A journey of a single sweater begins with a thousand stitches.*

Icelandic sweater is a funny thing.

The first time you see it, it's ugly.

The second time you see it, you start wondering what is wrong with those who wear it.

The third through the hundredth time you see it, you start wondering maybe there IS something about it.

The hundred and first time you see it, worn by a beautiful girl or by a cute guy clubbing in Reykjavik, you think hmmm not so bad after all.

After that, you just want one.

There comes a moment you enter one of those tourist shops to look at sweaters and that's what you do - after realising one would cost you about 150€, you just look at it and leave the store.

Then, and by that time you already need that sweater, you meet this cute American girl spending her evenings in a little town called Pingeyri knitting herself one, which costs her ten times less - the cost of wool. And so the moment you accidentaly stumble accross a wool store in Isafjordur, you're hooked - you're knitting yourself a damn sweater! 

You buy the wool. 

The wool hitchhikes through Iceland with you. 

Then it takes a ferry to Denmark with some Polish dudes you meet a day before you leave the island (kinda problematic to fit everything in you 30l backpack and have it ready for the Rayanair crew 'one piece of luggage' verification).

After a month long trip in France and Spain you hitchhike from Frankfurt to Warsaw and stop in Poznan, to pick the wool up (which later has you hitchhiking from the middle of the highway praying for your life; it also has you taking photos with your GPS camera, so that your dad tells you how many kms you have to walk alongside the road to reach the next gas station..).

The wool finally gets home and sits in the closet for 2 months, cause you don't have time to learn how to knit.

And finally, there comes a day (yesterday) when you decide enough is enough and you pick up those scary needles and get on with it.

The plan is to have the sweater ready in a month's time, so that it can keep me warm during my trip to Brussels. Everyone, my mum included, says it's kinda impossible, especially that I want some patterns around it (what would an Icelandic sweater be without the Icelandic patterns, I ask you!). 

Challenge accepted! 

 

A sample I was learning on yesterday. The only unfortunate thing is that the wool I need to start knitting with is much thinner and not spun so tightly, making it a lot more difficult and needing me to be a lot more careful with what I do. But hey, nobody said it was gonna be easy..

Alright then, off I go to knit!

*You inspire me, Jim! ;)

5 more Icelandic trivia

Here goes more Iclandic trivia.

#9 To get your electrician's license you need to pass exams in Danish (it's also compulsory at school).

#10 There were no plans to establish any Icelandic military forces after the II WW, although on 30 March 1949 the Alpingi (parliament) decided that Iceland would be a charter member of NATO, thus turning its back on neutrality. However, an Icelandic Defense Force came to live, with its all American military personnel.

#11 In schools, going to the swimming pool is compulsory.

#12 Iceland has something in common with Asia. They're beginning to have two sets of prices in some places - for the locals and for tourists (f.e. entrance to the Blue Lagoon is 4500 ISK for foreigners and 1900 ISK for Icelanders).

#13 Back in the day swimming pools used to employ a person whose only job was to oversee that visitors shower naked before going into the pool. Apparently, about 20 years ago someone told them it was a tad bit odd, so they fired the poor folks.

Keflavik presents: The Base. Part 1

Sooo... Finally will have some time to sit down and write a bit more about Iceland. During the trip I had loads of ideas for posts, most of which have been forgotten unfortunately. However, whatever I managed to scribble down is gonna be appearing in the following days/weeks.


To start with, a bit of  Icelandic history for those interested.

.    .     .     .     .

Ever since Americans took over Iceland from the British after the II WW, the Base has been a source of dispute and controversies on the island, but has also influenced the local population a lot. It was estabilished around a 40 minute drive from the capital in the town of Keflavik, where the only international airport is located.

From what I read in the Reykjanesbaer Heritage Museum:

In the minds of most Icelanders, the Keflavik Base was primarly a heated political issue. For the local population, the US base was a major employer, and a neighbour. The Base was not only a military installation, but an autonomous community with its own schools, church, hospital, shops, cinema, clubs, radio and TV stations, newspaper, and all the accoutrements of daily life, workshops, workplaces. Everything was different inside the wire: electrical current, buildings, furtniture, currency - all was as it was in the US of A.

On May 30 1949 the first US military personnel of the Icelandic Defense Army arrived on the island. Extensive construction work began, to provide accommodation for the troops and their families, along with all the necessary services of a military base. Initially many of the personnel were billeted in nearby villages, but over time almost all were housed on the base. The Keflavik base operated continuously for 55 years, until it finally closed down on 30 September 2006 (..)

The Organisation Against Military Occupation was founded on 19 June 1960, symbolically at Þingvellir - the ancient parliamentary site and cradle of Icelandic nationhood. It later became the Organisation Against the Military Base. Supporters of the American military presence also made themselves heard, for instance by collecting signatures for a petition under the title: "A land defended". Local people too took sides in the debate: the Njarðik Youth Organisation, for instance, declared its opposition to the Base on nationalist grounds, with the slogan Iceland for Icelanders. 

So what were the Americans doing, while the Icelanders argued over their presence? The most noticeable sign of life on the Base was the regular roar of fighter jets taking off and landing: mostly on patrol flights to confront the opposition. Soviet planes ventured close to Icelandic air space to test how far they could go, and their US counterparts  "headed them off the pass".

Between 1980 and 1991 an average of 132 such missions were flown each year. The aircraft of the Keflavik base alone flew almost as many missions against Soviet planes as all the rest of the USAF put together (..)

Visiting the base was an adventure, just like going on a trip abroad. There was even a different smell. That was probably what sparked off my wanderlust. It was a special experience that I loved, comments Dagbjort Oskarsdottir, remembering her childhood outings to the cinema on the Base in the 1950s.

The nearby communities were influenced by their coexistence with the Americans. In the Suðurnes region around the Base, people were known for driving big American automobiles, and keeping up with the latest music, they had American TV and radio stations and in their homes they had American domestic appliances, furniture, even American foods and beer. They dressed differently from other Icelanders, in their American parkas and baseball caps, speaking both Icelandic and English - and sometimes a mixture of the two.

Decorating homes with strings of Christmas lights was unkown in Iceland until the Americans on the Base started hanging up lights during Advent. Their Icelandic neighbours followed their example and before long this had become a national phenomenon. The people of Suðurnes are still renowned for the enthusiasm with which they decorate their homes and gardens with lights at Christmas.

 Read more

Why do I write about it though?

Cause I was staying in one of the troops' housing buildings, no. 961 :)

Also, I did visit a different, still operating, American Base a couple years back and I remember how surprised I was to see that it really was a piece of the US of A abroad. A big premises with proper lanes & avenues, stores where you pay in $ and get all American products, restaurants, gyms, a cinema hall..


.     .     .     .     .

Actually, it's been suggested to me once that I should move somewhere close to one of the Bases and get myself a soldier hubby, preferably one that would be sent to a war zone, so I could collect the 200 000$ widow money and live happily ever after. How could I have not acted on such a perfect plan..? 

What not to do in Iceland

Jim has sent me this short article and I decided to add my short comments.

1b  

True. The paths will be on your map, allright, but no point looking for them in real life.
 

3 

Yup. Although, I did manage to understand a couple of things here and there, to the utter bewilderment of me and the people around me alike.

5  

Nor in food pricing. 

Not-co-great-looking restaurants in some small towns (which means around 15-20 houses in Iceland..) will be more expensive than cool spots in Reykjavik. I was actually very surprised to see that eating and going out in the capital was quite affordable, even for someone from my part of the world (meaning it was up two two times more expensive, not more).

PS

See Antoine? Had we gone to Sudavik, you might have seen the foxes! ;)

 

Almost perfect 36 hours

I'm so so behind with everything and it will get even worse!

I know week 3 and 4 are pretty much missing and there's so much: stories, cool adventures and interesting encounters I'd like to share with you but there just hasn't been time, nor opportunity to be online and do so..

So let me just share with you the last 36 hours.

.     .     .     .     .

A 4 hour hike on a part of the biggest European glacier - Vatnajokull, followed by a 30 minute boat ride among floating icebergs in the Ice Lagoon.

Getting 3 perfectly fitting rides and arriving in Reykjavik in less than 5 hours (coming from Skaftafell).

Within 5 minutes of reaching Reykjavik, seeing a Polish 4x4 you'd previously seen 2,5 weeks ago up in the North. Chatting the guys up and seeing that they're cool travellers, turning their passion into a job. Also, seeing that they're quite spontaneous and setting off for rundur in the center of town (more on it in Icelandic trivia, part 3 - coming soon). Setting an appointment for the next morning at 10am to go to a nearby glacier in their lovely 4x4. Apparently you can actually drive up the glacier. You mention you'd been freezing recently - the guys give you a proper mat, a blanket and a better sleeping bag. Can you have a Hallelujah?

Next morning, 8:30 am. Have a wonderful hot shower and use your favourite shampoo that someone has just left behind (memories of India and your nice hair come back.. damn', you really need to hit the hairdresser's once you're back).

9:30 am. Got invited for breakfast by the Polish lads and have smoked lamb sandwiches, followed by camembert and jam sandwiches, followed by peanut butter and jam sandwiches. You're pretty much full by that time.

Finally get to drive through the interior! (kinda same views as route no 1, though). Finally get on some dirt roads and see the glacier in front of you. Some bumpy minutes later drive on the glacier itself. So it truly is possible to do that! You're hungry so you decide to .. cook!

(Translation: "Good krupniczek (traditional Polish soup) on a glacier.  We recommend the Chez Magda, Grzesiek, Pawel and Antoine Restaurant.")

Going back to Reykjavik on one of the most beautiful roads out there and arrive in the harbour for some lobster soup and fish kebabs. You're still a bit hungry, so some decide to hit the most famous burger joint, others (yes, that'd be me) go for the best prawn sub ever. Like srsly delicious, right Grzesiek? 

You have an 8 am flight tomorrow, so have to get to your hosts place in Keflavik at a decent hour (too bad - there's a music festival and lots of small concerts around!), so the Polish gang offers to drive you to the exit on the highway. Nobody wants to take you during the first 5 minutes, so the guys decide to take you all the way to the Base. You feel so bad, as you haven't even had the chance to take them out for a beer after everything they'd done for you. Grzesiek & Pawel - thank you guys so much for making this last day on Iceland so great - you rock!

You arrive at the host's place - so amazing to be indoors, with a roof over your head, a kitchen and a bathroom at your disposal. Plus, the computer.

Get connected again and try not to think that in 5 hours you have to leave this cosy place and possibly spend an hour walking to the airport. Then again, the plane takes you towards new adventures, so maybe you wanna put on those walking shoes in the end...?

Sometimes sun, sometimes rain

In Reykjavik currently, came for yesterday's Cultural Night - the city's (=country's?) most party day in the whole year. 

The sun was shining, the sounds, colours and smells everywhere - concerts on every street, in the backyards, on balconies; people in thousands, haven't seen so many in almost 3 weeks, seems that the whole of Iceland, plus as many tourists, were here to have a good time; food in and in front of every restaurant, the smell delivered to every city's corner by the gentle wind; meeting people I'd previously met on the road anything from a week ago to 3 days ago. Meeting some Spaniards at the bar which might result in doing some crazy rafting tomorrow. Dancing in trekking shoes and army pants. Watching a cool firework show.

So much energy, loved it!

.     .      .      .      .

Today, however, the cards are a bit different and it's been raining quite heavily, so I feel excused to buy some Internet time and write to my friends. Wanted to upload some pictures, was supposed to do some translation but the computer in here doesn't either read usb, nor does it allow you to create files in Word. So, got left with good ol' facebook - it never lets you dow.

.     .      .      .      .

I must admit it feels strange to know I've still a month of travelling ahead of me. I plan on coming back to Warsaw around the 20th of September - might still have a crazy bday party to crash on the 18th in Berlin.. Plus, found really cheap flights to Brussels in October and the fries have been on my mind for ages, so maybe..? Let's see how things roll.. 

This week will hopefully be a most adventurous one - am thinking glaciers, volcanic underwater reefs, rafting.. Let's see.. :)

Trekking in a shelter

Apparently the worst summer in decades and we decide to trek.

So we end up spending one day getting defeated by rain, fog, wind and the lack of visible paths, to spend the next two days indoors praying we can change our boat reservation.

More coming soon.

Week two begins

Getting a ride with 3 crazy German tourists (one of which actually started a Maya Bee fan club many years ago) and jumping around a waterfall,

going to a farm with horseback riding to get offered o job and be driven to the potential boss's place,

hitching an empty tour bus and getting free beer,

getting picked up by a French couple who travel around the island in a caravan of campers and teaching 60+ year olds the basics of dancehall by the bonfire to Bob Marley songs,

freezing under a waterfall to catch some sun on a patch of snow 10 minutes later,

'dining' on dry spaghetti in front of a cafe in a small town lost in the West Fjords to later get invited for a movie by the cafe's employees and munch on butter popcorn while watching Faun's Labyrinth,

chill out in the before mentioned cosy cafe (they serve Belgian waffles!) and recharge the batteries before setting off on a 4day trek up north.


Quite cool last couple of days, if I may say so!

Randomness

When people ask me why I want to hitch hike, the answers are two. 


First of all, let's be honest, it saves a lot of money and enables me to see more.


However, even more importantly - you get to meet all sorts of people and random things happen.


Let's take today for example and our last ride to a farm in the middle of nowhere. We were going there to do some Icelandic horse riding. We haven't done that yet, but am now sitting in a kitchen of who might be my future part time boss next spring.. :D


Stay tuned!


PS
Ate a puffin today.. Am not proud of it but luckily, I didn't like it. Tastes like liver.
Don't ever have to try the cute thing again!

First waterfalls, first craters

So, it´s pretty.

For sure, the landscape in here is great and the best is still yet to come. And loads of it!

During the last 7 days managed to have a bbq in a country house and break onto a church´s grounds, attend a fish festival and eat whale meat, steal a boat and make fire on a picturesque island to later camp out there, sleep on a rock overseeing Akureyri and do my laundry in a library´s toilet.

No time to be writing now, so just a couple of stills. Sorry, but haven´t managed to upload any more for the time being!

A little hike on one of the hills surrounding Dalvik.

A walk along Dalvik´s beach.

The essence of travelling

3 short films.

3 minutes alltogether.

The essence of travelling.

Enjoy!

MOVE

LEARN

EAT

8 Icelandic trivia

#1 Electricity is very cheap in here, so even if it's 4pm and totally light outside, 4 out of 5 lights in your flat will be on.

#2 If you're out for a walk with a baby in a stroller and want to go into a store or a friend's house, you just leave the stroller outside. Baby included. The baby will sleep and breathe fresh air and they're less likely to steal the stroller.

#3 Icelanders drink a lot. A lot lot, like till 8am. Once they start, they don't stop.

#4 If you're flying to US through Iceland, the airlines allow you to make a 7day long layover without additional cost. So smart when it comes to bringing tourists into the country!

#5 They have sandals with a Vibram sole.

#6 If you want fresh coffee \ cold water and you're broke, go to a bank. Seriously, the bank I've been to in Keflavik is the fanciest one I've seen. They've a coffee machine you can use for free, plus a fridge with bottled water to take. Although to be fair, the time I went to a bank in Bombay, they brought me chai and cookies.

#7 People like to sleep here. Businesses open at 9am at the earliest (usually 10 or 11am though) and close at 6pm.

#8 There's a Candy Saturday - a day when kids can eat sweets. It turns out I've partially received an Icelandic upbringing! (do rodzicow - czyzbyscie zapozyczyli ten pomysl z Islandii?)

Velkomin til Íslands

Welcome to Iceland!

(That's where some pics and a video I shot last night of my neighbourhood were supposed to be at, but my hosts' comp doesn't read cards and I don't have my cable with me. So, imagine the outskirts of Keflavik whichever way you like).

Am staying very close to the airport, with a lovely Icelandic-Canadian family of 5 plus Rosa, the dog. My yesterday flight was a bit late and arrived at their place at around 6 pm. Got to meet a Belgian couple who had been travelling around the island for the past 2 weeks and they were totally in love with it. I think I can understand why, although I have not even seen anything yet.

.     .     .     .     .

I always thought Iceland would be one of the gang, the Scandinavian gang I mean. Expensive for foreigners but comfortable for its own people. It turns out it's pretty much the other way around - the prices are rather OK for tourists who come here for two weeks at a time but too pricey for locals. At least that's my first host's take on it.

Tomorrow am picking up Antoine at the airport and I'll try to convince him to go to a BBQ we've been invited to - should be a great place (close to a natural park) with cool people (the host family plus their parents). And apparently there's a pool involved.

.     .     .     .     .

There's another CS with me in here. A solo Canadian girl on her way back home after a two month trip to England. She's 13.

...

Also, I don't know how that's possible but the colours in here are different. Just love this greyishly blue clouded sky and the contrast it's in with the green grass.