The Icelandic Canadian - 01.02.2007, Blaðsíða 20

146
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 60 #4
the Reykjavik men’s hockey team, I
believe. Now even though Carol is a
Canadian with no Icelandic heritage, it is
evident that she has a fondness for the
people and country, and was certainly a
fountain of information about Iceland.
We got along from the get-go. Bjarni, the
main organizer of our trip and one of our
hosts in Akureyri, had arranged for two
large vans to transport us while we were
in Iceland. Someone must have known
just what we needed as our first stop
would be the Blue Lagoon. Dan had told
us about it but I still wasn’t prepared for
just how wonderful it was, well, that is
after we all got over the shock of having to
remove our bathing suits before publicly
showering. Canadians love their privacy
so we were hesitant, but since we couldn’t
avoid it, we stripped down. The warmth
of the pool enveloped our tired bodies and
Kate and I loved the waterfall, as it
soothed away all our tension. I like to
think the mud mask I applied made me
look ten years younger! Unfortunately we
could not linger at the Blue Lagoon, but
when we left I felt completely relaxed and
slept until we got to Reykjavik, which is a
beautiful old European city with a mod-
ern flare. We went to this fabulous sports
facility that housed an arena and huge
indoor soccer field that puts anything we
have in Winnipeg to shame. The players,
as well as those parents that were getting
billeted, met the families who had gener-
ously agreed to host them. Kate and her
friend were fortunate to have Bjorn and
his family as their hosts. They were very
nice to the girls and Kate was impressed
with their “Ikea” style home. Canadians
love Ikea! We also met the young women
from Akureyri who had really initiated
the plans for our visit, Solveig, Steinum
and Johanna. Solveig stayed with us pret-
ty much the whole time and she and her
teammates are all great ambassadors for
Iceland.
The next few days in Reykjavik were
full with tours, shopping, a reception, and
of course hockey games. Carol arranged
for us to see the surrounding countryside
including Pingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss,
which are truly spectacular. We learned
about Iceland’s history from our museum
visit and were treated to a lovely reception
given by the ministry that oversees the
Snorri program. I bought a gorgeous
Icelandic wool poncho while shopping
and have received many compliments on
it here at home. We played two hockey
games against the team from Reykjavik
and were treated to another reception by
the hockey club. After three days it was
time to head north to Akureyri.
Unfortunately there was a blizzard in the
mountains which made our trip a little
precarious, to say the least! Most of us
were terrified and I kept seeing in my
mind the headline, “Canadian women’s
hockey team goes over edge of mountain
in snowstorm.” Luckily we didn’t and
were assured upon arrival in Akureyri
that our van drivers were very experi-
enced on the mountain roads. Indeed
Trygvi, his wife, and the other drivers
were all excellent, with nerves of steel to
be sure.
Akureyri was very different from
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