With the laundry drying on the line and the dirt shaken out of our tent, bellies full and achy limbs laid up, I can say that Iceland was a huge success.
We talked a little about our arrival in Iceland, and, as Jenna mentioned, we had trouble typing on her phone's touch-screen keypad. What she didn't mention was that we had a whole post written, about a third of which vanished into the ether when we tried to add pictures. It's a shame, too, because there were some really clever bits which I can't remember, so you'll just have to imagine them as I recap.
After walking with our packs into the center of Reykjavik, we got coffee and subsequently met up with Alexandra (Alex). We got along great immediately: she's very laid-back, funny, and smart. We dropped our bags off at her apartment building, which she shares with her band-mates from the group Hellvar, and she took us to a graffiti park just off Reykjavik's main commercial drag.
This space was formerly a parking lot, before a group of youth autonomously turned it into a street-art zone/skate park/gathering place, apparently with the municipal government's approval. Reykjavik is like that: the mayor was a comedian before taking office, and attended last year's Gay Pride Parade (Pride Week is a big deal in Reykjavik. We left just as it was beginning, and all the shops were displaying rainbow flags) in drag. Reykjavik has a lot of beautiful street art:
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| This thing was made out of little reflective circles, like fish scales, and it shimmered in the breeze. |
Jenna and I hadn't eaten yet. We had just begun to look for a place to eat, when Alex got a call from her band mate/neighbor Heiða, who told her to stop where she was because she knew the best vegan restaurant in Reykjavik.
Heiða picked us up minutes later in her Toyota, the trunk of which had a broken latch, and flapped up and down as she drove. As it turns out, Heiða holds a Master's in philosophy, so we had a bit to chat about. We went to Gló, a world-class raw restaurant with lots of vegan options. The food was dazzlingly good and healthy. I wasn't sure if it would be easy to eat vegan in Iceland. Certainly, vegetarianism and veganism run counter to Icelandic culinary tradition, the natural resources of the country being basically fish and sheep. Veganism also doesn't make ecological sense there, since fruits and vegetables have to be flown in. That being as it may, there were many vegan options in the city, and the food was invariably delicious.
Heiða visits the thermal pool in Reykjavik several times a week, and suggested that we come with her after lunch. We were happy to oblige. There are several thermal pools in the city, and it's good that we went with a local: the one we went to cost about $4 to enter, while some of the more tourist-oriented, spa pools can cost in the neighborhood of $20. Alex had to leave for work pretty soon after we got there, but Jenna, Heiða, and I stayed for over an hour.
Alex had accidentally left her purse at Gló, so after we dried off, Heiða dropped us off and headed back there. It was interesting to notice that there was no particular urgency about the situation. Theft is rare in Iceland. We saw people leaving bikes unlocked and mothers leaving baby carriages unattended while they shopped.
Jenna and I wandered through the center of town and wrote our ill-fated previous Make It So Van entry, then got dinner at The Laundromat Café. I was kind of dubious about their vegan offering, which was basically grilled vegetables on bread with hummus. It sounded like the kind of cop-out uncreative vegan option appearing reluctantly on innumerable mid-level American menus. When it came out, it was topped with tangy, garlicky sauce and sweet root-vegetable chutney, and the combination of flavors was sensational. Jenna had a house-made veggie burger, which was also really tasty.
We met up with Alex at her bar at 10PM, when she finished work, and had a few drinks. Life in Reykjavik starts late, and goes later: at 10PM, it's still very light out, and people are just finishing up dinner. She took us to a little housewarming gathering at a friend's apartment. It was fun to chat with the arty group hanging out there. Everyone spoke great English. We didn't stay too long, because we knew we had to be up very early the next morning.
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| Alex, in her back yard |
Jenna here: catching the bus to Þórsmörk was not easy. Alex had assured us that all the buses leaving Reykjavik to destinations in the country left from the same single bus terminal. We arrived there abut 15 minutes before our scheduled departure time, only to find out that our particular bus company left from some random parking lot an unwalkable distance away-- 45 minutes at least. The sympathetic Icelandic girl at the counter told me our only shot was to try to catch a taxi to the departure point, but with barely ten minutes left before our bus was going to leave, things were seeming pretty much hopeless. Then, the woman next to her piped up and offered to drive us. We ran to her van and she got us there just five minutes before our bus pulled out for Þórsmörk. I was totally blown away by this gesture-- I'm sure that in the United States, the only thing I would have gotten from those bus employees was a shrug and a "too bad."
We didn't know it when we bought the tickets, but the bus we took to Þórsmörk was kind of a tour bus, not just transportation. During the 3+ hour ride, we stopped twice at two incredibly scenic places along the way-- a huge waterfall and a picturesque glacier, where we were allowed to disembark and walk around and take photos.
We also expected that Þórsmörk would be a very small town, but there's basically nothing there besides the trailhead, a few huts, and campsites. Really in the middle of nowhere-- I don't believe there are any permanent residents at all.
We also expected that Þórsmörk would be a very small town, but there's basically nothing there besides the trailhead, a few huts, and campsites. Really in the middle of nowhere-- I don't believe there are any permanent residents at all.
Most of the ride was on a very rough dirt and rock road unsuitable for regular vehicles; accessible only to the hardiest of four-wheel drives. Our driver also took us with great aplomb through several large streams. We arrived in Þórsmörk a little after noon, and prepared to begin the first day of the Laugavegur, which really merits its own post!
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