Prelude to Islandia (23 – 28 June)

It started with the Road Scholar catalog. Thumbing through, I came upon “a class” roughly entitled — Hiking Through Iceland. However, the hiking seemed to be limited to short jaunts seemingly to go to and fro by bus from lagoon to lagoon. Pshaw – a kindly anachronistic five letter word that substituted for Roy Kent’s favorite four letter word on Ted Lasso.

Undeterred, I googled “hiking Iceland” and settled on a double tour with g Adventures – eastern Iceland followed by southern Iceland. These are guided and use bases from which hikers are taken to various trailheads. These tours are diametrically opposite from the self-directed, continuous path, and walking only hikes that are described in my previous blogs of the 88-temples, Camino Santiago, and Via Francigena. We’ll see how this one goes.

Laird Evans who walked the Portuguese Camino with me in March 2022 will join me. But beforehand, we spent five days exploring Reykjavík and environs with our wives, Sharon and Jean. As we talked about this trip with friends and acquaintances, we found that we were late comers to this Nordic island. Almost everyone knew of someone who had been to Iceland including themselves. But hiking —- ah, we were the first. Day 1 will begin tomorrow.

But first, some stories about the five days of the pre-hike experiences in Iceland.

Indeed, Iceland is very expensive. We can confirm Manhattan styled sticker shock everywhere from a $8 hot dog from a stand (no fries) to $80 for three kebobs at an Asian fusion restaurant whose tables were filled for the two hours that we dined. Even a selection of fresh radishes and goat cheese with garnishes of micro radish tops and crumbled rye bread was $19. But these dishes were excellent as were the cinnamon rolls at Brauo and Company – $7.50, the best deal in town. Thanks Phil of Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix) for your recommendations.

We did not try the oysters at one restaurant which offered them at $12 each — beyond the planet earth price. Be prepared but you can enjoy some superb meals. We won’t mention the cost of beer, wine, or spirits. We can attest though that Icelandic gin is smooth and delicious.

Getting around can be costly but in the end worth it. Sharon and Jean rode the on and off touring bus – $45 each. We rented a car for about $1000 not including gas but it was worth every penny.

We drove the Golden Circle counterclockwise and for the most part avoided following the gigantic tour group buses. We did meet in the middle. We shared the mighty Gullfoss with 20 buses and another 100 cars.

But we had the flexibility to stop wherever and stay as long as we wanted. We spent over two hours at Fontana Spa on the Golden Circle whose water is fed from hot springs. On another day, we drove north of Reykjavik and spent even more time at Krauma Geothermal Bath in Deildartunguhver. The water comes from the largest natural hot springs in Europe. What a site – you can skip the lines at Geysir on to see steam vents and bubbling water on the Golden Circle and have a relaxing bath at Fontana and Krauma.

Most impressive was the rift at the Pingvellir National Park. It is here that the North American Plate slides by the Eurasian Plate causing the dynamic smoldering of lava that formed and continues to form Iceland. In between these two plates, the Iceland assembly met a thousand years ago and where the ceremony that created the independent nation was held in 1944. We were at the easternmost edge of North America.

Driving in Iceland is easy and made easier with Waze. Traffic is light and drivers really follow the speed limits which are much lower than American ones. I think that having red light cameras at the critical intersections and speed cameras at random places on the road control the animal instincts of many drivers. The driver’s side of the car is the same as the US; you have to remember to put your headlights on when driving — rain or shine, night or day. If you are interested, I can share some tips on finding free parking in Reykjavík.

Finally, museums are a plenty in Reykjavík. The Harpa concert hall is well constructed with interesting geometric accents. We attended a free — yes, free — jazz recital with a renown Polish pianist, Artur Dutkiewicz. You can find these gems.

Reykjavík at 11:30 PM. Thank goodness for blackout curtains. The prelude ends. Our flight to Eastern Iceland and Day 1 is tomorrow. Sharon and Jean return to Newark.