president.

During WWII the U.S. worried about the German meteorological operation in Greenland.  They worried that the Germans would seize the Danish mines for a mineral necessary in the smelting aluminum.  The president sent the Coast Guard to shut down the German station.  This was before we were officially in the war which is why he sent the Coast Guard.

At the airport we were told to check-in via the kiosk and it would print out our boarding pass and luggage tag.  Nope.  It only gave us boarding passes.  We then had to take our bags to another location to get tags for them.  It was another check-in and we got new boarding passes.  THEN for those of us with soft-sided bags, we had to go to yet another location to turn our bag in.  They need to rethink their system.  It is too redundant.  At last we were all checked-in and now it was time for security.

The line was quite long but it moved rather quickly.  At least Doug and I didn’t have to take our shoes off.  One of our fellow travelers told them he had a knee replacement and they made him take his shoes off.  That didn’t make sense but what can you do.  We all finally got through and found an area with enough seats where we could group together and keep an eye on each other’s luggage.

I read to pass the time.  As always, my book was just getting good when it was time to head to the gate.  We had an hour and a half flight though so I got some good reading time in.  Neil also passed around reading material on sagas and about Greenland in order to prepare us for our visit.

We were heading to the tip of the east coast of the large island.  It is remote and mostly uninhabited.  The most inhabited portion of Greenland is the west coast.  I’m guessing that it is less harsh over there.  Life is tough in East Greenland.  They speak a different dialect from their western counterparts.  They are isolated.  They are looked down on as being poor hicks.  I’m not sure why the west coasters feel so superior.

We were flying into a small airport near the town of Kulusuk then we were taking a helicopter to the tiny village of Tasiilaq.  Neil passed around an article on the village that was an eye-opener.  For a space of two weeks, alcohol had to be banned because several attempted suicides, actual suicides, murders, and domestic abuse cases erupted over the course of a single weekend.  I was shocked and yet not.  The village was isolated and small.  Winters are long, dark, and harsh.   Whether you are use to that or not, sometimes it just gets to you.  Alcoholism is a real issue.  Neil admonished us not to discuss this issue with the locals though.  They are embarrassed and don’t want to discuss it with strangers.  I don’t blame them.  I wouldn’t want to either.

We did get beverage service on the flight which was nice.  I got the Icelandic Appelsín drink which tastes like orange soda.  At Christmas time they mix it with malt and drink it.  Gudruan made some for us last time.  It was quite tasty.  I was really thirsty and drank the entire can.

The trip was over in a flash and then my lesson on all things Greenland began.  I learned right off the bat that patience is required :-). We disembarked and then began the long process of waiting to check in our luggage in for the helo flight.  First we had to wait for a group on the flight ahead of us to check in their luggage.  That took a long while.  It gave us time to use the toilet facilities and for those interested, to watch people in boats in the fjord hunting pilot whales (I skipped that), and to walk around a bit outside.  We were starting to hit a time crunch.  The first flight to Tasiilaq was a quarter passed one.  It was pushing noon and we still had to check in as well as walk to the hotel twenty minutes away, eat lunch, and then walk back.  The second group had more time.  Their helo flight was a quarter past two.

Finally it was our turn to check in.  Group one which we were in, checked in and then we started walking to the hotel.  Neil had given Doug directions.  It was a nice walk as the day was sunny with a cloudless sky.  Mountains reared up around us, bare and majestic.  It was nature at its best.  We stopped at a bare flagpole to see the memorial that it was a part of.  The memorial was for Coast Guard search and rescue people during WWII who had flown in to rescue people on a plane that had crash-landed on the glacier.    The men were rescued but one of the rescue planes crashed. Three men died.  It’s just a footnote in the history of the war but it is remembered here in East Greenland.

Memorial to the rescue plane that crashed in Greenland

Neil had caught us with us by this point.  When we reached the hotel, he took us around back so we could visit Hailey.  Hailey the dog, that is, and her four adorable puppies.  They were so happy to see us.  They were jumping around and begging for petting.  Several of us obliged.  Two of them got into a tiff right between my legs :-). Silly things.  We adored them for a few minutes and then made our way inside the hotel.  

Three of Hailey’s four puppies

Lunch was already being served so we grabbed a table and fed ourselves from the buffet.  Mostly it was cold sandwiches.  I got a wrap that wasn’t too bad and a sweet chili shrimp sandwich.  That one didn’t trip my trigger although everybody else really liked it.

Our ride to Tasiilaq, Greenland

 As soon as we finished eating, we of the first group started back to the airport.  We didn’t want to miss our flight.  I shouldn’t have worried.  We made it there in plenty of time.  I was impressed when the helicopter began the boarding process right on time.  I expected to have to wait.  Nope.  They were quite efficient.  There were six of us and two people from another tour group.  We loaded up and tried to figure out the seatbelts.  Eventually we were all belted in with headphones to cancel out the racket from the helo.  One lady asked if she was suppose to put the headphones on her head.  The pilot told her the best place for them was her leg.  She didn’t know what to say to that.  I’m sure he gets tired of the same old questions, especially ones that common sense will give you the answers to.  However, I felt badly for her.  She really is a nice lady.

The flight over the fjord was smooth and uneventful.  It only lasted 7 or 8 minutes.  I was hoping for longer.  We set down in Tasiilaq where the van to the hotel was waiting for us.  We clambered aboard and then zipped to the hotel.  It was up a really steep hill.  Although we would be walking most places here, Neil informed us that the van would take us up and down the hill.  It was that steep.  It put Heart Attack Hill in Akureyri to shame.

The hotel was owned by a man named Mike.  His parents built the place.  His father was Swedish and his mother a native of Greenland.  He was an enterprising young man.  He ran the hotel, created itineraries for visitors to the town, ran tours…He did it all.  His brother flew helicopters.

I won’t say the place was primitive; it wasn’t.  It was much nicer than I expected.  For Greenland it was really nice.  However, it wasn’t the Hilton :-).  We had twin beds and a wet bathroom.  The shower was a drain in the floor and a shower curtain.  It was clean though and I could plug my electronics in which is all that mattered.

Our room in Tasiilaq

Neil gave us a little bit of time to get situated and then we were off for our first hike in Greenland.  We were hiking the Valley of Flowers.  The driver got us down the hill and dropped us off near the edge of town.

The town of Tasiilaq is a quaint collection of multicolored buildings.  They dotted the hillsides and enlivened the landscape.  Behind them was the fjord and the snow-capped mountains.  It doesn’t get more picturesque than this.  

View of Tasiilaq from the deck of the hotel

The beginning of the hike took us near some dogs chained on the edge of town.  There was nothing friendly looking about them.  After seeing Hailey’s gaggle of adorable puppies, it was sad to see this and know that her pups would become like these.  They were so friendly and affectionate.  I hated to think of them turning into these dangerous dogs who lead such lonely and hard lives.  Of course, I’m a person who lets my dogs crowd me off of the bed at home.   

We did see a couple of puppies who weren’t chained up.  Two of them came up to us, all wiggles and curiosity.  One particularly loved getting its belly rubbed.  He would have let us do that all day long.  He was a cutie.  I wanted to put him in my suitcase.

Greenlandic puppy loving his belly rubs

On the way to the Valley of Flowers, we went by the town’s cemetery.  There was row upon row of white crosses.  The burials spots were decorated with plastic flowers.  Real flowers wouldn’t last any time in these harsh conditions.  Today in the sunshine they made a colorful addition to the bare brown dirt.  The crosses didn’t have names on them as was the custom.  The people here prefer to name a baby after the deceased person in order to keep them alive.

Flower Valley was rather bereft of flowers although we did see clumps of them as we hiked.  They were the national flower whose name translates to “little girl.”  They were pretty little blossoms of pinkish purple.  However, like one of our ladies said, it should have been called Valley of Rocks.  There were far most rocks than flowers here.  Maybe earlier in the summer they were plentiful.

Despite the barren landscape, there was a certain beauty to it.  I always love seeing mountains and they had them here in spades.  We even came across a small lake.  It was picturesque and also home to black flies.  You didn’t want to dwaddle here or you’d get eaten up.  The town had the flies as well.  Most people in our group were wearing their head nets.  As long as I kept moving, they didn’t bother me too much.

The Valley of Flowers

We hiked for around an hour out.  It was a perfect day for it.  The sun was brilliant but the air was cool.  I had to come out of my jackets as I was working up a sweat.  Whoever thought I would come to Greenland and sweat!  The sun was so bright that it made it almost impossible to take pictures.  I’m not complaining though 🙂

We ended our hike near a tiny waterfall nestled among the boulders.  We posed for pictures and then started on our way back to the hotel.  Going back seemed much faster which is always the way.  All in all, it was a nice hike.  It was good to walk and get all of the kinks worked out.

Back at the hotel we cleaned up and then enjoyed Happy Hour.  They actually had two Greenlandic beers here on tap.  One of them was a dark beer so I was a happy camper.  Doug and I sat on the long deck outside and enjoyed the incredible view of the town with the fjord and mountains.  It was perfection.  It is probably one of the best views ever at a hotel.

Dinner was at the hotel.  There really wasn’t any other place to eat.  The buffet was fine but nothing to write home about.  When you think about how isolated they are and the fact that they are dependent on food being shipped in, you really don’t expect anything spectacular.  It was filling and the donut for dessert was surprising light light and tasty.

After dinner we had a special treat.  We got to see a documentary made here in Tasiilaq by Knud Rasmussen who was a famous Arctic explorer.  He did eight Arctic explorations, I believe.  Anyway, he was really interested in these people and created the documentary “The Wedding of Pablo.”  These days you would call it a docudrama rather than a documentary.  It was all scripted.  However, all of the “actors” in it were native people in the village.  And while it was scripted, it did showcases daily life in the village.  I believe the movie was filmed and edited in 1939. 

The movie was about a love triangle between two Inuit men and a young woman who lived with her father and brothers.  They both wanted her.  I think she wanted Pablo but I’m not really sure.  To be honest, I kept dozing off so I missed chunks of it.  It wasn’t boring.  I was just tired.

I did wake up in time to see the famous drum dance battle between the two men.  This is how the Inuit people in Greenland solved their differences.  They would create drum songs ridiculing their opponent.  Whoever got the most laughs won.  There was also a physical element to it.  The “combatants” would wack each other in the cheek with their cheek.  The purpose of the drum dance was to get all of their hard feelings about each other out.  Once it was all out, then it was done.  It didn’t work out too well for Pablo though as his opponent stabbed him which didn’t normally happen.  Luckily for Pablo, he survived the stabbing.

Instead of being ostracized, the man actually acquired greater hunter status when he killed a polar bear.  Navarana was all smiles at him. It looked like the two of them were going to get hitched.  

The next thing I knew, Navarana was in the winter house with her brothers and father, taking care of them, sewing clothes for them (you could see in the film how worn her teeth were.  They used their teeth for a lot of things) when Pablo shows up.  He had paddled his kayak through rough winter waters to reach her.  He told her father he was going to marry Navarana.  The father and brothers grumbled about who would then take care of them.  Men were strictly hunters.  She did all of the hard work of preparing food, preserving the meat, making the clothes, etc.  I guess the men were going to have to learn to fend for themselves.

We all got a chuckle when Pablo grabs Navarana and drags her out to his kayak and ties her on to the back of it.  She was all smiles so she wasn’t unwilling.  We were all laughing that she would allow herself to be tied to the kayak.  What if it flipped?

The drama didn’t end there.  The bad guy took to his kayak and went after them.  Since he was alone, he was able to catch up quickly.  For a minute it looked like he was going to harpoon Navarana.  He certainly tried.  Unlike movies in Iceland, however, he missed and he flipped his kayak in the frigid waters.  I expected the couple to turn around and try to save him but no.  They continued on their merry way, all smiles as water splashed in their faces (whoever was on water duty for the film obviously was very enthusiastic.  It was like buckets of water hitting their faces.). I’m assuming they lived happily ever after.

The town is quite proud of the movie.  I don’t blame them.  It had their grandparents and great grandparents in it.  And although by 2023 standards, it wasn’t brilliant film making, you did see typical Inuit life and learned some of their customs.  All in all, I enjoyed what I saw.

We will learn more about this village tomorrow when we visit its museum on our walking tour.  I think we do that tomorrow afternoon.  First thing in the morning though is a boat ride through the icebergs.  That should be spectacular!  I may even have to break out my waterproof pants at long at last!!!

DAY 16: THE BLUE LAGOON: ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

After this morning I feel so young :-). Industrial waste is wonderful here in Iceland.  I never thought I’d hear myself saying that!  But that is Iceland for you.  It is a miraculous place.  Today we were pampered with a leisurely morning at the Blue Lagoon Spa.  It use to be a one-of-a-kind place but in the years since my last visit, a second spa like it has been built.  It’s suppose to be cheaper.  However, the Blue Lagoon is still one of the top places tourists visit when they come to Iceland.  Some travelers build in an extra long layover so that they can pop over to the Blue Lagoon and rejuvenate themselves before continuing their journey.  In many ways it reminds me of the Dead Sea.  There you have the mud to slather all over yourself.  Here it is the silica by-product of the geothermal plant.

The place has an interesting history.  In 1976 a milky pool of water started forming at the Svartsengi Geothermal Plant.  It was the output water from the plant.  The workers noticed the pool building up instead of draining through the porous bedrock.  The high silica content was forming a seal on the rock which allowed the water to collect.  At this point it was a huge problem.  Nobody knew if this water was good or bad.  In true Icelandic fashion, they worked to turn the problem into something good.  In this case it happened through happenstance.

One of the workers had extremely bad eczema.  As he came into contact with the silica water, his eczema began improving.  He went to a dermatologist who was amazed at the change in the man’s skin condition.  He studied the silica in the water and discovered it had curative properties.  Being the smart doctor that he was, he invested in building a spa using the geothermal plant waste water.  The rest is history.  He is filthy rich now.  However, the rest of the story is the worker with eczema.  Although he was the reason that the dermatologist made the discovery, he was given no credit nor money.  In fact he was treated poorly.  Ultimately he ended up committing suicide.  

Blue Lagoon was roughly an hour’s drive from Reykjavik.  It is near Keflavik and the airport.  Neil reported that the peninsula has really ramped up in volcanic activity.  There were eruptions in 2020, 2021, and 2023.  As we drove, you could see the lava fields stretching out on either side of the road.  Most had been there long enough to grow moss giving them a softer appearance.

Upon our arrival at the geothermal spa, we had to walk through a lava ravine.  It was a nice little jaunt to the entrance.  It was another gorgeous day, unlike last time when it had been gusty and rainy.  We didn’t dwadle that day.  Even though the sun was out in full force, it was a bit windy and chilly.

Inside we were given a towel and a wrist band which would give us access to everything.  It also served as the key to our locker.  You held the band at the pad near your locker and the locker door popped open.  Pretty cool except when you have 100 people trying to do it all at the same time.  One pad worked a whole bunch of lockers.  We got there before the crowds hit , thank goodness.  I found a locker and began the process of changing over to my swimsuit.  There was absolutely no privacy in the locker room.  So changing wasn’t my favorite thing. Plus I felt like a beached whale in my suit.  I almost decided to forgo the experience and sit in the coffee shop but I stuck it out.

Before you could go into the the lagoon, you had to shower.  Eight years ago they told us we had to remove our suit to shower.  This time they didn’t say anything.  I washed off in my suit.  Neil had suggested we put conditioner in our hair before entering the lagoon if we planned on getting our hair wet. Supposedly the silica water really dries your hair out.  I skipped that as I planned on keeping my head above the water.

There was also a good bit of confusion as to what to do with your towel.  Last time we got the towel as we exited the lagoon.  This time we were told to get it before going into the locker room.  I finally asked an attendant and she said to leave it in my locker.  Okey dokey.  Fat lot of good that would do me after I got out of the water but at least nobody would take it.  We found out later that today was the first day of this new towel system.  No wonder it was so confused.  Personally I preferred the old system.

I popped into the lagoon and began looking for our group.  Doug and several of the men waved me in the right direction.  When we had all gathered, Neil took several sets of group photos.  Then had us goop up our faces for another round of photos.  We crouch-walked (it you wanted to keep most of your body in the water) to the kiosk poolside to get a small scoop of the silica.  Doug slathered my face with the stuff and I did his.  Then we all posed for our beauty shots :-). After that we were free to loll.

Doug & I with our silica masks at the Blue Lagoon

This time our visit included a free drink so we made our way over to the drink kiosk and got our beer.  It was interesting floating around in a hot pool of water with a beer.  First time ever experience :-).  The water in the lagoon is kept pretty warm although some spots are warmer than others.  We figured out that the warm spots were where hot water was introduced into the lagoon.  After soaking in the heat for quite a while, we decided to give the waterfall massage a try.  Let’s just say it was powerful.  It pounded me so hard that it knocked the straps of my suit down and about gave me a wardrobe malfunction!  But it definitely felt good on the neck, back, and shoulders.

By the time we finished the waterfall, I was ready to get out.  My fingers were prunes.  Plus I wanted to check out the store.  I figured that if the silica was good for eczema and psoriasis that it might help my rosacea as well. So I pittey pattered my way back into the building and promptly got lost.  Sheesh.  I remembered my locker number but couldn’t find it anywhere.  I finally had to ask somebody.  It was upstairs.  The warm water obviously addled my brains rendering it impossible for me to remember that fact 🙂

Once I was upstairs, I had no problem finding my locker.  Now I just had to dry off and dress as unobtrusively as possible while other women paraded around in their altogetherness.  It was interesting.  I managed though and with my wet things, exited into the store.

We did a bit of shopping for Christmas presents and I got some facial cleanser which  I’m anxious to try.  By the time all of this was accomplished, it was time to walk through the lava ravine back to the bus.  We were all super relaxed and very zen.  The Blue Lagoon had been a nice change of pace.  We have been going like crazy since we got to Iceland.  It was nice to have a morning that was just relaxing.

On our way to lunch we made a quick detour to the memorial a Texas man had spear-headed for the men who had died in the Hot Stuff crash during WWII.  We had learned about that on our first day in Selfoss when Neil was talking about Iceland’s connections with the U.S.  I was glad we stopped.  The memorial wasn’t big or fancy but it was something to show that these men had lived and were important.  Many call them the lost soldiers because nothing is ever mentioned about them.  The base of the memorial reads, “Gone But Not Forgotten.”  Somebody had placed two worn combat boots there which symbolizes a soldier lost.  There was a flag flying that was a bit strange.  It resembled the U.S. flag but it only had five stars.  Neil asked Doug about it but Doug didn’t have a clue.

Memorial for the Hot Stuff that crashed near here during WWII

Lunch was in another working class neighborhood.  The restaurant was okay.  It was soup and salad for lunch which I enjoy except today the only soup was tomato which I hate.  There wasn’t a great deal of choice on the salad bar either.  It wasn’t my favorite meal but it was fine.  I knew we’d have a big meal at our Farewell Dinner tonight.

There was quite a bit of traffic as we made our way back to the hotel.  Thank goodness Jón was a pro at handling it.  I didn’t envy him.  We were all quiet, still relaxed from our dip in the miraculous waters.  When we finally got back to our room, it was after 3 PM.  We had planned on going to the Settlement Museum as well as the bookstore but since we were so late getting back to the city, we blew it off.  We had to meet up with the rest of the group at 5:30 for our trip debriefing.  By the time we got to the museum, we’d have very little time to see it. 

Instead, we packed for the Greenland portion of our trip.  We were only suppose to take a small carry-on.  The hotel was going to keep our big suitcase.  It took judicious rearranging and planning before I was satisfied with my packing job. It is always a challenge for me.

We went down around 5 for our last Happy Hour and to use our last voucher.  Then at 5:30 we all gathered to discuss the trip.  Neil wanted to know what we liked and what we didn’t.  Then it was time for dinner.  We only had two people returning home so it was kind of weird to have a Farewell Dinner but hey, we got a free drink so I was good with it.  I will miss the couple going home.  She has such an infectious laugh and enjoyed everything.  She was a joy to be around.  Her husband was super nice as well.

They will still be sleeping when we hit the trail for Greenland tomorrow.  We have an air flight to Greenland and then a helicopter ride to get to the village we are staying at for two nights.  Neil keeps telling us about how awesome Greenland is.  I can’t wait to find out for myself.  And I will.  Tomorrow.

DAY 15: GEOTHERMAL PLANT, OUTDOOR MUSEUM, & REYKJAVIK: ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

My, oh, my, these Icelanders do know how to celebrate!  We were relieved last night when we came back from dinner and the people playing music in front of the hotel were stowing away their equipment.  I was afraid they were going to play until the wee hours of the morning.  Obviously they were more considerate than that although I did hear people outside for several hours after we returned.

However, the big surprise of the night came after 11 when I was startled by a series of extremely loud bangs.  I knew it wasn’t guns but I wasn’t sure what it was.  It woke Doug up from a dead sleep.  I looked out our window to be amazed by a brilliant display of fireworks.  I assume they were shot off in honor of the festival.  Whatever the reason, they were fabulous.  They felt like they were being fired off just the next street over.  I think they were shot out over the water but I can’t swear to it.  Anyway, they went on and on for probably fifteen minutes.  The entire time it was like our grand finales where people are firing off everything that’s loose.  It was crazy but I loved it.  They had some really awesome fireworks.  It was a wonderful way to end our first day in Reykjavik.

There wasn’t that level of excitement today.  The marathon was finished.  The festival was finished.  It was back to normal for the city.  And for us, well, we were off to visit a geothermal power plant.  Exciting, huh :-). Actually, it was interesting.  We’ve talked so much about geothermal power that it’s good to get an opportunity to see how this particular plant harnesses it.

Because of the fireworks last night (some people actually slept through them), Neils shared with us that the Icelandic people go crazy firing off fireworks on New Year’s Eve.  I find it hard to believe that they can be worse than the people in Hawaii.  They use to spend more than a month’s paycheck on fireworks.  Personally, I don’t get it.  Anyway, here the money from the sale of fireworks helps to fund the Search & Rescue team.  It’s a good reason for the Icelanders to go all out.

However, they are coming to realize that they have to be considerate about it.  One year a herd of horses got spooked by the fireworks and ran into a road.  A car ran right into them.  The driver was killed as were several horses.  It was a tragedy all the way around.

We’ve been seeing drones at a few of the places we’ve stopped.  Fortunately not too many.  Neil said they are being used increasingly to find lost sheep which is a great use of them as well as lost people.  Drones can get a bird’s eye view which is helpful in both cases.

Parents are always trying to figure out what to do with their kids when school is out for summer.  Iceland has that all figured out.  In the Westman Islands we talked about that.  Parents put their children to work.  The same holds true here.  Municipalities guarantee jobs to kids from the age of 13 to 17.  I think it’s great.  It teaches them a work ethic and they earn some money.  Plus it keeps them out of trouble.

Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant was a quick 30 minute drive from Reykjavik.  The power plant is relatively new.  It was built in 2008.  It is one of eight geothermal plants in the country and it is powered by the magma chamber of Mount Hengill which is right in their backyard.  I believe there are three other geothermal plants on the Reykjanes Peninsula.  It’s the perfect location because this is a hot spot as well as being the junction of two tectonic plates.  There is lots of tectonic activity in this area.  The interior of the country would be a great place for geothermal plants as well but there isn’t any kind of infrastructure there so it is cost prohibitive to build a plant in the interior.

At the plant our young guide today was Katie from Kansas City.  There was a guide with another group and he was also from the U.S. which I thought was interesting.  Last time our guide had been from Florida.  

This is what I garnered about producing geothermal power from Katie.  In order to make use of the geothermal liquid, there are three elements that must be present—a heat source, plenty of groundwater, and permeable rock.  They drill down 2000 meters to hit the geothermal liquid that is super hot.  As they bring it up towards the surface, the pressure lessens and the liquid turns to steam.  They have to “dry” the steam (not sure how you do that) so it doesn’t corrode the pipes.  The steam then powers seven big turbines connected to generators which creates the electricity.

A portion of the geothermal power plant

In addition, they use the geothermal liquid to heat up water via a heat exchangers and then pipe it to the city where it goes into everybody’s home.  It heats their houses as well as driveways and roads.  These are constructed with pipes beneath them for the hot water.  People do that in their homes as well.  That’s pretty darn nifty!  Of course the question I had was, doesn’t the water get cold in the pipes?  It is quite a distance to Reykjavik.  The answer was “no.”  They use basalt pipes with rock wool insulation.  This way they only lose 2% of the heat.  That was astonishing.

There are some carbon emissions with this process, however.  The Icelanders have figured out how to deal with that.  They mix the CO2 with water and inject it back into the basaltic rock.  In less than two years, it becomes carbonite.  They do the same for the sulfur dioxide that is released as well.  when mixed with water and injected into the basaltic rock, it turned to iron pyrite or fool’s gold.  This process is called mineralization.

Geothermal produces far more electricity than needed for the population.  Most of it goes to industry.  Aluminum smelting is a power hog using 80% of the electricity generated.  Because of the energy surplus here, companies are putting in data farms which are another power hog.  I think even some bitcoin mining goes on here.

Not all of the country is equally blessed with geothermal.  The east has to use electricity for heating because they don’t have as much geothermal as this area does.  It’s is part of the 10% of the country that uses electricity for heating.

Katie explained the process to us and then showed us a film which helped my understanding of the process.  Then we had the chance to see the turbines and other pieces of machinery.  We could also go out to the viewing area and see the mountains behind the plant and get a good whiff of the sulfur smell in the air.  They are very close to an active volcano system as well as being on top of a porous bedrock.

We browsed in the small gift shop after finishing our exploration of the plant.  Neil pointed out the book he had translated from Icelandic to English.  That was neat.  I saw the Yule Lads books there as well but not the one I wanted.

We didn’t tarry long.  We had to meet our guide Stephan (nickname Steppi) at the Árbæjarsafn open-air historical museum.  The museum was established in 1957 when older buildings in Reykjavik were being torn down to make way for new buildings.  Icelanders became worried that they were losing their history.  They made a push to have at least some of these historic buildings saved and relocated to the outskirts of town in an open air museum.

The museum was large so Steppi only took us around a portion of it.  Our first stop was the church.  It was built from the timbers of a 1842 church in North Iceland in 1960.  The alter and the pulpit are from the original church as well.  It’s a traditional turf and stone structure.  The interior is all timber.  Once it was rebuilt and consecrated, it  became the parish church.  People come here for services on Sundays.  It’s a quaint church but small.  The pews definitely aren’t comfortable as they are all wood with no cushions at all.  The pulpit is beautifully painted which I liked and which was unusual for a Lutheran church.  Next to the pulpit was a seat facing the congregation.  That was the Sinner’s Seat.  That’s where you would sit if you had done something wrong.  The church was using peer pressure to police its flock.  On the other side of the aisle from the Sinner’s Chair was long pew facing the congregation as well.  This is where the unmarried girls sat.  The eligible bachelors could look them over and decide on a prospective bride.

The Sinner’s Seat

Back in the day, people sat in the church according to their class.  The land owners and wealthy sat up front in a special area.  The serfs sat back by the door.  In those days the church was the center of the community.  The pastor was also the school teacher, social workers, and even unofficial judge.  He was actually paid through the government and not through tithes.  The church was a major governmental institution.

It was a serious society back then.  They worked hard and didn’t mess around.  If you came home after a 17 hours day of cutting hay in your field with a scythe and you had the energy to carry it up on your shoulder, people said you were lazy.  If you had worked hard, you wouldn’t have been able to lift it to your shoulder.  Geez!  They were a tough bunch.  They were also superstitious.  They would hang model ships in the church to protect the sailors.

We strolled through the sunlit roads back to the old turf house that they had.  Steppi informed us that the stone walls of turf homes had to be rebuilt every couple of decades.  The weather put tremendous wear and tear on them.  These homes were dark, dank, and unhealthy.  They weren’t good places for people to live in but they had no alternative at the time.  Steppe’s grandmother lived in a turf house until the 1940s.

The old turf farmhouse at the Open Air Museum

It was in the 60s when the owners of the farm decided to turn the farm house into a guest house.  They had added on a couple additions to the old turf house which then became a stable.  In the main house area, the bedrooms were upstairs.  The workers had a tiny room to eat in while the family had a nice dining area.  The kitchen had an old wood burning stove as well as butter churns and old crockery.  It’s always interesting to see how the women cooked in history.  I don’t know how they did it, frankly.

I was also fascinated with the turf house.  The walls were a blend of turf used almost like mortar between the stones.  I’ve seen it where the walls were all turf so it’s interesting seeing the difference.

The kitchen in the turf farm house

We learned some more of the history of the time as we perused the house.  I learned that if you didn’t have money equivalent to the value of three cows, you were obligated to find somebody to work for.  You could apply for a new master once a year.  Until the 1960s poor people really didn’t have any other choice but to be a serf.  And once you were, it was almost impossible to work your way out of serfdom.  You could do it though.  

Before the middle of the 19th century, Iceland had been an agricultural society.  People couldn’t make a living by fishing.  The equipment wasn’t reliable enough.  However, after improvements were made to fishing vessels and they could buy salt to preserve the fish, that all changed.  There came a big move from agriculture to fishing.  Many serfs turned to the sea which didn’t make the land owners very happy.  But the working people were.  They could finally make enough money to afford a place to call their own.  It was the beginning of a dynamic change in Iceland.

As we began strolling back to the entrance, we passed a pasture with two mares with their babies.  The colts were so cute.  Little flies were buzzing all over them but they didn’t seem to mind.  They were enjoying the sunshine and just being a horse.  One had an itchy noses and kept rubbing it on a fence post.  The other one did it’s best to ignore us.

My stomach was grumbling by the time we finished seeing what we could in the open air museum.  I was glad we were heading to lunch.  Neil was taking us to a working class suburb that is currently inhabited with Polish people.  The suburb was built back in 1960 in response to a growing crunch for housing.  People were leaving the small towns and villages and moving to the city where they could find jobs.  This caused a severe housing shortage that is still ongoing.  It has been lessened somewhat recently when the old U.S. military quarters were turned into apartments.  However, back then the government tried to alleviate the problem by building low incoming housing areas with health care facilities, schools, etc.  Typical of low income areas, it has gotten a bad rap for being unsafe.  Neil didn’t believe that it was justified.  The name of the neighborhood translates to Broadway.

The restaurant we ate at was called Efri.  It was small but servicing the local working people.  We had meatballs and French fries as well as a salad.  I’ve never had lamb meatballs before.  They were different but good.  After we ate we walked next door and browsed through the Polish grocery story.  Outside I looked closer at the street art on the wall of a building next door.  From a distance it looked like a feather.  Up close you could see that the feather was made up of ducks.  It was really neat.

Back in Reykjavik, Jón was kind and drove us around some more even though he was officially off the clock.  We stopped by the Sun Voyager which is an artistic piece down on the water.  It represents a ship sailing to a new and hopeful place.  Most people think it is a stylized Viking ship.  I could see why.

The Sun Voyager

Not too far from the Sun Voyager was a big green circular hill.  We had seen it from a distance and couldn’t figure out what it was.  Turns out it was an art installation.  It represents the tussocks that the farmer have to step over in the fields. You could follow the path up to the top where there was a shack with dried fish.  I stayed down and enjoyed looking out across the water.  It was a beautifully clear day and I could see all the way to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

We made one more stop before Jón called it a day.  We stopped at the house where Reagan and Gorbachev had a meeting in 1986 before the Berlin Wall came tumbling down.  What a piece of history that was.  Höfdi house sat near the water in a gorgeous location.  The house was actually built for the French consul, Jean Paul Brillouin.   For many years it  was the residence of the British Consul and later Ambassador. Winston Churchill and actress Marlene Dietrich stayed here during WWII.  The City of Reykjavik purchased the house in 1958 and in the following years it was restored. Since 1967 it has been a reception house for the City government.

House where Reagan and Gorbachev met in 1986

We were on our way back to the hotel when we drove by Flyover Iceland.  Jón graciously stopped the bus so most of us could get off.  We all wanted to experience this place.  We had all heard good things about it and Neil had said it was worth doing.

It was expensive but also pretty darn awesome.  They can only take so many people at a time but we were fortunate they still had tickets available for the next show time.  We only had to wait a little bit.  The first part of the experience is a video in a longhouse of a Viking telling a bit of history.  Then we walked into another room and got a safety briefing as well as some Icelandic mythology from a lady troll.  Both portions were enjoyable but we wanted the main attraction.

For anybody who has been to MGM Studios at Disney, it’s similar to Star Tours.  You are buckled into a seat which moves a bit making you feel like you are actually flying and moving.  True to the name, we flew over Iceland.  It was hard work not jerking my feel up when it looked like they were going to crash into glaciers or volcanic mountains.  The scenery was absolutely phenomenal.  You truly felt like you were flying over the country.  The ride only lasted ten minutes but they were a great ten minutes.  Halfways through tears began streaking down my cheeks.  Iceland is so beautiful.  It just does something to you.

We were all sorry when it was over.  Even if they had doubled the time, it still wouldn’t have felt long enough.  I was so glad we had done it.  Afterwards our group split up.  Some went back to the hotel and others went to the lava show.  We chose to go to the Saga Museum—librarian, remember 🙂

It was a nice museum, not very large.  The audio guide took you through just under 20 displays which re-enacted bits of Viking history in Iceland that applied to the sagas.  They did come in but really it was more history than saga.  I recognized several from Neil’s talks on the bus.  We have become quite knowledgable of Viking history and the sagas.  We spent probably 30 minutes making our way through the various displays.  The museum completed, it was Happy Hour time!

We dropped off our stuff at the hotel and made our way to the bar.  This chain of hotels (the one in Akureyri did this as well) gives you a 1000 kroner voucher if you put the tag on your door saying you don’t need maid service.  It’s their way of encouraging guests to be green.  We’ve been using the vouchers at Happy Hour, not that it covers the cost of two beers.  Alcohol ain’t cheap in Iceland.  Nothing is.  However, it does bring the cost down which is nice.

After imbibing we headed to Reykjavik’s Hard Rock Cafe as is our custom.  We had spotted it yesterday on our walking tour.  It was small but nicely done.  For a change the music didn’t deafen you.  I went with the twisted Mac & Cheese while Doug got a Messi Burger.  His burger ended up being a chicken sandwich.  The chicken on my Mac & cheese was really dried out.  Usually their food is very good so it was a bit disappointing.

On the way back to the hotel we made a couple of stops.  We found where the old harbor use to be.  It’s a good distance from where it is now.  We also found the square with the two basalt columns that represent the totems that were thrown out and guided the Vikings here to make their settlement.  We also found a gelato shop which had excellent gelato 🙂

We get to relax our last day in Iceland.  We will loll in the milky waters of industrial waste that make the famous Blue Lagoon.  It should be relaxing and have us looking ten years younger.  Should be great!

DAY 14: FLYING TO REYKJAVIK & THE PERLAN: ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

I wish our internal flights back home were as easy as the one we had this morning between Akureyri and Reykjavik.  We checked in and headed to the one gate.  No security.  Nothing.  They didn’t care if we were carrying big bottles of water or nail files….We just breezed through right to the gate.  I had forgotten what doing that felt like.  However, when we fly to Greenland, it will be a horse of a different color.  That is an international flight so we will have to go through security.

We didn’t have to wait too long.  I had just enough time to get involved in my book before it was time to load the plane.  I was happy to have a 40 minute flight of reading time.  I always miss reading on trips.  There just never is enough hours in the day.  

On the plane we found out from our flight attendant that she knew Neil.  They had gone to tourist school together.  She greeted him with a big hug and kiss.  Obviously she remembered him fondly.  We, of course, gave Neil a hard time :-). I buried my nose in my kindle for the flight and was just getting to a good part when we landed.  Sigh…. Isn’t that always the way.

On the ground we gathered our bags, we had had to check our carryon, and found Jón waiting outside for us with our bus.  I was happy to see him.  Graham had been fine but Jón was our friend.  It was good to have him back.  Of course he said he had missed us.  He probably did.  He had to drive/guide 50+ people yesterday.  A bunch of them didn’t speak English or Icelandic.  Oy vey!  He had my sympathy.

To kick off our exploration of Reykjavik, we started at the Perlan or Pearl in English.  The Perlan is a signature landmark in Reykjavik.  This quirky museum is actually located in a cluster of hot water tanks.  In 1939 one water tank was built up on Öskjuhlíð hill to supply hot water to the town.  Over the years five more water tanks were added.  Once geothermal power became the standard, the tanks weren’t needed any more.  The question then was what to do with the water tanks.  The mayor at the time thought the idea to turn it into the landmark of Reykjavik with a place for city activities to take place was an excellent idea so he pushed it through.  On 1991 June 21st, the building was inaugurated and opened to the public. The old tanks were now crowned with a glass dome with a viewing platform so the people of Iceland could see the view of the city.  Four of the tanks are still in use, one hosts a real ice cave, and one has been turned into a planetarium.

THE PERLAN

In 2015 about all there was to the Perlan was the view up at the dome.  Down in the building below they would hold concerts and have temporary exhibits.  Today it is the biggest nature museum in Iceland.  Not only can you watch a volcano erupt but see the northern lights and visit an ice cave!

We didn’t have time to explore all of Perlan but we hit a good bit of it.  We started out with the video of the Geldingadalir volcanic eruption, which started on March 19, 2021, in Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula.  It was the first eruption in the area in over 800 years. The footage was phenomenal.  You felt like you were right there in the action.  Some of the people in the video watching the eruption seemed awfully close and casual.

We hustled from that video to the planetarium for the Aurora  program.  This was a 360 degree film about the northern lights as told by the old Norse goddess Aurora.  It was interesting and the photos of the northern lights were stunning.  I have to admit that with the lights out and the soft music and voices, I was struggling to stay awake in this one.  It was no knock on the content, that’s just me in a dark room with a video of this type.  No matter how much I want to watch it, I end up falling asleep :-).

We went from beautiful lights in the night sky to the cold.  The line was not bad at all for the ice cave so we beat feet for there next.  It wasn’t quite as interesting as I thought it would be.  Granted, it was constructed out of real glacier ice—350 tons of snow from the Blue Mountains.  So it was very real in that sense.  I’m not sure really what I was expecting.  It was cool (literally) to walk through the 100 meters long tunnel.  There were side branches you could take to look down a crevasse.  There was also an ice throne that you could pose on.  You were free to touch the ice and interact with it tactically.  It gave you a sense of what an ice cave may be like.

CREVASSE IN THE ICE CAVE

By now we were running a bit short on time.  We still had the Látrabjarg cliff model to check out as well as the view.  We decided to do the view next and then spend the time we had left at the bird cliff and whatever exhibits were left.  There was still a good portion of museum we hadn’t seen.

We look the elevator to the 4th floor and stepped outside onto the viewing platform that continued all around the glass dome.  We stared out at the view and it was smashing.  The sun was out and the cloud were in abeyance.  The day was clear and the mountains stood out in sharp relief in the background.  It was windy but the view captured your imagination and you forgot about any discomfort.  I just stood there and drank it in, knowing that it could be the last time I ever saw that view.   I am no where near ready to leave.  Thank goodness I still have a few more days.

Doug enjoyed looking out to see the landmarks he could recognize.  They had diagrams posted every few feet showing you what was out there which was nice.  Doug was quick to point out that it was a bit off.  He was absolutely correct.  It wasn’t that important though.  

Downstairs we went into the nature exhibit with the recreation of the largest seabird cliff in Europe.  It very much reminded me of the cliffs we had scoured with our eyes for puffins in the Westman Islands.  Here, however, the birds were labeled so you knew what they were. Nature isn’t that considerate.  We saw huge eagles, my cute puffins, kittiwakes, fulmars, etc.  It was a cliff side of our feathered friends.

Along with the bird cliff there was a tiny room that was all about Lake Myvatn.  We learned more about the midges and the algae balls that grow in the lake.  I was glad to see this section as it brought a clearer understanding to what I had seen at Myvatn.  

There were a few exhibits we missed but I think we did a good job hitting the highlights of the natural museum.  They did a wonderful job putting it together.  It was a great way to repurpose those huge water tanks and bring new life to them and this area of the city.

All onboard our bus, our next stop was the hotel downtown.  Last time I had stayed at the Hilton which was a bus ride away from the action in Reykjavik.  The Marina was right down on the water.  The location was perfect.  We could walk to all of the places we wanted to see in the city.  Today that was a good thing as well as a bad thing.

Today the city was holding its annual marathon which was downtown.  Jón was a few minutes late picking us up from the airport because of traffic and closed roads.  If the marathon wasn’t enough, today was also a culture day festival which was also being held downtown.  We were going to be staying right in the middle of the action.  I think sleep is going to be difficult.  All of the young people are out having a good time tonight.

We had to make a few detours because of closed streets but we finally made it to the hotel.  However,  we weren’t able to check in yet.  And we were on the clock for lunch so we tossed our carry-ons into a room and then made a mad dash to the food court where we were having lunch.  Now this food court was darn posh, nothing like ours in the malls.  It was definitely upscale.  Neil ushered us to the proper location and as he had pre-ordered our meals, we were served quickly.  Doug had gone with the fish choice while I had gone with a burger.  His fish was a fusion dish while my burger was just a cheeseburger which was perfect for me.  I really enjoyed my burger.  It hit the spot and was cooked perfectly.  I was nicely filled after eating.

From lunch we launched into a walking tour of the downtown area.  We weren’t letting grass grow under our feet.  We fought our way through the first truly large crowds of the trip.  I have to admit, it was a bit disconcerting.  I had gotten so use to the quiet of Iceland, I wasn’t use to being amidst so many people.  I didn’t like it.  But I tried to ignore my discomfort and marshaled on.

We saw a small green train engine on display.  Neil informed us that it was the engine to the only train they’ve had in Iceland.  When they were building up the harbor, they needed to haul in lots and lots of rock.  They built a small train train and used it to carry the rock from the quarry to the harbor.  They saved the engine as a reminder of that nugget of history.

Next up was the statue in honor of their “George Washington.”  He was never president nor Prime Minister but people feel he did help Iceland achieve independence from Denmark.  This remarkable man was Jón Sigurðsson.  He was well liked by both Icelanders and Danes.  He encouraged the young people at the university to demand independence.  He lived to see the Danish king give Iceland their constitution in 1874 but died five years later, never seeing the true independence they gained in 1944.

Many Icelanders these days are calling for a new constitution.  It is one of their controversies.  The one they currently have hasn’t really changed since 1874.  Many people feel that it’s time to have one they actually wrote instead of the one given them by a king from Denmark.  I can’t say that I blame them but I know how much trouble Chile is having writing a new constitution.  It is not an easy thing.

The Parliament building was a gray rock building, austere and forbidding.  The four symbols on it are the eagle, the bull, a giant, and an eagle.  Why are they on the Parliament?  Well, there is a story about that.  After King Harold of Denmark united all of the tribes in Denmark, he sent a wizard to Iceland to conquer it for him.  The wizard tried to enter the country from the west coast but a giant chased him away.  Then he tried the east coast.  A dragon breathed fire and kept him from that coast.  In the south a bull charged him and he fled.  His last shot was the north but a fierce eagle defended that border from him.  He went home and told King Harold that it was impossible to conquer Iceland.  Ever since then the four have become the protectors of Iceland and therefore guard the Parliament building.

PARLIAMENT BUILDING

One quick word about King Harold. He is the one that bluetooth is named for.  His full name was King Harold Bluetooth.  The two runes making up his name were put together to create the bluetooth icon.  A Scandinavian IT engineer thought this was appropriate since bluetooth joins devices together and King Harold joined the tribes of Denmark together.  And now you. Know the rest of the story.

One more thing about the Parliament.  Iceland is way ahead of the rest of the world in gender equality.  A full 25% of the parliament members are women.  That’s pretty darn good.

We were stopped at one point in our wandering right in front of the building that houses the office of the Prime Minister. It was an old-fashioned white building.  Ironically it had been the prison back in the mid 1700s.  It not only houses the PM’s office today but all of his staff.  Cabinet meetings are held there as well.

Directly in front of this building was the marathon route.  We had to wait for a break between the runners before we could cross the street.  It wasn’t that difficult as there weren’t many runners at this point.  Two statues stood out front on either side of the building.  One was King Christian handing over the new constitution in 1874.  The other statue is of Hannes Hafstein who was an Icelandic poet and politician.  In 1904 he became the first Icelander to be appointed to the Danish Cabinet as the minister for Iceland.

As we stood waiting to cross the road, Neil happened to spot two young ladies who were dressed in traditional Icelandic clothing.  It was the first time we had seen regular people wearing it.  The girls looked very nice in their long dresses.  They had a German feel to them, at least to me.

As we made our way up to the true icon of Reykjavik, we passed by Hotel Borg.  It was built for the 1000 year celebration of the Althing being in Thingvellir in 1930.  The city needed a grand hotel for all of the dignitaries to stay in so they built this hotel.  During the war it held many a dance and big band music drifted through its hallways.  It also served as the Officers’ Club.  One disturbing story is how the first woman police chief would stand outside the building after dances.  She would write down the names of the Icelandic women who were consorting with the American soldiers.  Some she had forcibly removed to perform virginity checks on.  Some were detained in open air prisons outside of the city.  The government really had a thing about their women having anything to do with our soldiers.

It was interesting to find out that the main street in the city started out as a cart path.  The women would take their dirty clothes to a hot spring to wash them.  Every wash day they would go up and down the same path until they created a “street.”  Eventually it did become a true street.

By now we had reached the Hallgrimkirkja which is a Lutheran church design by Samuelsson.  I believe the church is the tallest building in the city.  It truly does stand out and it is an impressive sight.  It, too, uses the motif of basalt columns that Samuelsson was so fond of utilizing.  It took a mere 41 years to build the church.  Construction was completed in 1986.  It’s named for the Icelandic poet and cleric Hallgrímur Pétursson, author of the Passion Hymns.

Hallgrimkirkja

Inside of the church it was stark.  We didn’t get to walk around  at all as a concert was beginning.  We found seats in the pews and listened for probably thirty minutes.  The first performer was an organist.  She was quite good and the pipes on the organ tremendous.  I have never seen an organ where some of the pipes are horizontal rather than vertical.  After she finished, we had the pleasure of listening to a choir that Neil told us was one of the best in the country.  After hearing them, I believe it.  Their voices were pure and clear.  It was beautiful.  I was sorry when Neil signaled that we needed to go.  I could have listened them them for much longer.

In the church you can take an elevator up to a viewing area where you get a bird’s eye view of the city.  Joyce, Mabel, and I had done that last time.  However, today with our schedule and the festivities going on at the church, we just couldn’t do it which was a shame.  I was sorry that Doug missed out.

Out in front of the church we spotted a statue of Leif the Lucky, Erik the Red’s son.  Leif is credited with sailing from Greenland to the New World where he built a settlement.  It didn’t work out and he went back to Greenland.  Because of that connection with Leif and our country, the U.S. commissioned a statue of Leif the Lucky.  It was to be placed in front of the new church.  Then a squabble broke out between the U.S.and the authorities for the city.  They wanted a pond to be constructed with the statue.  They thought that was needed because he had sailed over the ocean to start the settlement in America.  The U.S. said “No!”  No pond was ever constructed.

LEIF THE LUCKY

While we were standing there, we got a lesson on Erik the Red as well.  He was Leif’s father.  Now Erik was a troubled man.  He had an argument with his neighbors in Norway and ended up killing somebody.  He had to flee then to Iceland.  In Iceland he killed a neighbor’s slaves so he was banished for three years.  He had heard tell of a huge land to the west of Iceland so he decided to go there.  He knew he needed settlers so he managed to convince enough people that 25 ships set sail for Greenland.  Only 14 ships made it.  He did, however, successfully start a settlement.

On the way back to the hotel we made a detour through a small park behind the studio/residence of Einstein Jónsson.  He was the artist who created the Outlaw sculpture we had seen in Akureyri.  He was the national sculptor.  The country didn’t have a great deal of artists so it wanted to encourage the artists they had.  They specifically built this studio/home for Jónsson.  In return he created artwork for the government.  In the garden in the rear of the house, several pieces of his work have been displayed.  

The pieces were interesting but a bit strange for me.  All of the pieces were abstract. The one piece titled “Grief” hit too close to home for one of our travelers.  She had lost her daughter in December.  She couldn’t do more than glance at the piece as it dredged up feelings she didn’t want dredged up.  I do have to say that the artistry was amazing and his artwork did evoke emotions.  I love his Outlaw piece although it is incredibly sad.

We called it a day after the garden and Neil led us like the pied piper back to the hotel where we had to collect our carry-on bags and then unpack.  As we have traveled, our rooms have gotten smaller and smaller.  I believe this is the smallest one yet.  Can’t wait till we get to Greenland :-). At least we have plenty of outlets, a coffee maker that I can make my tea in, and we have night stands albeit tiny ones, we can put our stuff on.  It’s not my favorite room but the location is absolutely perfect.

After getting unpacked, we headed out to the Dubliner Pub that we had found while doing research on eating in Reykjavik.  We should have researched better.  They only served alcohol.  Sheesh!  We didn’t feel like wandering all over Reykjavik looking for an empty table in the packed downtown area so I stayed there and saved our table while Doug ran to the hot dog stand that Clinton made famous by eating one of their hot dogs.  It’s the most famous hot dog stand in Iceland and always has a long line.  Fortunately they are quick and he was back soon with our dogs.  We downed them with a Guinness.  We are becoming Icelanders.  When faced with a problem, just work it out.  

We are treading some new ground for me tomorrow.  We are going to visit a geothermal plant which I have done but we are also visiting an open air museum.  I have not been there.  Then we have most of the afternoon off for free time.  So it should be an interesting day.

DAY 13: WHALE WATCHING & AKUREYRI : ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

“Thar she blows!” I finally got to yell today.  It was the day I had been happily anticipating.  It was whale watching day and we did indeed see whales.  With nature you just never know if she is going to be generous or not.  Today she decided to be kind.  I was most humbly grateful.

We got an early start because we had to drive 40 minutes from Akureyri through tunnels to the small fishing village of Dalvik.  We had driven through the small village the other day when driving to Akureyri.  It may be small but it is doing well.  I think whale watching is helping their economy a great deal.

The trip went quickly and in a blink of an eye we were pulling into the location of our whale watching company.  Last time they had being doing their business from an old gas station.  Business must have been good the last eight years because they built a new building.  However, the boat was the same herring trawler named the Máni.  They also had new coveralls for us to wear.  Eight years ago they had been blue and rather threadbare.  This time they were red and a bit newer.  They seemed to be more comfortable, too.  I didn’t feel so much like the Michelin Man in this one.  I shoved my camera and monocular in my two pockets and headed outside.  It was getting warm inside the building with the coverall on.

It didn’t take long before we were walking down the pier to board our boat.  Doug and I headed up the stairs as soon as we got onboard and went to the bow of the ships.  Most people wanted to stay down on the main section which was fine with us.  

This little jaunt was not leaving the fjord but it was a big fjord that whales routinely come into.  The captain told us that we would motor out for around 45 minutes to get close to the mouth of the fjord.  Long experience has taught us that you just never know about animals so we kept a weathered eye out as we motored away from the jetty.  Just as we were pulling away from the dock, I swear I saw something duck under the water behind us.  It didn’t come back up so it wasn’t a bird.  I have a sneaking suspicion that it was a harbor seal.  They do have them here.

The weather was overcast but at least it wasn’t raining as we headed out into deeper water.  The wind was blowing but I was too excited to be cold.  I had a cap on and gloves as well as light jacket under the coveralls.  I was okay.  I didn’t care about the cold.  I wanted to see some sea life.  

One young man was on the microphone sharing information.  He talked about the animals we could possible see today.  Of course the main one was the humpback whale.  However, they did occasionally see white-beaked dolphins as well.  In fact they had been seeing them during the previous week.  But like all animals, you just never know when they are going to leave the area.  I wanted to see them but wasn’t holding my breath.  I’ve learned that lesson the hard way too many times 🙂

However, today was my lucky day.  Doug who has superior long vision pointed and shouted, “I see dolphins!”  They were still in the fjord!  We were all so excited even though they were way in the distance.  We could just see little dots .  However, the dolphins allowed us to get closer.  There was a baby dolphin that was jumping all of the way out of the water.  He/she was super fast.  The older dolphins only showed us their back and pectoral fin.  Then Doug looked down in the water beneath the front of the ship.  A few dolphins were swimming right at the prow.  They were underwater but you could see them pretty well, especially the white stripe on their bodies.  The group of us up there were all so excited.  These dolphins were literal just beneath us.  What a special moment.  This was something I had never experienced before.  I felt beyond blessed.

White-beaked dolphin mother and baby

The dolphins hung around for several minutes then swam away.  We soon saw them again in the distance.  At this point I was happy.  If we didn’t see any whales, it would be okay.  I had seen white-beaked dolphins swimming right beneath me.  That was more than enough.  Shoot, it was more than enough just to see them.

However, our adventure on the water wasn’t over yet.  It was really just starting.  It seemed like it was no time after the dolphins that Doug, once again, spotted our first whale spouting off in the distance.  The captain spotted it too and we were on the hunt.

The whale we found wasn’t particularly large but nobody cared.  We were all just excited to be watching a humpback whale out in the fjord.  Just as we got close enough to see him fairly well, he went under.  We knew he could be down for up to twenty minutes.  However, most likely it would be six or seven.  The time ticked by slowly as we constantly scanned the area we had last seen him in.  Of course the odds of him coming back up there were slim to none but really you have no clue as to where they will surface next.

The captain spotted him seven minutes later and turned the boat and headed towards him.  Being in the front, we had the best seats in the house.  We watched the whale come up and breath five or six times.  If you’ve seen enough humpbacks, you get a sense of when they are going to do a deep dive.  We knew this guy was fixing to go down and expose his tail.  He did and we got beautiful flukes.  One of our guys was yelling “I got it!  I got it!  I got it!”  Everybody was thrilled.  One young girl, I believe from China, was in tears.  It was her first whale.

A humpback whale doing a deep dive

We weren’t done though.  We waited another seven minutes and he came back up again.  We counted each time he exhaled through his blow hole, and he was loud.  On the sixth or seventh exhale, we knew the tail was coming.  It was no less exciting than the first time.  Altogether we watch this young whale dive down four or five times.  None of us got tired of it.  And off in the distance near the shore on the other side of the fjords, we could still see the dolphins.

Finally the crew member on the microphone announced that we were going to head further out to see if we could find anything bigger.  We motored nearly into the mouth of the fjord.  Although the scenery was gorgeous as always, that was all we saw.  The large humpbacks had not come to play with us today.

We started heading back towards the little guy and took a break for more dolphin antics.  None of us had expected them to hang around this long.  There must have been something good to eat in the fjord that held their attention.  They flitted around the fjord the entire time we were out.

It’s impossible to know for sure but I think we saw two more whales.  We know one for sure as we saw two at the same time.  Just as we saw them, one went down and then the other one went down.  We saw one come back up but not the second one.

The captain stayed with it and we saw several more dives with flukes.  Sometimes we were in a good position to see them and sometimes not.  I was surprised we had had as many good viewings as we had.  Usually I end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Not today which made me a happy whale watcher.

Humpback taking a breath

Finally our time was up and the captain turned toward Dalvik.  The crew had cookies and hot chocolate for everybody but Doug and I stayed on the bow.  I didn’t care about the snack.  I was more interested in keeping an eye our for aquatic antics.  Although I kept a careful lookout, I didn’t spot anything.  I didn’t really expect to but you just never know.

Back on land we walked to the main office and divested ourselves of our coveralls.  It was time to head to lunch.  And after a morning on the water, I was more than ready to eat.  Neil had a special place all picked out for us—Nordur.  It was where the locals eat.  It was just a small place with a buffet.  There wasn’t a great lot of choice but what there was was good.  It was not fancy.  The local workers didn’t want fancy, just tasty and filling.

We managed to squeeze into the few empty tables.  We wove our way around tables filled with working men and loaded up on fish, soup, and home-made bread.  As I was getting water, I saw some men scraping their leftover bits into a trash can near a cart where they put their dirty dishes.  I was glad to know what we were suppose to do.   As quickly as the place has filled up, it emptied out.  The men all had to get back to work.  Eventually we were the only ones left.

I have to admit that if I have the choice between a fancy restaurant and a place where the locals eat, I chose the latter every time.  I just want to eat good food.  I’m not picky about presentation and ambiance.  It’s nice but not necessary.  I’m just not a fancy person 🙂

Now today we had a pinch hitter.  Our normal bus driver Jón had been asked to be a driver/guide for a tour off of a cruise ship.  Neil had given him the okay since all we were doing was driving to and from Dalvik.  Our substitute was Graham who was from England.  I think we knew more Icelandic than he did but that’s alright.  It isn’t an easy language and I wouldn’t know as much as I do except for Neil’s tutelage.  Anyway, Graham pulled up the small bus we were in and we headed back to Akureyri.  

Neil entertained us with Icelandic sayings as we made the 40 minute drive back to the town.  If you have a stroke of good luck you say, “That’s a beached whale!”  Sounds bad, I know but it harkens back to the old days when a beached whale meant the village could eat for a month.  In that context, it isn’t so bad.

Another interesting one was “That’s a packed assembly.”  Icelanders say that any time there is a big crowd.  It goes back to the days of the Althing and the crowds there.

Of course since our morning had been devoted to whales, Neil spoke a bit about the whaling industry in Iceland.  The first whalers were actually the Basque.  They came here for whales back in the 1700s.  Then the Norwegians came and for them it was big business with processing ships and the whole nine yards.  Only one fishing company in Iceland goes after whales.  They have done it for generations.  We saw a documentary with the owner in it before we left home.  He never planned to stop.  His company ran into trouble, however, when videos surfaced of whales they had hunted taking hours and hours to die.  One took six hours.  There was a huge outcry.  Since then the government has put a temporary ban on whaling.  Really, they can make enough from whale watching.  I don’t see why they have to kill whales.

When we got back to the hotel we had twenty minutes to get our large bags ready to load on the bus.  Once he was finished driver/guiding Jón was driving the bus along with our bags to Reykjavik.  We were flying there tomorrow and this would make the process  much easier.  I had gotten most of it done last night but there were a few things I tossed in before locking it all up.

Bags deposited, we stepped out with Neil on a walking tour of the Akureyri.  The town really is a pretty place.  All of the houses are well maintained.  No junky cars in the yards.  No ramshackle shacks.  No litter either.  Iceland is such a clean country.  Occasional you will see trash but not very often.  It really is refreshing.

The first place Neil took us was a little park.  Inside it was a statue he wanted to share with us.  It was called The Outlaw.  It was beautifully done but so sad.  It showed a man carrying his son in front of him.  The child was wrapped in sheep skin.  Draped across his back was his dead wife.  He was bringing her home to be buried in consecrated ground.  The look in his eyes was haunting.  The child looked afraid; even the dog looked afraid.  As an outlaw, at any minute he could be killed with no questions asked.  What a powerful piece.  I loved it and was depressed by it all at the same time.

The Outlaw

Further down Heart Attack Hill, we came to the cathedral.  Strangely enough the big church designed by Samuelsson wasn’t the cathedral.  This small white church with red trim was.  I immediately loved the exterior.  It was nothing fancy.  I just liked its simplicity.

Further along the road Neil pointed out a baby pram parked outside in the garden of a home.  There wasn’t an adult in sight.  Parents do that all of the time so the baby can get some fresh air.  The people don’t worry about somebody snatching their child here.  That’s difficult for me to imagine.

Slowly we had wended our way down the steep hill to the entrance of the botanical garden that was the brainchild of a Danish woman, Margreths Schiöth.  She purchased the land and began planting it.  It flourished and expanded.  They do some experimental plantings here to see what will work in the environment and what won’t.  Considering how far north we are at this point, it always shocks me at how verdant the place is.  The gardens were vibrant with green growth.  Brilliant colors splashed across the landscape.  It was a lovely spot to spend some time.

Flowers in the botanical garden

I’m not good at plants so I never know the names of anything but I did take lots of pictures of beautiful blooms.  From the ornamental cabbages (somebody told me what they were) to stems heavy with purple, pink, white, and yellow blossoms, the gardens were alive with color.  It was a beautiful oasis and a lovely place to catch our breath before we headed down to the iconic building which was the symbol of Akureyri.

If it’s Iceland that has to be a church.  This was WAS designed by Samuelsson.  It, too, was modern in scope with basalt columns shooting up into the sky much like the hexagonal basalt columns we had seen along the cliffs on Snaefelsnes.  I can’t say that it was pretty but it was commanding.  It caught your eye from all around the city.  The church was completed in 1940 and contains an extremely large 3200-pipe organ.

Lutheran Cathedral in Akureyri

Inside we were all surprised to discover that this Lutheran Church had stain glass windows.  Usually they don’t have much in the way of ornamentation.  That was against Luther’s doctrine.  This church, however, had lovely stain glass.  They were simple but beautiful.  There were five stain glass windows behind the alter.  It had been whispered that one of the windows had actually come from the church in Coventry that had been bombed during the war.  The people of the church had removed the windows and hidden them in order to safe keep them so they weren’t in the church when it was bombed.  An expert came to the here and did testing.  He decreed that this window was not one of the original Coventry windows but may have been one that had replaced the original.  Either way, the people of the Akureyri church heaved a sign of relief as they wouldn’t have to send it back to England.

I liked how the bottom portion of the windows on the sides had things germane to the history of the church in Iceland.  One of my favorites was a picture of the man Neil called the Shakespeare of Iceland.  He was a reverend who wrote poetry.  His name was Hallgrímur Pétursson.  The big church—the Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik—was dedicated to him.  There was also a picture depicting Thorgeir Thorkelsson with his icons of the old Norse gods.  These are the ones he threw into Godafoss.  

One of the sections in the windows was of another poet.  This one requires some background knowledge.  Back in 1874 the Icelandic people finally won a concession from the king of Denmark to have their own constitution.  After winning the concession, the government of Iceland decided they needed a national anthem so they held a contest.  It was won by a pastor in Akureyri by the name of Matthías Jochumsson.  The tune was composed by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson.  He was the first Icelander to make a living by making music.  I tried to get Neil to sing their anthem for us but he said it is a very difficult piece to sing.  The music didn’t officially become the anthem, however, until 1944 when Iceland truly got its independence.

From the church we started heading back up the hill.  We did make a small detour to see the garden of an artist.  This young man makes fairy tale characters from recycled materials.  He has decorated his garden with them and opened it to the public for free.

The garden itself was lovingly maintained.  Even without the artwork it would have been a wonderful place to spend some time.  The artwork though was amazing.  He had Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  He had Little Red Riding Hood.  There was the Shepard Boy from a famous Icelandic poem.  He had his sheep and dog.  Sleeping Beauty reclined on a bed with Prince Phillip kneeling beside her.  I particularly enjoyed the lady troll.  She had three watches on each wrist and her skirt and shirt were decorated with toothbrushes.  It was so clever.  All of his pieces were clever.

Lady troll

We wandered around the garden for several minutes admiring this young artist’s labor.  It truly was wonderful.  Hopefully opening his garden up to the public will get him noticed and give his career a boost.

Once we left the fairy tale garden, Doug and I parted ways with the rest of the group.  We slogged uphill to the hotel and enjoyed Happy Hour while the others explored a bookstore before slowly climbing up the hill.  If I’d known they were going to a bookstore, I would have stuck with them.

For dinner Doug and I headed back down Heart Attack Hill to a pizza place we had seen when driving into Akureyri.  Pizza just sounded good.  The rest of the group had decided to eat at the hotel.  Although our pizza was quite tasty and we got it quickly, I worry about the place.  We were the only people in there.  I would have thought it would have been hopping with business.  It didn’t look good for them.  We did enjoy our meal though.

I didn’t enjoy the climb back up the steep, steep hill.  It required some ice cream before tackling.  We got some at a little shop on the pedestrian area.  It was fine but not very flavorful.  None of the ice cream here has wowed me with its taste.  I’ve enjoyed it all.  It just hasn’t been great.  Tonight though it did give me the sugar push I needed to climb this hill one more time.

Although I’m loathe to leave the north country with its peace and tranquility, Reykjavik calls and I must go.  We are coming into the last three days of the main trip.  I don’t like thinking about it because I’m not ready to go home yet.  I’m not ready to leave this endlessly fascinating and beautiful country.

DAY 12: LAKE MYVATN, HVERABRAUD, NAMAFJALL, DIMMUBORGIR, SKUTUSTADIR, & GODAFOSS : ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

“Shoo fly don’t bother me” was our theme song today!  Lake Myvatn, our destination this morning, is well known for their midges.  Eight years ago we had seen some but they weren’t too bad.  Today I was SO happy I had my head net.  I needed it.  The flies were out in full force.  I honestly don’t know how the locals stand it.  But before we could beat off insects, we had to get there and along the way we got another language lesson.

We learned that “mi” means midge and that “vatn” means water/lake.  Those Vikings weren’t very creative with names but I like how they made their names all one word.  It’s very convenient.  You just have to know what the various parts of the word means.  Neil has been fabulous breaking down the names for us each day.  And honestly, it helps me remember them better.  Like I’ve said before, he is a natural teacher.  I believe he does teach classes in tourism.

We got to drive through yet another tunnel on our way to the lake.  They should have done more research before they built this one.  They hit a ginormous snag with it.  When they were cutting through the rock, they hit hot water.  It was running down the sides of the mountain and made a big pool.  Darn!  What were they going to do?  Being Icelanders, they turned lemons into lemonade.  An entrepreneur came up with the idea of turning the pool into a spa.  It’s called the Forest Lagoon and is doing quite well.

The area around Myvatn is at the border of the American Plate and the Eurasian Plate.  As a result, there is a huge amount of geothermal activity here.  I learned that the American Plate is the largest tectonic plate while the Eurasian plate is third.  The Pacific Plate is the second largest.

At one time an American company was dredging the Lake Myvatn for diatomite.  In the process they were making the lake deeper.  That wasn’t good for the midges or the birds.  The numbers for both began radically declining.  The company had to cease dredging because of the negative impact it had on the environment.

The midges haven’t stopped Hollywood from filming here.  Neil informed us that one of the “Fast and the Furious” films was shot here.  They were driving on the frozen lake during the winter.  The lake does freeze to a meter and a half so it was safe.  And during the winter it’s too cold for the midges.  I’ll have to see if I can find that movie on Netflix or Amazon.

Another little tidbit about the lake is that it is suppose to be a good spot to see the Northern Lights in the winter.  We’ll just have to come back then and see 🙂

Before arriving at the lake we drove by a tremendous lava flow.  This lave field came from an eruption in the 1970s.  It erupted for  seven years.  Holy cow!  Amazingly, the flow of lava parted right at the church, saving it.  We drove right by it.  It was amazing to see lava on either side but the church itself undamaged.

Our first stop of the morning wasn’t at the lake but near it.  We were going to learn how to cook rye bread using geothermal power.  Freddie was the man of the hour.  He owns a cafe at Dimmuborgir which is where we were going to have lunch later.  We were going to watch him cook bread for the cafe.

I have to admit, I was nonplused when we pulled up beside what looked like a garage for vehicle repair.  The area all around had an industrial feel to do.  It definitely didn’t seem like a place to cook anything.  Looks were deceiving, however.  This was a whole new kind of baking.  Freddie took us to the side of the garage to a hole in the ground.  It was private property so he had to get permission to put his “oven” here.  I believe he said that 80+ people had their “ovens” here as well.  I think the entire village has geothermal ovens.  The people owning the property pretty much have to allow others to make a geothermal oven on the land.  Freddie told us that once a year you give them a case of beer and it’s all good.  So very Icelandic.

Freddie’s hole was covered by two metal sheets to keep the heat in and protect the plastic containers that held the bread.  He slid back one “lid” and used the two ropes to pull up a tray of cylindrical plastic containers.  These were plastic containers that you could cook in and made so that they didn’t melt in the intense heat and didn’t contain any nasty harmful things.  He popped off a lid and showed us the bread inside.  It looked like bread :-). And all baked with steam and hot water.  Pretty incredible.  Of course the best part was tasting the rye bread.  He explained how you usually have to let the bread cool for an hour before slicing.  However, there was a second method that we could utilize this morning.  You took a spoon and got a gob of butter on it, then you scooped out a chunk of bread, and popped it all into your mouth.  MmmMmm good!  I think we all had seconds.  Neil was a bad example though.  He kept getting the bread first and then the butter which got bread crumbs in the butter.  Bad trip leader!  🙂

Freddie’s geothermal oven at Lake Myvatn

You can cook more than just bread in these geothermal ovens.  In the old days there was a woman that used a sheep stomach to cook food in.  She would put whatever she was cooking into the cleaned stomach and lower it into the hole.  When she pulled it out, the food would be cooked.  That’s pretty amazing.  Freddie said they did try cooking their meal in the oven once but the meat got too soft.

Freddie talked a bit about the midges as well.  We were wearing our head nets but he wasn’t.  They didn’t seem to bother him.  He said that certain blood types attracted them more than others.  When asked what blood type, he was a bit evasive.  He answered that it depended on the season.  He should be a politician 🙂

We thanked Freddie with our now familiar “takk og bless” (the g is silent) and headed on the the lake.  As we drove we learned about the Lake Myvatn.  It is a thermal area that was created by lava flowing over water.  The lava trapped bubbles of water and turned it to steam.  Eventually the pressure was so great in the bubbles that they exploded creating things that look like craters.  A magma reservoir still sits less than two miles below the surface there which is why it is a high temperature area and the locals can cook using geothermal methods. 

Lake Myvatn is actually a shallow lava field that filled with water.  Because it is only 15 feet at its deepest point, it has a complex ecosystem and can sustain many types of algae.  It is a heaven for algae eaters, in fact.  Midges eat algae so they go hand-in-hand with the lake.  The midges do provide fertilizer for the plants.  And they bring a variety of bird life to the area as well.  That is why you have such vivid green areas of grass.  It is due to the midges.  So it is truly an amazing ecosystem.

Our first stop in the lake area was a place called Namafjall.  It is a location that is chock full of fumaroles and mud pots.  Amazingly the temperature is 200 degrees Celsius and higher at depths of 1000 meters.  We had to be careful here to stay on the paths as you could break through the crust and get badly burned.  The fumarole gas  helps create sulfur deposits which were mined in centuries past to produce sulfur for gun powder.  These days they are protected so no mining.  The sulfur smell wasn’t too bad but you could definitely smell it.

Namafjall

I hate to say it but once you’ve been to Yellowstone, every other place like this pales in comparison.  Namafjall was interesting but really couldn’t compare.  There was an impressive amount of steam coming out of some of the fumaroles.  Others were blackened craters in the ground.  A scattering of mud pots bubbled noisily as well.  The entire area had an alien feel to it.  Stark hills devoid of plant life surrounded the hot spot.  The only color came from splashes of yellow from the sulfur and red from iron that had oxidized.

Fumarole

The entire time we explored, we were careful to leave our head nets on.  When the wind was blowing, the midges weren’t too bad.  When it stopped, they were awful.  You had to keep moving to get away from them.  Obviously the sulfur smell was not a bug deterrent.

We wandered around carefully staying on the marked path.  Hot spots like this are always fascinating.  Mother Nature is truly wonderful.  And Iceland was full of so many contrasts.  Basalt mountains coated in green moss rising up from blue seas to rolling green pastures to areas covered with fantastically lava formations.  Iceland truly is a feast for the eyes.

At the allotted time we boarded the bus to head to our next location—Dimmuborgir which translates to “dark castle” or “dark citadel.”  I remembered this place well from last time.  It was filled with fantastical lava sculptures.  Mother Nature is a wonderful artist.  

Dimmuborgir was formed 2,300 years ago by an eruption.  The lava from the eruption passed over the nearby lake and caused it to boil.  This cooled down the lava faster and the resulting steam caused the cooled lava to shatter.  The area is filled with black lava pillars amongst a forest of vegetation.  Caves and caverns had been formed by the bubbles of intense steam.

Now there is an alternative explanation as to how these lava pillars came into being which I like better.  The trolls were having a big celebration, laughing, drinking and having a fabulous time.  They got so drunk that they lost track of time.  The first rays of the sun hit them, turning them into stone.  Thus we have the trolls there, frozen forever in their drunken revelry.

Lava stacks at Dimmuborgir

Dimmuborgir was actually quite crowded this time.  With the narrow paths, it made the visit a bit difficult.  Neil wanted us to stay together as a group so we wouldn’t get lost.  I could understand his point but it made navigating a bit tough.  We couldn’t even get near the sign talking about the Yule Boys.  The area was packed with tour groups.

We did manage to make our way down the path and see some of the lava sculptures.  We climbed up one area to peek into the cave where the Yule Lads “live”.  It was on the hokey side.  There was a few of stools inside as well as a hammock.  I don’t think that thirteen trolls could really live in this tiny cave.

And this brings me to the Yule Lads.  Icelanders consider them their Santa Clauses.  The brothers were born to two trolls, Gryla and Leppalúdi.  Gryla was a vicious troll.  Leppalúdi  like to chill out.  He’s rather lazy.  The lads aren’t seen much during the summer because they are resting in their caves.  However, when winter comes around, they start preparing for Christmas.  It is their favorite times of the year.  If you want to see them, just come to Dimmuborgir in December and walk down the path to Hallarflöt and yell loudly “Jólasveinn!”.

The lads are also pranksters, especially at Christmas.  Starting thirteen days before Christmas, children in Iceland put a shoe out at night hoping for a gift.  Each lad visits the children during the 13 days.  If child was good they might get something nice in their shoe by the lad visiting that night.  If they were bad, they would get a rotten potato.

The lads have outrageous names that come from a particular trait they have that stands out or a food they like to eat.  For example we have Spoon Licker, Pot Scraper, Door Slammer, and Skyr Gobber as well as Sausage Swiper.  Their name tells you all you need to know about the particular lad.  There are Christmas stories relating to their mother Gryla as well but I’ll save them for another day.  Typical Iceland, they aren’t cheerful stories.

We made a stop at the stone throne the Yule Lads like to sit in to talk to their visitors are Christmas.  We all had a chance to get our picture taken there.  We only went a short way down the path before we had to turn around.  We didn’t get to spend much time at all in the Dark Citadel.  I was disappointed.  Eight years ago we had at least half an hour of free time and got to wander all around the place.

Lunch was at Freddie’s cafe.  It was called Kaffi Borgir.  It was bustling with business because it was just outside the paths in Dimmuborgir.  It had a captive audience.  We were lucky as Freddie had saved tables for us.  We could eat all of the soup and bread that we wanted.  I got the meat soup.  It was good but there wasn’t a lick of meat in my bowl.  I did get plenty of vegetables though.  The bread was the rye bread he baked in his geothermal oven.  I took a piece of that and enjoyed its almost sweet flavor.  

After lunch we had one last stop in Myvatn and it was at Skutustadir.  This is an area of pseudo-craters.  The midges were terrible here, too.  Thank goodness for head nets.  It’s the most I have ever worn mine.  It was worth the bother though to see the beautiful area we were in.  The brilliant greens reminded me of Ireland and Hawaii.  The landscape was pock-marked with craters that were now covered in moss and vegetation.  Instead of being blackened holes, they were green hollows in the rolling land.  

Pseudo-craters form when lava flows over water or wetlands. The water becomes trapped under the lava field and starts boiling. The pressure causes explosions and the steam escapes to the surface. The repeated explosions rip apart the lava, which piles up around the steam vent, forming a pseudo-crater.  That sounds very similar to how the lava stacks in Dimmuborgir were formed.  

We spent half an hour following one of the trails among the pseudo-craters.  From them we got a good view of Lake Myvatn.  We also got the midges as well.  The lake is actually very shallow which is why the midges can breed.  There is a certain type of algae ball that grows in the lake that the midges and black flies eat.  It’s called Marimo.  It is a nest of hairy threads that grow into a ball.  It’s rare and getting more rare as the algae balls of Marimo are declining in number.

The midges aren’t the only wildlife in the area.  From the trail of pseudo-craters we could see birds floating in the water and flitting around the edges of the lake.  I tried to take pictures of the swans but they were always bottom up as they were feedings.  Neil says there are loons here, too, as well as the Arctic tern, the horned grebe, and the tufted duck.  Actually you can find more nesting ducks here than anywhere else in the world.  The birds do love munching on the midges.

The midges are good for feeding the soil as well as the bird life.  As annoying as they are, the grass wouldn’t be as green or as thick if the midges weren’t around to fertilize it.  When they die, and at least one species has a lifecycle of a day, they fall onto the ground and help fertilize it.  So they do have a purpose other than annoying people visiting the lake 🙂

Here is an interesting midge fact that Freddie shared with us.  Midges’ eggs incubate at the bottom of the lake.  When they hatch, the new midges form a cloud that rises up through the water to the air, almost like a miniature cyclone.  Freddie watched a YouTube video of a man sailing his boat through a cloud of new midges rising from the lake.  He said when the man  entered the cloud, it was pitch black.  That’s a lot of midges.  Midges are particular about their weather.  They don’t come out when it is windy or if it is too cold.  They don’t like strong sunshine either.  And that’s enough about the midges.

Pseudo-crater at Skutustadir at Lake Myvatn

We continued walking the path around the mini craters until we climbed up a tall one.  I remembered it being more black with bare lava.  Today it was mostly green.  Eight years makes a difference.  However, there was tiny lava pieces blanketing the outside of this crater.

Slowly we wound our way back to the bus.  As Jón drove us, Neil explained that he had a special treat for us.  One of the farmers at the lake had an ice cream shop.  They made their ice cream fresh.  He was treating us all to a single scoop.  Neil does like to support the local people which is a wonderful thing.  The ice cream shop was called Skútaís.  I ordered coffee with chocolate ice cream.  Doug got the same.  The shop was very small so we went outside to eat it.  That was challenging with all of the midges.  You had to keep walking around to keep them off of you.  The head net was no help because you were eating and it had to be lifted out of the way.  We managed to savor the sweet treat though as we admired the penned rabbits in the back of the building and the gorgeous scenery.

We had a friend while we were enjoying our ice cream.  The farmer’s dog was front and center.  One of our men broke off a piece of cone and gave it to him.  The dog was so happy with it.  Neil also shared with the spoilt pooch.  He was Neil’s best buddy.  He sat there and watched every move Neil made.  He was covered with midges but with his thick hair, they didn’t  bother him.  

Our last stop before we headed back to Akureyri was the Godafoss Waterfalls.  We are in Iceland so there is a story as to how the falls got its name.  This one is absolutely true. These are the falls that Law Speaker Thorgeir Thorkkkelsson threw his icons depicting the old Norse gods into once he made the decision to make the country a Christian one back in 1000.  This was near his home and he came here to “seal the deal” so to speak.  Ever since he tossed in the icons, the falls have been known as the “God Falls.”

Godafoss Waterfall

These falls were powerful and beautiful.  The main falls were horseshoe shaped.  They weren’t very tall, but the water coming off of them was powerful.  And cold which isn’t surprising since it’s all coming from a glacial river.!  It was fantastic to stand there watching the water come crashing down.  

The falls had changed since the last time I was here.  We had to cross a bridge and take a path along the river to get to the falls.  That path and observation point was still there but now there was one on the near side of the river.  We checked out the new vantage point first.  You could feel the power of the falls as the water thundered over it.  The force the water is traveling with it incredible.  After enjoying that side, we headed for the other side.  The views were pretty similar.  Neither was better than the other.  It did spread out the tourists.

Our day wasn’t over yet.  We had to drive back to Akureyri for our Home-Hosted dinner tonight.  We were split into two groups and delivered to our hosts.  We went to the home of Valdìs and her husband Helgi.  They have two sons and a daughter.  They all five greeted us at the door.  We did like Neil instructed and took off our shoes before entering the house.

Helgi teaches carpentry at the senior secondary school while  Valdìs is an ER nurse.  She and the oldest son had just gotten home the day before from a three week Boy Scout Jamboree in South Korea.  They had to be evacuated because of a typhoon.  Everybody was okay though.  It just added some excitement.  I felt badly that she had to feed us after getting home from such a long and hard trip. 

The family was very nice.  The two boys were quiet but the daughter who is twelve was a bit more outgoing.  They were all three talented.  After a delicious baked cod dinner, the children each played an instrument for us.  The oldest played the guitar.  The youngest played the piano, and the daughter played the viola.  Their parents were amazed at their musical ability as they have none themselves.

We had a lovely time chatting with them.  One of our fellow travelers was an art teacher and an artist in her own right.  She made sketches of all three children.  The kids were thrilled.  What a special thing she did for them!   Before we knew it, Neil was knocking at the door.  It was time for us to leave.  We had had such a wonderful time, we were all sorry to leave.  I’m sure  Valdìs was ready for us to leave so she could go to bed.

We are hitting the high seas tomorrow.  We are driving to Dalvik and going whale watching.  I can’t wait.  I love doing things like this that involve animals.  We had good luck with whales last time.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we have equally good luck this time as well.

DAY 11: DRIVING TO AKUREYRI: HERRING & FOLK MUSEUMS : ICELAND & GREENLAND—QUEST FOR PUFFINS, VIKINGS, & HIDDEN PEOPLE

Goodby horse farm!  My allergies are happy to be leaving!  My eyes were still horrible this morning.  I had to put some allergy drops in them.  I’m hoping when we get out of all this fresh country air that they calm down.  I was sad to be leaving my horses though.  I so enjoyed my day with them yesterday.  And Sheep/Dog will always have a place in my heart.

I have to report that I don’t think the lamb has a long life expectancy.  Somebody asked Magnus if they would keep it since his daughter seems so attached.  He shook his head and said it would end up the same way the others had.  I assumed that meant that some day soon my sheep/dog would be dinner.  I was surprised and not surprised.  Icelanders aren’t as sentimental about their animals as we are.  However, this little lamb was just so adorable and had such special relationships with the horses and his daughter.  How could they kill it and eat it?  Our Flash Gordon lived to a ripe old age and was always well loved.  We could have never been sheep farmers.

Anyway, after a nice breakfast put on by David, we waved goodby to the farm and trundled down the road with Jón at the helm.  It was a long drive to Akureyri so we had plenty of time for more language lessons and Icelandic knowledge.  I believe I will leave here knowing more Icelandic than I have left remembering any other country’s language.  Neil quizzes us everyday at least a couple of times.  That’s good because it is starting to stick in my brain.  He also quizzes us occasionally on things he’s told us.  He’s a natural teacher.

Today we learned all kinds of information about various Icelandic animals.  For instance, scrabies is a disease that came to Iceland with sheep imported from the UK.  Since whole flocks have to be destroyed when scrabies infections are diagnosed, I can’t say that I blame Icelanders for not wanting to import animals into their country. 

We haven’t seen many cows since we’ve been here.  Dairy cattle are kept inside almost all of the time so of course, we don’t see them.  I’ve just seen a sprinkling of them as we’ve traveled through the countryside.  The cows are are like the horse and are small in stature.  They came to the country with the first settlers—Vikings.  Along with their smaller size, they also yield less milk when milked.  Some people have broached the notion of importing cows to beef up Icelandic cows.  The farmers are totally against it.

Iceland will, however, let you bring a dog or a cat into the country.  The pet will have to go through quarantine before you can bring it home.  There was a period of time in Reykjavik when it was illegal to have a dog in the city.  Some people felt they had no place living in the city.  They should only be in the country.  There was also a rash of tape worm infections in people.  They traced it back to people sleeping with their dogs.  So for sixty years, dogs were illegal in the city.  That came to an end when the Minister of Finance had a dog named Lucy who he really loved.  The police came to take Lucy away and shoot her and Albert wouldn’t let them.  “You aren’t taking my dog!” He bellowed at the cops.

The cops were in a quandary.  They had been sent to get the dog but that was proving to be difficult.  What were they suppose to do?  It was a dilemma.  It was especially hard because Albert had also been a famous soccer player and was adored by soccer fans.  In the end Albert kept Lucy and the law was changed in 1984.  Good on you, Albert!  I wouldn’t have let them put down my dog either!

Iceland does have some dog breeds that are native to the country.  One is an Icelandic sheepdog.  The breed actually came to Iceland with the first Viking settlers.  A disease ran rampant through the dog population in the early 1900s and the breed almost went extinct.  However, an Englishman named Watson made it his mission to save them.  He collected all the remaining sheepdogs and along with an American, he brought them back from the brink.  He also started the first veterinarian surgery in Reykjavik.  For all that he did for the country, he was awarded the Order of the Falcon which is the highest award that can be given to a foreigner.  To celebrate him, the Day of the Icelandic Dog is celebrated on his birthday.

I’ve mentioned that salmon fishing is popular in the rivers of Iceland.  People come from all over the world to fish the waters.  It’s a good source of income for farmers who have rivers on their land.  They are required to allow people to fish.  All of the farmers in the area are in a co-op together and get paid so much a year for fishing rights.  Of course they are required to do the upkeep so the fishermen can fish.  But it brings in a nice chunk of change.  The fishermen have strict guidelines they must follow.  They can only fish during certain hours.  They must catch and release all salmon.  And all of the fishing must be fly fishing.  

An Englishman named Jim Radcliffe has a real passion for salmon fishing, so much so that he has bought up 40 farms along rivers with salmon.  He also owns several football (soccer) teams and is trying to buy Manchester United.  Anyway, he supposedly took up fly fishing in order to improve his golf swing.  The point of all of this is, he now owns something like 2% of Iceland.  That is crazy.  Some are suspicious that he isn’t buying all of these farms because he likes fishing for salmon.  

Besides our bus discussions, Neil made stops to add to our educational experience.  A particularly interesting one was in Glaumbær.  This was the farm on which Gudrídur Porbjarnardóttir, the Icelandic woman who was the mother of Snorri and who did all of the traveling, spent the last years of her life.  The low lying clouds on the mountains surrounding the farm added an air of mystery to the place.  To one side was a beautifully kept cemetery.  To the other side were some turf houses.  The front entrances of the houses were wooden but the remainder of the houses were turf.  The wall separating them from the cemetery was made of turf as well.  I loved how they so carefully placed the chunks of turf to give the walls of the houses a herringbone look.  In honor of Gudrídur Porbjarnardóttir , there was a tiny copy of the statue we had seen in the Snaefellsnes Peninsula the other day.

Turf houses at Glaumbær

We stopped a few times just to take photos of the scenery.  It was an overcast day but the weather wasn’t bad at all.  The wind wasn’t blowing us off of our feet and it wasn’t too cold.  The scenery was amazing and beautiful as I’ve come to expect here.  Sunny or not, I was enjoying the drive.

Slowly we made our way to the top of the country.  Akureyri is the northern most city.  Along the way we passed through three fishing villages.  One is Dalvik where we will go whale watching in a few days.  The one we were stopping at today was Siglufjordur (Siglo for short).  It is the northern most town.  

At one point in history Siglo was the place to be in Iceland.  It was the Klondike of the country.  Its gold was herrings.  In the early 1900s, huge shoals of herring moved from the east coast of Iceland to the northern coast.  The shoals were coming right into the fjords.

The Norwegians were the first to take advantage of the situation.  They came up to the north coast from the east coast and discovered this little fishing village of 200 people who were living in turf houses.  At that point shark fishing was the biggest industry in the village.  

The Norwegians thought Siglo was perfect so they made it their base of operations.  They brought in their big factory ships and began harvesting the herring.  They hired young men from Iceland to help with the backbreaking job of catching and processing the fish.  They paid cash which was unheard of in Iceland.  While working, these Icelandic men learned all they could about the process.  After a few years, they bought their own ships and made their own processing plants.  They told the Norwegians “Thanks for your help but we’ve got this now.  You can leave.”  Or words to that effect.  They also passed a law that required a person to live in a place in order to have a business there.  That disqualified the Norwegians.

Now I know it sounds peculiar that a fish could be so important but it was.  It actually was Iceland’s version of the Industrial Revolution. Instead of rowing boats to catch fish, fishermen now used motor boats although they had laughed at the first young man who brought a motorboat to town.  Herrings devastated agriculture because young men took to the waters to fish rather than work on the farms.  They could make much more money from herring.  All of this created a massive transformation in the culture of Iceland.  Even women were caught up in the herring craze.  In fact in many ways they were the star.  They were the Herring Girls.

Just who were the Herring Girls?  They were the young girls, women, and older women who actually processed the herring once it was caught.  They would stand hour upon hour at their salting station cutting off the heads of herring and gutting them.  Once they had a pile of herring ready for the barrel, they dusted them with a mixture of salt, black pepper, sandalwood, and cinnamon and placed them in the barrel one by one.  The women were paid by the barrel and if they were really fast, they could fill 3 to 4 barrels in an hour.  For the first time women could actually make more money than men.  The men working the docks got paid an hourly wage.

This was the age of women’s independence.  For the first time women of all ages could make their own money, thus earning independence whether from their parents, husband or boy friend.  The women even unionized.  And when the bosses lowered women’s pay per barrel because they were making more than the men, the women went on strike.  For three days no herring was processed.  The bosses crumbled and met the women’s demands of  better conditions and better pay.  The women of Iceland learned they had a voice and they began to use it.

The herring season was short, only the three months in the  summer.  Young people from all over Iceland would stream into the small fishing towns in the north.  Siglo normally had a population of 3,000.  However, during herring season it would balloon to 10,000.  The women workers would live in dormitories.  When a ship would come into the harbor with a load, night or day the Herring Girls were called to work.  One lady is recorded as saying that she worked for 48 hours straight once.  She was working in her sleep and only opened her eyes to make sure she still had her fingers.

Working during herring season was not a piece of cake.  It was nasty, stinky, hard work.  In the beginning the women were doing it all without gloves.  They tried using winter gloves when the caustic ingredients started doing a number on their hands but that didn’t work.  It wasn’t until towards the end of the Herring Rush that the women got rubber gloves.

Two real Herring Girls giving a demonstration

Women with children brought them to work as well.  They would run and get supplies for their mothers, gut fish, do any job they could.  I can’t imagine having my young child in all of that chaos and mess.  At times the ladies were working up to their thighs in fish heads and guts.  Hardly healthy for anybody much less children.  But it was a tougher time.

It wasn’t all bad though.  Most Herring Girls remember those times fondly.  There were dances and the cinema played five movies every day.  There were herring romances and even herring babies.  One Herring Girl said she misses thoughts days as the men were better looking then.

Then in the 1960s it all fell apart.  Iceland fishermen didn’t listen to the marine biologists who told them they were overfishing the herring.  All the fishermen could see was dollar signs in front of their eyes.  They used spotter planes to find shoals and new technology to net the fish.  They were making money hand over fist.  They decided to worry about overfishing later.  Right now they were making money.  If the fish went away, they would deal with it then.

And the herring did vanish.  The loss of the herring hit fishing villages like Siglo particularly hard.  It devastated their economy.  However, being Icelanders, they just got on with it.  Today most of the small fishing villages are trying to find new ways of bringing money into the village.  Siglo itself has created the Herring Museum.  The town was originally going to tear down all of the old herring buildings.  It was a bad memory and many still felt betrayed by the herring.  However a few teachers realized that it was a large part of their history.  It needed to be preserved.  So they came up with a plan to build the museum.  It took a good deal of hard work but they did it.  It opened in 1994.  And once the town people visited it, it gave them a sense of closure and they were able to put to rest that feeling of betrayal.

 A rich Icelandic gentleman named Robbie built a nice hotel for people to stay at in Siglo and got the government to build tunnels so tourists could have easy access to the town.  Before the tunnels, you had to take a boat to get to Siglo.  He also brought in industry, built ski slopes and a golf course.  That helped the town reinvent itself.  It has become a destination location instead of a dying fishing village.

The herring haven’t completely disappeared from Iceland.  You can still fish for them on the east coast.  However, these days there are strict guidelines for fishing.  They learned their lesson.  Now Icelanders are careful about their fishing.

As we drove into town we saw barriers placed on the mountains to protect the town from avalanches.  People take them very seriously and go to great lengths to erect walls and use other methods to stop an avalanche from wiping out their homes and businesses.

Church is Siglo and snow barriers at top of mountain

Jón parked the bus in the village center and we hopped out.  Our first mission was to get some lunch before our appointment with a guide at the Herring Museum.  Neil suggested grabbing something quick at the local bakery so that’s what we all did.  It was difficult but we all managed to wrangle a place to sit.  It wasn’t the best sandwich I’ve ever had but it was fine. 

The Herring Era Museum was quite interesting. Our guide was 17 years old and very knowledgable about the era of herring fishing.  She even recreates being a Herring Girl when they do demonstrations.  It was obvious that she was passionate about the subject.  She talked to us for half an hour and then we were free to visit the museum.

The museum filled up three buildings.  The first building was the only original building. It was the salting area and was erected in 1907.  Now it displayed how the workers lived.  They had recreated the old dormitories so you could get a feeling for how these people lived during the herring season.  Women stayed in one set of rooms and men in another.  We noticed while upstairs that they were getting ready for a demonstration at the herring stations outside.  Two older ladies who had truly been Herring Girls were going to show a tour group how it was done.

We hustled down the stairs and out to the stations.  We didn’t want to miss out.  However, they were only getting set up for the action.  We did get to talk with one of them a little bit.  She didn’t speak English so Neil had to translate for us.  She started working the herring when she was seven years old.  She didn’t get paid but her mother would buy her nice things for school.  From seven until the end of the herring era she worked there.  Today she was in her eighties.  The other original Herring Girl was in her seventies.  They were amazing.

While waiting for them to finish setting up, Doug and I hustled through the other two buildings.  The second one held all of the factory equipment for turning herring into fish meal and fish oil.  They had the filleting machine, the herring press, the drying machine.  It was amazing how many items they had plus all the spare parts.  There were piles of fuses, and gears, and whatnots needed for the equipment. We whipped through it all at lightning speed.  I had already been here before so I didn’t mind not going slowly and I stilled learned new things..  For example it was interesting to find out that the big tank outside used to hold the herring oil had been painted to look like a house back during WWII.  They had been afraid the Germans might try to bomb it if it looked like an oil tank.

The third and last building was the boat house.  They had an actual herring trawler in there as well as some other boats.  You could climb up into the big one.  Those men really had to know what they were doing.  We checked it all out and went back outside.  The show had started so we hurried back over to the salting station outside of the first building.  I was afraid they would be finished by the time we got there but they weren’t.

Those ladies could still behead and gut a herring lickety split.  I would have chopped off a finger if I tried to do that.  It took mere seconds for them to take care of one herring.  Incredible.  They made it look like fun, too, as they shouted comments to the young farm boy who was to get them whatever supplies they needed to do their job.  One time he gave one of the ladies a drink of beer out of a bottle.  Although they were having fun, the real job was neither glamorous or fun.  It was just backbreaking, hard labor.  The ladies couldn’t even stop for lunch which they had to provide for themselves.  While they were working, somebody had to feed them.  I can’t even imagine…..Just the smell alone had to knock your socks off. I can’t imagine smelling it and still being able to eat.  I applaud those ladies.

Herring Girls singing traditional Icelandic songs

They ended their demonstration by singing a few traditional Icelandic songs.  That was appropriate for us as we were now heading to the Folk Music Museum.  I had not seen that museum so it was new territory.  But before I hopped onto the bus, I made sure I got a photo of the new monument on the harbor to the Herring Girls.  I couldn’t leave without that.

New monument to the Herring Girls

At the Folk Music Museum, a young man gave us a quick presentation.  He told us about Rev. Bjarni Thorsteinsson who made it his life’s ambition to collect Icelandic folk music.  He came to Siglufjord as a young man and lived there for 50 years.  He became an influential member of the community.  He started collecting music in 1880 and continued for 25 more years.   His collection Islensk bjódlög (Icelandic Folk Songs) was published by the Danish Carlsberg Fund.  Why is his collection so important?  Well, many songs had no written source.  He listened to people singing and wrote down the music and lyrics.  Now they will never be forgotten or lost to time.

When the town began booming because of herring, he was there to help.  He was responsible for improvements including utilities for electricity and water.  He built a new school.  He also helped design the town’s layout when it expanded.

After his talk our young man then thoroughly impressed us with his singing.  He sang for us a lullaby that all Icelanders sing to their children.  The mother in the song is an outlaw and ends up throwing the baby she sings to into a waterfall.  The other songs were equally as dark.  I was glad I didn’t speak Icelandic.

His singing was wonderful though and he had a nice sense of humor so I enjoyed his presentation.  When he finished we had a few minutes to wander around the museum.  We saw some of the original instruments the people played such as the Langspil which replaced the simpler fidla.  Both are stringed instruments.  The Langspil is more like a fiddle whereas the fidla sits on a lap or a table to be played.

As we wandered around the two story home he lived in for 11 years, I heard music coming from the various rooms.  We saw the organ he enjoyed playing as well as a copy of his compilation of Icelandic music.  What was really interesting were the photos.  There was also a diagram of what the town looked like before it was a boom town and then afterwards with his city planning.  All in all, it was a nice stop for an hour. 

Then it was back on our bus for the journey home.  We all had to laugh on the bus about the dark nature of all the songs our young man had sung to us, especially the lullaby.  Neil explained the saga that the lullaby came from.  It was based on Iceland’s most famous outlaw Fjalla-Eyvindur and his wife Halla.  He and Halla had to live in the highlands.  They rustled sheep to stay fed and were constantly on the move so they wouldn’t get caught.  They were in love and they wanted and planned for a child despite their precarious circumstances.  Finally they were blessed with the birth of a baby girl.  However, the authorities were hot on their heels.  They knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught if they had to travel with the baby.  So Halla makes the decision to throw the baby into the waterfall so that she and her husband can escape.  The song is the mother telling the baby that she is loved, etc.  Frankly, that doesn’t sound like love to me.  It sounds selfish.  Their freedom was more important than the life of the child they supposedly loved.  Neil didn’t say if the father was okay with his wife’s decision.  He just said that she took it upon herself to kill the baby.  So maybe he wasn’t happy with it.  Who knows.  But the ending it typical Icelandic.  Dark unhappy endings.

We also learned of the Saga of Grettir who was another outlaw.  Guess the Icelanders had a thing for their outlaws like we did with Jesse James and all of our outlaws.  Grettir, however, was kind of an unfortunate outlaw.  He was a very strong man who wanted to use his strength to kill monsters like the old Vikings did.  Instead, he ended up outlawed several times.  The first time was for killing a boy he thought stole his food sack.  He was banished for three years for that.  While in Norway he kills a zombie and sacks its tomb and gets an heirloom sword.

Back in Iceland after his three years, he kills another undead person who had been a huge Swedish shepherd.  The shepherd had been trying to kill a wight who was killing a farmer’s sheep.  The shepherd lost that battle and became a revenant.  Grettir does battle with the revenant and manages to kill it but with its dying breath, it curses Grettir.  From then on Grettir’s luck turns bad and instead of getting stronger, he gets weaker.  

He accidentally sets a fire that kills several people in Norway and has to flee.  He ends up on Drangey which is an island just off of the north coast of Iceland.  He lives there with his half-brother and Swedish servant.  Ultimately his bad deeds catch up with him and he is killed.

One of his more crazy adventures  had him making an epic swim.  While on the island, the fire he, his half-brother, and his Swedish servant use to stay warm with goes out.  The servant had fallen asleep and didn’t keep it going.  They needed fire to survive so Grettir swims across the channel between the island and the mainland of Iceland.  He survived the arduous swim and made it to civilization.  Obviously he was naked because the village girls tittered over his “shrinkage” problem.  The story goes on to say that later that night he redeemed his honor with the ladies.  He did get fire and he did bring it back to the island.  Every years Icelanders recreate this swim except I don’t think they do it naked.  It is one of the big swims in the country.

In more current happenings, a few years ago some Neo-Nazis made a plan to run a car into the crowd at a gay pride parade and kill as many people as they could.  Somehow the police found out about it and arrested the ones involved.  Since they hadn’t actually done anything and claimed that all of their texts and emails were just talk, they got off.

We had to drive through several tunnels to get to Akureyri.  One was a one-lane tunnel.  How did you know who had the right-of-way?  The vehicles traveling south.  The ones traveling north had places where they could pull over and let the other vehicle pass.

During our drive we traveled around several fjords.  One was Island Fjord which is the longest fjord in Iceland.  It’s a great place for bird watching.  It also had the quarantine building for people bringing their pets into the country.  Many complained about it as it was too difficult to get there to visit their pets so the government closed it and built a new facility near Keflavik.

Close to our destination we passed through the small village of Dalvik.  It is reimagining itself as a whale watching center.  In fact we will leave from there in two days on a whale watching trip.  And that’s where we went eight years ago to whale watch.  It’s other claim to fame is having had the tallest man.  There is a billboard of him in the town along with three brothers who were comedians much like our Three Stooges.  Back in the 1930s the village was hit hard by an earthquake that destroyed many buildings in the village.  The villagers came back like Icelanders tend to do and rebuilt.  They are trying news ways of bringing people into their town.  Whale watching is one way and the Fish Days Festival is another.  Because of their efforts, Dalvik is thriving.

Forty minutes later we pulled into the city of Akureyri which has a population of a whopping 20,000 people.  Icelanders call it the Capital of the North.  It is completely independent from Reykjavik.  It has its own airport, port, etc.  The most famous landmark in town is another Samuelsson church.  Other people might say it is the stoplights that show a red heart instead of a simple red circle.

We got settled into the hotel which was just like I remembered.  It’s not my favorite but it isn’t bad.  My only real complaint is that the bed doesn’t have a headboard.  Instead there is a shelf put exactly where your head goes if you are sitting up in bed reading.  Thank goodness Jón told me that he uses the cushion on the sofa in order to avoid the shelf.

Dinner tonight was at the hotel and it was very good.  We actually had chicken which was a taste treat we haven’t had in a long while.  It was very good.  All of the food has been great.  I skipped the dessert as I’m not crazy about white chocolate.

We leave the environs of Akureyri tomorrow and head to Lake Myvatan where we will see evidence  of Iceland’s volcanic nature.  We will also get to see the home of the Yule Lads.  Spoonlicker and Doorslammer, here we come!