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nevermind, this isn't a travel thread and I should stop using it like one.
twerking on the railroad fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 02:06
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Skeesix posted:nevermind, this isn't a travel thread and I should stop using it like one. Just use it as a travel thread, i'm sure no one actually cares
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Jan 17, 2014 08:57
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drat nice pics NFX! The thing about Iceland that is sometimes forgotten is that we are the largest desert in Europe. That isn't that hard mind you but a shitload of it is flat as hell. Especially in the East, you have the quite frankly unique experience of seeing nothing but the road before you, black sand around you that to one side ends at mountains and the other in the sea. Skeesix posted:nevermind, this isn't a travel thread and I should stop using it like one. Like dor1 says, I'm already doing travel poo poo here all the time and I'm too lazy to make a thread in the main T&T forum. Hell, I even welcome tourists and make detailed itineraries for them here, I and the others don't mind in the least.
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Jan 18, 2014 00:48
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Deceitful Penguin posted:drat nice pics NFX! The thing about Iceland that is sometimes forgotten is that we are the largest desert in Europe. That isn't that hard mind you but a shitload of it is flat as hell. Especially in the East, you have the quite frankly unique experience of seeing nothing but the road before you, black sand around you that to one side ends at mountains and the other in the sea. Well if it's OK I'm actually leaving for Iceland tomorrow. I'll basically only be there for Sunday. I'm renting a car with a GPS, I'm going to see some of Reykjavik, especially I'll want to see 871+-2. Is there anything else that can be recommended for a Sunday during the day in Reykjavik? My plan for the evening is already to grab a few beers from a store and watch for the Aurora from my hotel, which is closer to the airport.
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Jan 18, 2014 02:14
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Several things. You've probably been told about Bæjarins Bestu, but close to it you'll find the Kolaport flea market, which can have some cool things in it. Close to that is the Reykjavík art museum, where you can get a pass to visit 2 other art museums. In addition to that there's the Penis Museum only about a 5 min drive from the city centre. If you're more for a historical view you might like Þjóðminjasafnið, which is also open 'tween 11 and 17, like most of the other stuff. 'cause you have GPS you might also maybe wanna visit the Icelandic White House, which is also white. Maybe you can chat with the president, but the bugger is almost always out these days. There's a few other things like that outside the capital proper, but overall a day is too short to get to see much of it. If you wanna buy beer you're outta luck though; the state monopoly is closed on Sundays. No going to the store and getting booze in Iceland! You'll sadly have to either hope the hotel sells some (likely, but possibly not) in which case a bar might be your best bet.
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Jan 18, 2014 16:03
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Deceitful Penguin posted:If you wanna buy beer you're outta luck though; the state monopoly is closed on Sundays. No going to the store and getting booze in Iceland! You'll sadly have to either hope the hotel sells some (likely, but possibly not) in which case a bar might be your best bet. That completely blows my mind. Even the states in the deep south let you buy booze on Sundays now.
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Jan 18, 2014 17:59
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Deceitful Penguin posted:drat nice pics NFX! The thing about Iceland that is sometimes forgotten is that we are the largest desert in Europe. That isn't that hard mind you but a shitload of it is flat as hell. Especially in the East, you have the quite frankly unique experience of seeing nothing but the road before you, black sand around you that to one side ends at mountains and the other in the sea. Didn't you guys have trees a few centuries ago? That all looks very erosion prone, have universities or anyone ever seriously attempted to restore native green ecology to the unpopulated areas of the island?
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Jan 19, 2014 01:40
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Most of the images I posted that look really bare were taken far inland. I imagine erosion is less of a problem there. All around the coast there is a lot of cultivated land (fields), and even most of the uncultivated land i saw was grass/moss, so there's at least something keeping it together.
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Jan 19, 2014 11:41
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Fuschia tude posted:Didn't you guys have trees a few centuries ago? That all looks very erosion prone, have universities or anyone ever seriously attempted to restore native green ecology to the unpopulated areas of the island? Seconding this question, I've heard Iceland is VERY windy, enough that planting trees is very difficult.
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Jan 19, 2014 14:27
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TerryLennox posted:Seconding this question, I've heard Iceland is VERY windy, enough that planting trees is very difficult. When we visited Gulfoss I was being blown sideways across the icy car park. I'm no featherweight either.
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Jan 20, 2014 16:14
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Skeesix posted:That completely blows my mind. Even the states in the deep south let you buy booze on Sundays now. When the vikings came here there were apparently some trees. Coming from a place that is swarmed with the awful things, they chopped often and liberally and I can't imagine what their surprise was like when eventually they ran out. Some driftwood from Siberia still reached the country but overall wood became a rarity that had to be imported. Not 2 decades ago the hill above my town was bare as desert and on bad days it blew sand all over the town. Today it's covered in, Lupine (Lupinus) of various colours. Now, the thing you gotta realize about the attempts at revitalizing the country are the following: 1. Certain parts have always been desert. This applies mostly to the South East, which thanks to glacial melt and bad climate never really had much to do with this whole "life" thing, but we're far enough North that parts have never been green, really. 2. There is a huge debate on how much we should be willing to terraform Iceland. I myself am conflicted on it, as the currently most effective way, the aforementioned Lupine is foreign to the Icelandic flora and while it was supposed to make way for the normal Icelandic plants, reality has proven different. Many people are very opposed to it, wanting to use different plants, more hands on methods but: 3. There's almost zero money put into it by the state. There's shitloads of private people and forestry things, some of which are supported by the municipalities but seeing as the least forested places are firmly out of sight (the vast majority of all Icelanders live on the coast, which is usually green enough) not many people care overmuch. I've been active in forestries around my town and we've made some progress but there's also the problem with some of the oldest trees getting ripped up by routine storms, the fact that Iceland isn't really warm enough for a lot of species and that peeps usually have other, bigger things to think about. In addition there is the question of if we do want to change the highlands to have plants. It's the last unspoilt parts of Europe, do we really need it also to feel the touch of man? Do we have to make it green? I can say that I at least was a bit sick of all the sun and green when I was in Germany, as well as all the drat trees all over Europe. A few here and there are fine but there's too much of a thing you know?
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Jan 20, 2014 18:28
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So, a couple of us are planning to rent a camper and drive around Iceland for two weeks. Is camping near the road (or on a parking) in a camper allowed? They company we're renting from suggested a round trip across the island:  I assume they'll make us take Route 1 for the most of it: Day 1: Arrival+ Blue Lagoon Day 2: Thingvellir NP - Geysir - Gullfoss Day 3: Hekla Vulcono Day 4: Seljaland - Skogafoss Day 5: Skaftafell - Svartifoss - Jökullsárlón Day 6: Egilsstadir Day 7: Hengifoss - Dettifoss - Ásbyrgi NP Day 8: Tjörnes - Húsavik - Mývatn NP Day 9: Mývatn Day 10: Akureyri Day 11: Öxnadal - Húnafjördur Day 12: Stykkishólmur Day 13: Snaefellsnes Day 14: Rookdal - wales - Reykjavik Day 15: Return It's mostly nature stuff (since we like nature stuff), but are we missing any essential Iceland to do things by sticking to this route, or would you add/remove something from the list that you think is better/poo poo? Since we only have 14 days, we want to make sure to do the cool stuff 
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Jan 21, 2014 12:35
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That's a lot of driving. We did Reykjavik to Hofn and back in about 10 days. Some of my favorite parts: --Taking the bus into Thorsmork. A bus stops at Seljalandsfoss and then goes into Thorsmork in the morning (google around for the current schedule) and then returns in the afternoon. You can stay overnight and camp/hike further in or just hike around and come back the same day. We hiked up to an awesome lookout spot in a couple hours. Here's the view (it's much prettier than this, I was messing around with a polarizer):  Thorsmork by Kiri koli, on Flickr --Walk on the glacier at Skaftafell. Guided tours run a couple times a day. --Fjadrargljufur Canyon. It's really easy to miss, especially if it's raining. There's a little turn off between Vik and Skaftafell, if I remember correctly and then you drive onto the start of an F-road to get to the canyon. I don't know if it was the rain or what, but the water was silver when we were there. I didn't get a great picture because the weather was terrible, but I swear it was actually a silver color (not a picture of the canyon, that part is much bigger):  At Fjardrargljufur by Kiri koli, on Flickr --at Jokulsarlon, make sure you go across the street to the ocean side and watch the waves crash over the icebergs.  Jokulsarlon at Sunset by Kiri koli, on Flickr As for a camper, I have no idea, but I don't remember seeing any on the side of the road. :/ I also can't imagine what you would spend on gas. Kiri koli fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Jan 22, 2014 |
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Jan 22, 2014 03:32
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Punc posted:So, a couple of us are planning to rent a camper and drive around Iceland for two weeks. Is camping near the road (or on a parking) in a camper allowed? We did almost the same route in July 2011. We arrived in the airport and rented our car around 9 am. The people at the rental company asked if we'd heard what had happend. This had happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Rfw6gF1J8 Katla had a little burp which released a lot of melt water and completely washed out Route 1 west of Vík. We were adviced (and allowed!) to take the route north of Katla instead, much like the route on your map as far as I can tell. Route 26, F26, F208. We had already planned out a route and booked rooms in hostels, so we had to be at the first hostel by evening. I want to say it was in Vagnsstaðir, but that seems quite far now. Along route 1 it's 400 km and probably a 5-6 hour drive. Along the back roads it took 12. This image was from somewhere on F26 or F208: NFX posted:Of course, on the morning we arrived the volcano Katla had decided to wash out the road, so we had to take a small detour: The first time we came to a fording point, we were kinda worried and seriously considered turning back. However, from the other side a native Icelander appeared in his Skoda Octavia and without missing a beat drove right through the water and asked if we needed help. We made it through after than, and the next 10 or so crossings We more or less rushed past East Iceland, visited a few places around the Mývatn area, and looped around, spending the last 5 days (out of 12) exploring the south west area, including Thingvellir, a day trip to Heimaey (leave the car on Iceland), and the next-to-last day in Reykjavík. It was a nice trip, and it was interesting to see the different parts of Iceland, but all that driving was pretty tiring, and I have no doubt that we could have spent all 12 days staying in just one area and exploring from there. NFX fucked around with this message at 08:23 on Jan 22, 2014 |
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Jan 22, 2014 08:20
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I went to Iceland in 2009. I was doing some traveling and the economy there had just crashed so I figured it was a good chance to check it out. I couldn't get accomodation locked on. The only youth hostel in Reykjavik (at the time; sure there's more now) was booked far in advance. I couldn't get a couchsurfing host locked on either. I took a gamble and went anyways because I had already bought my ticket. Met an Australian in the boarding pass line who was visiting a friend he studied with in Norway or something. His friend offered to drive me into town. They had a camping trip planned and I just so happened to get invited. Then I stayed with a guy from couchsurfing in Reykjavik. Had a couple good nights out in town. I met an Icelandic chick out in town one of the nights who let me stay at her place for about 4 nights before I left. Also linked up with an old Icelandic dude through a couchsurfing group who would take young tourist on these day road trips if they pitched in on gas. Man, good times. Icelandic people can loving drink. Opal is gross. Love that Brennivin schnapps though! Whale burgers/patties are delicious with that white sauce.But seriously they'd just drink until blackout/vomiting and then drink some more. Men and women included. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. Downtown Reykjavik was pure debauchery. As with most of Europe the partying went until about 6 am. Vomit everywhere, people passed out in the streets, mobs of people trying to get food. Was a bit surreal with the sun barely setting at about 2-3 am and then rising a couple hours later. Icelandic women are beautiful. Like that one famous writer who loves Iceland said "Supermodels flippin' burgers at McDonalds." Also was there for the gay pride parade and saw Paul Oscar dj that night. I think I was told that the sulphur in the water gave you guys nice skin. Couldn't really argue it because you guys do have nice skin. I didn't mind the sulphur smell at all to be honest. Cracked me up that the parliament was just a house in the city with a couple guards out front. You could literally walk up and knock on the door. Couple lovely pictures if the OP doesn't mind  Can't really go to Iceland and not see the Blue Lagoon..      I know you guys are prideful about your horses. Isn't there strict laws in terms of the export of your horses and import of other horses? Well strict as in not allowed.  Tell me about the Icelandic folklore? From what I gathered from asking questions the older folk are very supersticious when it comes to that kind of stuff. Especially trolls. Or was it elves? Gnomes? Can't remember.They said if they built a house over a rocky formation where trolls might have lived weird things would happen. And they'd actively avoid building highways over these areas and would just go around. Sometimes they'd have "experts" come out and ask for permission to build there and such. I also remember learning that it's one of the few languages that has been pretty much unchaged. That an Icelandic teenager could go read some old Icelandic writing and pretty much understand all of it. Isn't there also a much more ancient language? If you guys like Sigur Ros definitely check out Heima. It's sort-of a documentary about Iceland.....with their music. Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Jan 22, 2014 |
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Jan 22, 2014 17:57
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I definitely dug the hell out of Iceland. Whale meat was amazing. Downtown Reykjavik was cool. Also Brennivin. That was a trip to have with dinner - there's some herb or something in there that numbs the tongue. It was the same sensation as this one vegetable they use in Szechuan cooking. Also, as I learned from the history museums and they in turn learned from Y-chromosome vs. mitochondrial DNA, the first settlers of Iceland were mostly Norse men and Celtic women. So I guess that's the secret of "Supermodels flipping burgers."
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Jan 22, 2014 21:57
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Punc posted:So, a couple of us are planning to rent a camper and drive around Iceland for two weeks. Is camping near the road (or on a parking) in a camper allowed? That is a pretty solid nature itinerary. Missing the West-Fjords is pretty inevitable when you're strapped for time and driving, they still haven't got enough tunnels there to keep the tourists from driving off of cliffs. Missing the east though... At least you get a decent look at the upper-highlands, which are pretty boss. Dunno about the camper, I think you may have to park them in specific camping sites but if you just drive a bit off and aren't in the way too much I doubt the cops will catch you. Just don't drive off-road and gently caress up nature. Kiri koli posted:That's a lot of driving. We did Reykjavik to Hofn and back in about 10 days. Some of my favorite parts: Christoff posted:I went to Iceland in 2009. I was doing some traveling and the economy there had just crashed so I figured it was a good chance to check it out. Christoff posted:Cracked me up that the parliament was just a house in the city with a couple guards out front. You could literally walk up and knock on the door. Christoff posted:I know you guys are prideful about your horses. Isn't there strict laws in terms of the export of your horses and import of other horses? Well strict as in not allowed.  And the importation of all animals is strict as hell, with horses just being a particularly vulnerable group. Horses taken outside the country can never again return. Kinda sad really. Christoff posted:Tell me about the Icelandic folklore? From what I gathered from asking questions the older folk are very supersticious when it comes to that kind of stuff. Especially trolls. Or was it elves? Gnomes? Can't remember.They said if they built a house over a rocky formation where trolls might have lived weird things would happen. And they'd actively avoid building highways over these areas and would just go around. Sometimes they'd have "experts" come out and ask for permission to build there and such. Christoff posted:I also remember learning that it's one of the few languages that has been pretty much unchaged. That an Icelandic teenager could go read some old Icelandic writing and pretty much understand all of it. Isn't there also a much more ancient language? And I've already linked Heima here somewhere. Maybe I should toss some of the poo poo I written in the OP, but  Skeesix posted:I definitely dug the hell out of Iceland. Whale meat was amazing. Downtown Reykjavik was cool. Also Brennivin. That was a trip to have with dinner - there's some herb or something in there that numbs the tongue. It was the same sensation as this one vegetable they use in Szechuan cooking. why do they never talk about us good looking men 
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Jan 22, 2014 22:18
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Do you guys really have some elf expert that you call when building a new road or house that will politely ask the elves if it's ok to build there? Stories you heard growing up? Sightings, etc? I think I confused the parliament with the white house. Whichever one was near that small park area with the statue right across from all the bars. I think I remember hearing a joke about an Icelandic riot, during the economy collapse, you guys just massed there and yelled at the building and maybe threw a rock or two. You guys could care less about transexuals, homosexuals, and religious preferences right? I thought that was cool. If you tried to argue any of the above with them they were pretty much "Hey man whatever you believe is cool." What kind of religious foundations are you guys mostly brought up on at home or in school, if any? Do you believe the sulfur in the water is good for your skin? Skeesix posted:Also, as I learned from the history museums and they in turn learned from Y-chromosome vs. mitochondrial DNA, the first settlers of Iceland were mostly Norse men and Celtic women. So I guess that's the secret of "Supermodels flipping burgers." I remember asking a local about the history of Iceland and aside from the Danish rule it was pretty much "Yeah the vikings went to Ireland and stole a bunch of women and then went to Iceland. The end. Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 10:32 on Jan 23, 2014 |
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Jan 23, 2014 10:25
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Christoff posted:Do you guys really have some elf expert that you call when building a new road or house that will politely ask the elves if it's ok to build there? Stories you heard growing up? Sightings, etc? The parliament is the one by the small park, and the your description of the protest is close enough, people brought out pots and pans and banged on them. Commonly called 'Búsáhaldabylting' which translates roughly to Cookware revolution Our White house is on a small peninsula, and like our parliament, has basically no protection what so ever. People don't care about homosexuals or religious preferences (although there are people strongly opposed to a mosque, for whatever reason), but i feel that transsexuals aren't really accepted, at least not that i've noticed, but i don't keep up with current affairs in the LGBT community, so i'm not sure. While i'm not sure about sulfur, whatever mixture of sulfur and silica that is in the blue lagoon sure as poo poo seems to work for people with skin conditions. Our history goes as such: Vikings moved here, submitted to Norway, were given to Denmark during somethingorother, got independance, the end. Sprinkle some expeditions to Ireland, Greenland and Canada in there, add a few volcanic eruptions and you're basically there.
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Jan 23, 2014 12:27
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Christoff posted:Do you guys really have some elf expert that you call when building a new road or house that will politely ask the elves if it's ok to build there? Stories you heard growing up? Sightings, etc? Actually it seemed to be more the islands off the coast of Scotland  I'll see about some pictures soon.
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Jan 23, 2014 13:30
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So you guys mean to say that Icelandic folk are really just the descendants of Scots or Irelanders? How could us drunkards settle down in an entirely new unsettled place and eventually become some of the most peaceful people on earth? :itisamystery:
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Jan 23, 2014 23:03
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Noctis Horrendae posted:So you guys mean to say that Icelandic folk are really just the descendants of Scots or Irelanders? How could us drunkards settle down in an entirely new unsettled place and eventually become some of the most peaceful people on earth? :itisamystery: Scots, Irish, Norwegians and Danes
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Jan 23, 2014 23:39
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Christoff posted:Do you guys really have some elf expert that you call when building a new road or house that will politely ask the elves if it's ok to build there? Stories you heard growing up? Sightings, etc? That said, at times they were supposed to through some places and it plain wouldn't be possible. Tools would break, cars would stall. The gravel trucks would slide off the road and dump it all over the place. There's even a country song about it. Christoff posted:I think I confused the parliament with the white house. Whichever one was near that small park area with the statue right across from all the bars. I think I remember hearing a joke about an Icelandic riot, during the economy collapse, you guys just massed there and yelled at the building and maybe threw a rock or two. Christoff posted:You guys could care less about transexuals, homosexuals, and religious preferences right? I thought that was cool. If you tried to argue any of the above with them they were pretty much "Hey man whatever you believe is cool." What kind of religious foundations are you guys mostly brought up on at home or in school, if any? Religion is only important to atheists or bigots, pretty much. Education in the schools is along the lines of "Christianity" education, mostly just retelling the new testament sans the child unfriendly parts. In my school it was just after literature, so I always considered it just an extension of that. It's biased, but not very convincing. Christoff posted:Do you believe the sulfur in the water is good for your skin? Christoff posted:I remember asking a local about the history of Iceland and aside from the Danish rule it was pretty much "Yeah the vikings went to Ireland and stole a bunch of women and then went to Iceland. The end. Noctis Horrendae posted:So you guys mean to say that Icelandic folk are really just the descendants of Scots or Irelanders? How could us drunkards settle down in an entirely new unsettled place and eventually become some of the most peaceful people on earth? :itisamystery: The only entirely Celtic society here was run by some monks who straight up and left when those drat pagans came and started lowering the property values. They were called the "Papar" and there's a fairly good band that's named after them.
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Jan 24, 2014 00:36
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That was mainly a joke comment, but considering Scotland's affiliation with the Nordic nations later on, I guess that makes sense.
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Jan 24, 2014 00:50
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Noctis Horrendae posted:That was mainly a joke comment, but considering Scotland's affiliation with the Nordic nations later on, I guess that makes sense.
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Jan 24, 2014 04:49
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So do you guys get a lot of poo poo for all the whaling? Active protest in the country or towards the whalers? Thought it was funny that whale meat was pretty much the cheapest meat available. And again, whale burgers were delicious fried up on the bbq. I think I remember a local telling me the type of whale they hunt are seen as "pests" in a way so it's not really a big deal.
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Jan 24, 2014 09:39
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Christoff posted:So do you guys get a lot of poo poo for all the whaling? Active protest in the country or towards the whalers? Thought it was funny that whale meat was pretty much the cheapest meat available. And again, whale burgers were delicious fried up on the bbq. Most people i know have nothing against whaling, they don't necessarily eat it, but don't mind those who do. I have not tried it, but i want to, and will, at some point. They aren't really a pest, but people like to say that they eat 'our fish' so therefore whaling is good.
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Jan 24, 2014 12:03
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My gf and I are just at the airport about to visit iceland for a long weekend. We've got a pretty hectic schedule, Blue Lagoon on saturday morning, northern lights tour in the evening then golden circle on sunday. We may have a bit of time to explore Reykjavik tomorrow afternoon or sunday evening hopefully, but we're both very excited to visit for the first time! Thanks for the thread!
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Jan 24, 2014 19:16
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Christoff posted:So do you guys get a lot of poo poo for all the whaling? Active protest in the country or towards the whalers? Thought it was funny that whale meat was pretty much the cheapest meat available. And again, whale burgers were delicious fried up on the bbq. Most people really don't care. The spirit of movies like "Free Willy" and the conversation surrounding whaling has died down and is a niche subject even among environmentalists. When you talk about the anti-whaling movement abroad people are more likely to think of Paul Watson than anything on our end. A man defined by winning battles and losing wars that one. In Iceland, the apathy reigns supreme. There's a very, very few that profit and care for it because of that, most people think they're either, like you say pests (in that they compete with fish for food; some people erroneously believe they actually eat fish) or that whatever whaling may be, it's ours to decide and not for some idiot foreign moralists who think they can decide what we do or do not. The whales Iceland allows the guy to hunt aren't endangered and quotas are tiny. I could go into IWC politics, the hypocrisy of foreign environmentalists and all kinds of poo poo related to whaling (I used to troll the Greenpeace forums) but unless you´re really looking for a deep Icelandic view at the politics of whaling I'll give it a miss. Prince John posted:My gf and I are just at the airport about to visit iceland for a long weekend. We've got a pretty hectic schedule, Blue Lagoon on saturday morning, northern lights tour in the evening then golden circle on sunday. 
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Jan 26, 2014 03:57
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Very well so far thanks! Out of interest, I haven't yet seen a bathroom sink with a plughole in it, either in the hotel or in restaurants. Do you guys just shave using running water rather than filling a bowl?
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Jan 26, 2014 10:01
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What is the best way to plan a trip to Iceland? I'm thinking of going there after finishing grad school.
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Jan 26, 2014 17:24
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I meant do people actively protest in the country and are they attacking whaling ships etc? Does everyone eat whale meat there or is it viewed as a food for poors or what? I remember seeing whale burgers at restaurants for tourists but that was it mostly. Lots of whale patties in stores though
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Jan 26, 2014 18:05
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Prince John posted:Very well so far thanks! Out of interest, I haven't yet seen a bathroom sink with a plughole in it, either in the hotel or in restaurants. Do you guys just shave using running water rather than filling a bowl? Most sinks have this little thing at the back of the tap that you pull to close the sink. I usually just let the water run when shaving. Christoff posted:I meant do people actively protest in the country and are they attacking whaling ships etc? I can't remember the last time i heard of an active anti-whaling protest here. Not a whole lot of people eat whale, or at least not to my knowledge. But it seems to be very easy to find whale meat, smoked or otherwise. While i'm not sure, i have heard that cooking whale meat can be a bit problematic, because if you do it wrong you can get a bit of cod liver oil taste.
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Jan 27, 2014 09:53
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Ah, ok. I wasn't sure if foreign folk flew there for the sole purpose of protesting or what. Being that there aren't many European countries I could think of that whaled. Curious, I googed it. Seems like it's just Iceland and Noway in Europe. But it seems we just attribute all whaling to Japan. All I had were the cheap pre-packaged whale patties that we threw on the BBQ. Quite delicious. On a road trip we pulled up to some sailors at a, uh, place where they butcher the whales after they bring them in? They were real nice and let us poke around. Just a little aftermath was left but it was still cool to see how they did it.
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Jan 27, 2014 11:02
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Prince John posted:Very well so far thanks! Out of interest, I haven't yet seen a bathroom sink with a plughole in it, either in the hotel or in restaurants. Do you guys just shave using running water rather than filling a bowl? Will Rice posted:What is the best way to plan a trip to Iceland? I'm thinking of going there after finishing grad school. Christoff posted:I meant do people actively protest in the country and are they attacking whaling ships etc? And in addition to Iceland and Norway, the Faroe Islands also hunt whales.
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Jan 28, 2014 15:50
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Deceitful Penguin posted:None domestic; there's a few campaigns or were at least, I remember the old "Meet us, don't eat us!" one from the IWF and there was one foreign woman who appealed to the Icelandic people in the most mangled Icelandic I ever heard that we shouldn't hunt whales (Which holy gently caress lady, that was condescending and so dumb I still remember it years later). Funny how things change. Right outside my hometown there used to be a processing station active between 1948 and 1971. It was apparently the most visited tourist attraction back then, with people coming by the bus load to watch the carcassed be cut up.  Circa 1968: Swedish pop singer Lill-Babs wielding a flensing knife. I remember back in the 90s my mother got a form letter from some random people in the Netherlands protesting our whaling. It was apparently part of a Greenpeace campaign where ill-informed do-gooders sent a pre-made letter to random people in a foreign country whose address they got from some mailing list. Needless to say, it was completely ineffectual. As I remember it, there was a lot of fuss coming from abroad for a while, but that died down and whaling continues. Then again, there was the recent incident in Berlin; German customs agents confiscated whale meat due to it being illegal to sell in the EU, even though it had cleared customs earlier: http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/gruene-woche-berlin-zoll-beschlagnahmt-illegales-walfleisch-a-945130.html
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Jan 28, 2014 16:36
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Sorry in advance for using this as a travel thread, but everything so far as been super-helpful so I am hoping to get some input on a couple of areas I am still trying to figure out. I am tentatively planning a trip to Iceland for this year. Any input on this is much appreciated. My timeframe is anywhere from 14-25 days (I was thinking 20ish), probably in the late summer provided my schedule doesn't fall through, and I'd like to spend under $10k USD (under $6k would be ideal), not counting airfare. I know Iceland is considered an expensive destination expensive - is this a feasible budgeting? I have no objection to staying in hostels and am a fairly young guy. I was eyeballing this 16-day itinerary. Is this remotely sane? I don't really have a lot of context for how packed this itinerary is. Assuming that I had two to four weeks in Iceland, is there anything that is an absolute must see? I am basically totally flexible as I'm traveling solo. I sort of feel like I should leave some additional time for spending in the cities, but I'm sort of at a loss as to what to do in the cities (see aforementioned solo travel). I've also noticed that apparently all the rental companies will happily give you enough rope to hang yourself with. For something like circumnavigating the country following the road (at least, via the above itinerary), what kind of cars are reasonable options? Prices (assuming I am reading them correctly) seem a little high for car rental (anywhere between $100-$300/day), but I don't want to accidentally screw myself by shooting too low. Thoughts? Theseus fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Jan 29, 2014 |
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Jan 29, 2014 07:00
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How difficult is immigrating to Iceland? I am currently holding US citizenship and have bee living in Canada for the last 5 years on a student visa. Finishing a degree in Icelandic studies currently (need the 2000 level language class to finish) and was then possibly looking at going back to uni at some point for a degree in nursing/psychiatric nursing. Would this be incredibly difficult with just the Icelandic degree and easier with a psychiatric nursing background? Or just a pain in the rear end no matter what. I have zero health issues and zero issues with my criminal record, just a whole lot of student debt. I am married as well. Would he be hard to drag along as well? Again no criminal or health barriers there but no degree is present and has been doing an office job for the past 5 years here. We are currently in Manitoba which has a significant Icelandic population, does that help?
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Feb 10, 2014 02:53
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Does everyone in Iceland have their own Wikipedia page? Hey, weren't you the guy in Niggurath's LP of Michigan: Report From Hell? You should LP with him again, you guys were hilarious. And what is the icelandic word for party girl again? Colorred fucked around with this message at 04:10 on Feb 19, 2014 |
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Feb 19, 2014 04:04
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Oh yeah, I have a thread.Kopijeger posted:Funny how things change. Right outside my hometown there used to be a processing station active between 1948 and 1971. It was apparently the most visited tourist attraction back then, with people coming by the bus load to watch the carcassed be cut up. Theseus posted:Sorry in advance for using this as a travel thread, but everything so far as been super-helpful so I am hoping to get some input on a couple of areas I am still trying to figure out. 6K is pretty drat hopeful, as you should probs check what the hostels and whatnot cost. Food can add up but your biggest costs will be those, if you order now you may get that poo poo cheap but late summer is peak season, sooo. You can maybe find them cheap, but you wouldn't last long for that money at the hotel I worked at for that money. That itinerary is pretty good, and if you had 4 days extra you could spend 3 of them in the Reykjavík area and one in Akureyri, doing whatevs. As for what to do, what do you like? Art? History? Drinking? Theatre, games, shopping, tanning? There's plenty options and I can talk about a lot of them, but I'd like to get a grasp of what you want outta the trip. And you can drive the ring road on a normal car, pretty much. We've driven it with an old Ford Focus, so you probs don't need a big rear end loving jeep. Desmodus rotundus posted:How difficult is immigrating to Iceland? I am currently holding US citizenship and have bee living in Canada for the last 5 years on a student visa. Finishing a degree in Icelandic studies currently (need the 2000 level language class to finish) and was then possibly looking at going back to uni at some point for a degree in nursing/psychiatric nursing.  there are icelandic studies? good gods Uhh, from what I remember the US and Iceland have no special treaties, so to immigrate you'd probs need to already have a job to get in. Psych nurse thing would definitely help, but first you have to land the job. Wife, shouldn't be more of a problem than you, though this isn't my area of expertise. From what I remember though, it's easier for you to bring her than for her to bring you. And yea, it might help. Letters of recommendation as well as them maybe helping you get a job through their relatives here in Iceland would be what you're looking for. That and an accurate idea of what you're getting yourself into. Colorred posted:Does everyone in Iceland have their own Wikipedia page? And yea, that was me. Paul is mostly not doing LPs that fit with the whole "co-commentator" thing so I've been thinking of doing one for him but and it would probs be really trolled. And the word is: "Skinka".
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Mar 7, 2014 04:44
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