Welcome to the edge of the map: photos from the Iceland road trip of 2014 my dad and I went on. We drove around the whole island, and it took us what, about 10 days?
(It can be done in a lot less time, or a lot more, depending on how much you want to see.)
I don't know about cars, but since we decided to go all around Iceland, I booked this uh, blue car, okay. Upon arrival to Reykjavik however,
I was quite sad when it was time to say goodbye to this uh, reliable vehicle.ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/800s.
Here's my dad; he could beat up your dad.
He's a veteran of the Solidarity movement, helped to bring down communism in Poland,
and you can read up on him in the Solidarity Encyclopaedia [PL].ISO 200, 20mm, f/2.8, 1/50s.
I love how elegant almost everything is in Reykjavik. This building is in the city centre - Reykjavik is like a cosmopolitan village,
both diverse and cosy, a welcoming oasis surrounded by threatening coasts and mountains.ISO 200, 20mm, f/8.0, 1/1600s.
Iceland is famous for its culture, and its current culture at that - supposedly everyone is an artist in Iceland, everyone is encouraged to write, paint, or have a rock band, and it's okay to fail, and try doing something else. [4]
In the photo, Icelandic couple posing with a tourist.ISO 200, 20mm, f/8.0, 1/400s.
Humbling visit to the penis museum. Both being of conservative background, my dad and I were impressed by the Italian family on the left, visiting with kids, very matter-of-factly.ISO 280, 18mm, f/3.5, 1/40s.
This is the first purpose-built concert hall in Reykjavik, opened in 2011. [1]
Icelandic culture is now financed by the government and local authorities.
That's right, in Iceland even artists aren't poor. Icelandic Novel Prize winner Halldór Laxness said "I don't understand this myth of the starving artist. I never missed a meal". [4]ISO 200, 20mm, f/8.0, 1/640s.
Iceland is, indeed, very wealthy, but it hasn't always been like that. It was the American Army that built the roads connecting Icelandic towns, and the British who built the airport. Iceland
benefited from the post-WW2 Marshall Plan more than any other country. [3]
The Americans needed the strategically important Keflavik airport, so they were nice. They built factories and dried marshes. However, as Iceland was meant to be quite conservative at the time, they feared the
sexually liberated Americans. [3]ISO 200, 20mm, f/8.0, 1/640s.
And so, art is financed by the public, while corporate sponsorship is viewed suspiciously - turns out
artists played a great role of creating the positive image of the so called Financial Vikings that led to the country's economic crisis in 2008-2011. [3]ISO 200, 50mm, f/5.6, 1/400s.
Before the crisis, Iceland was so wealthy that one man bought a helicopter, and invited Elton John to sing at his birthday party, and the Landsbanki bank
flew its customers to Italy, where they were fed pasta covered in not-so-nutritious gold flakes. [3]ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/1000s.
Finally, after years of prosperity, speculation in Iceland reached the limit, the time came to foot the bill, and a major economic crash followed.
It created, among other phenomenons, the so called crisis literature - a good example of that would be the aptly entitled "Bankster" by Guðmundur Óskarsson. [3]ISO 200, 55mm, f/8.0, 1/1250s.
And here is an example of the Icelandic Horse. The ponies are really friendly and easy to ride. They are famous for having five "gears" (gaits). After many days of nagging, I persuaded my dad to ride a pony
like this one, and it was good fun, easy-peasy.
You can't bring your own horse to Iceland, I was told, for the fear it would infect the local horses with a bug they have no immunity against.ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/1250s.
Despite the usually terrible weather, the population of Iceland is meant to be one of the happiest in the world. Some say it's because it's more of a large tribe than a nation [3],
or that harsh weather conditions require people to cooperate. [4] Changing careers is meant to be easy, too. [4]ISO 200, 55mm, f/8.0, 1/800s.
The Poles constitute 3.13% of the population of Iceland. [5] Everyone's welcome to stay! As long as they learn the language.ISO 200, 20mm, f/8.0, 1/125s.
And Icelandic isn't so easy to learn. It's meant to be a linguistic relict, a nearly untouched Old Nordic language. If you're from Norway, it apparently sounds like
a medieval version of your mother tongue.ISO 200, 50mm, f/8.0, 15/1s.
Since 1964, they've had an institution that governs the development of the language. Their job is to come up with new words for new terms.ISO 200, 40mm, f/8.0, 1/125s.
The crazy stuff they come up with... How do you say computer in Icelandic? Tölva - literally, "seeress of numbers". [6] And sjónvarp means...? You guessed it,
it means television - literally "sight caster".ISO 200, 55mm, f/7.1, 1/640s.
Most Icelanders are members of the Lutheran State Church, but paganism is on the rise since 1970s (Old Norse gods are making a comeback).
It's not a religious society as such - they usually only go to church for weddings and funerals. [4] The numbers of pagans are hard to
establish, as most pagans remain formally within the State Church. [3]
Note the basaltic rock tomb on the left.ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/250s.
Then, there is the strange belief in elves and trolls. [7] It may not be surprising, when you are exposed to sights like this one - smoke coming out of mountains.ISO 200, 42mm, f/8.0, 1/640s.
Why is language so important in Iceland? There are almost no material historical treasures in Iceland. All they have is their literature
and poetry - the most famous being the Edda - the major store of Scandinavian mythology. [3]ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/320s.
"Iceland is a beast; the island we live on, with its terrifying raw nature, its bitter, ever-changing weather. It's the grim world
of Goya's nightmare - beautiful and yet grotesque. It's a capricious beast, Iceland. We cannot run from it. We keep looking for ways to live with it,
to tame the beast." -- Harald Jonsson, Icelandic artist.ISO 200, 18mm, f/3.5, 1/2500s.
That was a short intro to Iceland!
In the photo, tourists getting wet at the foot of the Skógafoss waterfall. It's very loud down there.ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/250s.
This is another waterfall, Seljalandsfoss - the waterfall you can walk around. The blurry spots all over the photo are from humidity.ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/160s.
And if the sea wind is strong enough, the water goes up! [2]
This sort of dramatic landscape, with mountains, waterfalls, volcanoes, signifies that the land is geologically young.ISO 200, 55mm, f/8.0, 1/200s.
To me, this was the best part of the trip. Climbing the glacier was so counter-intuitive and seemed gravity-defying - you can easily walk up
or down mountains of ice. It's absolutely amazing.ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/250s.
The guide explaining why you don't want to fall into one of those holes, possibly leading to series of tunnels, getting narrower and narrower.
They are usually filled with freezing water, and there are people crazy enough to dive in those.ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/160s.
Oh, look, it's Hvannadalshnúkur! The highest peak in Iceland. Its ice is melting into this lake, and then flows into the ocean.ISO 200, 38mm, f/8.0, 1/1600s.
Iceland used to live off exporting cod, but they managed to diversify their economy - Iceland is now a major producer of aluminium. [3]
Fish with wings, extremely rare.ISO 200, 20mm, f/8.0, 1/125s.
