July 16th
Walt Disney Corp. is one of the greatest marketing companies on earth. Pound for pound they don't hold a candle to Iceland. The country only has 300,000 people. Ninety percent of the land is natural desert. The coast had trees 1,200 years ago. All of them are gone now, cut down by the Vikings. Iceland is cold and cloudy even in the summer. There is little industry or financial wealth. Despite the shortcomings Iceland has turned itself into a prime tourist destination. Norway has beautiful terrain, great sporting venues, enormous wealth, and a healthy well educated population. They think visiting Iceland is a gigantic treat. Everybody else goes there too. What a marketing success!
Iceland is tremendous fun. Everybody is in a good mood. You get off the plane and it's contagious. "This place is cool." The Golden Circle is the country's go-to excursion. Gail and I enjoyed it on a small tour bus. We left Saturday morning. Two-thirds of Iceland's population lives in the Rykjavik area. Within 30 minutes that was in the rear view mirror. Out in no man's land.
Thingvellir was our first stop. That's now a national park with hiking trails around one of Iceland's biggest lakes. Twelve hundred years ago it served as the world's first parliament. Leaders from the different villages met each year to resolve problems and plan for the future. The meetings continued for 400 years until Norway took control in 1264. In 1376 Norway itself was absorbed by Denmark. Iceland was part of the package. Iceland eventually became independent after World War One. But it still shared the Danish king. It finally shed all its shackles in 1944 when Germany conquered Denmark. The Icelanders took that opportunity to say adios once and for all.
Geyser is Iceland's iconic landmark. The entire island is full of geothermal energy. Water spouts out of the ground across the land. Geyser is the most famous. Today Iceland's "old faithful" is a shadow of its former self. Twenty years ago scientists tried to rejuvenate the eruptions with chemicals. Those created environmental problems and were abandoned. The area today contains a wide area of hot springs. But the height of the bursts are less spectacular than in the old days.
The Gullfoss waterfall was next. It truly is out in the middle of nowhere. Gullfoss might never have been popularized were it not for a woman who single handedly built the trails to make the place accessible. Gail and I enjoyed the crashing waterfalls. We were particularly interested to see how dangerous it all was. In America there would be stairs and railings and handicap lifts. Here it was wet rocks, steep climbing, and uneven footing. That didn't phase anybody. Iceland is fun! Old men scrambled up the slippery rocks. Little kids jumped back down. Ah, the good old days!
The Secret Lagoon was the end of the line. The "Blue Lagoon" is another one of Iceland's marketing creations. That was south of Reykjavik, too far for us to reach. We stopped at a knock off instead. It was great! Hot springs filled the pool. The beer prices were reasonable. Everybody felt relaxed and had a blast.
We walked around Reyjavik some more after returning. The dark in winter might be a challenge. In July the night barely exists. Gail heard heavy metal in the distance. I thought it was some guy blasting his stereo. She didn't buy that. We walked toward the sound. A block party had sprung up. The joint was jumpin'. At first we were in the back, where seeing the stage was difficult. Gail solved that problem. We skirted around the crowd to a better viewing area. Before long the head bangers saw where we'd gone and joined us. Party time!
