Iceland! (Even Closer to Björk!)

After a 4:30 am wake up call and a 5:00 ride to the airport through virtually deserted streets, the trip to London (Gatwick this time) was relatively easy and painless. Transferring to the international flight to Iceland, however, took some doing as the airport was busy, the security measures somewhat different than the US, and negotiating the terminal, while easier than Heathrow, was nonetheless a challenge.

After all that, we landed in Iceland near dusk. The airport is 45 kilometers from the city and getting there was pure chaos.

Our bus was packed from all the recent arrivals, perhaps 100 people or so with at least two bags each. We were transported to the central bus station of this company, Flybus, and switched to smaller coaches for transport to lodging.

Drivers simply shouted out hotel names and folks scuttled to their waiting coach presuming that they could understand what was being said. Our hotel, Thingholt (oh dear, more unique letters), rather ƥingholt, sits in the central business district on incredibly narrow brick-paved streets. Dodging traffic, pedestrians and parked cars we wove our way carefully through the cacophony that is Rejkavik and eventually found our way to our lodging.

Everything about the city, the people, the transportation system, the lodging (here is a view out our hotel room window) was quirky and unique.

Hungry after a long day we were pleasantly surprised to find a seven course 'tasting menu' at the hotel's restaurant. Better yet, the restaurant seemed to be very highly rated by its customers, at least its Tripadvisor customers. So we jumped in.

And were we glad we did.

We ate a 7 course(?) “tasting” dinner (a separate entry describes this) and were bloated so we walked the city streets surprised by the sound of studded car tires on cobblestone streets, until exhaustion set in around 10 or so. The city was still jumping, stores were open and it was a Wednesday night. Second only to the dinner, the highlight of the evening was spotting a t-shirt that queried,

“What part of 'Eyjafjnallajökull' don't you understand?"

Eyjafjnallajokull, helpfully pronounced [ˈeɪjaˌfjatlaˌjœːkʏtl̥] is the active volcano last erupting in 2010 causing diversion of air traffic to and from Europe. No one outside of the country could even begin to pronounce the name, so it was anglicized to E-528 or some such designation.

By way, in order to help you with you Icelandic language skills and cultural sensitivity, here is the correct pronunciation of this important geological feature, click here.

The next morning we piled out of bed and had a wonderful breakfast at the same restaurant with all manner of fruit, pastries, fish, yogurt, muesli. Pith loves breakfast and loved this breakfast. Again we walked it off, went shopping. We were there one day before Iceland Airwaves, an annual music festival where many stores open up their shops to bands to perform all over the city. (My three favorite band names? Muck, Caterpillermen and Hide the Kids.)

Finally (FINALLY!) I got up the nerve to ask a store clerk if she had ever met Björk. To my amazement she had! She said that she encountered her once in a swimming pool and thought that was a wonderful experience since Björk is now internationally famous. She then proceeded to tell me about another Icelandic band that she really likes called Gus Gus. (pronounced "goose, goose").

Newly emboldened I asked at a second clerk. His answer? Why yes, my mom used to babysit for Björk's son! This young man was told by his mother that he used to tease Björk's son. On this note of teasing, we bonded and he went on to tell me that Björk's son is now 27 or so, is a famous musician in his own right, and because he wishes to make it on his own, he doesn't want any part of his mother's money.

He also attempted to teach me some (very) rudimentary Icelandic, but I couldn't even make that sound at the end of the name of their volcano. He tried at least ten times and I still couldn't get it as it was a cross between a click and a hum.

I felt that Björk was right around the proverbial corner.

The sights, sounds and experiences of Reykjavik on this morning were enthralling despite the cold and damp weather. We were able to take in a fair amount of shops and sights in our brief morning sojourn, but, regrettably (or not) we didn't catch ALL that Iceland has to offer.