Oh god, it's ridiculous how long it's taken me to get around to uploading these. Sorry, but y'all had a pretty good notion of Iceland from Facebook photos anyway I think. I'll say this: I wasn't overly excited about this holiday. I wasn't reluctant, just not jumping out of my skin salivating with the anticipation of Iceland.
As it turns out, it was a fabulously fun break. Reykjavik was gorgeous (literally - check out those rooftops!), and entirely navigable on foot. I only wish we'd had more time (a common lament where any holiday is concerned of course) to see what lay beyond the city. We had the chance to rent a car with our friends Wes and Kate for one day, but Iceland is massive, and the vast distances defeated us. Well, distance and a nasty patch of black ice that almost did us all in. Not so much an exaggeration I'm afraid, it was a pretty close call.
So next time we're lucky enough to go to Iceland, I want it to be in the summer, and I want to go armed with hiking boots, a tent and a camping stove. Outdoor paradise awash with rolling green hills, glacial mountains, erupting volcanoes and geysers, and thunderous waterfalls. Now, if only they could raise the average summer temperature to around 25, I'd be set.
Our first drink of the holiday - always worth a mention I think. Bring on Happy hour at the hotel bar!
Road trip!
Lunch by the river - Wes in his element.
The long shadow of midday in the frozen north.
The locals thought we were mad for setting up our picnic on ice-encrusted benches by the water, or they would have had there been any locals around. Iceland feels pretty empty a lot of the time, forget the crowds and embrace the sweeping plains and uninterrupted vistas.
With the occassional pony thrown in. Sorry, 'Icelandic horse' according to one guide. Looked like a pony to me buddy.
Hekla volcano in the distance - Iceland's most active volcano, obeying Sunday rites like a good Lutheran.
Foss = waterfall. Hence, this is Seljandefoss. Don't check that spelling. That would be mean.
In the distance, you can see the peaks of the Westerman Islands, southernmost point of Iceland.
The waterfall made an almighty sound as it poured its unending volumes into the incredibly shallow pool.
Stu, looking like a doofus in his favoured 'Ruski style' headwear. He was like a kid, delightedly running up to the misty pool, getting too close despite repeted warnings, and running back to me sopping wet from the spray. Kid, dog, same same.
Venturing behind the waterfall to a truly Tolkein-inspired scene. Rumour has it that Tolkein visited Iceland before penning Lord of the Rings, and it wouldn't at all surprise me if that turned out to be true. The land of fire and ice is exactly what you picture when Tolkein describes his landscapes. I mean, I've heard the books are just like this. I've only seen the films. BUSTED.
Sunset chases us to our next pit stop - dinner in a little seaside fishing village. Lobster calling!
I was distracted momentarily from thoughts of lobster by a crumbly barn. I do love me a crumbly barn, esp when situated in striking landscape. I would've stayed longer, but the sleet was stinging my eyes.
Totally selling Iceland in winter aren't I?!
Clouds + sun = purdy
So distracted was I by remarkable countryside sunset action, that I didn't even notice when real action was suddenly upon us. Basically - Wes hit a patch of black ice while going about 90km/h, and Wes tried to correct the car, but we ended up going into a stomach-churning skid, crossing sideways onto the wrong side of the road (thank god Iceland is so devoid of traffic, or we would've been toast), narrowly missing a massive road sign, and plunging off the road and down the two metre verge that separated road from boggy marsh. Fortunately for us, the marsh slowed us down enough to prevent our momentum rolling the car. I for one am super glad the car didn't roll, because my window was open and my arm was holding my camera out to take a photo. This all happened so quickly, that I didn't really have time to think about retrieving my arm and the camera. I'd have been munching mud if we'd gone over, and my camera would've been a write off. As it was, the only discernable damage was a puncture on one of the rear tyres.
Replacing the punctured tryre would've been waaaaay easier had the hire car company provided us with a jack. Sure, they remembered the all-important triangle warning thingy, but no jack. Finally someone came along and we flagged them down to borrow theirs. Still took an age to get the tyre off and replace with notably inferior (NOT a winter tyre) spare. After this unsettling experience, we decided to forgo lobster and get back to Reykjavik, still well over 100 kms down the icy road. The lack of tread on the spare meant we travelled at a leisurely pace of 40 kms/h allllllll the way back to the city.
When I say 'we' fixed the car, I mean everyone but me. I took the photos.
Who can blame me?
Besides, we needed evidence - middle of nowhere anyone?
It was freezing - the wind was howling a gale and the temperature was dropping with the sun.
Poor Stu - exhausted after a bout of manly tyre changing. Seriously, if it'd just been me, we'd still be out there now. Just as well Stu's new job included a training session on how to change a FWD tyre when you don't have the right jack - no joke, he'd literally just done the training before we left for Iceland. He's my heroic geek - Heek?
The lovely houses of Reykjavik. They looked so pretty, but I did wonder what all that corrugated iron would sound like in a rainstorm (very common weather feature).
1930s Lutheran church - heart of the city - their proudest architectural achievement. I was reading about the reformation in Iceland. So, anyone who's studied the conversion of Protestant Europe from Catholicism will know just how horrifically violent the whole affair was. In Iceland, a similar conversion took place in the 1600s, only the peoples of Iceland seem to have treated the situation with the utmost diplomacy. According to the literature, the council of churches got together at a conference and decided that the best way to avoid a bloody civil war, was simply to all agree to become Lutheran. Made sense. So they did. Today, over 95% of the population is Lutheran.
Lutheranism, fishing and geysers. Iceland.
And dragons. Don't forget the dragons.
Reykjavik has an inspiring number of art and craft groups, and the artistic community of the capital as a whole seems to have significant power. One of the things I found most remarkable about the city was the absence of chain shops. Instead, there were independent art, craft, fashion, book and record shops, and any number of cute little coffee houses and restaurants. Refreshing to say the least not to have a McDonalds or Starfucks in sight.
Lunch? Finally, that lobster I'd been thinking about for days.
Stu contemplates the menu. It looked good, and had come recommended, but there was no-one else dining, and how awkward is it when you're the only diners in a restaurant? I don't do hushed tones when suffused with wine, and Stu has no indoor voice. So we opted for livelier surroundings.
And indulged in some sub-par Chilean wine. It got better with every top up, as all sub-par wines do.
Mmmmm, lobster and scallop soup with bizzarre freeze-dried green stuff. I asked the waiter what it was, but he too was clueless. Tasted good, incredibly rich though, so a smaller portion would have been just fine.
Sigh, still gives me food envy. Stu's amazing ling, mashed potato, apple and raddish salad goodness. More freeze dried green stuff too.
My lunch - lobster tails with green salad and (I quote), LOTS of parmesan. Didn't need both parmesan and a fairly liberal dousing of salt. Shame really, the greens and the lobster were so friggin good. No freeze dried green stuff, for better or worse.
Slight drunk eye.
The wall of congrats for yummy food.
Chef's ego wall.
The Fish Company - restaurant under the bridge. Next time, I'm getting that ling.
We visited a sculpture park behind the church and found some amazing pieces, and some slightly disturbing ones too. Um, man lying under a cow and drinking directly from udder? I put that one on facebook, because it needed to be shared with many. The piece below is called 'Earth'.
This reminded me of Ariel thrusting her bosom out of the sea foam in The Little Mermaid. Oh yeah, oim oozing with cultcha.
Katie 'Scientology makes me want to be a Catholic again' Holmes encourages Suri to repent so they can both live in the comparative normalcy of morbid fear of God's wrath and vengeance.
Tom Cruise seeks comfort from tiny woman with small boobs (man?).
The lopsided restaurant. Would you order the soup?
Ok, so we got a littel bit silly towards the end there, but this has been a lengthy post and my attention span waned somewhere around the 500th picture of a waterfall.
Iceland = awesomeness.
Mez' editing? Not so good, but I dare you to give it a go when faced with above awesomeness.
And now, back to my Disney movies and
Heat magazines. Jealous?
