Here we go, let's get this blog started! It has been almost a week now since we left the sunny green Latvia for the sharp and naked coasts of Iceland. And naked it is : it needed some time before to find some trees here. Nothing much grows in the lava fields, beside moss and
lupīnes. Hardly ever some dwarves fir trees hiding from the wind behind a small hill. But people do have some trees in their yard sometimes, so they must get them from somewhere. We are still looking for wild trees. It seems those can be found in areas far from the coastline, where they don't suffer from the wind. According to people there have been more trees in Iceland before the vikings, but the need of wood for ships construction and the volcanic eruptions have made them rare. We haven't seen any volcano yet, but everything in the landscape is here to remind them. Around our place lie large surreal lava fields. Irregular grey stones grow out of the moss to shape the land. We live in Keflavík, on Reykjanes peninsula, that lies in the southwest of the capital Reykjavík. According to the two men we have been hitchhiking yesterday, this piece of land has been shaped only 700-800 years ago, by massive volcanic eruptions that lasted about 200 years. It feels quite strange to walk on such a new piece of land, thinking about how it was born out of
hraun (lava in icelandic). Actually, the rest of the island might be just as impressive, or certainly even more. Volcanos, geysers, hotspots, glaciers, a lot of things still to be discovered for us. But when I imagine how beautiful it might be at the surface, I also can't stop thinking about how it is under. It might looks like Hell, a maze of lava rivers and arctic waters.
But we don't have that much time now (neither that much money!) to discover all the charms of the island, as we just started our new job! Goodbye schools, goodbye theaters, hello garage and guest rooms! Nothing much to say about our new works actually. We are working in a camper rental place. The compagnie has about 75 campers, so we check them, we clean them, we present them to clients picking them up and when they come back we check them again. Beside that there's also some rooms here where people stay. Also the camper rental place is part of a group that organizes tours in Iceland. This has not much to do with us, except that sometimes I have to drive to the airport, show my sign, wait, wait a bit more, welcome tourists, do small talk in german and take them to their bus. To drive a car and to speak german are two things I somehow enjoy, but still it amuses me to be paid for it. One night I was waiting for an hour at the airport. A taxi driver was waiting with a tablet where the name Mathew Fox (aka Jack Shephard in
Lost) was written. Must be scarring to fly in such company...
Also our collegues seem to be very nice, coming from a bit everywhere (Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, and one from Iceland).
Yesterday was June the 17th, the day when 70 years ago Iceland
declared independance. As we had a free day, we decided to go visit Reykjavík, and see what's happening there! Of course as usually, we opted for hitchhiking. The best way to go, to experience the land, the people - and the weather! Ak, Dievs - yesterday was such a rainy day. I mean, even more rainy than usual. It anyway rains a bit everyday in Iceland, but as locals say : "Wait five minutes, the weather will change." Yesterday we waited. More than 5 minutes. It only got worse. Fortunatly it seems really easy to hitchhike in Iceland so far. And drivers are very friendly. And talkative! (I mean, for northmen) On both ways we had great lessons of history and geology. Actually, the man who took us on the way back to Keflavík used to teach geography at school! After explaining everything he concluded by a very prefessionnal : "Do you have any questions?". He was very nice driving with.
Reykjavík is equal to other icelandic towns in the way it is not really beautiful. However the center, and especially the main street are very stylish (in a hipster way). The main street is long but not large at all. Its lenght is animated by numerous little caffes, little shops and small cute yards. Caffes style is something between scandinavian hipster and american bars. We stopped in one of them for tasty burgers and a descent
pepsi (unfortunatly no "real cola" there). The bar was cool, vintage, in a very "50s America" style you could have expected Vincent Vega enterring in. Events in Reykjavík seemed nice, despite the weather. Brass bands were regulary passing along the main street, followed by thousands of children with balloons. The city was literaly covered by kids, and each of them had a balloon. There was also some concerts on the main square, near the harbour. But this was not my favorite gig of the day. Further on, in front of a new built concert hall, was standing a
būdiņa, a small
cabane made of rusty sheet metal. Inside two pianos, two pianists, a tall beardy man with a drum in the hand, and a couple of women eating cake, drinking milk and singing old icelandic songs. Funny room, totally offset with the surrounding, but ideal for us to dance under the rain!
All in all Reykjavík is a small capital. In size in can be compared to Tartu or Tours. Everything looks rather small but it seems to be a dynamic and young city. The only thing that is not small in Reykjavík is Hallgrímskirkja, the main church, in the city center : a massive grey tower of concrete dominating the square. Not beautiful but definitly impressive. What was beautiful however was the organ inside, a magnificent piece of musical architecture.
We certainly will come back in Reykjavík to discover more about it.
