The Good, the Sad and the Ugly

Wednesday, April 30, 2014 Road Junkies 0 Comments

AROUND THE WORLD, Chapter 9:
IN WHICH WE DECLINE AN OFFER
     
Day 9:  Lisbon, Portugal

When we both awoke feeling pretty lousy, we decided to spend the morning in our apartment.  We've both been nursing colds, and this morning Ken's throat was rather raw, so we rested and slept the morning away before having lunch in our room.  Somewhat fortified, we headed for a self-guided walking tour of Lisbon's commercial heart stretching between Rossio Square and another large public square, Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square) on the waterfront.
     

First stop was Elevador de Santa Justa, a 148-ft ironwork tower completed in 1902.  Lisbon is a very hilly city, and the elevator's primary purpose is moving people up Carmo Hill, but those who climb a 50-step spiral staircase from the platform are treated to panoramic views of the city.  (Pictured above:  Rossio Square from Elevador de Santa Justa)

Waiting in line with other tourists, who seemed to be mostly European, we had our first of several encounters with Lisbon's seamier side.  A panhandler was going up and down the line rattling his cup of coins to encourage donations.  No one responded except a British guy, who put a coin in the cup.  The man removed the coin, looked at the value, and sneered at what he apparently considered the Brit's lack of generosity.  We continued to be approached by numerous people aggressively soliciting throughout the afternoon.

From the elevator we walked over to Rossio Square, which was much busier than we saw in our brief visit yesterday evening.  Around the square, numerous enclosures protect what appear to be ventilation elements.  Several of these had been staked out by homeless persons, who were napping the day away in their domains, some surrounded by all their belongings.  The homeless can be seen in many locations, but Rossio apparently attracts a concentration.

Leaving Rossio, we went in search of some medicine and Diet Coke, which itself was a form of medication for a caffeine-deprivation headache.   We checked out dozens of stores around a couple of squares before finding the wonderful Mercado da Figueria, an upscale supermarket, which had cold Diet Coke on hand.  This was actually the first store we found in Lisbon sellling Diet Coke, with Coca-Cola Zero being much more prevalent here.  Near Figueria, we found a pharmacy with a clerk fluent in English and purchased some throat lozenges and an antiseptic throat spray.  Soon we would be offered more drugs, but not of the pharmaceutical variety.

Having addressed our more immediate needs, we continued our sightseeing at the nearby Igreja de São Domingos (Church of St. Dominic), a spectacular structure with a storied past dedicated in 1241.  Once the largest church in Lisbon, it hosted royal weddings and served as home of the Inquisition in Portugal.  It was heavily damaged by earthquakes in 1531 and 1755, rebuilt only to be devastated by fire in 1959.  Restoration after the fire, which gutted the church and left two firemen dead, took 35 years and retained many signs of the fire in place.

Church of St. Dominic
Quite a contrast to this quiet haven, Rua Augusta was our next destination.  A lively pedestrian thoroughfare lined with mosaic pavements, outdoor cafes, international shops, and the occasional street artist and peddler, the street was teeming with tourists and locals.  In just over a quarter mile from Rossio Square at one end to Commerce Square at the other, two individuals approached us offering to sell hashish or other drugs.  The second, who returned after our first refusal, was so persistent he wouldn't leave us alone until we yelled, "No!  Get lost!"

Rua Augusta approaching the Arch of Victory
At the end of Rua Augusta we walked through the Arch of Victory into the vast Commerce Square, once the home of Ribeira Palace, the domain of Portuguese kings for 250 years until its destruction in the 1755 earthquake.  Today the area hosts government offices and a large open space, all overseen by an imposing statue of King Joseph I.

Commerce Square and the Arch of Victory
With high temperatures in the mid-70s and sunny skies, the day was perfect for strolling, so we continued along the waterfront, to Rue Alecrim, where we turned north, eventually making our way—after ducking into and admiring a couple more churches—to Cafe No Chiado for dinner.  From there it was a short walk back to our hotel, where we took advantage of having a washing machine in our apartment and did a bit of laundry, a task whose importance has magnified since we mailed part of our clothing home.  No tumble dryer, of course, but a sizeable drying rack is provided.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Lisbon before we move on to Morocco.
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WEDNESDAY, 30 APRIL 2014

Elevador de Santa Justa
Ruins of Carmo Church, destroyed in 1755 earthquake
Rossio Square Fountain
Though its surface is level, tiles in Rossio Square create an optical illusion of ridges.
Church of St. Dominic 
Church of Our Lady of the Incarnation

Queues R Us

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 Road Junkies 0 Comments

AROUND THE WORLD, CHAPTER 8:
IN WHICH WE TAKE A CUE FROM THE BRITISH

Day 8:  London, UK to Lisbon, Portugal

Our taxi driver was waiting when we came downstairs this morning, and once we hit the streets, we were very thankful we had asked the hotel to book the fare last night.  The Tube strike began overnight, leaving the three million passengers who depend on the world's oldest subway system (opened in 1863) scrambling for a means to get to work.  Taxis and buses were in high demand, and the streets and sidewalks were clogged with walkers, runners, and cyclists (pictured above).

Eight days and we've already been affected by two strikes.  Not enough for a pattern yet, but getting there.  By the time our cab driver dropped us off at the St. Pancras rail station, we had spent about 40 minutes to traverse less than two miles.

Doors slid closed on a train to Luton Airport just as we reached the platform, but another was due in seven minutes and clacked into the station on cue, providing us an uneventful ride to the airport.  For some reason, which agents never bother to share with you, we were both given extra scrutiny at security.  As we were leaving Iceland, the security agent thought my curling iron juxtaposed with a small tripod, looked on x-ray as if it could be some type of weapon.  Being more careful about not packing those two items in proximity got my backpack through without question.  But something on my person set off the metal detector (probably the metal clasp on my front closure bra), so after a scan with the handheld detector, the agent frisked me thoroughly before approving me for flight.  As she was chceking my legs by hand from thigh to ankle, I mentioned to her that I thought she might have a future in massage should she get tired of security work.  She had the good grace to smile, understanding traveler frustrations.   Only after I was released did I discover that Ken had undergone a similar inspection, having no idea why.

Flying EasyJet again, we checked the boards and discovered that our flight had not been assigned to a gate yet.  With numerous discount airline providers, Luton is set up with large holding areas where passengers wait until their flight is assigned a gate, often just a few minutes before boarding.  Some gates have no seating, just line barriers.  This way the airline pays the gate rental for a much shorter period and presumably passes the savings on to their customers.

Joan, a charming English septuagenarian was our seatmate on the flight, and she was delightful.  If you've read much Agatha Christie, Joan could be perfectly cast as Miss Jane Marple.  We parted ways at the airport in Lisbon, where we stood in a long line for a taxi ride to our hotel.  

Chiado 16 Hotel is well placed to allow us to walk to many locations in central Lisbon, and our apartment is sparkling clean and very spacious.  We walked to the nearest supermarket, about half a mile away and popped briefly into Rossio Square, one of Lisbon's main squares since the Middle Ages. Over the centuries, Rossio has witnessed popular revolts and celebrations, bullfights and executions.  Today it is a popular meeting place for both Lisbon natives and tourists.  Tomorrow and Thursday we will have more time to explore the city in depth.

Uniquely British.   Even though we were in London only two days, this was our fifth trip to the United Kingdom.  And though we claim no authority, we do have an observation about what makes the country so....well, so British.  In our experiences, British people are unfailingly polite, even polite in the extreme.  They apologize for things over which they have no control, like our cab driver apologizing this morning because the traffic delayed our trip to the train station.  They always say please and thank you... always.  And they have to be the world's best at queuing.  No one stands politely in line better than the British.  It's a quality we'd love to import into some parts of the U.S.  

TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014




Politely waiting for the next bus
Interesting ad of the day in Lisbon Airport restroom...sexy toilet tissue

No Chance of Reform

Monday, April 28, 2014 Road Junkies 0 Comments

AROUND THE WORLD, Chapter 7:
IN WHICH WE DROP THE WRONG NAME
     
Day 7:  London, UK

After a solid ten hours of sleep, we awoke to the challenge of visiting London's Reform Club, the real place where the fictional character Phileas Fogg made the wager that began his trip around the world in 80 days.  When we appeared at the club door at 104 Pall Mall, the doorman was no more impressed with our claim to circumnavigate than Fogg's comrades were with his boast.  In our case, there was no entry to this very exclusive bastion of London's privileged, though Ken made a valiant effort to secure an invitation.  ("But sir, we're friends of Phileas Fogg!")

It was clear that no amount of pleading or begging would get us in the door, so we moved on to our other critical task of the day:  dumping some of our excess clothing.  Around the corner from the RC, we located a post office, whose personnel were a bit more accommodating that the club.  We mailed two packages of clothing back home, high fiving and fist bumping our way back to the streets of London, knowing we had just dropped a total of about six pounds from our backpack weights.  What were we thinking?

"Yes, we understand the contents are worth less than the postage."
With our newfound freedom, we strolled over to St. James Park to seek a letterbox planted last August.  Unfortunately, it was hidden under a bit of bark at the base of a large tree in a busy, well manicured public space.  We saw no trace of it.  We looked around for places to plant a box of our own, but like three years ago, we found no hospitable letterbox home in the city. 

Near St. James, we stumbled upon the daily 11 a.m. changing of the guard ceremony at the Horse Guards Parade.  Catching the end of the ceremony, we chanced into the perfect spot to see troops head out from the parade ground toward Buckingham Palace.  
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Never a smile is seen on duty.
Horses used by the Royal Horse Guards are called Cavalry Blacks, a crossbreed of Irish Draft and thoroughbreds.  Most stand well over five feet, four inches tall and are predominantly black with some white markings.  The horses are purchased in Ireland and Wales at three years of age and undergo a year of intensive training to be steady on parade and accustomed to dealing with large crowds and heavy traffic. 

Hole in the wall deli with great food
After watching the horses' controlled cadence, we walked over to Whitehall, greeted Big Ben, and continued north past Downing Street and Trafalgar Square and toward Leicester Square.  Along the way, we found Gaby's Deli on Charing Cross Road.  Gaby's was founded by an Israeli immigrant in 1965 and stands alone as the West End's single independent restaurant.  A framed poster in the restaurant depicts a 2011 newspaper article about the restaurant's rescue from the brink of extinction by theater goers and actors when the property owner threatened nonrenewal of Gaby's lease in favor of a chain restaurant.  The Middle Eastern foods displayed in the window drew us into the homely but cozy diner, where we enjoyed a reasonably priced, full-flavored meal.

Later we scouted the neighborhood a bit more—for a place to plant a letterbox (still a bust) and for a place to buy some supplies for breakfast.  Heading back toward a large supermarket we had noticed on Regent Street earlier today, we glanced up a side street and saw a Whole Foods Market.  A Whole Foods Market!  After convincing ourselves we were not hallucinating, we visited this palace of healthy foods, just 0.3 miles from our hotel.  The store looked very familiar, including many products Whole Foods sells in the U.S., and was extremely busy.  The friendly cashier informed us that WF entered the London market in 2007 and has expanded to seven stores.  Not only were our breakfast issues solved, we filled plates from their food bars for dinner as well.
Tom Conti (L), and Robert Vaughn in Twelve Angry Men   space 
As wonderful as our post office experience was this morning, we had to agree the highlight of the day was this evening's outstanding theatre performance of Twelve Angry Men at the Garrick Theatre, just a short walk from our hotel.  In 1950s New York, closing arguments and jury instructions have just been delivered in the case of a young black man accused of killing his abusive father.  In a straw poll taken when the jury retires to deliberate, all jurors except one vote guilty.  This lone dissenter, portrayed brilliantly by renowned Scottish actor Tom Conti, plants seeds of reasonable doubt, causing other jurors to reconsider their convictions and examine their own prejudices.  The remainder of the cast was excellent as well, including Robert Vaughn, the intrepid TV spy of the sixties, now typecast as an octogenarian.  The tension among jurors was palpable, and the audience was easily consumed with the drama until the electrifying end. 

Seeing a British production of a play set in the U.S. afforded us a new and interesting perspective.  We found ourselves complimenting the actors' authentic American accents.  In fact, the locals sitting behind us were convinced that Tom Conti had to be American.  Vaughn was joined by only one other American actor in this production. 

Tomorrow, we'll fly to Lisbon for a few days before continuing south to Morocco.
  space  
MONDAY, 28 APRIL 2014
 
Enjoying the spring weather in Leicester Square
Spring has arrived in Golden Square.


Getting a Grip and Dodging Murphy's Grasp

Sunday, April 27, 2014 Road Junkies 0 Comments

AROUND THE WORLD, Chapter 6:
IN WHICH FATIGUE BECOMES A 
FACTOR
     
Day 6:  Reykjavik, Iceland to London, UK

 After three enjoyable nights at our little apartment at Reykjavik Residence Suites on Hverfisgata (pictured above), Saturday night introduced us to partying, Reykjavik style. For 20-somethings out to enjoy the weekend with friends, Bar 11, across the street from our apartment must be a great spot. For a couple of 60-somethings with an early morning flight, not so much. A screaming guitar, thumping bass, and driving drumbeat from the evening's live rock band signaled the start of the party at 11 pm.  Of course, the previously charming historic building 60 feet away where we lay in bed trying to sleep had no soundproofing. So we got to hear all the music without paying the cover charge--every riff and rhythm, right there in our bedroom.  Not exactly the night of rest we were hoping for. But eventually the party was over. About 5:30 am, quiet was restored, just as our alarm clock announced it was time to arise. 

No worries, though. We had a three-hour flight to London. We'd catch a bit of sleep en route. Or not. Across the aisle from us, two guys engaged in a non-stop conversation from takeoff to landing. Apparently one or both had hearing difficulties because they were talking so loudly even the crew assigned to the front of the plane eventually took refuge in the back.  

Finally we escaped the din when we disembarked in London.  Since we had flown EasyJet, aka El Cheapo Airline, our flight landed at London Luton Airport, home of all the cut-rate airlines and some 40 miles north of central London. 

In our exhausted state, we had been lured by the EasyJet cabin crew into purchasing round trip train tickets into London from the airport. Only after we arrived at the train station near the airport did we discover that our tickets were not valid for the primary rail service, only for a limited service First Capital line. In an amazing stroke of luck-- and at this point we needed one-- we discovered, when we finally arrived at the correct platform, that the next train to London was due in just ten minutes.  And despite the near constant buzz of delay announcements, our train arrived on time. Take that, Murphy!

At London's St. Pancras station, we made our way to the underground and boarded the Piccadilly line, which spit us out into the teeming masses around Leicester Square, but not before we spied signs warning of a Tube strike Monday night till Wednesday.  By this time, it had become all too clear to us that we both had overpacked. As much as we like to think we travel light, we had crammed and jammed and filled every cubic inch of our backpacks, and they were heavy.  So we trudged the few blocks to the Shaftesbury Hotel, where we had spent a few nights in 2011. 

Of course, Soho London is quite different from central Reykjavik. Our tiny hotel room, which the desk clerk gushed was a free upgrade, would easily fit into one room of the apartment where we spent the last few days and which cost considerably less. Nonetheless, the double-pane windows and soundproofing will allow us to finally get some sleep. 

Like New York, London's theatre industry operates TKTS, a same-day discount ticket booth, located in Leicester Square. Though the booth closes early on Sundays due to the limited number of Sunday performances, we stopped by on our way to dinner to peruse the listings for tomorrow. 

The terrific Lebanese restaurant we had discovered on nearby Irving Street three years ago apparently didn't survive the competitive London market, so we ate at L’ulivo, a family-run restaurant next door offering what they describe as authentic Italian food.  The food was fair and the service worse, but since the meal served as both lunch and dinner and we were quite bleary-eyed by this point, we offered no objection. 

Unwilling to pay $25 for breakfast at the hotel, we mustered the energy after dinner to walk to a small supermarket. Ken assured me that he knew the location of a store nearby, so we began walking east on Holborn Street. And we walked, and walked. Finally a little more than a mile later, we stumbled upon a Sainsbury's Local. It was then that Ken informed me he thought we were on the wrong street for the supermarket he remembered. We both laughed and found some nice croissants, fruit  and cheese for breakfast, threw in a couple of bottles of Diet Coke and returned to the street to find that the forecast rain had begun. With our umbrella back at the hotel and ever on the lookout for different types of conveyances on this trip, we flagged down a bicycle rickshaw equipped with a vinyl rain cover to ferry us back to the hotel. 

Once in the room, the downsizing began. We had brought some vinyl mailing envelopes to send my lightweight down jacket home after Iceland. We filled two of them with clothes and extraneous electronic gear that we now realize we can survive better without. Those will go to a post office tomorrow to begin their return to Georgia a bit early. And we'll move on from here Tuesday lighter and minus the frustration of too-full packs.  One mailer remains with us, awaiting the possibility of a second round. 

We're hoping our luck changes before we attempt to visit the venerable Reform Club tomorrow.
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SUNDAY, 27 APRIL 2014

Uniquely Icelandic

Saturday, April 26, 2014 Road Junkies 0 Comments

AROUND THE WORLD, Chapter 5:
IN WHICH NAMES ARE SPELLED OUT
     
Day 5:  Iceland

To ensure that we're paying attention to our surroundings, we've decided to try to identify and share something truly memorable about each of the countries we visit.  Since omniscience is a quality we've yet to develop, we won't argue that these fascinating features are genuinely unique, but they're different enough from our other random experiences for us to associate them with this country.  (Pictured above:  the Sun Voyager, a sculpture of a Viking ship along the shoreline)

Headstone in local cemetery
1.  Patronymic Naming Tradition

Unlike other Nordic countries, which have abandoned the practice in favor of historic lineage, Iceland still follows the Viking tradition of using patronyms based on parental names, rather than surnames.  Under this convention, a child's "last name" is derived from a parent's first name, usually the father.  For example, a man called Haraldur Magnusson and his wife Helga Jonsdottir might have a son called Petur, who would be called Petur Haraldsson, and a daughter called Johanna Haraldsdottir.  The advent of feminism has introduced a slight rise in matronymic naming in recent years.

And parents can't hang just any first name on their newborns either.  Names must be selected from a list approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee.  To be included, the name must use only letters in the Icelandic alphabet and be easily incorporated into the grammar of the language.  The list currently includes some 3,600 names, all of which are gender specific, another rule that must be respected.  None of the inventive naming (and spelling) you find in the U.S.

Within this context, it is not surprising to learn that names in the local telephone directory are alphabetized by first name, rather than last.  And with a limited number of names to choose from, it is not unusual to find numerous individuals with the same name.  In such a case, a person's profession may be appended to their directory phone listing to help one identify which Einar Jonson one is seeking.

The democratic element of this system is that everyone—everyone—in Iceland is called by their first name.  No one would refer to the prime minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, as Mr. Gunnlaugsson, for example.  Rather he is referred to, in the press and in formal affairs, as Sigmundur Davíð.

Coast Guard - Iceland's only military force
2.  Lack of Crime

Unsecured bicycles on the street, a total prison population of 150 nationwide, one of the lowest crime rates of any developed country.  Violent crime is virtually non-existent in Iceland.  And it's the only NATO member without a standing army.

A Boston law school student who visited Reykjavik on vacation became intrigued with this facet of Iceland and made it the focus of his thesis in international law.  Based on his research, he identified several factors which, he believes, contribute to this stellar quality.  Most significant, he concluded, is the virtual lack of class differences among the Icelandic people.  More than 97 percent identify themselves as middle class or working class.  With this widespread sense of equality, there is no conflict among the haves and have nots.  

Other factors cited were the country's very strict gun control laws, extremely low incidence of hard drug usage, and proactive policing measures. Whatever the cause, the lack of crime certainly makes Iceland an appealing place to visit.

We have enjoyed our time in Iceland.  Tomorrow we'll fly to London for a couple of nights, where we hope to visit the Reform Club and catch a little London theater.  And we'll try our best to squeeze in a couple of letterboxes while we're there.
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SATURDAY, 26 APRIL 2014

Take Your Pick? Reykjavik!

Friday, April 25, 2014 Road Junkies 0 Comments

AROUND THE WORLD, Chapter 4:
IN WHICH THE PM GOES TO PRISON
     
Day 4:  Reykjavik, Iceland
    

Friday dawned early.  Though the sun failed to make an appearance until later in the day, today's official sunrise in  Iceland's capital city, Reykjavik (RAKE-ya-vik), was 5:21 a.m.; sunset was 9:33 p.m, though it was light out long after that.  That's because the city is a mere 130 miles south of the Arctic Circle, where the sun never sets on summer solstice (nor rises on winter solstice).  Today was a rather short day by Reykjavik summer standards, actually.  By June 21, sunrise here will come before 3 a.m., and the sun will not set before midnight.  (Pictured above:  Central Reykjavik from Hallgrimskirkja)

With all that daylight on our hands, we had plenty of time for sightseeing in the city today.  Inspired by finding a letterbox at Thingvellir yesterday, we set our sights this morning on three letterboxes hidden in the Reykjavik area.  Along the waterfront promenade west of the city, we tracked down our first box hidden among some large rocks.  Back in the city, we stopped at Hólavallagarður, the city's oldest cemetery, where we spent about half an hour searching before finding the day's second letterbox. The clue listed some helpful landmarks, but we found numerous headstones with the same name cited as closest to the box.  Nonetheless, it was a fascinating old burial ground and we enjoyed exploring it.

Hólavallagarður Cemetery
On a roll, we hoped to find a letterbox in Tjörnin Park that had been reported missing once already, but the area where the treasure had been secreted clearly had been re-landscaped based on the description of the location, and the box was nowhere to be found.  That being our last opportunity to letterbox in the capital, we headed back to our apartment for lunch.

Located in the heart of the center city, the apartment where we're staying is housed in an early 20th century house that was once the home of Iceland's prime minister.  Legend has it that the King of Denmark was once a guest here.  The national theater is next door and the national library just beyond that.  Down at the corner is the unassuming building known as Government House.

Note the absence of security at Government House.
Completed in 1771, this structure served as Iceland's first official prison.  It was designed to hold 16 felons and 54 convicted of misdemeanors.  Currently the building houses the prime minister's office and serves as the meeting place for Iceland's state council.  Not only is there no security present, there isn't even a fence.  It sits on a busy street corner.

The Pearl of Reykjavik
Later we visited another three of Reykjavik's most famous structures.  Perched on top of a hill overlooking the city, Perlan (Icelandic for the pearl) began life as a group of hot water storage tanks.  In the early 1990s, the city's mayor looked up at the hill and conceived a plan for exhibition space and performing halls.  A hemispherical dome was added, the water tanks repurposed, and the mayor had found his pearl. At the base of the dome is a fourth-floor viewing platform with panoramic vistas of the city.  The top of the dome houses a renown (and expensive) restaurant that completes a full rotation every two hours.  We opted to share a cup of ice cream in the fourth floor snack bar.

Reykjavik's most familiar landmark, Hallgrimskirkja
Down the hill from Perlan, we stopped in at one of Reykjavik's most iconic buildings, visible from anywhere in the city.  Named for a beloved Icelandic hymnist and clergyman, Hallgrimskirkja (Hallgrim's Church) is elegantly simple inside and out.  The architect is said to have been inspired by the basalt lava flows of Iceland's landscape.  The United States presented the imposing statue of Leifur Eiríksson in front of the church to Iceland on the 1000th anniversary of its first parliament (Althing).  The observation deck at the steeple's apex offered fantastic views of the city.

Harpa Conference Center


Completed in 2011, the Harpa Conference Center and Concert Hall is located by the old harbor between the Atlantic Ocean and the city center.  Winner of numerous design awards, its exterior is formed from a steel framework clad in different shapes and colors of glass in two or three dimensions.  Whether lit from within or reflecting the colors of its environment, the facades create a striking addition to the city landscape.

Though Reykjavik is a national capital, this city of 120,000 exudes a comfortable small town ambiance.  Residents are polite, congenial and eager to make tourists feel welcome.  The city is very safe, though we have yet to see a police officer or security guard, even around government buildings  Crime is just not an issue here.  According to a local, people do not get mugged in Iceland, for example.  "You can literally leave your wallet on the ground.  Either someone will deliver it to you or the nearest police station, or it'll still be there when you return to look for it the next morning."

There's a lot to like here.  We're thinking we'd like to make a return visit some time.  It's closer to home than Hawaii.
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FRIDAY, 25 APRIL 2014

Harpa interior
Note how Hallgrimskirkja dominates the city skyline

Touring the Land of Fire and Ice

Thursday, April 24, 2014 Road Junkies 0 Comments

AROUND THE WORLD, Chapter 3:
IN WHICH WE LEARN SOME NEW 
HISTORY

Day 3:  Reykjavik, Iceland & the Golden Circle

Happy Sumardagurinn Fyrsti!  Today was a national holiday in Iceland.  Schools were closed, banks shuttered their doors, and the faceless bureaucrats in government offices enjoyed a day off in honor of the first day of summer.  Hearkening back to days gone by when Iceland followed the two-season Old Norse calendar, the country continues to  celebrate winter's annual demise on the first Thursday after April 18.

As we traveled around today, we didn't come across any festive parades or fireworks displays, but we did see enough locals acting like tourists to make this Thursday look more weekend than work day.  Avoiding the throngs of tour operators who long to lure us into their comfortable coaches for a day trip, we hopped in our rented Corolla and took off on our own version of the Golden Circle tour today.  A marketing strategy devised by the Iceland Tourism Board to enhance the appeal of local attractions, this popular tourist route encompasses three primary locations along a 150-mile drive from Reykjavik into central Iceland and back to the capital.  (The "gems" of northern Iceland are touted as the Diamond Circle.)

The first stop on our tour was Thingvellir National Park, a national shrine to the spot where the world's first parliament was founded around the year 930.  Sheltered in a 3.5-mile rift valley (pictured above) the Althing general assembly continued to convene there until 1798. Preserved mostly in its natural state, Thingvellir (spelled Þingvellir in Icelandic) continues to host major events in the history of Iceland.

Strokkur geyser
Continuing east from Thingvellir, we reached the second of the Golden Circle locations, Haukadalur Valley, an active geothermal area around the town of Geysir (guy-ZEER), which lent its name to any erupting hot springs.  The star of the geyser show in Geysir is Strokkur, from the Icelandic word for churn.  Fifty years after an earthquake blocked its conduit, Strokkur was given a deep cleaning by locals in 1963 and now erupts reliably every four to eight minutes.  Eruptions reach a height of 40 to 65 feet (about a third the height of Yellowstone's Old Faithful).

Gullfoss
Just a few miles further east took us to the final attraction on the Golden Circle route—Gullfoss (Icelandic for Golden Falls).  A spectacular two-tiered waterfall, Gullfoss occurs where the Hvítá River plunges into a 100-ft. crevice.  Efforts to harness the falls' power for electrical generation were resisted, and the waterfall is now protected from such development.

A more southerly route back to Reykjavik turned this jaunt into a circle.  Driving conditions were better than we had expected, based on the Hertz warnings.  All roads were paved, and other drivers seemed very courteous.  New conveyances today:  rental car, stile.

Tomorrow we'll check out the sights of Reykjavik, Iceland's capital city.
  space  
THURSDAY, 24 APRIL 2014

The national holiday gave lots of locals the opportunity to go cycling today.
Found a letterbox at Thingvellir!
Öxará River in Thingvellir
Thingvellir Church
Huge pipe networks carry geothermal energy to power plants for transfer to the electrical grid.
A field of crosses memorializes persons who have died in traffic accidents on the road from Reykjavik to Selfoss.
Mispronunciation Opportunity of the Day

Learning to Expect the Unexpected

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 Road Junkies 0 Comments

AROUND THE WORLD, Chapter 2:
IN WHICH WE LEARN WHERE NOT TO GO
     
Day 2:  Washington, DC to Reykjavik, 
Iceland

Well, we did make it out of Washington yesterday since the wheels of our Boeing magic carpet left the ground of a Dulles runway at 11:54 p.m.  Though the flight was re-scheduled to depart at 11:30, the air crew, concerned that we would arrive before the four-hour airport work stoppage at our destination ended, delayed take-off by another half hour.  Other than the airline's failure to provide our requested vegetarian meals, the flight was fine.  By the time we touched down in Iceland a little after 9:30 a.m., all the strikers were back in their positions on duty.

As the plane descended in our approach to Keflavik International Airport, we were fascinated by the view outside our window—rough, rock-strewn, undulating, treeless terrain the color of tobacco.  Though the island's climate is hospitable to some green plant growth, winter's reluctance to depart (the city was blanketed in snow last week) has kept much of the scenery in the area a uniform brown.

In case our view from the window was unconvincing, the Hertz agent re-emphasized that "not in Kansas anymore" reminder when she insisted Ken acknowledge with his initials the provisions of the rental car contract that prohibited crossing "unbridged" rivers and driving off-road, though traversing the country's many miles of gravel highways is permitted.  Iceland has a land area about the size of Kentucky's.  As the car rental map depicts, almost half the island is covered by a mountainous lava desert inaccessible to all but the hardiest of vehicles.  They don't stop at 4x4s here; some 8 x 8s are around, too.

Leaving the airport in our stick shift diesel Toyota Corolla, we drove the 20 miles to nearby Reykjavik, where our apartment home for the next few days was ready for us to check in four hours early.  Since we were working with a limited amount of restless airline "sleep" while our bodies struggled to maintain a hold on Eastern time, we were delighted.  Almost next door we found Kryddlegin Hjörtu, a casual café with a buffet of delicious homemade soups and a salad bar with an abundance of fresh ingredients.  After a light but very satisfying meal, eaten at the local lunch hour (8 a.m. by the home clock), we dived into bed for a few hours of real rest before exploring a bit of central Reykjavik on foot.

North, South, East or West?
Public art was bounteous in the areas we visited today, beginning at the airport, where Directions, an eye-catching symbolic work by an Icelandic sculptor occupies a prominent place in the arrivals hall.  Perched atop four-foot basalt columns, the four life-size sculptural aluminum figures, all cast from the same mold, face toward the four cardinal points of the compass. 
 
Around downtown Reykjavik, many important figures in Icelandic history are commemorated with statues in public squares, from Ingolfur Arnarsson, honored as the country's first permanent resident, to national hero Jon Sigurðsson, who spearheaded Iceland's independence movement from Denmark.  In addition to historical figures, Iceland boasts a monument honoring the Unknown... Bet you thought we were going to say Soldier. 
 
Located in a popular square alongside a small lake in the center of Reykjavik, the Unknown Bureaucrat is a tongue-in-cheek sculptural monument to honor all those Icelanders who toil in the thankless, anonymous job of bureaucrat, which the artist depicts as a man in a suit carrying a briefcase.  Since he is never recognized, his head and shoulders remain unformed from a large slab of stone.

Tribute to all the unknown pencil pushers who keep things running smoothly
Along the way in our wanderings in the city, we popped into a small neighborhood supermarket to check out their wares. Would you consider your local grocery store a destination for tourists?  Probably not, but we love exploring food stores in other countries and cultures. 

As in so many places we travel, we saw a fair number of products familiar because they're made and/or sold in America.  A few others had enough English words for us to discern what they were (e.g., chocolate brownie).  Some products, however, just left us scratching our heads and laughing as our imaginations ran wild, trying to "translate" what the Icelandic words "sounded like they might mean."  Later, when we had wifi access at the apartment, we checked on our accuracy.  Not even close.

 Offer!  Blueberries, Blackberries and Raspberries  399 krona/pk" (about $3.50).  

Though few foods seem exotic to our American sensibilities, we later saw menu offerings quite different from your average Cracker Barrel.  We stopped into a little family owned restaurant called Le Bistro for dinner.  Like most people we encountered today, the servers in the restaurant spoke fluent English.  Even the menu was printed in both languages.  Thus we knew exactly what we were ordering here.  We had a wonderful meal, but we were not tempted by some of the dishes in the Icelandic Inspired Specialties section of the menu:


Tomorrow we'll leave the city and explore Iceland's Golden Circle, which we hear has nothing to do with gold nor with a circle.
  space  
WEDNESDAY, 23 APRIL 2014

Ken's delicious "chicken casserole" (what we would call soup) at Le Bistro
The "kitchen" in our apartment
Do you wonder, as we did, about the long pillows?  They're individual duvets, fluffy and folded.  A great idea!
Maybe not such a great idea.  Our "shower."  A bit more slope toward the drain might have kept at least part of the floor dry.