Iceland Trip, 3/15/13 - 3/21/13Two days ago, I returned from a vacation to Iceland with Alex Szajko and Mark Hansen. What a wonderful trip it was. It was full of unexpected experiences. Here are some of them: - Our first day there (Saturday), we ate dinner at the Hamburger Factory, a place Alex had been to the previous year and recommended. After finishing our burgers, we were contemplating dessert when a group celebrating a birthday asked us to take a picture of them making duck faces. We ended up joining them and chatting about everything from rednecks to Reykjavik politics. After finishing another pitcher of beer, we went bar hopping with them. We went to an English pub (where I had some Jameson Irish Whiskey) and then an Icelandic pub (where Alex, Mark, and I took shots of Brennevín (aka "Black Death")) and then to a dance bar, where I chatted with an Icelandic programmer.
We were very impressed by how much these Icelanders seemed to know about the U.S. and American culture. We also learned a lot about education in Iceland - the group we were with were in "high school", but their version is typically from age 16-20 and is more vocational. We also found out that the mayor of Reykjavik is a comedian -- evening coining the phrase "iron dicks" to describe the street poles that block cars from entering a pedestrian-only walkway or plaza. After the night was over, we wondered whether the people we met were representative of the general Icelandic population, whether they were representative of the youth of Iceland, or whether they were anomalies. - We rented a car and drove around The Golden Circle. During this trip, we saw the varied landscape of Iceland. Despite being an island at a high latitude, the country has much variation. We saw snowy hills, fields of grass (tundra), horses, volcanic rock, lakes, geysers, and water falls. It was incredible how quickly the scenery could change. I did not expect to see so much more than just snow and ice.
My favorite site was Gulfoss, a waterfall along The Golden Circle. I've seen Niagara and the falls in Yosemite, but I liked Gulfoss more. The water, ice, tundra, and volcanic rock combined together for a magnificent sight. - I went horseback riding for the first time in my life, on an Icelandic horse named Fengur. We rode for about an hour and a half, and the wind was nippy. We learned that Iceland is very strict about its horses -- you may not import any horses to Iceland, and any Icelandic horse that leaves the country (including competition-winning horses) may not return to Iceland. After the fun but frigid ride, we were exhausted from exposure to the elements and took a nap.
- We went to a geothermal spring near Grindavík called the Blue Lagoon. The resort is surrounded by volcanic rock, and driving to it felt like driving through a rocky planet. The hot spring water was light blue, yet you could not see more than one inch beneath the surface, due to the silica and sulfur in the water. It was amazing to be shirtless in a pool outside when the air temperature was about freezing. There was even a poolside bar -- I ordered a banana skyr smoothie and later came back for a strawberry skyr smoothie. (Skyr is a type of yogurt made in Iceland.) I enjoyed these while soaking in the lagoon.
- One night in Reykjavik, on our way back to the hotel, we saw the Northern Lights. They weren't as colorful or spectacular as you see in stock photos, but it was still a marvelous sight.
- Iceland has the highest number of Nobel laureates per capita. It has one Nobel winner, Halldór Laxness, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955, and a population of about 320,000. (At the Hamburger Factory restaurant, where we ate dinner the first night, they have a sign (updated manually) with the current population of Iceland. They also celebrate every birth by ringing a bell and making an announcement. During our dinner, three people were born.) We went to a chain bookstore called Eymundsson, and having heard about Laxness in the Iceland Air magazine, I decided to buy an English translation of his Nobel Prize-winning book, Independent People. So far, it has been a great book, with very poetic prose.
- The last night in Iceland, we roamed the streets and randomly chose a Thai restaurant called Ban Thai for dinner. While waiting to be seated, I read a review from the Reykjavik Grapevine posted on the wall that gave the restaurant a 5/5 (extraordinary) rating. Reading that the reviewer ordered a spring rolls appetizer and a curry dish entree, I decided to order the same thing. The spring rolls were so good that we decided to order another serving for dessert. The ginger curry dish I ordered came in a bowl balanced on top of another bowl that had a candle inside it to keep the curry dish hot. This was the most delicious meal I have had in my entire life.
Afterward, we checked out a few bars, but not feeling any of them, we decided to get hot dogs from a shack we had passed earlier. The vendor only sold two things - hot dogs and soda. I got a hot dog with everything on it. I'm still not sure what was under it (bacon bits? bread crumbs? raw onions?) or over it (bean sauce? mustard? mayonnaise?), but I swear this was the most delicious hot dog I have ever eaten in my life. I was pretty full, but I still bought another hot dog -- it was that good.
I will post some pictures of the trip on Facebook soon.
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