Day 3: Reykjavik; The non-tourist's view

We had dinner with an Icelandic one-time coworker of my mom’s and her family.

(Given their reputation for stoicism, I would have thought most Icelanders would be stand-offish, but everyone we’ve met is very approachable. The one problem with talking to them, however, is I have never felt more illiterate than when trying to pronounce Icelandic names and street names).

Food

I made sure to get sheep’s head jelly on buttered rye flatbread. The jelly seemed to be strips of congealed meat and had a light flavor. The Icelandic family reminded us that this sort of traditional Viking food is only eaten at an annual holiday. The proper way to eat putrefied shark’s fin, they said, is to take a bite so you can say you did it, then drown out the flavor with a shot of alcohol.

Sheep's head jelly

Speaking of alcohol, here’s the story behind the beer ban: like the U.S., Iceland had a time of prohibition (1915-1935). Spain caused the downfall of this, refusing to buy Icelandic fish unless Iceland would buy Spanish wine. So Iceland decided to permit wine and spirits, either forgetting about beer or assuming no one drank it anyway. From 1935 until 1989, beer over 2.25% was outlawed. (What was legal was Icelandic’s national drink a 40% alcohol potato spirit called brennivin).

But beer started to be allowed for tourists, and became available in duty free stores, and on international plane flights. One Icelandic man, David Scheving Thorsteinsson, bought beer in a duty free shop then demand that he be arrested for bringing it into Iceland. The authorities complied, and in his subsequent trial David* argued that the ban was unconstitutional; the court agreed. (This info’s from the Icelandic family, Wikipedia, and the New York Times)

*Look at me being all Icelandic and referring to people by first names. It feels weird.

So what do Icelanders actually eat? Pizza, candy, hot dogs, lamb cuts, and coca cola. One daughter told me Iceland has the most Domino’s and the most coke drinkers per capita. When Domino’s and candy stores drop prices to half-off, lines stretch outside the store. People line up outside the candy stores at midnight before the day candy goes on sale, she said. (Yet Icelanders look pretty healthy. Maybe they burn more calories in the cold. Maybe they’re just athletic. One thing that’s not just for tourists: outdoor adventure. Camping in particularly is popular).

So what do Icelanders do?

I feel like I see so little of Icelanders, even being in the capital. I’ve been having trouble envisioning how they spend their days, so I asked about the major industries here. The answer: fishing, pharmaceutical work (for one major company, I believe), tourism (a growing industry), and aluminum processing (outsourced to here to take advantage of the cheap energy). Many companies make goods for export.

Sleepy America

Like Argentines, Icelanders party late. Though they don’t drink during the week, on the weekend they hit bars around midnight or 2am, and the bars stay open to 4am or later. Mark that down as one more country shocked by USA’s early closing times.

Hidden Folks: Hard to Find what Doesn’t Exist

My mom’s ex-coworker and her family live in Hafnarfjordur, where we visited yesterday. No one my generation or my parents’ generation actually believe in elves, I was told. People keep talking about elves because it draws tourists. We weren’t shocked to hear this, but we did mention the news articles that keep telling how a construction company changed the route of a planned road in order to dodge an elf house. Sure, she agreed, if an old woman’s really upset and says there’s an elf house, why wouldn’t you just build around it?

Christmas Trolls

There are thirteen Santa Clauses in Iceland who come down from the mountains, one at a time. For each of the thirteen days after Christmas, one Santa leaves, returning home. Their mother is a troll and if you are a naughty Icelandic child, she doesn’t give you coal, she just eats you.

Education and Kids

In Iceland, kids go to the same school from elementary to 10^th grade. Next they attend a 4 year school, where the last two years are a bit more like college: in one daughter’s school at least, they could choose to concentrate more heavily in science or language and completed a thesis (for business interests, they’d have to make a start-up company). After that, 3 years of college.

The drinking age is the same as in the U.S., but you can’t drive until 17.

Costs

While food is costly and many goods more expensive because they have to be imported, geothermal energy means electricity is cheap. Also cheap: healthcare (all prices are capped or nonexistent, minus a small co-pay) and college.

Government

The current mayor of Reykjavik used to be an actor and comedian; he was elected partially out of a search for change by those disgruntled by the economic crisis. Apparently he dresses in drag at the annual gay pride parades and he dressed as a Jedi to meet Lady Gaga.

In other more photograph-friendly news, we visited Arbaejarsafn, what Lonely Planet calls a “zoo for houses”. It’s a collection of various house styles from the 19^th century, built on an old farm.  It was traditional to build turf around your house:

Traveler’s Tips

The house zoo is free and tours are at 1pm.

Café Loki has traditional Viking food – the sheep’s head jelly, and a taster of putrefied shark’s fin (I didn’t try this, because, alas, no one would share it with me. Perhaps your travel companions will be less wise than mine were).

Harry’s is a nice seafood and Filipino food restaurant the family recommended.