Today we hit the road heading north to explore parts of western Iceland. Lots of scenery and history plus a concert, sculpture garden and art gallery tour. Because we drove maybe four hours Thor had and used much of it to lecture on history and geology. But I’m not going to bother you with all of that.

Who am I trying to kid. Of course I am.

Here are the highlights:

874 c.e. – Vikings arrive and settle Iceland. Monks had come earlier seeking solitude but left no record, only some archaeological digs.

930 – the first Althing, the longest serving parliament in the history of the world, is held at Thingvellir

1000 – Catholicism supplants/replaces Nordic worship of Thor and his friends

1262 – Iceland’s golden age has ended. Climate turns cold, starvation is rampant and Iceland submits to rule by the King of Norway

1397 – Denmark conquers Norway. Iceland now ruled by the Danes

1550 – the Danes behead the Catholic bishop and install Lutheranism as the go-to religion

June 17, 1944 – Iceland becomes a fully independent republic, ending 500 years of Danish exploitation and depravation.

Iceland played a role in WWII as an airbase (now the Keflavík airport). They elected the first female head of state in the world in 1980 and is a world leader in gender equality today.

Geologically speaking, Iceland is located at the junction of the American and Eurasian tectonic plates. As they interact, pressure builds and lava escapes, forming  Iceland as we see it today. Iceland averages an eruption every few years but has experienced eight in the past 10 years.

End of lecture.

The drive gave us great views of the landscape – valleys and mountains. Lava fields sculpted during the last ice age, mostly devoid of tress, a few sheep (most sheep are in the highlands for the summer) and an occasional farm. Early settlers cut down and burned the indigenous birch trees to clear land for farming. Efforts are underway to restore birch forests but growth in Iceland is slow. Lupins, introduced to control erosion in the south, are everywhere and invasive.

First stop: Thingvellir National park, a two-fer attraction. The large lake on the park formed due to glacial and tectonic plate movement. Evidence of the plate rift is very evident. The east side of the lake is on the Atlantic plate, the west side is on the Eurasian plate. Cool.

Not only that, Thingvellir is also the site of the first and many subsequent Althing sessions over the intervening centuries. Fifteen hundred years ago clansmen from all around Iceland would meet here every year, camping out in tents about where the church is now located. There were no permanent buildings. They would pass laws, settle legal disputes, arrange business deals, including marriage contracts, and socialize. Extra cool.

After lunch at Húsafell, we visited Páll Gundmundsson at his studios. This turned into a cultural three-fer. Pásll is a sculpture artist who carves faces and images in stones found around his childhood home, which is now his studio. He also creates a musical instrument he calls  a “steinarpa,” a collection of stones found in the hills around the studio and shaped to sound the tones of the 12-step scale when struck by a mallet. He’s also a fine artist. See the photos to see what I mean.

Two more stops. First, Children’s Falls. Sad story: Mom goes to church on Christmas Day. Kids stay home. Their tracks end at the stone arch crossing the river by the falls. They fell in and drowned. Mom orders bridge destroyed. Beautiful falls, nonetheless.

Final stop was at the town of Snorrastofa. What we saw was a pool built in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, one of the few remaining artifacts in Iceland from that period. The town is actually a research center for the Icelandic Sagas. Here’s Sage’s write up for the town:

“This sleepy town is known for its research center on the medieval era in Iceland and the home of the legendary saga writer and politician Snorri Sturluson who lived in Reykholt until his death in 1241. Snorriʼs records of the Old Norse language and Nordic mythology are invaluable to modern scholars. The quality of his writing made him the foremost historical writer of medieval times throughout Europe. His style, bringing his characters to life, makes fascinating reading even today. Snorri was a wealthy and powerful chieftain in the age of unrest and civil war preceding Icelandʼs loss of independence.”

A door into the hill by the pool led to Snorri’s castle. He was murdered by his enemies in that tunnel.

One interesting thing about Iceland that keeps cropping up: one-third of Icelanders believe in fairies. As one example, Thor showed us a stone by the side of Highway 1: the ring road that runs all around Iceland. When the highway was under construction, a local farmer came to the highway engineer to have the road divert around a stone that, the farmer said, was the home of fairies. “Sorry, we’re too far along. The highway can’t be moved,” was the answer. A series of accidents injuring workers, and the failure of the bulldozer assigned to move the rock, was enough. The highway was moved. Thor’s wife, who grew up on a farm in the north of Iceland, says that there is a fairy stone on her father’s farm.

Back in town, we treated ourselves to another gastronomic delight: a hot dog from the best hot dog kiosk in Iceland (mustard, grilled onions) and an ice cream around the corner from our hotel.

One reason we wanted to come to Iceland with Sage Lewis is that he’s so well connected with the music and arts scene in this country. He’s lived here with his family for three months during Covid, recording an orchestral composition with Icelandic musicians. We continued to benefit from his connections today with two private meetings with Icelandic artist friends of his. Plus, we benefited from being here on National Day.

Our first event was a living room concert performed by Bryndís Jónatansdóttir, who preforms as Február. She did a half-dozen piano/vocal songs she’s written. Very melodic and soothing music. Check her out on Apple Music and Spotify.

In addition to her music career, she’s the mother of four, including an 11-month old toddler. Her husband Is Icelandic but spent his first 15 years in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The family lives in suburban Reykjavik in a very nice two-family house. Traveling there gave us a chance to see what life in Reykjavik’s burbs is like.

Bryndís holds a degree in business and works in that capacity. Sage met her when applying for entry to Iceland during Covid under a Record in Iceland program through the ministry office where she worked. He only then realized that she is Februar, someone whose music he had heard and admired at Iceland’s Airwaves festival.

Bryndis writes lyrics in English, having learned the language as a five-year-old watching the Cartoon Network.

Next up, a visit to the studio of Gudrun Einarsdotir, a painter who does fascinating work making abstract paintings with paint materials through a natural process that resemble the Icelandic landscapes. Each piece, ranging in size from 15 inches square to seven feet square and can take up to two years or more to complete. Each work reflects her feeling that results from her hikes in the lava-based wilderness of Iceland. She takes no photographs to inspire her work but rather relies on the impression the wilderness has left with her. Check out https://listval.is/artist/gudrun-einarsdottir/

Lunch was at a waterfront fish-and-chips place called Kaffivagninn. While waiting for our tables, we looked over the harbor from a nearby pier. In addition to the usual collection of fishing boats one finds in a working fishing port, there were a couple of other interesting craft.

An Icelandic Coast Guard ship was nearby. Being the oldest Iceland’s four Coast Guard boats, it had participated in the Cod Wars of the 1960s. At the time, the fishing limits of European countries was 12 miles. Iceland decided to set a unilateral limit of 50 miles. Many countries observed Iceland’s limit, excepting Great Britain. Iceland drove the British fishing ships away when Iceland’s Coast Guard ships  cut the offending ships’ netting lines. Eventually, after 15 years of conflict, the dispute was settled diplomatically; the limit today is 200 miles.

Two whaling ships could be seen moored across the bay. Our friend Judith the whale watcher from Antarctica would throw a fit (probably is), knowing that Iceland is one of only a few countries still whaling. Due to politically-imposed bureaucratic red tape, these boats won’t whale during the coming summer season. But still. Really?

We walked from lunch back around the harbor to the downtown square and the Reykjavik Art Museum. There we saw a special installation by Jónsi, titled Flood. Jónsi, you will recall, was the frontman for the world famous group Sigur Ros. Here’s the artist’s statement:

“the ocean being this ominous and mysterious force playing a central part in our Icelandic lives. It’s basically about ‘the big wave,’ a wave that takes us all and destroys everything in its path. The effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, flooding, melting glaciers and intensified natural disasters, are happening all around us, and this piece is a reflection of that dire reality.”

 The town square was also the site of the Nation Day celebrations. We missed the parade but there were still lots of choral groups and brass bands playing. There was a whole section of kids amusement activities. It was cold (50 degrees) and overcast. But the citizens of Reykjavik learned how to have fun despite such conditions a long time ago.

This was our last day in Reykjavik. Tomorrow were traveling to the north a bit to see some scenery. But first, we’re having a “tasting menu” dinner with Thor, his wife, a vocalist who is the only counter tenor in Iceland and his wife, a theatre set designer.

Walking to dinner from the hotel back to the town square area passed by people dancing in the streets to celebrate the holiday. Icelanders know how to have fun.

And the meal at Fiskmarkadurinn was the best yet. King prawn tempura, lightly salted cod white chocolate cheesecake doesn’t begin to describe a great meal.

This weekend marks the end of the annual Reykjavik Arts Festival and we’re taking full advantage of it – an extra bonus for our tour. Today we experienced local crafts, dance, theater, ancient music and modern music. Plus a walk in the park and two dining experiences. 

Thor took us down the hill to the center of Reykjavik where the national Parliament building, Prime Minister’s offices and Reykjavik Town Hall are located. The center is in fact the birthplace of Icelandic civilization: remains of a Viking settlement have been excavated there.

Nearby is the Icelandic Revenue Services building, the ground floor of which is a warehouse that on the weekends like today (Sunday) hosts a large flea market full of handmade goods, food and odds and ends you’d expect to find in a flea market. Judy found a neckless, which we purchased with Krona from the co-located ATM. 

A portion of the warehouse has been temporarily curtained off to house the Arkiv Dance Installation, part of the Arts Festival. Four screens project dancers, each dancer taking about five minutes to perform. The entire cycle lasts 60 minutes. We stayed for perhaps 15 minutes.

A short walk brought us to a restaurant for lunch: lobster soup, pan-fried Plokkfiskur (cod, I think) and Arctic Char.

Next, to the Reykjavik Art Museum to see Las Vegan, an original play created for the Arts Festival on a makeshift stage, a warehouse-like space several hundred feet long with seats running down either side. To quote from the Las Vegan writeup:

 Synopsis: When a child sees on TikTok that scientists believe the world will end in 2036, her mother decides to move the whole family to Las Vegas so that the child’s dream of learning mime can come true before it’s too late. In Las Vegas they are gradually drawn into the world of entertainment, as the woman gets involved in aerial gymnastics and the man begins to sing. Las Vegan deals with a fractured family – a couple at a crossroads while their child goes through a dark existential crisis and a lonely grandmother who goes on a crusade against the injustices of the world.

The words don’t give it justice: it was all that and more. First-rate acting, breathtaking acrobatics, costumes, music, action and props, which included a jeep-like vehicle driven from one end of the venue to the other. The family hoped their dreams of a better life would be realized in the USA, country of Las Vegas, the Bellagio, Elvis, the God Father, Al Pacino and so on.

Next, a 30-minute drive to the suburbs to a church (Lutheran, naturally) where Orn Maggnusun, the church’s organist and choir director, gave a concert using musical instruments from the time immediately following the Protestant Reformation (1500, give or take). Orn has researched the subject and, based on that research, craftsmen have constructed instruments that were lost with the advent of pipe organs in churches at that time.

That left us with 45 minutes to catch our breath before heading off to the Harpa for the Jacob Collier concert. Quoting from Sage’s description:

Although not an Icelandic musician, this young Brit is probably the most prodigal musician of the last one hundred years. Seeing him at Harpa with an Icelandic audience would be a real experience. 

We walked down the hill and had dinner at the Harpa.

And the concert was hard to describe. Jacob Collier is an incredibly talented pianist and guitar player. He performed his own compositions plus his own interpretations of pop and jazz standards, often with a jazz interpretation. On several songs, he coached the audience to sing along in six part harmony – no kidding, six parts in different sections of the auditorium. Iceland has a strong choral tradition so many in the audience sang in perfect unison at their assigned pitch. A very enjoyable evening.

The Harpa is an impressive building, especially from the outside. It rivals, in its own way, the Sydney Opera House. The auditorium is nice but SOH gets the nod. Acoustically it’s hard to say since Collier’s performance was heavily amplified. But the Harpa has nothing to apologize for.

Tomorrow, June 17, is Iceland’s National Day, commemorating the day in 1944 when Iceland became a republic. We’ll join in the festivities and enjoy some more exposure to Iceland’s artistic culture.

Most of our group, numbering 21 plus our tour guide Thor Tilinius, arrived today. Today’s agenda is therefore limited to give folks a chance to get acclimated. But it’s been a busy enough day.

We had a continental breakfast at the hotel, after which we met many of our fellow travelers in the lobby. Breakfast for us broke our intermittent fasting program: 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating. We’ll be observing intermittent eating on this trip: 16 hours of eating and 8 hours of fasting.

I took a brief stroll to the south of our hotel, seeing nothing I recognized as an important landmark. Just a bunch of colorful houses on streets that, Thor tells us, are designed with intersections that discourage high-speed through traffic.

Part of Reykjavik’s  unique charm is the collection of murals, paintings and just plain graffiti on many buildings, blending nicely with the multi-colored paint schemes of the surrounding houses. Today is a sunny day, unlike yesterday’s cloudy light, and the colors are much more vibrant.

The formal session started with a walk with Thor, our tour guide who is assisting Sage, the tour leader. Thor is an theatrical actor, director and producer and a native of Reykjavik. His parents lived in our hotel’s neighborhood. He knows the turf.

We started with an hour’s walk down our street and back up the “Rainbow Street” to the Hallgrimskirkja Church, much the same territory Judy and I covered on our own yesterday. Except this time we had someone who could tell us what we were seeing.

The Rainbow Street is so painted to show the town and Iceland’s support and acceptance of the LGBTQ community. It also denotes the spot where we had crepes yesterday.

Thor pointed out Smekkleysa’s, an important music producer in ReykjavIk. Its Bad Taste record label released songs by many important Icelandic pop groups, including Sugarcubes. Incidentally, Bad Taste is a name derived from Pablo Picasso’s manifesto: “Good taste and frugality are the enemies of creativity.”

We saw an imposing lava stone structure that, until 2016, was the local jail. It housed the Supreme Court until 1947. Its exterior has been refurbished but its future use is yet to be determined.

12 Tonar is a famous music shop, café performance venue and record label that has given up-coming indie artists their start.

We even passed by the Iceland Hand Knitters Association shop which, miraculously, we escaped without making a purchase.

Our final destination was the Hallgrimskirkja Church, the tall church that for me at least is the landmark that keeps me from getting lost. One sighting and I know how to get home.

“Named after the revered seventeenth-century Icelandic poet and clergyman, Hallgrímur Pétursson, the church stands as a tribute to his profound impact on Icelandic literature and religious life. Pétursson, best known for his passionate and soulful hymns, has left an indelible mark on the country’s cultural heritage, a legacy that Hallgrímskirkja represents with pride and dignity.” https://www.re.is/is/blog/guide-to-hallgrimskirkja-church-reykjavik/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw97SzBhDaARIsAFHXUWBvYpXZezLAcTh2a2sX3aEOGOEXQL7nZ2uDQp2TeCvZe29XX-niVhcaAqsREALw_wcB His famous Passion Hymns are still recited today.

Hallgrimskirkja is a Lutheran church. Thor says that a person born in Iceland is automatically a Lutheran. You have to file a petition to not be a Lutheran.

Steiner Logi Helgason, one of the church’s organist and choirmaster,  treated us to an introduction to the church’s main organ, a German instrument installed in the 1990s. He performed several pieces of music by Icelandic composers that demonstrated both the development of Icelandic music and the power of the instrument.

A trip up to the observation deck of the 74 meter high tower gave us great views of Reykjavik on this sunny Saturday morning.

The statue out front is of Leif Ericsson, the son of Eric the Red and the explorer who discovered America in 1000 AD, give or take. It’s a gift given to Iceland to commemorate the 1,000-year anniversary of the first meeting of Iceland’s parliament, the Alþingi (Althing) in 932 AD. A gift, Thor pointed out, from a country that celebrates Columbus as the guy who discovered America.

The Alþingi is the longest serving parliament in the world but the artistic culture of Iceland is quite young. One of the pieces we heard this morning was by Jon Leifs, one of the first Icelandic composers of classical music. Before, it was all folk tunes and Lutheran hymns imported from Europe. Leifs did most of his composing in the 1920s and 1930s, blending his European training with traditional Icelandic folk tunes. So it’s fair to say that Icelandic classical music is less than 150 years old.

Across the street from the church is the museum and sculpture garden dedicated to the works of Einar Jonsson, often called the first Icelandic sculptor. He lived from 1874 to 1954 and is the first Icelandic artist to gain international recognition. I visited the sculpture garden yesterday and included a couple of pictures of his work. So again, the arts in Iceland are quite young.

Around 1:30 we had what Sage terms “brunch,” which is as good a name as any for what was a fantastic experience. We’re told we had tiger shrimp torpedos, chicken and waffles, brown pancakes and eggs Benedict with yuzu and caramel ice cream for desert. Meals that are both tasty and a cultural experience are to be treasured.

By 3:30 everyone was instructed to observe nap time so that we all could recover from jet lag and be prepared for tomorrow’s packed agenda. I, having arrived yesterday, skipped Quiet Time (Judy didn’t) and walked down the hill to the center of town. I saw the town square, the parliament building and the Harpa music hall, Reykjavik’s answer to the Sydney Opera House. Judy and I will be at the Harpa tomorrow evening for a concert performance so we’ll see which hall wins the best-of contest.

Fortunately for you (and me), I don’t know much about what I saw today so I’ll offer up no commentary. I’m sure Thor will take us where I went today so I’ll be able to regale you with more trivia in days to come.

 

 

 

I don’t think I’ve ever met someone from Iceland. We’ve changed planes at Keflavik Airport a couple of times but those brief encounters with customs officials and coffee shop cashiers don’t count. I’ve never had someone say, “Iceland? I’m from Iceland, you know.”

But then again, there are only about 376,000 residents in Iceland, and of those only 324,000 are true Icelanders, the remainder being from away. Almost 50,000 Iceland citizens live outside of Iceland, mostly in Scandinavian countries. There are about 40,000 people of Icelandic descent in the United States, mostly in the Upper Midwest. They came in the late 19th century and after World War II. Canada has a bunch, too. So no wonder I’ve never met an Icelander. It’s a small country with a small population.

But here we are, about to spend two weeks and more finding out what’s up with Iceland. Someone back home asked us, “What in the world are you going to do in Iceland for two weeks. I spent four days in Reykjavik and that was plenty.”

I’m not worried though. I think Iceland has an outsized importance in the world, more of just about everything – culture, scenery, wildlife and history – per capita than just about any place I can think of. OK, maybe Antarctica is right up there, per capita wise, but hey, it’s not a country.

Our flight over took five hours and was uneventful. We had dinner at Legal Seafood at the Boston airport, planning on saying “No, thanks” to Icelandair’s offer of dinner, opting for sleep instead. That proved to be a good choice. Judy claims they offered dinner but I was fast asleep. No breakfast. I slept for four hours, Judy maybe two.

Our taxi driver (“from away” like most taxi drivers in the world) dropped us 100 meters from our hotel’s front door since it’s located on a pedestrian thoroughfare. We had to dodge a painter’s lift truck to get to reception. Most everything in downtown Reykjavik is under construction, it seems.

Our room was ready, even at the early hour of 10 AM. We got settled and started out exploring on foot.

Actually, “on foot” is an apt description of our outing. We’re about as experienced a pair of travelers you could ask for, but even old pros – emphasis on “old” – can mess up once in a while. I took a shower just before leaving home and in dressing for the trip managed to put on on new shoe and one old shoe.

Now fortunately, I always buy black shoes, ones that I can wear hiking during the day and can wear to fancy restaurants that night. Solid black every time, which explains why I ended up the way I did. And my mistake gave us a reason for our outing. We stopped in a half dozen shops before finding one that sold shoes. If you want a genuine Icelandic wool sweater, they’ve got you covered. But shoes? Not so much. I guess most tourists make it to Reykjavik with matching shoes.

Lunch was at a genuine Icelandic crepe shop, just like the one we fell in love with in Amsterdam many years ago.

So far, our contact with Icelanders has been more than positive. Friendly and helpful, every one of them.

We covered a fair amount of ground on our walk. Judy retired early and I continued on to the Hallgrimskirkja Church, which we’ll be visiting for an organ recital.

The pictures will hopefully give a feel for what the town is like. It’s hard to call Reykjavik picturesque or quaint like many Old Town sections of major cities. It feels, to me, like a working town, one that’s dynamic and one that doesn’t let the tourist trade get in the way of people living their lives. Reykjavik sports a lot of wall art on its buildings, both commissioned and graffiti-based, which is quite attractive. It has its own charm, it’s colorful, attractive, clean and neat and I’m looking forward to learning about it from our guide in the coming days.

Nap time is over, the sun is breaking through the cloud deck and I’ve found a fish joint around the corner for dinner. It must be good, judging by the cats waiting impatiently at the back door.

But wait: there’s more. Sage told us about a nearby geothermal-heated swimming pool called Sundholl. Off we went, for a pre-dinner dip. It’s a community thing – free for seniors. You shower and can enter lap pools, hot tubs and kiddie pools. It’s a big facility and seems quite popular with locals and tourists alike.

And the cats were right. The unassuming Reykjavik Fish Restaurant served up Arctic Char (a salmon relative) and a thick, spicy Icelandic fish stew called Plokkari. Really good. A geothermal soak, fish dinner and a beer and we’re about as relaxed as you can get.

We’re on our own until 11:30 AM tomorrow when the formal program begins with a walking tour of downtown.