Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

Note: For those of you who simply want to know where I went and what I did sans musings, I shall henceforth add a list to the bottom of each post.

I find it baffling that they put banana chips in Tropical trail mix. Yes, I know that bananas grow in the tropics, but they’re simply not the same caliber as mango, papaya, pineapple, dragon fruit, etc. Dry, flavorless, and constipating. However, due to the extraordinary price of food in Iceland, the trail mix I purchased stateside has been my favorite road tripping lunch. Alas, banana chips.

Awash in disillusionment from my seven hour destinationless drive, I found it rather difficult to get motivated the next day. I had a general idea for every other day, but today was a free day, and I hadn’t the faintest idea what to do with it. I spent about two hours researching all different sorts of possibilities, and finally decided to go see Seljalandsfoss. I got on Road 1, Iceland’s famous Ring Road, and headed south. First though, up into the mountains, with white as far as the eye could see. The view from the road looked exactly like Hoth, and I started looking for Imperial ATAT’s and Wampas. I tried the radio, thinking some Icelandic music would enhance the scenery. The first words I heard were “Hello from the other side,” and of course I listened to the whole song – one does not simply turn off Adele. Then I resumed my search for the music of Iceland. After Michael Jackson, Elton John, the Eagles, what I think was Hanson, and an Irish ballad, I decided the scenery needed no enhancement.

Seljalandsfoss was nice, but the waterfall’s surroundings were thoroughly frozen, inches of ice covering the stairs and walking trail. Only those with enough foresight to be wearing crampons were able to take the path behind the falls. I was okay with it, not entirely keen on getting soaked in the freezing weather. I enjoyed it there nonetheless and found my spirits elevated. I decided to continue south to see what else the day had to bring. 

Months ago, before I decided to go a-wandering, there was this commercial that started it all. I don’t know what it was for, Nikon or Apple or Iceland or Northface, but there was this Asian girl in a yellow rain jacket standing in front of a waterfall. “I want to go to there,” I said aloud, and thus the idea of Iceland took root in my psyche. Imagine my delight when I take a turn in the road and see those falls there in the distance. Skógafoss. I stood at the end of a rainbow. I was covered in the freezing spray. I climbed to the top of the falls. And I got a satisfactory espresso at the gift shop. The day was only getting better.

I’ve become quite adept at meeting people. I simply hand them my phone and say some version of “Hi, would you please take my picture?” If they speak English, great. If not, they usually still take the picture. The only problem is that some people are much better photographers than others. I should have stuck with the first guy from Seljalandsfoss, he was there and knew how to use a camera. Silly me, that German lady didn’t even get the Skógafoss in the picture, the best option only has about a third of the falls.

It was a wonderful day, poor pictures notwithstanding. Farther south I say! The frozen landscape suddenly thawed, even displaying a hint of green. Farms and homes of the Hidden People dotted the roadside. Ah, the Hidden People, the elves that live inside rocks. Icelanders build quite nice house fronts for them, I must say. I stumbled upon Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano which erupted in 2010. As it turns out, from the base a volcano looks just like a mountain. Oddly though, most of them are capped with glaciers here. I’m learning a lot about volcanos. Driving along the southern coast, I saw a rock formation jutting out into the ocean: this was where I needed to be.

I turned off the highway and followed my path over a road-width isthmus with the ocean on my right and mountains on my left. I had chanced upon Dyrhóleay, which somehow hadn’t turned up in my research. Words like magnificent and amazing fall short of describing the overwhelming awe of its brutal beauty. Relentless waves bringing the sound of thunder crash on its black rock beaches. There is nothing gentle here, but it is truly majestic. Fortunately, my favorite photographer offered to snap a few pictures.

I love a good sunset, especially over the water or with a solid alpenglow, and Dyrhólaey had both of them. I got a bit too close to the water, but even my sodden socks couldn’t tarnish the experience. Barefoot and smiling, I continued onward, adding more adventures to an already superb day.

The Brevity Report:

• Seljalandsfoss waterfall             
• Skógafoss waterfall                   
• Eyjafjallajökull volcano/glacier
• Dyrhóleay rocky beach sunset  

Click on pictures to enlarge them.

Blogger formatting is being capricious, so no captions for your pictures. 

The snowy mountain is Eyjafjallajökull and the one first one below is top of Skógafoss.

Give Me a Bridge

I told Erika not to expect much, just a few pictures with captions. However, I find myself distinctly circumlocutory and as such I’ll be breaking up this post into two or three parts. Partly so I don’t overwhelm you, dear reader, and partly so I can go to bed.

The fjord I drove under then around

I’ll be honest with you, my first day adventuring in Iceland was a bust. Rather jet lagged, I decided a short trip keeping to the west coast would be advisable. I decided to go to Snæfellsjökull, the volcano which inspired Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (I’m rather familiar with the work, having seen the Wishbone episode). It’s the caves you see, people go in them. Towards the magma.

So I’m driving north along the coast, loving it, taking in the ocean/mountain view. Then comes the tunnel. As a Pennsylvanian, I’ve always been quite comfortable with tunnels; never before has one bothered me. Not even that one on the Montour Trail that you run through in complete darkness. I mean, sometimes you feel like you might get murdered in there, but never that it would collapse on you. But this thing is different beast all together. Who needs Snæfellsjökull? We’ve got Journey to the Center of Hell right here. It’s going down. Tunnels shouldn’t do that. They should go through. Especially when you’re already driving at sea level. I’m driving under the ocean, and apparently everyone is okay with this. I might have been able to handle even that but for the overabundance of SOS phones and fire extinguishers. Cleary it’s good to have them, but every hundred meters betrays a worrisome lack of confidence in its structural integrity. And I’m still going down. I have running through my mind that terrible Stallone movie where he’s trying to escape a collapsed and flooding Lincoln Tunnel. This is obviously going to happen to me, but as far as I can tell there is no emergency egress here. Seven minutes and many Hail Mary’s later, I finally make the surface. And you know what? They charge me 1000 krónur. It’s like paying to go to scary movie. It makes no sense. It reminded me a lot of that time when Kathlene and I got stuck in a flea market on the highway outside of Juárez. It was distressing while it was happening, and then afterward and even stronger was the terror of having to go back through. Fortunately, like Juárez, I found an alternate route home. It was 53 minutes longer, but pretty and totally worth it. Life lesson: never take the Chunnel, there’s no way I could handle that.

See that drop of blood denoting where I am? In English, too.

There are these information signs along the side of the highways here that tell you a bit about the area, history, geology, activities, etc. I decide to stop at one shortly after the tunnel incident. Is it something interesting about the mountain range? The quaint fishing village? No. It’s about Axlar-Björn, Iceland’s most famous serial killer. I’m on his home turf. Fantastic. Sure, he’s long dead, but still. This information did not make me feel better later when I thought I had a flat tire and there was no town in sight. I thought I was going to have to walk to Axlar-Björn’s farmstead and take my chances. At this point I’m three hours out of Reykjavík, not the short trip I thought it would be. It was fine, I didn’t have a flat. I also didn’t make it to Snæfellsjökull due to impassable road conditions.

Anticlimactic you say? Yep. It was.

Sunset you say? High noon.

Afterword:  

Reading over this, I realize that I’ve travelled through the Lincoln Tunnel multiple times without ever being concerned about collapse, flooding, and imminent death. It’s probably because it’s finished, and doesn’t have the uneven earthen walls resembling the Dwarves’ mine in Snow White. Perhaps I could handle the Chunnel after all.

Oh, and I even tried to take my first selfie for you guys... 

...as Andy would say, "Liz, you're so defeated."

Hypnagogic Ramblings

WARNING: I think I am least 63% asleep while writing this

Well done, Iceland Air. You made Iceland my favorite place in the world before I even got there, with your pure spring water, your simulation of the Northern Lights in the cabin as we taxied, and yes, your blatant tourism marketing campaign got me hooked.  You made it my favorite place before I stepped out of the car and discovered that Greater Reykjavik smells more thank slightly of sulfur. Speaking of "slightly," when you wake me up on the plane to warn me of slight turbulence, I imagine it will be a bit bumpy, not that I will begin to unavoidably contemplate death with unprecedented vigor, praying that something would explode and I'd be incinerated rather than sucked out as the plane breaks in two and have a long fall. Would I die from impact, or freeze first? Impact, I did the research. That'd be a long minute 45 though. And thank you, LOST, for the vivid imagery of a plane breaking in two.

Sunset in the mostly south

After that rather terrifying short hop from Boston, I arrived at Keflavik airport around 6am. I love it, all wood and windows and welcoming. The lady at the car rental desk with the unpronounceable name was great, best welcome I could have asked for. After discovering I had planned incredibly little for this trip and the next few months, she told me I'd fit in perfectly here. Plans are always subject to the weather, so they take it day by day and just go with whatever comes along. I'm very grateful to her for recommending me to upgrade my car to one with spikes in the tires. Apparently you can't really get anywhere without them. Especially out of the driveway. And who knew? Park into the wind so it doesn't rip the doors off your car when you open them. That happens. Oh, and there are roads that cross rivers. They don't have bridges. And roads where only 4x4's are allowed. And roughly half of the country where rental cars are simply forbidden. I decided that them calling it "slight" turbulence made sense, due to what kind of conditions these people are used to, living on an island in the Arctic Ocean with a bunch of active volcanoes.

Fish-themed coinage

Due to traffic, and dark, and not speaking Icelandic, I missed a few turns. "I'm so lost," I said for the first time early today. I went back out in the daylight and it's more of a mantra now, but there's so much beautiful to see it doesn't really matter. And I finally got my gps working, so if things get dire, I can use that. I've quite enjoyed exploring in this manner though.

Can't stay awake anymore. Night Night.

Quite possibly the most delicious salt I've ever tasted.

Definitely the worst mango juice I've ever tasted: it tastes like carrots. 

Time to Go Adventuring

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” 

                                                        -J.R.R. Tolkien

I've got a one-way ticket to Iceland, then off to France for a month in the Alps. Then somewhere. And then hopefully somewhere else too. I leave on Tuesday and I'll be back in time for Rob and Bri's wedding in May. I've had enough requests to keep individuals apprised of my whereabouts and goings-on that I figured a consolidation of information was in order. I'm not promising anything grand, but if you are one of those wanting pictures and the occasional update, this is where you'll find it.