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| Reykjavík
stores natural hot water in these huge tanks on the top of the hill
Öskjuhlíð. This now has a restaurant and observation
platform on top of the tanks, giving it one of the best views in the
city. |
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| This
view from Hallgrímskirkja`s observation platform shows the
colourful buildings in the city centre. |
Many visitors
to Iceland shy away from Reykjavík and think of the nightlife
as a midnight stroll wondering if its ever going to get dark (those that
know it won`t might go out and play golf way past midnight). But nightlife
for city types does exist — and how! Foreign tourists are exhorted
to "go Viking" with all the beautiful people at Hotel Ísland,
though with the drinks` prices `way over the top it`s quite certain who`s
being pillaged. Watch out for the "Black Death" — not the
disease, but brennivín, the Icelandic schnapps that comes in a
bottle with a black label on it. An acquired taste. The Icelanders take
the work ethic to heart when going out on the town. However, clubs may
be quiet until eleven or so and then get mobbed quickly. The patrons busy
drinking are the ones trying to forget the price of the booze — no
wonder it`s been referred to as "liquid taxation". And don`t
bother to look for the red-light district — there isn`t one.
There weren`t any "pubs" in Iceland until recently as strong
beer wasn`t legalized. Before then, the only decent beer available was
in the airport`s incoming duty-free shop, one of the perks of leaving
the country in the first place. The saddest Icelander I ever saw was one
trusting man who gave his young son the prized crate of beer to carry
from the airport terminal to the car; the wee boy dropped the lot and
the father`s jaw fell like a stone as the bottles smashed. The previous
dearth of alcohol was due to pressure from the temperance movement early
this century. However, being a pragmatic nation, some alcohol was later
allowed in — but only from countries that bought their fish. Today`s
youngsters seem to be hell-bent on making up for the drinking time lost
by their parents and the innocent-looking Coke bottle carried by the teenage
drinkers often holds more vodka than "the real thing".
Night clubs are alright for night-clubbers but are they any different
from similar dens anywhere else in the world? Culture vultures could find
a cinema or a concert, or perhaps even an opera. But if you want to learn
something about what lies beyond the urban jungle without actually stepping
outside it, then go to "The Volcano Show". This is a small cinema
showing quite remarkable films of eruptions, wildlife and the intimidating
but wonderful Icelandic scenery. Normally, Nature isn`t too obliging when
you want to photograph an eruption but on one occasion, Hekla (Iceland`s
most famous volcano) duly obliged when one of the film-makers was on the
mountain working on something else. I don`t know if he felt lucky or not.
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