August 21, 2016 – The Golden Circle and Back To Where We Started
As our opt-in additional tour with TravellingFit, we had prebooked the Golden Circle tour. It was billed as “the” tour to do in Iceland. The following is based on my notes I tapped into my iPhone as it happened. It’s written and reconstructed after the fact but hopefully still captures some “of the moment” details.
We began our tour at the Pingvellir National Park, site of the Viking parliament and over 1000 years of history. This also afforded visual evidence of the movement of tectonic plates, as one can see the rift where the American plate and the Eurasian plate are diverging. No, you can’t see the movement happening in front of your eyes – they’re diverging by 3 cm or so each year – but the cumulative effects of the two plates moving apart over time has formed a valley/rift that visually makes quite an impression. And to be walking where we know Vikings had walked has that powerful connection to the past that resonates within the human soul.
Vigdis, our tour guide, offered only the briefest of backgrounds on the history. I’m not sure if it was too much to try and convey so she opted to just let us ponder the natural wonders or if she just wasn’t in the mood to share the knowledge. I got confused when she said the water from the glaciers we could see in the distance takes 3000 years to reach Reykjavik. I tried to engage and find out more details to see if I had misunderstood what she was saying but she just kept repeating the 3000 year travel figure.
In short, though, in the year 874, the first permanent settler came to Iceland. Reykjavik means “steamy bay” and was so named for the prominence of geothermal springs and energy wafting over the bay at the time and that continues to provide the bulk of energy to the nation. Most settlers came from Norway and Scandinavia. By the year 930 Iceland as a whole was deemed settled. There were 31 sections each with its own chieftain and this would lead to the Viking era.
In July 930, the Viking clans met at this parliament location, replete with natural formations and security that “felt” like a place they should meet. A man had gone and memorized Norwegian laws, as at this stage there was no written language for the Icelandic hordes. This oral tradition of law and order would carry on until the Catholic conquest completed in 1066 would bring the Latin alphabet and therefore books and written records.
Let’s be clear – though there was now a bit of unified law and order, it was a brutal, awful thing – women were drowned, men beheaded, rape and pillaging were rampant. It wasn’t all fun and drinking games for the Vikings.
But the legacy of all this is that today in democratic Iceland there are 5 political parties and 72 Member of Parliament representing the 330,000 people, and enough geothermal power to be energy self-sufficient.
And nowhere is that geothermal reality more apparent than at the exploding hot springs of Geysir. Here is the naming progenitor – all geysers ever after take their name from this spot. More consistent than Yellowstone’s Old Faithful, the Geysir geysers seemingly spout water every 5 minutes… but we still had trouble trying to snag a photo. There was no warning sound, a la the fire swamp in the Princess Bride. So as we stood waiting, and waiting, and waiting, water seemed to explode just as I took a moment to turn away. But this is what we got:
The overcast grey sky doesn’t help to contrast the spouting water, but you get the idea.
After a quick lunch…
…it was out to the Gullfoss golden waterfalls. In the distance we could make out the 2nd largest glacier in Iceland, albeit once again with the overcast skies it made photographing it a little tricky.
The Golden Waterfalls of Gullfoss are essentially 2 waterfalls tucked away in a canyon – the first is 11 km high and the second 22 km high. At one stage the area was earmarked for a hydroelectric plant but one brave soul who owned the land stood up for conservation and said, “I cannot and will not sell my friend.” Thanks to those efforts, we all got to experience a natural wonder of the world. And it was most impressive to see. Does it top Niagara Falls? Perhaps the US side but not the Canadian side would be my TripAdvisor review. But what a thing to see.
As we were leaving Gullfoss, we got stuck in a traffic jam. Cars were not moving at all. An orange helicopter had descended and landed and eventually we heard someone had a heart attack. I’m still not sure why our staying put there was helpful but I do continue to hope the person was ok. It all felt like a weird enforced rubber necking. I refused to take photos as it all felt oddly creepy… and yet… I kinda wish I had. What a strange mix of conflicting emotions, even now. I’ve never done well when confronting mortality.
At the TravellingFit celebration dinner later that night we found out Anoop and Priya’s cardiologist friend was actually there trying to save the guy’s life. I had bumped into them on the stairs to Gullfoss as they were touring around on their own – it’s a small country of sights to see. If one has to have a heart attack, it certainly was lucky to have a visiting London cardiologist in a car behind you.
A bit of gallows humor here – as we were awaiting word on the hold-up (and before we found out there was a matter of life and death going on … so maybe this isn’t gallows humor but just straight up humor) – Vigdis eventually came over the bus PA system. “”We are lucky because we are not in a hurry. But a lot of buses are from cruise ships and they need to be back to leave port at 5 pm. And they are in deep shit.” To hear the monotone assessment of the situation punctuated by the equally monotone, “deep shit” was I think the Webster Dictionary definition of dead-pan humor.
After the orange helicopter lifted off and flew off into the horizon, we headed back to Reykjavik. There was a view of the volcano and geothermal power plant but otherwise it was just a long drive back to the city. Vigdis came over the PA system to tell us, “I’m going to give you a break for 45 minutes.” What exactly she was giving a break from, I’m not sure. I never felt she was that engaged in guiding us. The day felt more like a taxi service than a tour. Later in the evening at the TravellingFit Celebration Dinner, we were discussing best parts and least good parts of the trip. For me, any chance I get to spend time with my Mom is a good thing (although maybe walking behind the waterfall was tops even if Mom didn’t join me). The least good part was that I thought Vigdis simply wasn’t a very good tour guide. Chris who was sitting across from me disagreed and thought she did a great job – maybe I wasn’t in earshot or missed the conversations, or maybe I just was looking for some other type of experience. But take my criticism then of her as a guide with a grain of salt. Based on my completely scientifically bogus sampling of three people, 66% of us weren’t happy with her and 33% were (I asked my Mom and she sided with me). Take that as you will.
I’m still not entirely clear on why they call it the Golden Circle Tour – perhaps because we head out to the Golden Falls and then circle back to Reykjavik. Makes sense, I suppose, but it all seems so… unromantic? Anti-climactic?
Returning to our hotel, we had only a short break before heading over to the Sky Lounge for the big goodbye celebration dinner. Apparently the maître d’ had transposed the numbers and expected seating for 23 people, not 32. But Mari Mar spoke to them 5 days prior to correct it… only to discover 23 place settings on our arrival. It’s one of the only times I saw Mari Mar dig in her heels (and rightly so) over snafus in customer service.
I didn’t take a lot of photos or document much of the last dinner. I’m never good at good-byes or endings… there’s something both inherently melancholy and thrilling to endings. That there was a shared experience and that laughs and funs will echo via our memories into our futures is something to be celebrated. But knowing that one trip is coming to a close is a bit of a bittersweet moment. Every finish line though is merely the starting line for the next race, the next destination, the next adventure.
And this was a good week made even better by the wonderful people we met along the way. Of that there is no doubt.
The 3:30 AM wakeup call for our shuttle bus to the airport loomed large however, and thus we ducked out before too long. Mari Mar made a wonderful speech thanking everyone and acknowledging their efforts, be they in running or supporting. I inadvertently mucked up the speech, unwittingly cheering at the wrong time and throwing off her rhythm. For that, I’m sorry, Mari Mar. I promise to be quiet when we are in Cuba.
For Cuba is the next Run The World Reunion Event… and I’m pretty sure Mom and I will be up for that adventure when the time comes.
In the meanwhile, however, there are more races, more travels, and more miles to log.
***
A few quick notes to close out this piece. I wrote the majority of this after the fact, on planes, in shuttle buses, even a bit at home. But I’ve caught a bit of a sniffle and a nasty little head cold. I didn’t go back and proofread everything so there’s probably gobs of typos and errors. As a one-man operation I have no editor save myself… but that also means whatever flaws or mistakes exist there’s only one person to blame. This guy. For omissions and errors, I apologize. For fun and weird tangents, I take full credit.
In any case, I don’t know if I recounted the story of the runner who signed up for the half but was given a full marathon bib; she said “sod it!” and ran the full. How awesome is that?
Because the Icelandic winters don’t have a lot of daylight, a great Christmas custom is to give a book for those dark nights. Reading is incredibly popular and supposedly Iceland has more self-published authors than anywhere else on earth.
Finally, Iceland has patronymic names, which is to say they go by their Christian names and then son / daughter of father. Vigdis our tour guide for example is married but kept her name – had she taken her husband’s name she’d be “Vigdis, son of XX.” I should also note that apparently in the Icelandic phone book, names are listed by one’s Christian name and the street one lives on.
So I will sign off this entry as:
-Kevin, son of Karen.
Posted: August 24, 2016