Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.01.2015, Qupperneq 28

28 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 1 — 2015THE BEST!
www.elding.is

Elding Whale Watching schedule
* From 15 May to 15 September
** From 15 June to 31 July

Make sureit’s Elding!
WHALES
& DOLPHINS
from Reykjavik all year round
Call us on +354 519 5000
or visit www.elding.is
Jan-Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov-Dec
EL-01 / EL-02 / EL-03
13:00 13:00
9:00 9:00
13:00
9:00
13:00
9:00
13:00
9:00
13:00
9:00
13:00
9:00
13:00
9:00
13:00
17:00* 17:00 17:00 17:00 17:00*
10:00
14:00
10:00
14:00
10:00
14:00
13:00
20:30** 20:30
NORTHERN
LIGHTS CRUISE
Call us on +354 519 5000
or visit www.elding.is
Daily departures from 15 September
Make sureit’s Elding!
TOURIST
OF
THE
YEAR
2014
Amidst the much-needed and overdue
conservation talk, hundreds of thousands
of holidaymaking individuals came and left
Iceland. And most of them seemed to have
a pretty great time. It was fun for us to sift
through the stories they submitted to our
TOURIST OF THE YEAR comp.
Here are some honourable mentions:
» The Hodson family, who had a valu-
able camera go missing from under
their many noses, only to have it re-
turned in a mysterious fashion that
could only have been those pesky
elves carrying out their mischief.
» Maria Freestone and her friends,
who expressed their admiration of
the landscape by dancing on it wher-
ever possible, and filming them-
selves doing so (ronk-a-donk).
» Kristen Read and her friends, who
hired a car in Keflavík, and quickly
discovered a flat tyre, and then a flat
spare tyre, but didn’t let it stop them:
they drove around the country anyway.
» Brendan Canty (unfortunately not the
Fugazi drummer as far as we can tell)
made a great film from lots of shaky
handheld footage that we felt really
captured the essence of an Icelandic
road trip.
AND THE WINNER IS...
Of the multitude of reasons folks cite when
attempting to explain that peaceful trance
Iceland exerts on its visitors, we noticed
that for many it’s the small things that
make their trip special. Brendan Abbott
remarked that when he bought a hand-
knit sweater in a far-flung rural craft store,
the shopkeeper knew Lóa, the woman
who’d knitted it, and told him some small
facts about her for a truly personal touch.
Observations like these display a mindful
and keen-eyed approach to travel, and we
enjoyed them the most, perhaps.
Bearing that in mind, we were particu-
larly taken with Kara Deniz’s account of
her search for a moment of peace amidst
the busyness of everyday life.
Kara didn’t find her most memorable
moments drenched in the roaring of Sel-
jalandsfoss or soaking up the party chaos
of Kaffibarinn. She found them sitting on
the rocks of Reykjavík’s harbour, taking an
early morning walk through empty streets,
listening to the silence of her guesthouse
bedroom. Kara came to Iceland not de-
manding an experience—not to tick things
off a pre-determined
wish list—but with a blank
canvas: open minded,
attentive, and curious
about what she would
find here.
Kara also pulled off
some pretty great writing
in her submission. Read
her story: it’s right here.
So. After much delib-
eration, we decided to
name Kara our TOURIST
OF THE YEAR. Congratu-
lations, Kara. You get a
free trip to Iceland, for
you and a buddy!
Absorption
“I’ve always felt inter-
ested in Iceland,” says Kara, after we told
her over the phone of her winning entry. “I
don’t remember what sparked it. So when
the opportunity came to travel to Europe,
I suggested an Iceland stop. I spent time
downtown, sat in Kaffitár, and watched
the people walking by, watching how
they spoke and interacted. I really wanted
to get a sense of the people, that’s how I
travel. We went running along the harbour
and I sat in the rocks and looked out and
just absorbed it all. We went around the
bar scene. Our outward flight was early,
when it was still dark—it was over quickly,
but it made a big impression.”
“I do like to pick off the hot spots when
travelling, but they never entail the most
memorable things that happen—those
tend to be more observational. One such
time was getting up on a Saturday or Sun-
day morning, when the shops and cafes
were still closed and nobody was really
awake yet. I stumbled across the sculpture
garden by Hallgrímskirkja [at the Einar
Jónsson Museum]. There was just one
other person there, who sat on a bench.
I took pictures of each sculpture and the
plaques. To me those small moments are
the most memorable. I am somewhat in-
troverted by nature, and I feel like I need
space and time to just be
and think. Iceland gets
that—there’s a sense of
real calm. It’s a unique
culture.”
“My one regret is that
I haven’t had the oppor-
tunity to travel outside
of Reykjavík. The city is
wonderful, but I feel like
the tourism advertising
Iceland as a stopover is
ironic, as it’s more of a
destination in itself. It’s
fitting with my style to
rent a car and just get
out there and discover
things for myself—to
interact with the space
and nature a little. I think
I’d like to see it in person and get a sense
of what the rest of the country looks like.”
So, Kara: now’s your chance to get out
there! Enjoy the trip, and thanks for your
mindful approach to tourism and your
thoughtful account of your time here. Now
you’ll get the chance to get out of the city
and find some more peaceful moments
out there in the wilderness.
Now, read her winning essay.
Wow, tourism really did dominate the landscape of debate here in 2014, didn’t it? We here
at Grapevine have spent more time experiencing, arguing, analysing and pondering the ef-
fects of tourism on Iceland than maybe anything else. And there was some serious food for
thought amongst it all. Are the tourists trampling our puffins and eating all our shark? Are
we all going to wake up with a bulldozer outside of the house about to raze the buildings
to the ground to build new hotels? Is Gulfoss going to LITERALLY EXPLODE FROM ALL
THIS FOOTFALL?
Words
John Rogers
THE GRAND PRIZE
A trip to Iceland for
two, including air trav-
el provided by Icelan-
dair, plus three nights
at the stylish Reykja-
vík Hotel Marina (and
drinks at GV HQ)—was
provided in collabora-
tion with Inspired by
Iceland. “Honourable
mentions” each get
a bunch of Icelandic
goodies.