Welcome to Iceland Velkomin til Íslands

Welcome to Iceland   Velkomin  til Íslands  (Veel-comeen teel Eeslands)

Ever wanted to go to Iceland?  Well sure, everyone has.  Cold drinks, barbecues out by the glacier, campfire songs around a roaring volcano, refreshing shower under a snow fed waterfall.

Yep, it’s all there, along with starkly beautiful scenery and friendly people.  First you need a perspective:  Lots and lots of gorgeous waterfalls and barren mountains, steaming volcanoes and an entire country with a population about the same as Aurora, Colorado, the 56^th largest city in the U.S.  You’ve got the capital, Reykjavik (Ray-ta-vick), with about 120,000 people, and another 210,000 citizens spread across an island the size of Ohio.  No wonder people jump for joy when they see another human face.

Pick a name, any name, maybe.  Icelanders go by their first name, with the last name being their father’s or mother’s first name, with son or daughter attached to the end.  Decide you want to name your child something more exotic, or spell it in a way that will drive your child’s 3^rd Grade teacher nuts?  Good luck.  First names not yet in use must be first approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee.  (No, I am not making this up)

Yet, in spite of the restrictive name-game, Iceland was apparently the first European democracy, dating to 930 A.D.  We have to qualify that. A lot happened in the intervening centuries.  Iceland belonged to Denmark much of that time.  In 1918, the Icelanders and Danes decided to give Iceland kinda-sorta independence.  In name, not, but in function, yes.  Then something big came along:  World War II, during and after which a plethora of colonies and subject states gained independence.  For Iceland, the date was 17 June 1944.

Iceland does not have an army, navy, or air force, but they did help the allies in the war, with British and American troops being stationed in this bastion in the North Atlantic.  

Iceland was also a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), joining with the provision they would not have to establish armed forces.  They do have a Coast Guard and have provided peacekeeping forces that were trained in Norway.  American forces withdrew in 2006-8, but there are plans afoot to reopen the closed bases.

I mentioned volcanoes.  There are about 130 active and inactive volcanoes here.  You may remember when Eyjafjallajökull ( A-ya-feel-a jakull) caused an uproar in air travel following its eruption in 2010.  The bad news is, Eyjafjallajökull is not the biggest or baddest of Iceland’s volcanoes. 

The bright spots are: Volcanoes are part of Iceland’s tourist biz and provide Iceland’s energy.  There’s a one-of-a-kind volcano near Reykjavik where you can journey down into the crater.  In fact, it’s the only tourist-volcano in the world. Been dormant for 4000 years.  But, I didn’t give it a shot.  It would be just my luck…

The following are views of Iceland's Capital

At the end of the street is Hallgrimskirkja, a Lutheran church., designed to resemble lava flow.

No wonder 85% of Iceland’s energy needs are met through geothermal methods.  But even geothermal has its drawbacks.  Can you imagine having 130 volcanoes in Ohio?

Volcano is just a word, but it encompasses more than you’d normally imagine.  A big pointy tipped mountain with a hole in the top, right?  Well some of Iceland’s most powerful volcanoes are located under sub-glacial lakes.  Too much to go into here, but when they erupt (thankfully not since several centuries ago), effects will be felt around the world.  The last big eruption in the late 18^th Century, killed a quarter of the population of Iceland, as well as disrupting climate systems around the globe, resulting in droughts as far away as India, and crop failures in Europe.  Total death count from all causes is suspected to be around eight million people.

Little known, but interestingly enough, the tectonic plates separating Europe and North America converge right thorough the middle of this island.  You can drive right past the two mountains where the plates converge and where they are separating at the rate of 2 cm per year.

Not many trees here, but it’s not because they shake in their roots over volcanoes.  Weather.  Many Icelandic trees are immigrants.  Short, hardy species, such as Norwegian birch and evergreens.  A puzzle because the trees in Norway can be pretty tall.  Evidently…and I use that word guardedly… Vikings cut down most of the trees for shipbuilding and heat.  Then came the sheep. There are over 800,000 of the wooly beasts, about two and a half times the number of humans.  Hint: They graze.

And although the weather in Iceland is chilly and windy (January averages about 35ºF, 1.9ºC, and August about 55ºF, 13ºC), there are lots of places that are colder, including Chicago ( January 32ºF, 0ºC).  Bigger factors are the lack of arable land, only a bit over 21% of the coast, and glaciers that cover over 11% of the island.

Still, Iceland is spectacularly beautiful.  Mountains appear to be wrapped in green velvet.  Silky waterfalls cascade elegantly everywhere you look.  The coastline is rugged and the villages are small little nests of civilization.  It’s as if people only just discovered the place and decided to spend a few days.

As you might expect, many of the secondary schools here are boarding schools.  With villages so far apart and the heavy snows of winters, daily travel often isn’t practical.

Our cruise stopped four places in Iceland, each one so very different, ranging from the ‘big city’ streets and culture to the tiny fishing villages surrounded by mountains and sheep and waterfalls.

Hope you enjoyed your visit!   I know I did!  Vona að þið notið heimsókn!