Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.06.2010, Qupperneq 43

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Flight provided by Air Iceland.
Accomodation privided by Guesthouse Hvíld.
Bus and boat tours provided by Viking Tours.
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07 — 2010
Seven Miscellaneous
Westmann Islands Tips
When you practice your ‘spranging’ on a cliff bor-
dering the West side of the town, don’t try to pull
yourself up with your arms, just hang limp by them
and move your legs to manoeuvre.
Stock up on your gummy candy and chocolate-
covered liquorice at the corner store. You’re going
to need energy for all that leisurely strolling. We
recommend the chocolate covered liquorice-and-
marzipan nubbins.
Try hitchhiking. People are very friendly and happy
to help you explore their island.
If you want to do something or talk to someone on
the island, just ask.
Check out the inexplicable ‘giant football’ monu-
ment at the west end of Hásteinsvegur. The people
we asked could not tell us what it was for.
Volcano Café is the new bar in town. Beer and a
burger ain’t bad, and it’s open late.
The big thing to do at the swimming pool, accord-
ing to our observations and confirmed by our dis-
cussion with the mayor, is to try to stand up on the
way down the trampoline slide.
See www.airiceland.is for schedules and
more action-packed trips.
ty, and that people here look out for one another.
The young people we spoke to were proud of their
Vestmannaeyjar identity. Some leave the island for
school and for a change, but many return.
Not just anyone is considered a local, however.
You pretty much have to be born there. Maybe if
you’re a foreigner who’s been there for 40 years
you might be able to call yourself “from Heimaey,”
one local told the Grapevine. “This has been a very
closed society for generations,” Heimaey’s Mayor
Elliði Vignisson explained. “We have to be inde-
pendent for everything. It makes a very strong
identity.” But from a tourist’s perspective, every-
one is very friendly in Heimaey.
THE FISHING INdUSTRy
If you really want to get an understanding of what
it’s like to live in the Westman Islands, ask a local
about the fishing industry. Fishing is Heimaey’s
bread and butter, a fact you won’t necessarily no-
tice if you’re on a two-day vacation there taking
boat tours and climbing volcanoes. Nevertheless,
it employs a large proportion of islanders and
shapes attitudes and daily life in Heimaey, as it
has for centuries.
You can check out the product of the industry
in the f lesh at the Museum of Natural History—
lumpfish, plaice, and the hideous wolffish, to
name a few of the usual suspects. Get the cod in
“Champagnesauce” at Café María, then head over
to the aquarium to visit your meal’s more fortu-
nate brethren. The museum is also crammed
with beautiful rock and mineral specimens, and
its taxidermy collection gave us a rare up-close en-
counter with local animals.
LAvA ANd LUPINES
After we acquired the masks and goggles, we were
ash invincible. Walking and hiking around Hei-
maey is like exploring a mini all-in-one Iceland:
idyllic green hills dotted with sheep, black sand
beaches and their striking f lat volcanic rocks, lava
fields, accessible paths to Helgafell and the newly
erupted Eldfell with its sharp red scree. Much of
the terrain around the town is lava, with paths
winding through it and, when we were there, lu-
pines.
Getting around the island is easy on foot,
by bus, or by hitchhiking. We Grapevine ladies
wanted to head to the uninhabited south to the
bird lookout point, a large wooden box balancing
on the side of a cliff overlooking the sea. We were
picked up within seconds of putting out a thumb
at around 9:30 at night on a Wednesday. Since it
takes moments to drive anywhere on the island,
locals are often more than happy to go a little out
of their way to help you get there.
Thanks to Air Iceland for the f lights, Gistiheimil-
ið Hvíld for accommodations, and Viking Tours for
their wonderful bus and boat tours.
STEPHANIE ORFORd
JULIA STAPLES
“One islander, José, demonstrated
spranga for us with the elegance of
a dancer, f loating from one perch
to another with ease. Alas, the
Grapevine was not so graceful.”