ICE, #2.
Akrahreppur. It gets more beautiful. We are in the loveliest little guest house looking out at green, mountain, water, sky and sunshine. We can see nothing but beauty for miles in every direction. Everything here is ours.
I woke this morning and went for a run along a fjord. For thirty minutes I ran in complete silence. Not a person, not a car. At the end of the run I took a soak in the hot tub looking out at the ocean. I mentioned in my writing yesterday that I had sixteen months of confusion and sadness to shake out of my system. It’s happening.
Peggy and I enjoyed a three hour drive through more stunning landscape. Besides the ten minute stop at a gas station mini mart that made me think for a second that I was in Peoria or King of Prussia, the Icelandic scenery relaxed us and reminded us that life was beautiful. We came upon a field of horses and pulled over to watch them. A few horses eyed us as we approached and then walked toward us to say hello. A few more came and soon we were feeding grass to a half dozen, each a different color and a different personality. One horse, a black one with a white nose, seemed to be in charge. Another golden horse, sporting a gorgeous blonde, wavy hairstyle seemed a bit nervous and out of sorts. She was the wannabe who might have been a Hollywood starlet disguised as a horse.
We arrived at what we thought was our hotel, only to find out that Google had misdirected us, sending us to a hotel in a suburb that seemed sterile and drab. We were sent a few miles down the road only to find nothing but mountain and river. After a thirty minute drive we pulled over and Googled our hotel again, but the Google search of the town and road of the hotel only directed us to India or Nebraska. Eventually we called the hotel and were directed to road 759, which we finally found. The road crossed a bridge and snaked a few miles along the river finally bringing us to this paradise of a hotel where we will spend the rest of the day and night.
This trip gets better and better. I am still in love with my new Dutch friend and she’s in love with me. I heart Iceland.
ICE
ICE
There is a sign in the restaurant of the hotel I am staying in that reads “Don’t look behind you. You’re not going back there.” The roads we travel here at the northern tip of Iceland lead to nowhere. We drive a 70 kilometer dirt path from Drangness, north to Gjogur and Nodurjordur which feels a lot like we’re coming to the end of the world. Driving it, you are enveloped by mountains of green moss descending to spectacular green blue fjords. Birds, seals, sheep. Two sheep relax on a stone peak. Seals bask. This is an indescribable beauty that demands silence. Ice capped mountains, rushing rivers cascading down, winding everywhere. The occasional farmhouse, bright red with a shiny silver aluminum roof couldn’t be more perfectly placed. Children’s picture books are based on these places.
Just six hours from New York, I am millions of miles from home. I haven’t seen a mask in a week, nor have I heard the words variant or Delta spoken. Not once.
The village of Drangness is home to 65 people. Houses are neat and small. There is a soccer field and a large, colorful trampoline, a mini mart and a gas tank. Our hotel sits on the water with a magnificent view of a little rock island with a bright orange lighthouse on top. Down the road there are three small hot tubs that sit on the shore of the fjord. On my morning run, I pass an older, local couple taking a morning soak. I have never been in a more peaceful place.
Don’ look back. I have been stuck for the past sixteen months. The covid pandemic has taken my smile away and made me question the meaning of life. As I made plans to travel to this land of ice I wondered if I could possibly find something that could wake me up again.
Never a believer, I have found magic in the air here. And I have found Peggy. My email friend for the past year, we were two artists who enjoyed open conversation about art, words and life. Over the year our friendship grew to the point where we decided it would be fun to travel together. We had Zoomed a few times and so I knew in advance that I was meeting a pretty woman with an electric smile and dazzling grey blue eyes.
Falling in love with Peggy was easy and instant. Maybe it helped to have shared a hotel room the first night that had just one bed. We cuddled together and fell asleep in each other’s arms. Whatever nerves we both felt washed away quickly.
Peggy loves beginnings and I surely needed a nice new beginning. It’s all pretty simple and yes, magical: I have begun life again with a beautiful person, someone of extreme intelligence and creative passion, someone who enjoys laughing as much as I do, someone who understands and appreciates me for who I am.
Iceland is expensive. I spent over 2000 dollars on a rental car and a hamburger here costs as much as an apartment rental in New York. But in just a few days I’ve been reminded that life is worth living. It’s worth every penny.