It is mid-June and is snowing now...

If you don't like the weather in Iceland, wait 5 minutes and it will get worse.
-all patriotic Icelanders

VATNAJÖKULL, 6.0%, Selfoss, Iceland

Patriotism and Pride

Earth covered in ashes from the
recent eruption

While out on a Sunday brunch with Oscar and family the day before our departure from their warm home, he turns to me with a grin on his face and said, "Yoshi, you should go tell those non-colored people that Japan has better fish, safer neighborhood, and people there live longer". 

Being here for two weeks taught me that Icelanders are very fond of their country and culture, and are not afraid to express their love openly. Above three things are just a few of the many that they are proud of, and one elder even said to me that the weather in Iceland is the best, despite unpredictable forecast, daily gusty wind, and cold, pitch black winter. It is hard to comprehend such patriotism, especially when you come from a country still debating about whether the national flag and anthem should or should not be in public schools. 

Tip of icebergs floating in a river
of 600ft in depth

This love towards their own nation, may be the reason why they take care to preserve the environment as close to its natural form. You rarely see fences or guardrails on roads, and never witness a power-shovel cutting into a mountain or filling a land. Roads are simply paved along the coast line according to the shape of nature, not according to our convenience. In parks and sightseeing spots, off-limit area is often marked with a single rope held with a foot-high wooden pegs. Even toddlers are able to jump over them, but according to local people the safety is, "up to each and everyone of us in order to preserve the natural view of how it is suppose to be". 

When Grimsvötn erupted on the day we arrived, people told us how lucky we are rather than worried about others who's planes were cancelled. This certainly was a surprise. Last year when the rest of European aviation network was in chaos Icelanders sat back and said, "it will stop some day". Icelanders live side-by-side and take care of nature, as nature takes care of them. I hope this uncorrupted atmosphere stay the same and to be passed onto the generations to come.

The first penalty in a foreign soil

Speeding violation caught on a camera.

AM00:01, been driving for 14 hours in snow.

9mph over the limit. 

Nothing to be proud of, but I thought I share.

Beer in Iceland

 Apparently it is not allowed to sell beer in supermarkets and convenience stores; only available in liquor stores. Only alcohol beverage sold in booze shop is lite-beer, which contains about 2.5% or less alcohol. I had a chance to buy a pack by accident, and they are like water.

Known makers of beer here, are VIKING and EGILS. They are on a lighter side, and not bitter. I had a chance to try regional beer such as KALDI, a dark lager beer, and FREYJA, pilsner-like beer with a bitter flavor, which I enjoyed very much.

Viking Gyllsur, Akureyri, Iceland 5.6%

Kaldi, lager, 5.0%, Arskogssandur, Iceland

Fósturlandsins Freyja, 4.5%, Selfoss, Iceland

Egils lite, Reykjavik, iceland.   4.4%

Birthday, Icelandic style

Sahe booked a dinner reservation at a fish restaurant on a harbor in Isafjordur called, Tjöruhúsid, meaning the Log Cabin in Icelandic. The historical wooden structure contained long tables and benches, and there were already many people present. Apparently we had walked into a family reunion. Feeling a bit overwhelmed and out of place, we were seated at the table in the corner near the entrance with a nice breeze, together with other non-Icelanders.

A la carte menu was not available, and was a buffet style dinner tonight. Catch of the day straight from the harbor 50 meters away, salmon, cod, catfish and various seafood was cooked in various sauce. Each dish is served on a platter table in a frying pan, still sizzling. Nothing fancy. I have noticed that Icelandic food generally is strongly flavored, and so it goes well with beer. And they know how to cook seafood. However, they also use lots of butter in their cooking, and that can be filling. Our long table was shared with an older American couple from Virginia, and a couple our age from Malta Island. Hmm, where is Malta... After quietly asking Sahe, we have learned so much about the country that by the end of the dinner, we have added the country into our place-to-visit on our journey. Not Virginia, though.  

The large group of 50, finishing up their meal and wine starting to get to their roofs, started to take turns giving speches and telling jokes. We understand none of this, but can see they are having a great time. Not so much later, they decided to include us in their party, singing songs, and having a wonderful time. We later learned that the family gathered to celebrated the grandmother who would have been 100 years old if she was alive. That was enough reason for the 50 relatives, 4 generations,  to get together. It was nice to see such strong family ties. And then, I also recalled the birthday party of Anna's nephew that we were invited a week ago, where two dozen relatives spent time together on his behalf. Also, our new friend Gunner, who invited us to his apartment for his famous family recipe of cooking horse meat the other day, talked about his family a lot. It is nice to see the meaning of family is valued here.  

These warm-hearted, sweater-wearing guys sang a happy birthday song in Icelandic, and had few drinks over a few laughter when we ran into them again at a nearby bar we went afterward. Thinking to myself in a drunken haze, that the warmth of a person does not come from the climate they live in, empty pint glasses lined up on a table as the bright night went on.

Thanks Sahe, for another wonderful birthday.

Forecast: Sunny/Partly Muddy

Vehicle: Once again the minivan, SEEDS1. Destination: Westfjörds, located on north-west corner of the island, about 350km north of Reykjavik. Mission: drive the van to a farm where some volunteers have been working, drop it off with them and find our own way to get to a village near Ísafjördur. Westfjörds, the north-west region of Iceland in known to have a magnificent landscape lie no other, with steep mountains raising from sea on each side of long and narrow bays, spreading out like an open hand. We left early enough in the morning to arrive a town about 100km away from the farm. Cold but a beautiful day to be travelling, everything was going well and on schedule.

We should have questioned ourselves at some point about not having a decent map. It never occur to us that a map of Iceland with only major roads depicted was not going to be enough information. We kept going but when we realized we may have taken a wrong turn onto an unpaved road it was too late. Our narrow path, beside a steep hill on one side was blocked off by large rocks, and instead of going in reverse turning around seemed to be the right choice. I was wrong. Wet ground on the side of the road swallowed front wheels, and back wheels with no traction kept spinning hopelessly. As there were no sign of other vehicles coming to isolated back road, we had to manage to jack the car up, little by little, to lay sheet of rocks under each tires until the body of the car became leveled. Sahe took the steering wheel, unable to shake the thought of going too far back into a drop of 30 meters (90ft), but kept herself brave as I pushed the van from the front. Two hours later, we managed to escape the bump on the road, and although we were extremely late, we were able to hand over the mud-covered wagon to volunteers. 

After leaving the machine, we have left our fate on our thumbs as we decided to hitchhike from here on to our destination village 120km (75miles) away. People seem to have a warm heart, and is one of the safest countries, hitchhike is commonly practiced in Iceland among travelers and locals. As it was her first time, Sahe was enjoying the experience at first, taking photos of cars that did not stop, but the weather in Westfjord is not so friendly, even in early June. Located on 66 degrees North, temprature is still close to freezing point, and the wind is so strong it draws out the sound of a car coming from behind us. We kept walking on the side of the road, also realizing there are very few cars that pass by. About an hour later when our cheeks turned numb, a lady pulled up and picked us up. She was nice enough to drive us to the village.

What a way to spend my last day as a 35 year-old.

Eruption, Storm, and the Never-setting Sun

Unlike us, the homeless & jobless moochers, our host, Oscar, keeps himself busy as the founder of non-governmental, non-profit organization, SEEDS. (SEE beyonD borderS). The organization aims at promoting respect for cultural diversity, mutual understanding and environment protection, and has many volunteers involved in various projects and activities in all over Iceland.

In prior to our departure of our journey, he suggested us to take the minivan with the volunteers who are going to a project on the east coast. The two day trip of 670 km (420 miles) one-way, leaving on the day after we arrive, will include dropping the staff off and bringing back the van to Reykjavik. As this would be a good chance to see the country side of the entire country we decided to take up on the offer. Route 1, which surrounds the coast of the entire island, is more or less about the same distance to our destination on North/South route, and so we had in mind that we can go on one of the ways and come back on the other. Unfortunately, Grimsvötn did not allow us to do so. The volcano, located on southeast, erupted on the day of arrival a d the Sourh route was closed. In addition, the unusually late spring brought the season finalé snow storm on the eastern region. Nonetheless, we decided to go.

  

Reindeer only exist on the eastern side of the island

Most of volunteers are from Europe, some experienced and others for the first time. The vehicle was filled with strange happy music, and conversation and laughter in English with various accents. We stopped now and then at sightseeing spots, but as it started to snow in the evening some of roads were closed, and we were forced to stay over at another volunteer team's cabin. We spent the next day helping the volunteers, painting wooden toys and shelves, as roads were still closed.

Sahe and I were finally able to leave on the day 3, although it was still snowing. We get to the first town and asked a guy at the visitor center about the road condition. The big Nordic man says, "I wouldn't go if I were you"... So I convinced Sahe and we went on our way but soon realized that it was a bad move. The narrow road, hangs alongside a cliff of 100m (300ft) drop, is almost not visible due to blizzard blowing into the valley. In addition, summer tires with no traction for icy pavement prevents us from going forward without skidding. 

After an hour and a half of driving at 10cm/hour, we found a gas station to rest, until the storm eased. The weather eventually got better in the late afternoon, and so we went on our way. It ended up taking 15 hours to go 670km, arriving at 1:30 in the morning which is already like dawn. This was only our fourth day, and our adventurous  journey had just begun.

So the journey begins: Iceland

 We chose an over-night flight for the method of transportation to Iceland. As it would save accommodation expense, we will likely travel in future by night trains/ships/planes/buses, and this was our first. The flight is 5 hours long and the time difference is +4hours to Iceland. We will arrive International Airport at 07:00 which will give us a whole day to explore, but as long as we are traveling east-ward we will have to face some harsh jet lag.

We take the shuttle bus from the airport, and arrive Reykjavik 45 minutes later. The first impression of the city as well as the airport is clean, and quiet. Sahe's friend, Oscar, came to pick us up and took us to his home. His family, Anna and 2 year old Andri-Mateo are our first host. Over a breakfast on a balcony, they tell us a about Iceland and things we can do. Temprature is about 5c (40f) and is unusual for this time of season, but the sunlight warms up the air and is very comfortable, unless there is wind. Apparently Iceland is known for its strong and constant wind, and so having a decent jacket even in May is important. Good thing we did not take it for granted.

We rested for a few hours, and went to the art festival in the center of the city. There were many people out in the square, and when the entire population is 300,000 people and most of them living near the capital, it is common to run into people you know. Oscar and Anna must have introduced us to dozen of people, and we even see people we saw at the airport a several hours ago. We took a stroll around the city; cozy and not intimidating like other cities, as there are almost no tall buildings surrounded.

Anna prepared special hamburgers with flavorful spices for dinner, and was delicious. Sahe and I took a walk after the dinner around 23:00 in the neighborhood. While suffering jet lag, seeing the sunset-like view certainly throws your sense of time off. Of course, the sun never really set, and was visible for the rest of the night until around 3 o'clock when it started to get brighter.

What's your favorite colour?

she was an exception

Through the New York's famous Friday evening traffic , we arrived Newark Airport, and are already lost. Our airline, Icelandic Express does not seem to be in the area of where major airline counters are, And realize it is on a different floor. Behind the counter people have the most white skin with most blond hair. Their color scheme in their facial feature are so light, that they share a similar softness as a pencil dessign with thin watercolor paint lightly applied to bring out the subtle rosy cheeks.

Known for their sense of color scheme, I have always admired Northern Europeans' combination and balance in their use of color, as well as their great sense of design. When waiting in line to check in our bags, I started to wonder if they have achieved this visually advanced sense as a result of lacking vivid color and distinct contrast in their feature and in the landscape, and wanted to find the missing piece of non-monochrome life. But again, it may just be the result of time they spend indoors during long winters, thinking about beautiful color for sweaters and roof tops.

Speaking of spending time indoors, I read an article somewhere that Iceland is one of the leading countries in average number of books read per person, and has the highest percentage of people who has published books. I don't know who would have an actual answer for something like this, but I will be sure to ask about it  while we are in town.

Our plane to Reykjavik; rock n' roll!!