Iceland - some concluding notes

It's been almost three weeks that I first arrived in Reykjavík, and I'll leave in two days' time to continue my journey. Looking back at the time spent in Iceland, I must say that I got extremely lucky with the weather, and I'm not sure if I would have been as impressed by this country as I am without all these days of sunshine and blue skies. Iceland's nature is simply remarkable, especially because it's so rugged and barren.

By now, the weather has changed for the worse. I've got back to Reykjavík today, initially planning to do some sightseeing, but it's so windy, rainy (even with occasional hailstorms in between) and cold that I will probably spend the day tomorrow in one of Reykjavík's many thermal pools. It's definitely time to move on!

The farmers at Búland are very warm-hearted and friendly people and, most of the time, I felt comfortable around them. I especially appreciate the fact that they tried to make a lot of things possible for me, e.g. lending me their car, organising rides to another town as the bus fares are rather expensive here, introducing me to a woman who sold me a hand-knitted Icelandic wool sweater at a decent price etc. They also taught me how to milk cows, which has been a thoroughly new and interesting experience, and which makes me value dairy products a lot more. Concluding, I enjoyed some great moments in Iceland.

Nevertheless, staying at the farm was challenging, not because of the hard work or the cow shit in the barn, but because of all the mess in the house, which I found hard to cope with. I realised once again how German I actually am! Not that this had been so utterly new to me! (Jenny, I can already see you smile ;-) I know that I cherish structure, organisation, and tidiness. I like it when people keep their word and don't change plans several times a day. These qualities I did not find among the people on the farm, and I admit I was missing them (the qualities, of course). 

Besides that, the food didn't make me happy, neither did the beer! Not only do I love to eat regularly, I also love to eat good food. Most of you know that ;-) And even though the idea of "good food" may vary, I think, we can agree on the notion of a balanced diet as being part of good food. At the farm, we naturally ate a lot of dairy products, eggs and meat (chicken, lamb or horse) because that was the food produced there. It was always (!) potatoes being served as a side dish; no rice, no pasta, let alone any other types of grain. Also vegetables and salads were rather scarce. The farmer once joked that he was eating vegetables second-hand: he was eating lamb or beef and these animals fed on grass and hay. That would have to do!

The supermarkets actually offer a variety of fruit and vegetables, however, they often turn bad or moldy as soon as you've carried them home. That's one of the reasons why eating fruit and vegetables is not very popular. And then there's the German saying: "Was der Bauer nicht kennt..." (it literally translates into "What the peasant doesn't know, he won't eat").

Eating out is rather expensive compared to German standards. Lunch, mostly consisting of a bowl of vegetable soup and some slices of bread, is offered from 1,500 ISK (roughly 12,- €), main courses start at 2,300 ISK (roughly 18,- €). I was even charged 1,480 ISK for a coffee and some pastries at a bakery. The same is true for accomodation prices, fares and other tickets. Living costs in general are incredibly high in Iceland.

So, the weather, the mess and the living costs provide three good reasons to move on to my next destination: Canada.