Tag: Iceland

Interesting people

It’s so easy to meet inspiring and unconventional people when you travel.

I love the way I meet some really interesting people when I travel. My recent stay in Reykjavik was no exception. There were a few people staying in the youth hostel who, like myself, were there for a week or two over the Christmas and New Year period. This meant we could get to know each other quite well.
There was a South African guy who was so friendly he seemed to have got to know everyone in Reyjavik, not just the hostel. He was planning to hitch-hike round the ring road which pretty much follows the coast right the way round Iceland. I used public buses to do this in summer a couple of years ago and so know how desolate this road can be. In the middle of winter with short daylight hours and the most snow in a generation or two, it would be really isolated. Did this put him off? Of course not. With a backpack and an Icelandic woolly hat he set off. I never heard how he got on, but I don’t doubt he will have been fine.
A twenty-something French woman was staying in Reykjavik whilst planning her next move. She’d lived on and off in Iceland over the past few years, always thinking it would be the last time, but always ending up back. Most recently she’d been working on a farm. She spoke Icelandic and had a learnt a lot about the culture. She was considering going to live somewhere remote in Scotland for a while as she hated busy places. Reykjavik was a busy place in her eyes. She was also extremely environmentally conscious and tried not to fly unless it was absoloutely necessary. I moan about the price of flights but it was surprising how much more expensive it is to travel by land and water.
There were also a couple of Canadian guys. One was also really into the environment and worked as a ranger in Canada. He’d heard of an Icelandic MP who was a keen environmentalist and had added her as a facebook friend. This being Iceland, she had a normal page rather than a ‘like’ page and accepted him. They’d chatted back and forth and he’d met her last year when he’d come to Iceland. They met up again this time. What other country would that happen in? He’d also got to go backstage at a Sigur Ros concert last time as he just happened to meet them too.
The other Canadian worked as a gardener during the summer months and spent the winters travelling. He’d already been to a few places this winter and was planning on visiting his father in Central America after Iceland.

These are just a few of the people I met, but they all had really interesting stories to tell. Meeting people like this always inspires me to think about what’s really important in life and not to get bogged down in the nitty gritty of everyday life and work. Easier said than done of course, once I’m back at work and have so many demands on my time. But I’ll keep thinking about the interesting people I meet and hopefully this will motivate me not to get stuck back in a rut.

Laxness Museum

A mission in the snow led to a house I could’ve moved right into.

Going here was a real mission. Halldor Laxness is Iceland’s best known writer, probably because he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, which I suppose says a lot. I’ve only read one of his books so far, but I loved it and do want to read more. As well as liking him as an author, the reviews of this museum were good and as I love having a nosey round other people’s houses … well, it just had to be done.

I’d checked the opening times of the museum online, so I only needed to know how to get there as it’s quite far out of Reykjavik. When I asked for directions in the tourist office, the woman behind the desk said ‘well, first you need to rent a car, then …’ She didn’t continue as she’d seen my look of dismay. Even if I could afford car rental, there would be no way I’d drive in this amount of snow!

So then she said, ‘let me check in case I’m being too pessimistic’. A few minutes later she’d come up with a plan for me. I had to get one bus way out of the city and then get a connecting bus that left only five minutes after the first bus was due to arrive, so it would all be a bit fine-cut, but possible.

On the day, I wanted to be sure of nothing going wrong so called in at the bus station an hour and a half before the first bus was due to leave. I checked my plans with the lady in the ticket office and what a good job I did. Because it is winter and not many people go to the Laxness Museum, the second bus only runs if it is booked at least an hour in advance. She phoned for me and booked both my outward and return journeys. As the buses are only every four hours I was going to have a long time at this museum. I was hoping for a little coffee shop I could sit in and read and write my journal.

The first bus arrived on time and got me to the required stop right on schedule. I shouldn’t really expect any less from Icelandic buses. Even in this weather everything seems to run like clockwork. There was a taxi waiting at the bus stop, with two people sitting in the back. The bus station lady had said something about the bus being a taxi, but I thought she meant some kind of minibus taxi. No, the bus was an actual taxi.

The bus/taxi driver dropped me at the last stop which was a few minutes walk from the actual house. It was bitterly cold and the snow was really deep and difficult to walk through. By the time I got to the house my fingers were numb even though I was wearing fleecy gloves. I wasn’t looking forward to hanging around the bus stop for long on the way back.

The house is large and white and Laxness lived there with his wife and children for most of his life. His wife, who was younger than him, is still alive but lives in a home in Reykjavik. There are wonderful views of hills and fields on all sides. In the garden to the side is a small swimming pool. The steam rising from the geothermally heated water made it look so inviting; an oasis in the snow.

The house was so homely inside, I could really imagine living there and curling up on one of the sofas with a good book. There were so many things that I would like in a house of my own if I could have one big enough. The hallway had a grandfather clock and an old chest; the living room had a grand piano, an egg chair, and large array of cacti and other tropical plants (they looked incongruous but good against the snowy background!); the dining room had a table to seat twelve and a samovar; the bedrooms had plenty of bookshelves; the study was lined with books, had a couple of desks (a tall one that Laxness would stand at to write, and a regular one at which his wife would sit to type up his manuscripts), and piles of papers; and there was a small library, basically what would be the box room in any other house, but in this one it was lined with books. Throughout the house was an art collection of mostly modern works and a collection of artefacts gathered from trips around the world.

I walked round the house listening to the audio guide and then went round twice more just looking and trying to absorb the place. I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside the house, but plenty can be found here on the museum’s website.

Once I could tear myself away, I walked round the garden and then watched a short video in the ticket office. One of the ladies working in the museum was finishing work and offered me a lift back to the bus stop where I could catch one of the regular buses back into Reykjavik. As there was no coffee shop for me to sit in and wait another 2 or so hours until the taxi bus was due, I gratefully accepted and she phoned to cancel the taxi bus for me. If the weather had been different I would have easily passed the time going for a walk and exploring the area, but it would have been foolhardy in conditions like this when I would have no idea what the ground was like that I was walking on because of the thick layer of snow.

Even though it’s a real trek out of town, this is somewhere I will come to again the next time I’m in Iceland.

I wrote this review of Laxness’ best known novel, ‘Independent People’.

I’m home

I’ve just got back from Iceland and I already have a huge to-do list.

I got home from Iceland this morning. It’s been a really long day as I had to get up at 3.30am for my flight. I have so many different things I want to blog about I don’t know where to start. It’s going to take a while for me to get everything out of my head and on to my computer. I met some amazing people, heard some amazing stories and saw the Northern Lights. Amazing.

I’ve been practising with my new camera and been taking loads of photos every day. I still have to take one for today to keep up with 2012 task of taking at least one photo every day. I ordered a video camera before I went away and it has arrived. I haven’t opened it yet, but learning how to use it will go towards my other 2012 task of learning how to use three new pieces of technology or software.

Over the coming week I need to book the floatation tank for half term and enrol on a writing course. I also need to sort out insurance for the two houses I currently own (my goal is five); sort out some repairs in the house I rent out; put together a fitness programme; return my new backpack as it’s already got a seam coming loose; get to Martin Mere to take a photo that will win me a trip to Antarctica; remember to take a photo each day; download (and upload) all my photos; try to get out on at least one walk; and get my blog updated. I don’t really have time to go back to school on Monday!

Independent People

Laxness is Iceland’s Dickens or Tolstoy. This is a wonderful saga-like tale set in Iceland at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

I read this book whilst I was in Iceland the first time and wrote the review shortly afterwards. I thought I’d include it here as I visited Laxness’ house on this trip and it made quite an impression on me. I’ll write about the house later.

By Halldor Laxness

Laxness is Iceland’s Dickens or Tolstoy. This is a wonderful saga-like tale set in Iceland at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
 
Bjartur is a sheep farmer trying to make it as an independent man. Life throws everything possible at him, including demons and his stubborn pride, but he almost makes it. By the end of the story he has lost the little he had and is back to working for others for a living. Reading this story in the year or so after the Icelandic financial crisis I wondered how many Icelanders had actually read this most well-known novel from their most well-known writer. Surely if they had the crisis would have been averted as it seemed to have been caused by the same mistakes that caused the crisis for those trying to be independent in Iceland over 100 years ago.
 
Laxness is so convincing with his descriptions and setting of the scene that I frequently looked up from this book only to be surprised that I wasn’t actually in the middle of nowhere on an Icelandic farm. Bjartur is such a convincing character that I wanted to strangle him at times (metaphorically speaking of course) for his stubborness. But at the same time I could understand his reasoning and his reluctance to give even an inch of his hard fought for independence away.



When Bjartur meets with other male characters the long conversations that ensue veer from poetry, sheep and politics to their ideas of what is happening in the Great War that is engulfing the rest of Europe and how wonderful this war is for them. Suddenly everyone wants to buy their sheep and prices have soared. They wish for the war to never end. These conversations give wonderful insights into the lives of people at this time, the things that were important to them and their interpretations of the world around them.

Iceland

I’m loving watching the sunrise whilst swimming in steam and snow.

I love my snowboots. My feet have so been so warm and dry in all this snow. the only problem with them is when I sink deeper than my knees. Would it have been possible to get thigh-high snowboots?

I love my new camera too. It takes amazing pictures and makes it all so easy. Even in the dark (which it is most of the time here) I don’t need a tripod – it just focuses and then remembers what the image looks like whilst it does the long exposure thing. So I’m not getting any blurry photos. Wowee.

I haven’t seen the Northern Lights yet, as each evening so far the trip out of the city to see them has been cancelled. It only runs when there’s a good chance of seeing them. But I have plenty of time left yet.

What have I done so far? Well, yesterday morning I went outdoor swimming in the pool next to the hostel. I started by sitting in the first hot pot I came to as my bare feet were freezing fast as I walked over the icy ground the 2 metres to the pool. It was so warm. There was even a floating chess set bobbing about on it, so I suppose people really do spend hours in them.

I stayed in this hot pot until it was infiltrated by young children having a snowball fight. The Icelandic version of water polo perhaps? Then I switched to the main swimming pool which was cooler, but still a good temperature. I couldn’t see how big the pool was because it was dark and the rising steam made it really misty. So visibility was down to about zero. I kept swimming round corners and bends and discovering more and more pool. Or maybe I was just swimming in tight circles and thought I was discovering new bits. At one point I swam under a bridge and discovered an elderly people’s exercise class going on in one of the lanes.

Once I’d had enough of swimming I sat in a different hot pot – one with bends, corners and alcoves and watched the sun beginning to rise through the fir trees. It got slightly above the horizon which is about the best to be hoped for at this time of year. It gets light around 11am and is dark again well before 5pm.

Í’ve also been drinking lots of good coffee whilst I’ve been here. I think Icelandic coffee is second only to Dutch coffee. It’s dark and strong and doesn’t come in a bucket. Last time I was here I discovered a new little coffee shop called Cafe Haiti. It’s run by a woman who is one of only two Haitians in Iceland. She imports the coffee from Haiti and roasts it herself. When I got home I wrote a review of it on Trip Advisor. The first day I was here I saw an advert for Cafe Haiti in one of the free tourist papers. It was quoting a customer who said they’d gone to Cafe Haiti because of a review they’d read on Trip Advisor and it really was as good as the review said. I’ve since seen the same ad in several other places. As far as I’m aware I’m the only person who’s written a review on Trip Advisor so I must be the reviewer the advert is referring to. Does this make me famous? Or at least semi-famous? Even though no-one knows who I am. I’m glad my review (if it is mine – I will have to check when I’m not paying for internet) has done her some good. I’ve been back today and she is now in bigger premises.

Getting ready for Iceland

There’s so much still to do before I go to Iceland.

I’m so busy at school at the moment I feel like I still have so much to do to prepare for Iceland and I’m not getting time to do it. It’s a week today that I go. I keep thinking about clothes. It’s going to be cold – even if the temperature hovers around zero the wind could make it feel a lot colder. And it’s going to rain. Vertically, horizontally, diagonally, it’s going to rain. I’d thought about getting a really good winter jacket such as a down jacket, but it seems the jackets that are made for warmth aren’t particularly waterproof. Down in particular, is really not recommended for wet weather, though it’s the warmest thing out there. So I’m just going to have to layer up underneath my waterproof jacket. The problem with that is that there’s only so much I can fit underneath it whilst still being able to move. I’ve just invested in some new thermal leggings and vests and I tried them out yesterday. They are very thin, but kept me really snug, so that’s a partial solution.


I’ve just reproofed my jacket. Last weekend the rain soaked right through so I knew it had to be done. I could have done with some rain this weekend to test it now it’s been reproofed, but I’ll just have to settle for spraying water on it. If the reproofing hasn’t worked then I’m going to have to find the time and money to get a new one before I go.


I’ve also reproofed my walking boots and bought some snow boots. I’m thinking about getting a new backpack before I go too. My current one has been held together with duct tape since the Great Glen Way, so I do need one. But I was going to wait until Easter when I go to Germany and then check out Deuter packs. As it’s a German brand there’s so much more choice there.


I’ve played a bit with my new camera and tripod, but not nearly enough. I didn’t take it out yesterday as I thought I would be walking with the group and so didn’t want to be faffing about. As it happened I could have got some great practice in.


I’ve bought the Rough Guide to Iceland and had a quick look through it, but I don’t think it’s as good as the Lonely Planet I used 2½ years ago. So maybe I’ll take both. I still have to decide on reading material. I’m envisaging spending a lot of time sitting in Reykjavik’s wonderful coffee shops, relaxing and reading.


The hostel has emailed me to inform me of their reception’s Christmas opening hours and to ask what time I’m expecting to arrive. As I should arrive during their opening hours that’s straightforward. At some point this week I need to renew my travel insurance and book the Northern Lights tour. Then of course I need to pack. And do the million and one other things that need to be done with my house, work and Christmas before I can actually go on holiday.

This and that

An update on how I’m doing with my challenges.

I’ve got a few things going on now. I’m still thinking about and planning for Iceland. I spoke to the photography teacher today about taking photos in RAW, but that’s something she also doesn’t know too much about. She’s going to find out for me. I’ve remembered I’ve got the Bradt guide to the Northern Lights – I got it free a while ago – so I’ve been looking for it, but can’t find it anywhere. I’ll have to keep looking.

I’ve also started writing seriously for NaNoWriMo. Now it’s nearly the end of the month I doubt I’ll get my 50,000 words done. It’s not fiction either. But I’m doing what I wanted and getting a lot of words input to my computer. I only started yesterday and I have over 5,000 words already. I had worked out that I would need to do 2,000 a words a day for 25 days. I only allowed 25 days, as I knew there would be days when I wouldn’t get round to doing any and so I built these word-free days into my timetable. To finish in time now, I would need to write more than 5,000 words a day, so I know that realistically that’s not going to happen.

I’ve also just got round to ringing the local college to book my next leg-waxing appointment. The receptionist (who is also a student and told me this was her first day on reception) seemed to be struggling to find any appointments on her computer so she took my number and rang me back. The earliest she can do is the 13th December. I’ve booked it, but I know it means I won’t get my waxing challenge finished this year. The first time I went, it was just for a lower leg-wax. This time it’s for the full leg. My final appointment will also include my underarms and bikini line. After that I’ll tick the challenge off and probably not bother any more as it seems much easier just to shave. So when I go in December I’ll make the next appointment whilst I’m there. Probably for late January.

RAW or JPEG

Should I stick to JPEG when photographing the Northern Lights or dare I use RAW?

I usually use JPEG when I take photographs. It’s not something I’ve thought about, it’s just what my camera does and sites like blogger and facebook like it. But the research I’ve done so far on photographing the Northern Lights seems fairly consistent in telling me to use RAW. The memory card I’ve ordered can do this, so I do have the option. My conundrum is whether or not I’ll know what to do with it once I’ve taken the photographs. I don’t want to have amazing photographs and not be able to download them to any websites or even worse, be able to get them off my camera and onto my laptop.

I’ll have to try to speak to someone in the photography department at school and get some advice.

Photography

Learning how to photograph the Northern Lights.

Now I’m thinking about how I’m going to photograph that amazing view I’m soon to have of the Northern Lights, lava, bonfires and fireworks. Yes, all at the same time. I’ve requested it.

After looking at a few websites for tips on photographing the Aurora Borealis (to give it its proper name) I’ve realised that my snappy camera probably isn’t going to be up to the job. So I’ve just ordered myself a DSLR. I didn’t want a full-blown SLR as I know I’d get too confused by it and I can’t afford one anyway. So I’ve got a combi type that has got really good reviews. It should arrive by the end of next week, so then I need to get out and about practising with it and learning how to be a good night photographer. All in the next few weeks.

I’ve also ordered an ‘extreme’ memory card. Apparently memory cards can give up when the temperature gets too hot or too cold. The extreme cards are meant to cope with extreme lows and highs. The temperature in Reykjavik should be hovering around 0 when I’m there, but it has been known to get down to -17, so I want to be prepared.

I need to get a spare battery too, for the same reason. Then I can keep one next to my body and keep swapping them over. And a tripod. I’ve been researching tripods, but I’m not too sure which one yet. I want something light to carry but it has to be strong enough to stand steady in big winds. Iceland can be VERY windy. The other thing is a coat. I have my waterproof which I use for walking, but I’m not sure if this will be warm enough. I can layer up underneath it, but I can only fit so many layers. I had a look a down jackets which seem really snug, but they’re not particularly waterproof. At least not waterproof for the full-on sideways blasting rain that Iceland will throw at me. So I’ll have to ponder a bit more on that one.

I found this blog with some really good advice on how to photography the Northern Lights.

Northern Lights

I’ve got 11 chances to see the Northern Lights.

I’m feeling excited. I’ve just booked a trip to Iceland over New Year. I normally feel as though I can’t do much over Christmas as Christmas Day is usually in the middle of my time off school and I often have family staying with me. But this year I break up right before Christmas and so don’t have to be back at school until the 9th January. And I don’t have family staying. It’s far too good an opportunity to miss and the obvious thing to do with a holiday at this time of year is to try to see the Northern Lights. I’ve been to Iceland before and I love it there. I’ve only been in summer when the daylight seemed never ending, so it will be interesting to be there in the heart of winter when there’s very little daylight.

I’m staying in two different youth hostels in the city as I was only allowed to book a maximum of 7 nights at either one. I’ve found a tour company that does tours each evening hunting for the Northern Lights. They check the weather maps and go to where ever the best chance of seeing of the lights is. If the weather doesn’t look good they’ll cancel the tour and reschedule for the next night. If we do go out and don’t see the lights we can go on the tour the next night free of charge.

As I’ll have 11 nights there, surely I’ll get to see them??? I can’t have all those chances and still miss out. And if I’m really lucky maybe one of the volcanoes will erupt again and I’ll get to tick lava of my list as well. Oh to get one of those iconic photos of lava spewing in front of a background of aurora borealis …