Street scene, Reykjavik Hotel Centrum has joined two old buildings with one new one. Sue sits by the harp water sculpture in the nearby square.
In July 2007, I fulfilled a long held ambition to visit Iceland. Having studied the sagas and history for many years (in English translations) I was keen to see the place that is a central cource of my Asatru beliefs and Heathen lore. I flew with my partner from London Heathrow to Keflavik, overflying an impressive glacier, and we were transferred to Hotel Centrum, Reykjavik.
Beneath the hotel the earliest settlement hut remains were found, and nowadays you can visit an exhibition (accessed next door to the hotel) with fantastic cutting edge IT multi media presentations. They do not insist it is pioneer settler Ingimund Arnasons, but it is dated to before 871 , is large and in just the right place. The National Museum of Iceland (www.natmus.is) is worth a visit to (look out for an original statue of Thor) Unfortunately we did not manage to get to the Culture House in Reykjavik where original manuscripts of sagas can be seen. (www.thjodmenning.is) We only had limited daytime there, since we were mainly visiting the 'Golden Triangle' plus the West Coast. Actually, when I say 'daytime', in July that is 24 hours long, and only gets slightly duller at night. On such an evening we ventured onto the Haunted Iceland Ghost Tour, (www.hauntediceland.com) operated by a genial chap. Running such a tour in England myself, I was interested to see how he did it. There were good stories and gentle humour - a great way to be shown around Reykjavik and pick up on some of its' history to. We ended the night with a beer - £7/pint! Both food and drink are very expensive in Iceland. Think of £40 each for a two course meal with coffee at most restaurants. They have to import everything except fish and energy. When we were there about 115 ISK = £1.00 sterling.
The next morning we were taken to pick up our rental VW Polo, a left hand drive automatic. It was ok for the roads we intended to go on, but for many other areas you need a 4 wheel drive. Most roads are single carriageway, and may suddenly switch from tarmac to dirt track without notice. The good thing is that there is very little traffic outside of the main town, and you can park most places for free. (There are only about 300,000 people living in a country the size of England, so outside the small towns there are often only scattered houses.) Fuel is comparable to UK prices. We were given a mobile phone with £5 credit on it (which can be topped up) since European mobiles incur costly charges, by the company that arranged our tailor made itinerary, Discover the World (www.discover-the-world.co.uk) who also supplied a good map book and guide book, but it was up to us to decide how we got to each hotel, and what we wanted to see on the way.
We first headed to what is known as The Golden Triangle: Thingvellir Plain (site of the national Althing parliament) the Geysir field and the mighty awe inspiring multi cascades of Gulfoss waterfalls. As the centre for my values and beliefs, I inevitably felt quite emotional standing on the Law Rock at Thingvellir. The site has dropped 4 metres in the last 1000 years, and is situated on a fault line. The path down to it is a break between two halfs of a large rockface, split by earthquake. The whole island is still actively volcanic.
The faultline valley at Thingvellir
An island in the river Oxala was used for holmgangr duels
From there we went onto the Geysir field and Gulfoss waterfalls, passing many farmed Icelandic horses and a volcano which we climbed up to. We finished the day in Selfoss at Hotel Selfoss. It was a larger hotel than most of the others we stayed in, with coach parties etc.
Gulfoss is spectacular. It was saved from commercialisation by the
efforts of this lady, whose plaque is sited there.
Next day it was back west to Borganes, via an enormously long tunnel (toll about £9) under a fjord (Hvalfjordur) and then a road bridge over another one. Sue caught pictures of both ends of a rainbow, maybe prophetic since on another trip we saw the sign to Bifrost, in mythology the rainbow bridge! We stayed at Hotel Hamar, and enjoyed free hot tubs!
Next day we went onto Olafsvik for a whale watching trip. It costs about
£45 each for a 3 hour trip on the motor catamaran. We saw a couple
of orcas, lots of white beaked dolphins and a minke whale. Unfortunately,
Sue got seasick when the boat stopped to look, and my digital camera wasn't
fast enough to catch a picture whilst they were still above water, with
one exception! (www.seatours.is)
In the afternoon we drove to Helgafell, the holy mountain where some
believed the ancestors dwelt. Since the custom was not to climb it unwashed,
the authorities had kindly put washbasins (and a loo) in the carpark. It
was one of my favourite experiences, next to Thingvellir. We stayed nearby
in Stykkisholmur (Hotel Stykkisholmur), which has a quaint 'Norwegian House'
museum (the first two storey building in Iceland), an ultra modern church
and a lighthouse hill which we climbed for great views over the sea and
harbour.
(Above) Helgafell, and view from its top.
(Below) Stykkisholmur harbour from lighthouse, and from jetty.
We travelled to Snorrastoffa, at Reykholt, the home of Snorri Sturlusson,
who wrote the Poetic Edda, Heimskringla and probably Egils saga. You can
still feel how hot his bathing pool is (fed by thermal spring) visit his
family graveplot in the churchyard and spend time in a charming museum
with an enthusiatic curator. Wherever we went, if you showed the slightest
interest or knowledge in history or sagas, people fell over themselves
to offer more information and show you stuff. Although you can get by perfectly
well in English, if you say 'Takk' instead of thankyou, you get a big smile
back.
(Below) Snorri statue, bathing pool and church at Reykholt.
As a re-enactor I was interested to see the one at Erikstadr, near
to the beautiful Haukadalsvatn lake. The road was a bit hairy in places,
but well worth the effort, as we passed the usual mountains, lakes and
waterfalls. (It was easy to become blase - there are so many on every
trip.) Anyway, the guy at the reconstruction of Eirik the Reds Icelandic
house (before he was exiled to Greenland and his son Leif Eriksson sailed
to Vinland - America) was superb, relating the guts of the saga in half
an hour before switching to other languages! His partner in the adjacent
craft shop was very helpful to Sue in demonstrating a different way of
nailbinding. This is a way of making woolen socks etc.
(Above)The road to Erikstadr - including Haukadalsvatn lake, welcoming
totem carving and statue to Leif Eriksson. (Below) The reconstructed house,
its original site and the storyteller.
Grabrokargigar volcano last erupted 3000 years ago.
Stakkafell waterfall
Volcanic lava field
Before returning home via Reykjavik and Keflavik airport we had another
scenic tour, this time around Hvalfjordur (missing out the toll tunnel
this time) and bathed in the Blue Lagoon, which is thermaly heated by natural
springs with rejuvenating elements. I was concerned that British passport
control may not recognise me if I looked too young, and would refuse re-entry
to the UK! We want to go back now to see the rest of Iceland! 8 days was
just about right to see the Western side without rushing or driving too
much. We need another month for the rest. It is an awesome place.
