This is what Iceland is about. Finding portage in Isafjordour we disembarked to find rural Iceland. Flowers and fjords and the quirky way of life in elemental nature. On the one round about on the way out of Isafjordour, four cars constitute a traffic jam. While cars were few, we were told that the new tunnel was much appreciated for reducing driving time between population centers. Before the tunnel it could take hours longer, when passages were not blocked by snow. Traffic is one way in the tunnel. Outbound traffic must pull over into niches. Unique to this tunnel, it branches, first left then right, allowing drivers their choice of destinations.
Like Alaska and other natural states to the arctic north, the weather is highly variable. Our guide frequently mentioned what a nice day it was; it wasn’t raining. It was gray, windy and about 50 degrees. Nice is a relative experience.
We visited the one Icelandic garden, Skrubur, named for the crazy man no one believed could make a garden grow. Since he succeeded in 1909, his name has become synonymous with all Icelandic gardens. Past the garden and into town we heard a short concert of Icelandic contemporary music in the only church and then walked to the oldest bookstore in Iceland. Bookstore geeks that we are, I did have to buy the t-shirt and a copy of The Sagas and Shit: Icelandic Literature Crudely Abridged from The Old Bookstore in Flateryi.
Out in Flateryi it’s all sheep, fishing and tourists in the summer. Winter being the simpler combination of sheep and snow. With about four hours of light for several months it’s likely winter also contains serious drinking.
Fun fact. Eric Clapton is a salmon fisherman of note. One year he held the honor of catching the largest salmon of the year. Well it was big news here.
Architecture is utilitarian, square, wooden, corrugated metal and, very occasionally, concrete. Back in Isafjordour, an old building was preserved as a museum. The stairs were a nightmare of steep and narrow with but a single rail. We pitied the woman of the house who
was likely up and down them dozens of times a day. We pitied also that she was a teenager married off to a man twenty years her senior. Her parents sought a status match. Her recorded reaction. “He’s old. I never had a childhood. I went straight from a child myself to caring for his.”
For the start of the trip visit:
https://www.clarenovak.com/location/reykjavik-a-year-in-the-arriving/
