Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.08.2013, Page 24

Watch the tour bus as a caricature of its passengers. It lugs ungracefully up Eiríksgata, heaves over the speed bumps, and
arrives panting against the backside of Hallgrímskirkja. It leans right and spills its camera-clicking innards onto the side-
walk, or into the street, depending on how aware they are of life outside of the viewfinder. As unsightly as the gargan-
tuan busses are, we're happy that they exist—at least to keep the daily commuters on Strætó safe from the REI backpack
swinging visitors with no apparent sense of spatial awareness. Welcome to the dichotomy of tourism. Its positives and
negatives become more and more intertwined with every need that must be fulfilled. Each visitor to Iceland is not just a
self-sustaining entity walking down the street. It's another human to feed, to clothe, to transport, and notably, to shelter.
24The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 12 — 2013
By Parker Yamasaki
Axel Sigurðarson
Hotels,
Motels,
Holiday Inns...