Some time ago The New York Times travel section ran an ad for a long weekend in Iceland. Elliot and I packed our carzinkas and went off to that exotic if not tropical island. We landed at the airport in Keflavik and rode from there through a moonscape of black volcanic rock for miles to Reykjavik,. The airport was very impressive for such a small island, built I believe by the US Army for World War II and probably maintained by the CIA.
Reykjavik was small for a capital and wooden. We were used to the stone of the Mediterranean. We visited the Parliament building and a nearby Viking dig as well as a buggy ride into the surrounding area. The Icelanders have the oldest democracy in the world still called the Althing as it was in Viking days.
The people were large and friendly much like the Scots we had encountered before. Actually Iceland was colonized by Vikings and their Irish slaves. They are all related and the phone book produces perhaps a dozen family names.
Everything ran on geothermal energy. The hotel was steam heated and then the hot water was run into the pipes for washing. The temperature for March was friendly if damp. The Gulf stream which is a moderating influence flows close to the Southern coast of Iceland keeping the harbors open all year.
We visited the wild north face of the island. Noone lives there mostly geysers, mountains, water falls and birds. In the south there were greenhouses everywhere heated of course by the underground geothermal energy. We had fresh tomatoes and salad at dinner which was mostly fruit of the sea. Fishing is important in Iceland, but surprisingly so was the transformation of bauxite from Jamaica into aluminum, again the cheap energy source.
Reykjavik abounded with swimming pools Everyone from 3 to 93 swam almost every day. I actually went swimming in the famous Blue Lagoon on one trip. The water was quite warm although the air was still March.
There were no erupting volcanos nor were any new islands born while we were there. Fish, lamb, good food and woolen sweaters abounded.
No comments:
Post a Comment