Þingvellir to Reykjavik - Day 4

Date: August 22nd, 2009
Distance: 54km
Country: Iceland
Song of the Day: All Tore Up - The Tragically Hip

Not seeing the historic sites the day before was a bad decision. It was raining when I got up, so it wasn't as nice to be outside. Still I had come to see Þingvellir more than almost anything. The original home of the world's longest living government. Of course, a few things have changed since the Alþing was founded in 930. For instance, at the time there was not written Icelandic language. So everything was memorized by the Law Speaker and recited at the start of the Alþing. The Alþing was also the highest court in Iceland and could proscribe a punishment, but it was still the responsibility of the accuser and his family to ensure it was carried out. Now the Alping is still the parliament of Iceland. It now meets in Reykjavik though and it members carry fewer swords these days.

The valley is also interesting geologically. It is where the Eurasian plate at the North American plate are pulling apart. It is one of the few rift valleys in the world. There are several rifts that can been seen in the area. A few of them even have trails that you can take through them. It really does look like the earth is just pulling apart.

From there it was just a simple ride west into Reykjavik. A few hills at the beginning, but mostly downhills. I even had the wind at my back once or twice. Getting into the city was a real pain though. I had been riding on the shoulder of the highways up to this point. Traffic was getting heavier though. Starting around Mosfell there are a few paths. At first you would think some intelligent planner had put a nice bike path along the highway. But these paths have an unfortunate habit of going for a kilometer or so and ending in a subdivision or a bus stop. Just long enough for you to feel like it is really going somewhere. I did this four or five times. Getting onto a path, and then it stops. A couple of times the only option was to ride on the main road, which had become a real freeway along the way. So I was riding on the shoulder of the road. That wasn't too bad but you had to take care to avoid the cars at entrances or exits. Basically, it was a real hassle to do.

So I finally go into the city, went to the downtown area and there was some event going on. Streets were blocked off and cars were parked on every semi-viable surface. Sidewalks, medians, driveways. Basically if you could drive on it, someone had parked there. And people were walking (slowly) everywhere. It was hard to get around, even on the bike. I was just trying to find a place to stay. When I asked the guy at the information desk about a hostel, he just laughed. There wasn't anyplace left in town. I knew there was no way I was fighting my way back out of town. So I was contemplating a cold night in the park. Instead I found the camping in town. I had heard that it wasn't very good, but I am not sure why. It was definitely crowded. There were probably 300 tents set up over a couple of square blocks. But they had warm showers and a place to get cleaned up. The hostel next door even had a washer and dryer.

I also got in touch with a guy I had meet on CouchSurfing. He said that he would take me out for a good night on the town. This did not disappoint. I guess the big hullabaloo going on was the Culture Night. It celebrates the founding of the city or somethign. So everyone was in town for it. I met up with Gunni at a bar. He was with two guys from Switzerland. They had also met on CS. We hung out and chatted for a little while (named all 50 states) before heading off to the fireworks. The streets were just packed with people. Young and old alike. They did put on a good display. Woo-hoo. Again, I don't know why explosions and pretty colors are cool, but they are.

After the fireworks Gunni said the night was just getting started. He took us to an Irish bar with a tiny dance floor in the basement. After just a couple of minutes that tiny room was filled with people dancing. I guess Icelanders take they partying pretty seriously. It really was fun dancing and singing along to old tunes with a crowd of 30 other people crammed into a little basement.

From there we went to a Rock and Roll bar. The place was dressed up as a heavy metal bar, but the DJ was spinning songs Kings of Leon, Elvis and The Smiths. We also met some other Icelandic guys that Gunni knew. We had some fun rocking out to Icelandic metal. From there we took a walk outside, and the street had completely changed. It was just young people hanging out everywhere. There was trash on the ground all over and bottles smashed and broken in the streets. People just dropped things where they were. But for it all, people were still really friendly. We started talking with a number of people we just met on the street. Everywhere people were laughing and having a good time. It was like Mardi Gras in Reykjavik. I cannot possibly describe how awesome this was. I was very glad to have a local guide for this though. Thanks Gunni.

We went to a couple of clubs. I thought when they started playing Rage Against the Machine at one club that the place was going to come apart because everyone was getting so rowdy. But it was fun to sing along and really rock out. Then it was off to the hlölli shop for a late night gnosh. A hlölli is like a sub, but they fry up the meat a bit first before putting everything else on. So the meat is warm, the cheese is melty and the vegetables are just right. They also load it with hlölli sauce. I have no idea what it is, but it is pretty good. By the time I got back to my tent it was 6:00 AM and the sun was coming up. Boy what a night.

-Dravis