Reykjavik, Iceland

Where do I begin? On August 1, we docked in Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavik. There are only about 300,000 people who live in the whole country and most of them live here. To begin with, Iceland is an island with incredible geological features - many of which I was able to see. The first settlers came to this uninhabited land from Norway over 1,000 years ago. The site of Reykjavik was determined by the first explorer who said a prayer to a Viking god and made an oath to settle wherever his chair landed when he threw it off his ship. The language spoken there today is almost the same as what was spoken by the first inhabitants because they had little external influence for a long time. The words can be very long because they just add a bunch of little words up to make new ones - you may remember the Icelandic volcano that erupted recently which had to be called E16 because no one could pronounce the real name. They have a unique system for naming children; daughters are given a first name and their last name is their father’s first name plus the word “dottir”, and I, being “Kristin Knutson” should be a boy. I am pretty sure their laws require this naming process. Iceland came under Danish rule a few hundred years ago, but has since gained independence.

I took a bus tour of the countryside during the day, but went out with friends at night - which felt like the afternoon because of all the daylight. The first few pictures were taken downtown. An opera house, a beautiful church (which is the tallest building in the Reykjavik skyline), the ladies of the cast with a troll… There were a few buildings covered in graffiti murals that were spectacular. I have no idea why there were benches on the sidewalk in mounds of earth. My friend in that picture is another castmember, Justin Allen Tate.

We set out early in the morning for Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On our way there, we passed sheep after sheep after sheep… just grazing and wandering around with no fences in site. Our tour guide explained that all of the farmers give the sheep ear tags in spring and let them loose to graze in the countryside all summer long. Then at the end of summer, the sheep are rounded up and sent back to their farms for the winter. I only have blurry bus shots of sheep, so use your imagination. There are a couple of pictures from Thingvellir National Park - the little waterfall and the group of ponds. Apparently there are 4 different kinds of Arctic Charr in one of these lakes, and that is a big deal! This park is also on an ancient geological fault.

The picture of the little pond with the bright blue water is from “Geysir” geothermal park. This was a small area with a few geysers, the biggest of which blew hot water about 200 feet in the air right in front of me. The air smelled like sulfur, or “money” according to our bus driver.

The next picture is of another geological wonder - a lake in a huge crater. Sorry, I don’t know how it got there because our tour was in too much of a hurry for me to read the sign.

I sadly did not get pictures of the volcanoes and glaciers in the distance, but they were there!

My favorite part was the visit to Fridheimar Farm to see a horse show. Horses are a treasured part of Icelandic culture - definitely for riding, and my bus driver said they taste good too… I don’t know if he was kidding. They believe the Vikings brought over Norway’s best horses when they were first settling, and that no horses have been imported in 1000 years - making the Icelandic horse a special breed. The Icelandic horse is smaller than our American Quarter Horse, closer to pony size, but has a chiseled face, stockier build, and beautiful mane. They also have an additional gait called the Tölt- during which they appear to glide. The riders showed off this gliding gate by holding steins full of beer without spilling a drop. I saw almost as many horses as sheep in the countryside - there is one horse for every three Icelanders!

The huge waterfall in the picture is Gullfoss, or Golden Falls. We also stopped at a geothermal power plant which makes use of the fault line running through Iceland to supply clean energy.

In a country full of so many geological wonders; volcanoes, geysers, glaciers, waterfalls, etc., it is easy to understand how superstition became a strong element of their culture. Many Icelanders believe in the existence of trolls and “hidden people”. Trolls live in the rocks and more than one road has a slight detour because the pavers believed they came to a troll inhabited rock. Supposedly, they would have a streak of bad luck trying to clear the obstacle and assumed a certain troll wasn’t happy with their plans. The “hidden people” are another supernatural being who live in the hills and are brightly colored. I can’t say that I saw anything to support or disprove their existence.

Wish I could have stayed in this city longer... next stop, west coast of Iceland!