IcelandMap
May As soon as I bought a ticket to Iceland, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano began erupting there, and airplanes stopped flying all over Europe. When the time to fly came, nature turned down the heat, and the captain of the plane told everyone to look out the left window, where the smoke behind the clouds was not a giant steam locomotive but in fact the volcano itself. ![]() Sales clerks will show you the receipt after it’s printed and then put it in a box (no one takes the receipts). There’s a very large amount of metallic money in this country. The change in your back pocket makes it uncomfortable to sit down by the second day here. Everything is super-expensive in Iceland and all the hotel rooms are microscopic; on the bright side, the toilet paper rolls are decorated with a rose made out of the same paper and stuck into the tube. ![]() All the horses have long manes and nice hairstyles. ![]() A designated spot for charging your car, like in Alaska. ![]() A post box. ![]() A manhole. ![]() License plates come in two varieties: elongated and compact. ![]() Almost all the traffic and street signs are encased in frames of the same shape, like in Switzerland. ![]() In small towns, the “obligatory frame” principle is sometimes taken to absurd extremes. ![]() Children. ![]() No parking within ten meters to the left and two to the right. We’ve already seen something similar in Laos. ![]() Police cars will flash their lights at oncoming vehicles if they’ve forgotten to turn on their headlights. In order not to tire my readers, here is a summary of Iceland’s traffic regulations on one billboard. ![]() Almost all the houses are covered with corrugated roofing panels or metal siding to protect them from the cold wind. ![]() A distinctive local trait: the peculiar shape of corners at an intersection. The important thing here is not to have a sharp corner at human height level. It sort of reminds me of Stockholm. ![]() One type of fire hydrant and two air vents coming from the basement. There are many ventilation pipes like this, what they all have in common is that they’re covered on the top to keep out rain and snow. They always come in pairs, to ensure proper air circulation. ![]() Another type of fire hydrant and two air vents of a different shape. ![]() The Icelandic language (which is actually unmodified Norwegian from a thousand years ago) uses letters that have long been forgotten in other languages which use the Latin alphabet. It’s astonishing to come across the letter “thorn” or the “ae” ligature on an ordinary street sign. ![]() Towers hold up power lines over the fjord. ![]() The shape of the utility poles resembles the letter A from Dürer’s monogram. ![]() Even though the climate here is no better than ours, the roads are straight and in good condition. ![]() The roads are straight and in good condition, even though the climate here is no better than ours. ![]() Sometimes they end, but not for long. ![]() People like off-road vehicles here. ![]() Three people died on the highway last year. ![]() The bus stop is walled off with glass on three and a half sides so that waiting passengers can hide from the wind. ![]() A phone booth. ![]() A trash can. ![]() A traffic light. ![]() A map of the buildings in the cluster. You can instantly see where each building number is located. ![]() At first it might seem that Iceland resembles Greenland, but the similarities end at the colors of the buildings. Iceland is just as integral and self-assured as the rest of the Scandinavian countries. And I consider the Scandinavian countries (well, plus Holland) to be the pinnacle of human civilization. ![]() But in some places, it’s like an exact copy of Murmansk. ![]() Iceland has everything. The most remote farm on the edge of the island will still undoubtedly have lodging with Internet access. It was at one of these lodgings that I discovered a museum of aviation and technology with an AN-2 on display. It was being transported to the US to be sold to collectors, but broke down when it landed here in 1993. The owner of the museum was terribly obliging and sawed off the lock to show his Russian guest its kindred interior. ![]() They like to build barns into the mountain slopes here. ![]() The main occupation of half the country is rolling up bales of hay. ![]() Even here, there’s a hay bale in the shot: ![]() The other half of the country fishes. On the photo you can see Iceland’s main type of fishing crate for anything and everything. It’s used to store both tackle and the day’s catch. ![]() Trampolines are the main form of entertainment for children. They’re set up in back yards and enclosed in netting so that no one goes flying out of them. ![]() There are many beautiful waterfalls here. ![]() The moss-covered rocks look like a flock of sheep. ![]() And in general it’s beautiful here. ![]() Even the substation looks like it should be in a painting. ![]() Even trash dumpsters look majestic and dignified. ![]() A special sign warns of an upcoming hill. ![]() On the hill itself is another sign which helps to prevent collisions. ![]() There are also signs and road surface markings to show that the road narrows ahead. Usually this means a bridge. ![]() And there’s also a bottle to collect empty bottles. ![]() But most astounding of all are the metal tubes or beams paving the entrance to smaller roadways. There’s a fence on both sides of such sections. This is done to prevent various animals from wandering out onto the highway. (This is called a motorgate and can be seen in Namibia as well.) ![]() ![]() |
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may 2010
Iceland
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