Iceland: Maritimes and Meetup

Our second day in Reykjavik, July 2019, would be largely free time for us because our meetup with the rest of our Natural Habitat Adventures group wasn't until late afternoon.

After a restless sleep Joan and I arose at 7:30. The morning began with clouds flowing over the ridges across the bay.

The Icelandair hotel "Reykjavik Marina" is across from a drydock.

Our first destination was the Reykjavik Maritime Museum,

Viewed from our hotel, the Museum entrance is the brown structure.

where we viewed a fascinating exhibit about the wreck of the Dutch merchant ship Melckmeyt, which sank in 1659 while seeking shelter at the Icelandic islet of Flatey. Local divers discovered the wreck in 1992, which was then studied as an archaeological site. At one point in the 17th Century Dutch shipping was half of the European total.

Then it was time for one of the guided tours of the Óðinn, a retired (2006) coast guard ship. It's visible in the above photo; click on the image to enlarge and look for the gray ship one-third of the way in from the right. Joan and I were the only ones signed up for this first tour of the day. The Óðinn saw service during the "cod wars" with Britain, when Iceland was systematically expanding its exclusive fishing area around the island to the now globally-recognized 200 nautical mile economic zone. Our guide gave us a thorough tour, and we saw one of the ingenious net cutters that the Icelandic vessels used to sever the nets of the British fishing trawlers. The Óðinn had at least one bumping match with the frigate HMS Scylla during the fourth cod war.

After the ship tour Joan and I returned to the museum with its exhibits, both static and dynamic, including audio recollections from the old days. Our attention was captured more than we expected!

We left the museum and re-visited the Þufa, an art installation of the structures used for drying, what else, fish. At the base of the hill we met a great-grandfather and his great-grandaughter (can you say "cute?") on an outing.

At left is the Harpa, across the harbor.

A closeup.

A panoramic view of the outer and inner harbors from the mound.

The Queen Mary 2 was far away at the "big ship" docks.

 We explored the path in the other direction, passing various businesses,

and briefly stopped at a shop featuring the clothing and miscellaneous goods of the company "Farmer's Market." Joan and I weren't interested in what they had to offer, commenting that these days we usually only bought stuff that we could eat or that was very small. They recommended a chocolate manufacturer around the corner. It wasn't immediately around the corner, but we found it, Omnom, and had several tastings with Kyle at the factory outlet. We walked away with six bars. Back at the hotel there was a packet from NatHab waiting for us including an Omnom bar (66% cocoa solids from Madagascar). That made seven.

At the group orientation we met our NatHab leader, Katherine, and our Icelandic guide and driver Solveig. Our impression was that it could be a congenial group, a good thing as we would be ten guests and two leaders in the same van!

Before retiring Joan and I repacked for land travel in variable weather (there is no other kind in Iceland).

Iceland: Start at Reykjavik, Of Course

Last July (2019) Joan and I embarked on a small-group tour of Iceland with Natural Habitat Adventures. Our setting off was worrying, with weather warnings and emails from Delta offering to reschedule us. But Joan and I have adopted a philosophy of getting "as far downstream as possible," and it wasn't even raining when we parked our car at the airport. We waited for our first flight as mist and a low ceiling arrived, but we made it to JFK and a loong layover, including a meal at Uptown Brasserie. We indulged in plane watching, and saw an Airbus A380-800 (Emirates) arrive and disgorge passengers for what seemed like an hour. We also spotted liveries that were novel for us, including El Al, Etihad, and Norwegian.

Heavy rain began as we boarded the flight to Reykjavik, and we left the gate accompanied by lightning. The plane taxied, halted, and waited. A flight attendant told us that although the plane had been sold out it was one-third empty, due to cancelled connecting flights. Arriving at JFK with seven hours to spare saved us!

In the end we were only one hour late arriving at Keflavik, the international airport, in the Icelandic morning. Our transport pickup waited a while for two no-shows, almost certainly missing because of the weather we'd seen. After a forty-five minute drive we arrived at the Icelandair Hotel Marina, deposited our luggage, and embarked on a walk.

Joan and I first visited the Saga Museum and the Aurora Reykjavik, both close to the hotel and to each other. They were intriguing, but the Saga Museum was an especially valuable introduction to the Icelandic sagas, employing personal audio devices of the proper language and life-size dioramas of the  main characters and scenes. It prepared us, as it were, for the evening show Icelandic Sagas -- The Greatest Hits at the Harpa, the modern concert hall and performance center in Reykjavik.

Joan and I wandered towards the Harpa. In this photo it sits behind an Icelandic coast guard vessel and a ship belonging to the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (Slysavarnarfélagið Landsbjörg).

Hotel and other construction made reaching the Harpa an exercise in route-finding. Fortunately there were signs, and the walk was easy.

Here is the front entrance to the Harpa. More detailed photos of this glass palace, from a brief 2017 stay in Reykjavik, are in this blog entry.

Inside we purchased our tickets for the "Icelandic Sagas in 75 Minutes," as the show is also known, and did some strolling until it was time to meet up with a guide from Reykjavik Food Walk. This was the same company with which we'd taken a food tour in 2017, and it didn't disappoint us or our fellow foodies.

Our guide this time was Agnes.

Most of our stops were the same as in 2017; one was different. All were welcome, interesting, and walking about town was a great way to stay awake and defeat jet lag. One visit was to a meat and cheese shop.

We passed some imaginatively painted houses,

and enjoyed Europe's best hotdogs, which may be in large part lamb.

There's always a line here.

After a brief cleanup and meditation back at the hotel, Joan and I moseyed over to the Harpa for the Icelandic Sagas in 75 Minutes show. We arrived with time to spare and poked around. This was the view of the "back," or harbor-side, of the Harpa.

Towards the bay there was a large field of volcanic stones which were available for those who wished to construct cairns or sculptures.

 

The small white spec in the above panoramic view resolved, with camera zoom, into an adventurous sailboat. Adventurous by my standards, anyway, perhaps not to Icelanders.

Then it was time to go inside for the show.

 

It used only two actors (plenty of costume changes), included audience participation, and was sprinkled with surprises and humor. It was much fun and kept us awake.

Afterwards Joan and I returned to the hotel, and after a sleepless night on the flight over, immediately plunged into bed.

Fairfield 17: Completing the Loop

In March 2019 I visited Fairfield, Iowa and the Maharishi University of Management for two weeks, starting with three days of Ayurvedic treatments at the Raj. After that I moved to the Men's Peace Palace for the remainder of my visit.

I'll organize this in sections. First, wanderings around the MUM campus.

One morning, walking to the Golden Dome, Venus was aligned with a pair of street lights. Click on the image to see Venus above and to the left of the lamps.

As part of celebrating spring, a student organization sponsored a "color fight," secularizing that part of the Holi festival.

I missed the festivities, but here's the stage afterward.

I was driving a new Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid, so I had the impulse to document the charging opportunities here. (There are also two in town, but those are less convenient for someone staying on campus.)

120 volt outlets -- bring your own charger

240 volts near the Sustainable Living Center, next to the Peace Palace!

240 volts on the other side, a student OpenEVSE project.

The expansion of housing in North Campus Village is an irresistible force,

stoppable only by high-tension power lines further north.

The big news was the cutover of the new "MEG'Array" solar power plant, which generates 1.1 megawatts of power and thus one-third of the university's electrical needs. It's a high-tech installation combining active tracking of the sun with vanadium flow batteries to store power. The shot was taken from the Jefferson County Loop Trail.

This new observation deck is where I stood to grab the picture. The solar farm is just visible through the greenery towards the left -- click on the image to enlarge and scan the horizon.

My last campus photo is another "celestial" photo, taken from the front of the Argiro Student Center.

Full moon, clouds, and Vedic Observatory

Of course I also had to explore the town square and its immediate surroundings,

always the site of comings, goings, and stayings of business.

One of my favorite restaurants in Fairfield is the Asian Pho Bistro, just off the square. I was glad to see it still there.

The Tokyo Pen Shop has been replaced by the Copper Moon Cafe. Haven't tried it yet.

An establishment of liquid refreshment, which I also haven't visited. I'm falling behind!

A new shop since March 2018.

A renovation finished.

Someone needed more coffee.

A notice that RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) will be coming through in August.

Coming attractions at the Sondheim:

One goal for this visit was to walk the one bit of the Jefferson County Loop Trail that I'd not trod. Last year I had come close but ran out of steam and time. Now I drove to Whitham Woods Park,

where I'd repeat a stretch of trail before tackling the missing link. I soon came across an abandoned pink plastic slipover for walking on ice.

I covered the last stretch and back without any difficulty. The topic of the loop trail deserves and will receive its own blog post, and this one is long enough.

I returned home well rested, having spent two weeks where I wasn't surrounded by the press of daily chores and demands.

Mystery Poop

Recently, as Joan and I began working on the fall chores in the back yard, we noticed poop appearing overnight. Relatively small poop, fibrous and gray with a white cap. This photo was taken after the example had been in the sun for several hours, and had started to bleach. It's only an inch or and inch and a half long.

The small size ruled out the usual suspects, such as fox, coyote, raccoons, or roaming cats. The lack of bones ruled out regurgitated pellets from the owls in the woods behind our house. The widespread scattering of these presents implied several individuals. So what creature had produced these? It wasn't immediately obvious to us. 

We also noticed downy feathers appearing, which at first made us think of young owls.

Then one day Joan looked up at the end of the day and saw the culprits. They were preening their feathers and preparing to roost for the night, 30 or 40 feet above the ground.

Turkeys! And indeed, if you ask Mr. Google for images of turkey scat, you'll see the match.

Poop solved. For the last two nights the turkeys haven't show up -- perhaps we're just one stop on their rotation.

A-C-B: Buenos Aires and Home

Today, November 3rd, Joan and I spent the day exploring Buenos Aires on foot before our flight home at 9pm. We started by walking to the Teatro Colón, a world-class opera house, to buy tickets for a tour. The web site mentioned tours every 15 minutes, available in both Spanish and English. We discovered on arriving that English-language tours were only twice a day, so we purchased our tickets for the afternoon tour and headed towards our next destination, the frigate Presidente Sarmiento, considered to be the last intact training ship from the 1890s. From the theater it was about a 2¾ km (1.7 mile) walk, dodging road construction near the renovated and gentrified old dock district where the ship is moored.

Getting closer.

After paying a modest fee Joan and I leisurely explored the Sarmiento.

She must have looked grand under sail.

The Sarmiento carried weapons including torpedoes. The armaments, used primarily for training or naval salutes, may never have been fired in anger.

A more complete history and inventory of the ship was posted, if tricky to photograph under glass.

Click on the image to enlarge, yes?

On leaving the Sarmiento Joan and I decided it was time for a snack. We skipped the sit-down restaurants lining the waterway in favor of a shop where we purchased small treats and a bottle of water. Then Joan and I headed for the Museo Casa Rosada, also known as the Museo del Bicentenario, an underground museum on the site of the original fort of Buenos Aires and later the customs house. It's recent, having opened in 2011. We knew it was associated with the Casa Rosada, the executive mansion and offices of the Argentine president,

but were unsure of its exact location. We learned at the gate that the museum was a separate structure around back. The entrance and security check is above ground, but visitors take an escalator down to the exposed foundations of the old customs house. This was an intriguing place to visit, with varied and extensive exhibits, but no photography was allowed.

On our way back to the Teatro Colón we next visited the Catedral Metropolitana, or the Metropolitan Cathedral, the main Catholic church in Argentina. It is impressive, but I have only this one photo for you.

In the square outside a political rally was growing louder. Joan and I walked on, to reach the Teatro Colón in time for the afternoon English-language tour. This popular and thriving urban tree outside the opera house caught my eye.

Just inside the doors, the grand entryway.

The upper-level hallway was peppered with statues and busts of operatic themes and composers.

Lots of lovely skylights.

A small group prepared to rehearse in a side gallery. We were allowed to briefly listen if we kept quiet.

Here's a wide view from near the main stage of the opera house.

This panoramic shot distorts the circular nature of the interior.

A vertical look, from the same spot. How would you like to have all those people watching you?

Then it was time to tromp back to the hotel, retrieve our luggage, and wait for our transfer to the Buenos Aires international airport. Everything went smoothly, including the exit interview at check-in (what did you see during your visit? etc.) that often happens at overseas airports, for U.S. bound flights at least. We landed in Atlanta in the morning twilight, and waited for our flight to Columbus.

Atlanta sunrise.

Joan and I thoroughly enjoyed our birding, geological, and cultural exploration of the high country in Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia despite our initial nervousness at traveling independently, that is, with just a guide and not being in a group. Hats off to Trogon Tours for arranging the journey and to Carlos, our exemplary guide. If you've just come across this post, the series about the trip starts here. My apologies for taking almost a year to complete it.