Icelandic diary...

[woofmarkthedog]

I have been here a couple of days so far, on business & staying with friends in the Northern mountains

It is quite an amazingly strange but hospitable place, I do like it but it is a bit bonkers

Firstly the light or lack of it, at 9 am it's pitch black, more like 4 am at home. The light slowly increases to our equivalent of dawn at around 11 am. By about 1 pm it could be said to be day light, but a long shadowy and cool light, though the skies are blue with a pink tinged edge & you can see the sun

It starts to go dusk like at 3 pm & by 4 pm it's properly dark

So all in all 4 hours of "day light" followed by varying degrees of darkness for 20 hours. Now you would think it would drive you crazy. Well it does effect people in strange ways, yes they are very studious however , there is definitely a thirst for adrenalin fueled activity, mainly the men & boy it's quite out there.

The women just seem to ignore them " Oh that's just what they do" kind of attitude, in it's self quite refreshing. The men & women here seem pretty equal in their status & seem to share most tasks as one

For example , the guy next door & his pals have full on motocross bikes equipped with metal spiked tires, they go out in the lightest hours and basically try to ride to the top of the mountain at 1500mt. This is covered in snow by the way.

Oh & I go with them tomorrow, no fuss, bikes, kit all laid on from others in the community as is normal I'm told

When the snow is deep enough they swap these for even faster high powered skidoos, these can actually get to the top of the mountain with two people on they tell me ( I've seen the pictures ) "If you like you can ski down" "it's normal, or snowboard, no problem" my eyes "welled" at this point

This is what I like, there is a real shared community feel. I know it's a tiny country but they look out for each other, neighbors call round, kids stay over on school days, people visit each other.

Yes & do they love a mobile phone & a 4x4, I've even seen a 6x6.

I went on a factory visit to a stone manufacturer, made the necessary details & changes. All good, no issues ,they just listen & take it on board. We all went to lunch in a small local diner, it's an industrial & fishing port. The special is cured smoked lamb ( like smoked ham ) potato, white sauce, chopped beetroot and fruit salad in whipped cream . All served on the same plate , yes even the fruit salad bit, which was a bit strange . More like dessert and main together , delicious though slightly unusual. I nearly forgot this comes with a cumin seed poppadom like giant cracker, what else ?

I passed up on the fermented shark & wad of tobacco under the top lip for afters, you have to know where to draw the line, don't you.

So far so good, snow is forecast for Friday/ Saturday , so the flight ( if it goes ) in a vintage twin prop, through the fjords & mountains to Reykjavik could be "interesting"

Will keep you posted

W**F

[Narnia]

Please do...........any chance of you seeing the Northern Lights?

[Chick]

Woof, sounds great. How cold is it? I also wondered about northern lights. My missus wants to go to Reykjavik and has proposed to take me on my next birthday, I was reluctant at first but am warming to the idea, next August. What other foods, beer etc and how expensive. Is it expensive in general? Keep posting, especially about the flight, any pictures? Good luck and enjoy the darkness. Chick

[woofmarkthedog]

Well a new day breaks..

but at 1.00 I go to the mountains with this guy, pictures to follow

God willing

W**F

[brum]

Are you insured?!

[Brendan]

Bullshit. I haven?t read your entire opening entry, I admit, but it is obviously all in English.

[EDKiwi]

That's insane...but looks like fun, good luck.

[woofmarkthedog]

OK

1. Yes, I am still alive

2. I haven't felt this alive in years

My god what an experience, the guy next door is the one in the you tube clip riding up the big wall on a turbocharged 1000 cc skidoo thingy. He's known as the farmer & is rightly famous for his antics on snowmobiles & Ice motocross bikes here in Iceland ( deffo my new favorite place )

Will get back to this, just off backcountry skiing now...

Lorks, if I'm not dead yet, i'll be crippled for sure

Later

W**F

[PeckhamRose]

What an amazing experience! Look forward to reading more and seeing photos!

Thanks for sharing!

[Ann]

Sounds amazing. What are the temperatures? It's beem pretty nippy over here lately! Glad you're enjoying your trip.

[Townleygreen]

Dear Chick

I don't think there's much of a chance of seeing the Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis) in August!

You need cold weather I believe.

I saw them in iceland in late October back in 2005.

Quite a sight I must say.

You can also see them in Scotland.

But definitely not in August!!

[HAL9000]

During normal solar activity, the Aurora Borealis is best seen during winter in the Northern hemisphere but displays can be triggered by solar prominences at any time of the year. The Northern Lights have been seen as far south as Mexico City.

[woofmarkthedog]

In brief its very cold now, minus 5 degrees but add the wind blown off the North Pole & you can imagine, parky comes to mind. My head froze like a lolly on the chair lift. Snow flurries whipped around us chilling our bones

I did see the Northern lights on Tuesday, very grand in blue, green & yellow. Fussii came & got me up at 1.30 am to show me.

You quickly give up the notion of early in the morning or late at night, it all becomes pretty arbitrary when it's dark most of the time. They really look forward to the snow here, it brightens the winter up.

Obviously they are very well geared up for it, roads are cleared & all the houses are heated to 21+ degrees by ground pumped naturally heated Volcanic water. Basically a huge pipe runs round the towns , tapped into like we do with the gas. It heats the houses by way of underfloor piping, very cosy it is indeed, low energy too & they hardly use any gas here.

I'm definitely coming back here as It's an intriguing place, I fly to the capitol in the afternoon tomorrow for a party before I fly home Sunday, yes they are warming up that retro-twin-prop in anticipation right now, I'm sure !

Would I recommend it, well I have stayed with friends so it makes it very different than a short break however,the people are very warm & welcoming. They genuinely think it is normal to help you out & get you sorted, it seems instinctive in them.

We all know there is a global crisis & this country has been hard hit, though I have seen a lot of trading between people here, not necessary for cash but trades & goods swapped for services rendered.

More though what surprised me is their sense of humor, laughing is a massive part of the way the people get on with each other & that combined with a relaxed can do attitude is refreshing. I really like the Icelandic's I have met so when I'm planning a break it's North that i'll think of heading

For now

W**F

( I am trying to master loading pictures onto post, I know there's a whole thread on it but...Duhhh I'm struggling somewhat )

[LegalEagle-ish]

I need to find some Icelandic friends, pronto!

[Chick]

Dear Townley, thanks for your helpful advice, but I was actually wondering if woof had seen any northern lights. Though I am looking forward to very long days etc. Hoots

Townleygreen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Dear Chick

> I don't think there's much of a chance of seeing

> the Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis) in

> August!

> You need cold weather I believe.

> I saw them in iceland in late October back in

> 2005.

> Quite a sight I must say.

> You can also see them in Scotland.

> But definitely not in August!!

[katie1997]

oh wow sounds totally amazing...thanks for sharing that info on iceland, really interesting to hear this..i would love to go there but don't like the sound of those flights!! need to get some icelandic friends too!!

btw, have seen the aurora borealis in the highlands of Scotland..its amazing..also great being able to read newspaper outside at midnight in summer up there!