Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.09.2009, Qupperneq 38

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 14 — 2009
A bird slamming into the windshield.
That's my greeting to Ísafjörður.
To be fair, there are signs warning
that birds may slam into your wind-
shield just outside Ísafjörður. Just as,
for the hour or so of surreal unpaved
mountain road driving, there are signs
warning that you are approaching ex-
tremely blind hills and may smash
into oncoming traffic, but there's only
so much you can do with this informa-
tion.
For the blind hills, you slow down
and stand up a little in the seat. You
are aided by the rocks and drifts that
naturally form on the mountain roads,
throwing you and your occupants to-
ward the roof.
For the birds, there's not much to
do.
When I explain on arrival that I've
collided with the local fauna, I get a
small bit of shaming, but mostly that
I can't say what exact type of bird I de-
stroyed.
A local explains that his uncle hit a
goose and had the good sense to back
up on the cliffside highway, grab the
bird, and take it home and cook it.
Another local assures me that I did
the right thing. She holds her arms out
like they're locked onto the wheel and
acts out the impact: “If anything gets
into the road, drive straight through. A
sheep, just go straight through. Tour-
ists swerve and one or two die every
year.”
She affects a look of sadness, as
though she were looking down at the
sheep that has to die. But she acts
through again the firm grip one must
keep on the wheel to go steady and stay
on the road.
PeRManenT KRePPa
Trouble finds the Westfjords. That's
the impression one gets reading Ice-
landic history. This is the site of one of
the largest migrations away from the
island, for example. The Westfjords
were the site of the country's most
famous executions for witchcraft and
sorcery. In recent history, the West-
fjords were hit by two avalanches in
1995 that took 34 lives and devastated
the country.
One thing that doesn't bother the
Westfjords, at least not at the moment,
is the kreppa, or the Icelandic econom-
ic crash.
The reason: they've been stuck in
an economic meltdown for 20 years.
“We are in a permanent kreppa.
Before the kreppa, there was the quo-
ta,” my host for my first evening tells
me.
The kreppa discussion is always
worth having in Iceland, but in
Ísafjörður, it is shocking. When my
host laughs off the crash, I ask if she
means Ísafjörður is immune from eco-
nomic hardship.
Can you get a loan? I ask.
“We never could get loans here.
That was only Reykjavík.”
I ask if perhaps people are leaving
Reykjavík for Ísafjörður, coming back
home, due to the crash.
“There were no jobs here before,
and there are none now.”
It gets worse, actually. For just
about any supply, there is a sizeable
mark-up, because the economic base
in Reykjavik doesn't trust the rest of
Iceland with credit—all major busi-
nesses here pay cash up front.
Follow that with the monumental
screw: the waters in the ocean sur-
rounding Ísafjörður are teeming with
cod and haddock. But due to a unique
set of laws, cod, haddock, and every-
thing else not farmed can only be
caught by people who have purchased
the quota rights, and most of those
rights are based in Reykjavík.
There you have life in Ísafjörður.
And in most towns outside of Reykja-
vík.
Drinking and dwelling on it, we all
get profound and morose.
I am awakened early the next
morning by a phone call from an Ice-
landic relative in a panic: the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund (IMF) will not
be loaning Iceland anything, and the
country's descent into economic de-
pression looks as though it will con-
tinue. Before I can wipe the blear of a
night of boxed wine from my eyes, I've
agreed to transport someone's life sav-
ings to America.
THe TOwn In THe BuBBle
And yet, having made that agreement,
I can't help thinking that this morn-
ing, things look better. In the light,
Ísafjörður is a damn handsome town.
For one thing, there has not been
much recent building in Ísafjörður,
which is somewhat of a blessing.
The buildings have all been cared for
as though they had to last. Roofs are
painted. The very house we're staying
in has a time-worn coat of blue paint
faded to a heartbreaking turquoise.
All of us stand on the steps taking
in the view. Our street corner seems
pulled from a 1950s storybook.
We set out—Ísafjörður is a town
you can easily walk. Immediately, we
are surrounded by a different class of
tourist. Educated, quiet, middle-aged
French, Germans and Englishmen
are everywhere taking in the sights,
speaking snippets of guidebook Ice-
landic. Being polite and judgmental.
This is the flip side of being kicked
in the ass by history—your suffering
daily struggle becomes someone else's
quaint weekend.
For a quaint weekend, or longer,
Ísafjörður has all the trappings. Its
Gamla Bakarí is one of the best bak-
eries in the country, which is saying
something. Also in the town centre
is Iceland's single coolest sjoppa, or
corner store, Hamraborg. There you
can grab bulk candy, burgers, pizza, a
mandolin, a stage microphone, what-
ever you need for your night out—it's a
heavily caffeinated modern take on the
general store.
Politics aside, there is a dignity and
energy to life in Ísafjörður. As an at-
traction, the town is a pearl.
But for the curious, the politics are
incredible.
Take the swimming pool—usu-
ally a key attraction in small Icelandic
towns. Locals will tell you that there is
only one local swimming pool worth
attending, the outdoor pool at Suðurey-
ri. To get to Suðureyri, the next town
over, you just need to drive through a
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