4 posts tagged “iceland”
At random today I decided to check if 12 Tonar ever got their online store up and running - and it is!
See: http://12tonar.grapewire.net/
You can play snippets of 12 Tonar music and shop. Almost as good as being in Reykjavik...! Still no new Flis CD, though. I hope they haven't gone back to law school or moved to LA or something like that.
From the Wall Street Journal yesterday (09/28/06):
"EGILSSTADIR, Iceland (AP)--Europe's highest concrete rockfill dam was activated Thursday in the remote eastern Icelandic highlands amid a swirl of protest from environmentalists.....In temperatures hovering just above freezing, the murky green waters of the glacial Jokulsa a Dal river came to a slow halt at around 0930 GMT as workers sealed off two locks....It was the first step in creating what will ultimately become a 57-square-kilometer reservoir, flooding a swath of the Icelandic highlands."
This story was of high interest when we were in Iceland last month. I talked with several thoughtful Icelanders about this debate - new economy/jobs vs. reindeer/isolated, wild places in the context of a fragile island ecology and economy. Iceland has been successful in harnessing their geothermal energy so that heating homes and water is relatively cheap. Combining that amazing technology with formidable hydroelectric resources, Iceland has attracted aluminum smelters needing cheaper power. In trade, Icelandic highlands real estate will be flooded, ruining reindeer habitat. This gain/loss has caused increasing national introspection leading up to this week's dam activation. I met several Icelanders who had never travelled to that part of their country and who seemed rather unconcerned. One major justification by supporters for the dam and smelter is that new jobs will be brought to eastern Iceland. However, several Icelanders commented that most of the construction jobs went to contractors from Europe and South America. There are ~300,000 Icelanders and only ~3% (according to Time) are unemployed so this seems to me to be a weak justification. It is unclear from the news reports I can find what long-term benefits or tax revenues will come to the Icelandic people.
Everyone is asking me for Icelandic highlights. Here are my top 10 impressions - in no particular order (&/or importance): 1) Loved the breakfasts - I alternated between gravlax and skyr; 2) People really do wear Icelandic sweaters; 3) Danish and english is taught in grade school so I wasn't forced to learn any Icelandic, but did have to learn how to pronounce the Icelandic alphabet to navigate and understand directions (Þingvellir: don't say "Ping"villir; it's Thingvellir); 4) Standing at the foot of a glacier is awe-inspiring and taught me that the solid ice is clear of particles, so I really need to read up on glaciology - how DO those glacial river deltas form?; 5) Iceland loves their horses - they frolic free in fields and meadows all over southwestern Iceland where I travelled; 6) Iceland has alot in common with the Big Island of Hawaii but has many more waterfalls (and, of course, glaciers); 7) Whale steaks are available on the menus in Reykjavik; 8) I need to go back and spend time on the spectacular black sand beach in Vik; 9) 12 Tonar was my favorite shopping stop in Reykjavik & had a great selection of Icelandic music - I bought Bjork's Gling-Glo and Johann Johannsson's Englaborn; 10) On Reykjavik menus, Bacalao is really saltfish - but it is delicious, especially at Tvier Fiskar!
The magazine we most appreciated when in Iceland was the IR (Iceland Review). It did a relatively balanced reporting job introducing politics surrounding aluminum smelter construction, the closing of the US Naval base, and whale hunting.
I am very much looking forward to the next chance I get to visit Iceland. I'd love to take two weeks to drive the Circle Tour, trek across the highlands & take boat trips into the fjords off the Snæfellnes peninsula. It is a remarkable place where you can see geology in action.
Finally! mndoci and Steve Betz pointed me to Vox - and so I'm a blogger at last. I've been meaning to start a blog for friends and family using WordPress technologies for over a year now - but time never allowed. I think Vox is going to work fine for me even though my home computer is a Mac iBook running Safari.
