Adventures with Julia

July 26, 2017

We were up early the morning of the 26th. Hated to leave the Hotel Burdir and its lovely setting. After a quick breakfast we were off to experience our last big day in Iceland. On our way to the Into the Glacier Tour on Langjokull glacier, two hours drive east from the peninsula, we paused to take a photo the Erdman crater from a distance.

Eldborg Crater. Perfectly round.

100 degree C hot springs. Towns down the hill use it to heat th

Stopped briefly at Delldartungahvar spring to see the 100 degree centigrade water spouting out of the hillside and made a quick stop at the lava waterfalls, called Hraunfossar,

Waterfalls streaming from under the lava. On way to our glacier tour.

Another smaller glacier, Eiriksjokull, next to the one we went into called Langjokull because it is…..well,  long.  Truck tracks are visible in the snow.

that consist of countless springs of clear water that emerge from under the edge of the lava. Very interesting, but no time to contemplate.

Our tundra truck and the entrance pipe into the glacier.

Mark inside the entrance to the glacier, which is 500 meters long.

We arrived at the tour headquarters late and were told to drive as fast as possible to catch the tour at the base camp. Mark drove like a crazy man over the rough gravel road until we caught up to the trucks ahead of us and could see that we would make it when they did.

A passage in the glacier

Once there, we had to add warm clothes quickly and jump on the next vehicle going up the glacier ice to the entrance of the tunnel. It was about 10:45 when we entered the glacier, having had commentary and instructions about what to experience.

A hall carved out of the tunnel. We went 25 meters under the top of the ice.

The project was over 4 years in preparation by a team of experts in all fields. The actual excavation took 14 months from March 2014 to May 2016, with 4 to 8 people working in the tunnel every day of the week.

Inside the glacier. The different shades reflect the density in the ice.

5,500 cubic meters of ice were excavated from the glacier during construction. The whole of the glacier measures 200,000,000 cubic meters,

Me bundled up. Only my feet got cold as I stepped in a puddle of water.

so the tunnel takes up an extremely small percentage. We were told the glacier ice is about 30-35 years old. Seemed like too short a time to us.  The guide said there would be no sign of the tunnel if the snow were not constantly being cleared from the opening. The tunnel is 500 meters long, the longest in the world.

A chapel carved out of the ice. One person singing gave a nice acoustic. When everyone entered, the sound went dead.

Once down inside, we were standing 25 meters below the surface of the glacier with 200 meters of solid ice beneath us.

Even though it is an icy world, it is very wet and even raining in parts of it. I was warm until I stepped into a puddle of melted ice. Mark was luckier. The tunnel was quite large and not at all scary. We were told some staff even stay overnight in the place.

Blue ice inside the glacier.

Several “rooms” have been carved out as well as the passageways. There were a few crevasses that provide air.  LED lighting is and placed to enhance the color and structure of the ice as well as to provide dim passage. Once far  enough into the tunnel, the rain stops and the place is more comfortable.

A crevice in the ice.

Hopefully my photos will tell the story better than words. We exited the tunnel about noon and rode in the tundra truck back to base camp. I got a photo from the truck of the small glacier next to Langjokull called Eiriksjokull.

Back at camp Mark and I ran to the car to beat the line of vehicles that would soon be going down the gravel road.

View from inside the truck. The ice looks very fragile and unsafe. The truck had huge tires that the driver remotely inflates and deflates to improve traction as we crawl up and down the glacier.

A glacier selfie.

Only one truck got ahead of us and it went even faster than Mark. We were in a hurry to get to Reykjavik to attend a piano-violin concert in Harpa Hall.

The Harpa Concert and Conference Hall. Completed in 2011, it is becoming a major draw for classical performers.

Harpa concert Hall. Holds up to 1600 people in many different configurations. We heard a piano and violin recital.

We made it to the Reykjavik Enterprise rental place by 2:40. The agent jumped into the car and drove us to the Reykjavik Residence Hotel, where we stayed a week ago.

Harpa Hall from inside. This room is a staff hangout.

We threw our bags into a different, and slightly nicer room, and walked quickly to Harpa Hall to meet Frank Hammarin at the front entrance. He was right on time. We were even a few minutes ahead of the curtain.

Harpa sits next to the yacht harbor.

I sank into the seat and when the lights went down I had a hard time staying awake in spite of the lovely music. Mark nodded off a bit too.

After the program, Frank, who is the new french horn player for the Reykjavik Symphony Orchestra, toured us around the facility.

Mark and Frank Hammarin inside Harpa Hall. As a new member the Reykjavik Symphony, he could show us around. We met him when he performed in MIM SummerFest

It is very light, airy and spacious and has 5 concert halls as well as conference spaces. Very impressive. He says the oddly shaped windows are lit in different colors when it is dark and that they create a special pleasing atmosphere. He is from Granite Bay and performed in this year’s MIM SummerFest, which is how we met him. A very blond 27 year old, he can pass for an Icelander any time. So far he has learned only a few words of Icelandic. No surprise there.  I can’t imagine a more difficult language to try to learn as an adult.  But, time is on his side.

Charming buildings in downtown Reykjavik.

Down town Reykjavik. Late afternoon. A pleasant, not-too-big city.

We left Frank a couple blocks from the hall and walked up the pedestrian shopping street. It was full of people window shopping and drinking at outdoor cafe’s. We walked into the sporting goods store called 66 North. Very nice store. Very big mistake. Bought a rain outfit that will crowd my suitcase and thin my wallet…..but I will look good walking in the rain with my street walking lady friends.

The Lutheran Cathedral in Reykjavik. Big and tall but lacking in warmth.

From there we walked to the nearby Cathedral and took a couple photos of it and the huge organ taking up most of the inside back wall. I really would like to hear it played, but the timing won’t work. Interestingly enough, the pews in the back half of the church face the organ, while the pews in the front half face the altar.

The organ inside the cathedral. Would like to have heard it. Maybe next time.

It makes me suspect there is more interest in listening to the organ than attending services. The several young people we have chatted with express little interest in church and do not attend. They don’t bother with marriage either. They get together, have children and maybe get married sometime.  Marriage is expensive and unnecessary. Besides everyone has a unique name unaffected by a ceremony. Who needs It?

Thankfully, the Residence Hotel is only a few blocks away. We got to our room at 4pm and were glad to have a break. Our dinner plans were not until  8pm and the Grill Market Restaurant is only a few blocks away too. Time enough to repack our gear after days of spreading out in the car, polish off the last of our Oban scotch, have a long shower and even rest awhile.

At 7:30 we walked to Grill Market. Got a little lost and had to get redirected. Not an easy to find spot as it is behind another building and there are no signs. Before we arrived we saw Gudbjorg and her boyfriend coming toward us. Having exchanged photos weeks before, we had no problem recognizing each other. It was a treat to meet up with someone I had known over 30 years ago when she was 19 and living with my brother’s family as an exchange student. She is the same age as Brad.

Gudbjorg Jonsdottir and her boy friend. She lived with Lance and his family as an exchange student for a year during 1986-87.

We had a fun evening getting caught up with each others lives. She wanted to learn all about Lance and his family, so I told her what I could. She has hoped for years that someone from his family would come to visit her. We are good substitutes, but I still think she would like to have one of them visit. The restaurant offered some unusual choices and I took advantage of the opportunity to have a smoked Puffin starter, while Gudbjorg’s boyfriend, Sigurjon Eiriksson, had horse for his entre. We each had a bite and found the horse meat tender and tasty. For my last dinner, I ordered a platter of langoustines with scallops and shrimp. Mark had a mixed meat platter of beef, lamb and duck. A good meal was had by all. We sat and talked until 11pm when I finally called it a night. We bid them adieu and wished them a happy life. We all knew we would likely never see one another again. We walked back to our hotel and fell into bed.

The Greenland mountains near the east coast of the island.

Next morning we were up at 5:45 preparing for a 7am pick up to the airport. The 7 hour IcelandAir

The polar ice cap over central Greenland. Only a tiny pit of rock is exposed and you can make just make out the curvature of the earth.

flight was very smooth and uneventful. I worked on the blog most of the time. We flew over Greenland and got clear photos of the mountains and glaciers on the east coast as well as the polar ice cap covering the vast middle of the island.
Now it is the last leg from Seattle to Sacramento and I am working again on the last post of this trip.

Some things we did not expect include:

Good to great weather most of the time; so few people and no traffic;  friendly young people from around the world waiting on us in hotels and restaurants-Poland, Lithuanian, Australian, Danish, Hungarian, Canadian;  fluent English spoken by every Icelander we met; literally hundreds of beautiful waterfalls;  millions of bugs, but no mosquitoes; treeless countryside that afforded unlimited visibility throughout most of the country;  good food everywhere including fresh vegetables and fruit, even pineapple;  free WiFi everywhere;  credit cards accepted everywhere no matter how small the purchase; exceedingly high prices for everything; a progressive, enterprising attitude toward business; a country very much on the move with an exciting future.

We had a wonderful time everywhere we went and recommend a visit to Iceland, even if as a short visit on the way to Europe.  Both Iceland and Greenland are well worth the effort.