Lögberg-Heimskringla - 17.03.1995, Side 24

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 17.03.1995, Side 24
24 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 17. mars 1995 lceland — Mother Nature’s Panorama by Dorothy Leibel Oliver, B.C. Iceland is indeed the land of the mid- night sun! From the time we left Winnipeg at 6 p.m. June 29, until we retumed on July 15 at 6 p.m., we were never in darkness. At first it was strange to wake up at three in the moming and gaze out over the Reykjavík harbour which was as busy then as any time dur- ing the day. We soon got used to the light — the problem was knowing when to get up. The single cots with a pillow and comforter were very comfortable and easy to straighten up in the mom- ing. We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast house at 29 Sólvallagata during our days in the capital. Lugging our suitcases up a narrow staircase to the fourth floor and sharing a bathroom with nine other peo- ple was a test, but everyone was patient and courteous and there were no com- plaints. Our Icelandic breakfast was served by a 23 year old named Katrín who handled a group of hungry tourists plus her little redheaded daughter with ease. Typical breakfast fare was herring (pickled or smoked), smoked mutton, puffin paté, several kinds of brown bread, preserves, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. There was also com flakes with your choice of plain or cultured milk. A bottle of cod liver oil was also displayed on the breakfast buffet. We enquired about a toaster and Katarin dug it out from a bottom shelf, saying that Icelanders don’t have time to make toast in the moming. Of the 189 people on -the plane, veiy few did not have some Icelandic origins. The tour originated from the community of Gimli, Manitoba and also included many from Markerville, Alberta and North Dakota, two other Icelandic com- munities. We were within walking distance of downtown and explored this area thor- oughly before venturing on the buses to go farther afield. Reykjavík has a popu- lation of 160,000 which is more than half of the total 262,000 inhabitants of Iceland. It is a lovely, clean city with many museums, art galleries and churches. The architecture displays pure, sweeping lines with many win- dows to take advantage of the sun when it is available. The National Museum is located in the comer of the campus of the University of Iceland. Here roughly 4,000 students study in nine faculties. The Botanical Gardens display 300 species of plants which can be found in Iceland. Quite a few were species that we would find growing in Canada. In the central part of Reykjavík is Laugardalur (Hot Pool Valley). Here there is a considerable amount of ther- mal power which is used to heat the houses in the city, swimming pools and greenhouses. Drills similar to those used for drilling oil are used to reach the water which is then pumped along a network of pipes to the consumers. The deepest borehole in all of Iceland is nearly 3,080 metres deep and the water is approximately 75°C. when it reaches the houses. Towering on top of Öskjuhlíð Hill, are six giant tanks through which geot- hermal water is distributed. Perched on these tanks is Perlan (The Pearl) where its glistening dome serves as a multi- storey sightseeing tower offering every- thing from an Italian ice-cream parlour, to a top-class restaurant, along with art exhibitions, musical events, meeting rooms and its own geyser which spouts regularly from the basement to the top of the dome. The day we visited this unique facility all the staff were bustling around in preparation for a luncheon for the Queen of Holland. We peaked into the kitchen and saw a hundred dessert plates being prepared in the shape of a geyser using pastries, fruits and whipped cream, Yummy! Ásmundur Sveinsson’s sculpture The Washerwoman, overlooks the geother- mal springs where Reykjavík women did their washing in the ample natural hot water in times of old. Women used to bring their washing in wheelbarrows to this site in the days before automatic washing machines. From Áskirkja (Ás Church), 47 m. above sea level, on clear days you can see Snæfellsjökull glacier 100 km away. In front of Hrafnista, is a statue of Thorfinnur ICarlsefni, an llth century Viking explorer. He followed Leifur Eirílísson, who was the first European to discover America - 500 years before Columbus rediscovered it. Karlsefni lived for three yeárs in America with his wife Guðríður, and there, according to Eric the Red’s Saga, she bore him a son called Snorri, in all probability the first European to be bom here. Árbæjarsafn is an open-air museum built around the old farm ofÁrbær. It is first mentioned in written records in 1464. The last inhabitant moved out in 1948. Most of the buildings were of turf construction which evolved in Iceland owing to the acute shortage of large trees. As Icelandic grass grows very thickly, a turf building can last a centuiy as long as the roof is sloped at the cor- rect angle. A complex of small separate buildings are united by a central pas- sageway — sometimes these are so long that a guest was reputed to have remarked “I thought this led to the next farm”. The smokehouse was also the kitchen and the fuel was peat or dried (odourless) sheep dung. The “baðstofa” of an Icelandic farmstead was, in the very real sense, the “living room”. Here the farmer, his family and the hired hands, ate, worked, and slept. There were rows of single beds on both sides of the room and each person worked and ate sitting on his own bed. On a shelf above it they kept their private “askur” — a cylindrical wooden dish or a bowl with a lid, often intricately carved. In this the food was brought from the pantiy. The woman’s side was along the window, since their work spinning and sewing — required more light. During the long winter evenings a member might read a saga or recite poetry. A wooden board called the “rúmfjöl”, was used to hold the bed- clothes firmly in place on the aisle side and putting it in position at night was a silent uttering of the prayer which was carved on it. There was a covenant of privacy among the people who lived in the “baðstofa” and what a person kept under his pillow was as safe from piying as if it had been in a strong-box. The dwelling was heated by the body heat of its inhabitants, from the animals stabled below, and from the excellent insulating properties of the Icelandic turf. We spent an aftemoon searching for a cemetery where some Canadian air- force men were buried. Our search was successful and we wére able to take pic- tures of the headstone of a friendly broth- er killed defending the North Atlantic shipping lanes during the last war. There were 147 Canadians buried during this peaceful, well cared for, cemetery in Reykjavík. The oldest buildings in Reykjavík are barely two hundred years old but Iceland’s capital was built where Viking adventurer Ingólfur Amarson made his home after arriving from Norway in AD 874. When nearing land he tossed his high-seat pillars overboard and vowed to settle where divine providence washed them ashore. After three years of beach combing, they were found by his slave who was unimpressed by the gods’ urban planning. With the words “to ill purpose we crossed good land to settle this spit”, he ran away with one of the slave women and set up home near to where the town of Selfoss stands today. We could under- stand his feelings as the drive in from Keflavík Airport was through veiy rocky, barren, unproductive land. This is under- standable when you realize the whole area is a 7,000 year old lava field. Iceland celebrated its 50th year of independence on June 17, 1994, at the ancient parliament site of Þingvellir. There was also a meeting of the Intemational Icelandic Federation so it was a homecoming for many of the 147,000 tourists visiting Iceland this year. We were impressed with the warmth and hospitality tendered to visiting relatives, and were sorry we had no Icelandic con- nections We were all invited to a reception attended by the Prime Minister who gave a brief welcoming speech. On a humor- ous note, he mentioned a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister who compared Israel and Iceland as having had to stmg- gle for their freedom. The Icelandic Prime Minister agreed stating that the Israelis were “Gods’ chosen people” and the Icelander’s were “Gods frozen people”. Actually, in most coastal areas it doesn’t get much colder than -10°C. but it doesn’t get much warmer than 15°C. The highest temperature we encountered was 22°C. and that was considered a heat wave in Iceland. The Icelandic monetary unit is the króna and the exchange rate for one Canadian dollar is 49 lcrónur. When you must double the price of everything you purchase it is not conducive to a big shopping spree and many gorgeous Icelandic sweaters were reluctantly passed over, The price of a bowl of soup and a roll was $9 and a basic main meal would be around $20. Gasoline was $1.25 a litre but there are half as many cars as people in Iceland. The average wage in $20,000 a year and the price of an apartment is comparable with our prices in Canada. Lower income workers may borrow up to 75% to purchase hous- ing and have 45 years to repay at 6% interest. There is 18% direct tax levied on everyone. There is a very low level of unemployment — 6% — and conse- quently a low level of crime with only 344 people in prison. The first day of our circle tour of Iceland, we headed north to Þingvellir National Park, the site of the Alþing (par- liament) from 950 A.D until 1798 when the area collapsed in an earthquake. The acoustically superb rift valley wall gives a beautiful view of Þingvallavatn 83 sq., km. and 340m. deep, believed to be glaci- er fed. The mid-Atlantic ridge runs from SW to NE in Iceland and as the tectonic CONTEST FRENZY Contlnued from P. 1 While this contest frenzy is upon us, we might as well announce another. In keeping with the great Icelandic tradition of writing poetry, we invite all subscribers who enjoy vis- its from the'muse to enter our poet- ry contest. Even non-subscribers are invited to join in. The rules are simple — there are no rules except that you have to write and submit to us a previously unpublished poem. We will publish them in the newspaper on a continuing basis and announce a winner in our spe- cial Festival Issue in August. The winner will receive — you guessed it — a free subscription to Lögberg-Heimskringla but all entrants will enjoy the glory of being published in North America’s Icelandic weekly. Send your entries to In Search of the Muse, care of Lögberg-Heimskringla, 699 Carter Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3M 2C3. plates are gradually moving apart it is believed the island will eventually be split in two. All along this ridge or rift are spotted hundreds of volcanoes and thermal areas. We stop at White River (Hvítá) where there was a water fall in the river and also water pouring from the banks of the underground. We stop to climb to the top of a volcano and enjoy a terrific view of the crater and surrounding countryside. This was a lovely green val- ley with a clean cold glacial river flowing through and the salmon fishing was said to be excellent if you could afford a licence. A fishing licence would cost $120 for two hours of fishing. You couldn’t pull them in fast enough to pay for the licence. The farms, obviously covering many sections of grazing land, are very pic- turesque and well-to-do with predomi- nantely white buildings with red roofs. There were some potato and turnip fields but basically the main crop was hay to feed the many sheep, cattle and horses during the long, dark winter. The average farm would run 22 cows and 400 sheep with several horses for round- up. Milk production is very important and the farmers do everything to keep their cows happy, including brassieres for the heavy milkers. Our housing during the circle tour was at Edda Hotels, most of which, are boarding schools for nine months of the year. Our quarters were good with a sink in each room and a shared toilet and shower. There was usually a swim- ming pool nearby and hot tubs to soak our travel weary bones. We saw many Icelandic horses dur- ing our travels as there are 75,000 of them in the country. This undemanding, hardy, strong, willing animal would be considered a pony in Canada as it is on the small side. This is the only breed of hórse in Iceland as importing horses has been banned for 1,100 years. This is a purebred, a direct descendant of the Germanic horse of the Middle Ages. This horse possesses, in addition to the

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