“Þetta reddast” the Icelandic philosophy of life can be
translated to “it will all work out okay”. ‘Þ’ pronounced as ‘th’, almost.
Those who know me will figure out why I felt absolutely at home.
Travelogues aren’t my style, I know, I know, I've been told too! Sigh! This
isn’t one. At best is a simple recap of seven days of incredible experiences,
insights and the dope on my shenanigans.
I guess it’s natural that we have preconceived notions and
theories of a country and the people. Iceland as a country and people is
fascinating and blows all prior perceptions to smithereens. So, they haven’t fought
a war, have no history of battles except for the Viking led ones and they don’t
have their army to date!!! It was hard to digest and I asked them many
questions on the why and when and the simple answer was, who would want to live
here and what would they aspire to plunder and lord over.
Which probably explains why there are no grand monuments, forts,
castles and wartime memorabilia unlike the other European countries I have
toured, nor do the people have any military background and maybe the discipline
that comes from such experience? Their crime rate is one of the lowest in the
world, translate crime to narcotic and finance based. Murder rate is 1.8 per year
for the past decade. Education including university and health care is absolutely
free for all. There are no private schools, which ensures there is social
equality and the tax rate is at 37%.
Iceland doesn’t grow vegetables or fruits in its natural
environs, the only vegetables they grow like potatoes, cauliflowers and salad
greens are in greenhouses. They are very proud of their two banana plants which
are a national treasure and they spend enormous amounts of money ensuring their
sustenance. The only fruit bearing plants they have!
I spent six days running two workshops with the Icelandic and
Norwegian people, touring the countryside, socializing, learning about our
products and spent all of my coherent time and some incoherent time with them. The
country is cold but the people are genuinely warm and giving, openly
affectionate and completely chilled out, pun intended.
I suppose I went to
Iceland to impart learning and have returned with too many to count in one go
and these are life lessons that inspire and elevate. Have learned much from
each person I met and three gentlemen stand tall. They are part of the original
team that built the business the company I work for recently bought.
The older of the two is the perfect example of ‘Servant
Leadership’, gave me the spiel on the beer I should imbibe (beer was legalized
in Iceland on 1 March 1989 and they celebrate the day as a national holiday!)
to a grand tour of the offices and took us to the west of Iceland just so we
could see the products in the fish farms and rivers… his thoughtfulness was
incredible as he brought along massive eskimo jackets, scarves and gloves for
the ‘hot’ chicks.
The other gentleman is a fitness enthusiast, hiker, off
roader, adrenaline junkie and a photographer par excellence and drove us to the
East of Iceland, aurora hunting and to sample the lobsters of Iceland called
Langoustine, the yummiest crustacean and a smaller cousin of the lobsters we
are accustomed to.
The third is a Scot married to an Icelandic woman, his sense
of humor reflects the Icelanders, dry self-deprecating and if you can get it,
hilarious! Loves his motorbikes, fitness and the people who work in the outfit.
He’s the funny bone that tickles the ribs and keeps the human spirit alive.
Of the 39 member team, 5 were Norwegian and the banter n gentle
ribbing between the Icelandic people and Norwegians was utterly refreshing. Each
believed the other was affecting their salmon farming and is almost willing to
borrow the current American president to build a wall in the sea! The conversations
in the pubs after a barrage of barrels were riots of laughter.
If they have a national food, its Skyr. A cultured diary
product like yoghurt but not and has been part of their cuisine for thousands
of years. They are not accustomed to eating vegetables and are only learning
the art now, sweet potato being the favorite. Fish is staple diet, salmon,
trout, haddock and cod are consumed with great relish, smaller fish like
mackerels are used as bait and never for human consumption. Lamb is the favored
meat, beef comes second and none of the restaurants that I went to served any
pork although pork ribs are part of the Christmas spread. Whale, reindeer and horse
meat are common.
The landscape like I said before is desolate, stark, unyielding
and barren except for clumps of moss that grows like an afterthought. There are
plenty of volcanic mountains, lava fields, rivers, glacial rivers, lakes,
geysers, hot springs, glaciers and glacial caves. The eye is trained for a
certain kind of beauty that is lush and voluptuous with foliage and color. Minus
the frondescence and you find everything else. Hunting, fishing, fly fishing,
sailing and hiking are very popular and almost every Icelander does one, more
or all of the above.
The northern lights or the aurora borealis is a pain in the
you know where. She’s a fickle mistress, willful and erratic and is hard as
hell to catch. When she does appear you feel like you’ve been blessed. A word
of caution for all who want to behold her, she isn’t a movie show or theatrical
act that you can expect a performance just ‘cos you paid for it. We hunted her
for six nights and only caught faint glimpses of her twice. The picture I had
posted earlier is not how I saw her. The camera captured her light far better
than our eyes could, so yes keep those expectations really low and count yourself
lucky if you do witness her grandeur but let it not be the reason for your
Icelandic adventure.
Oh and save for the Icelandic experience. Like now. It’s
expensive. The accommodation (Airbnb included) is at least 50 percent higher
than other destinations and their public transport system isn’t great. In fact
real bad. From the Keflavik airport you can take the Flybus which takes you to
Reykjavik and to most hotels. Book online before you travel. You can drive or
do the guided tours. Driving is the best option though. It’s packed with
tourists, Americans and Chinese being the majority. Get to the airport four
hours in advance. Keflavik airport is bloody crowded as it also connects North
America with Europe and due Iceland’s own tourist activity. Food is expensive
too and you cannot buy fruits off the counters like you do rest of Europe. You can,
but it costs and arm and leg. If you're flying in to a Scandinavian country for a connection to Kef, ensure you have enough time between transfers as you have to clear immigration at the first port of landing. I had a two hour layover in Stockholm and it wasn't nearly enough! The queue was terrible and I had to beg and plead people to advance to the front.
The day before I was scheduled to fly out, happy in a pub, I
was fretting over not having spoken to the hotel yet about my transport to the
airport and a beautiful Icelandic woman, turned towards me and said, “Hey! Heard
about “Þetta reddast”? I said yeah, that’s my life motto. She looked at me for
a few seconds in silence and burst out laughing. “You have a bad memory then! What
is the worst that can happen if you don’t get through to the hotel, you will
walk in a little late on shaky legs and tell them what you’re desperate to now. You
are neither living here nor there. “Þetta reddast” girl, always “Þetta reddast”.
Happily, I took the advice. The hangover was anything but happy. Sigh!
So yeah "Þetta reddast" is me.
