libes@nbs-amrf.UUCP (06/10/84)
A friend and I are going to explore Iceland (& Greenland) in August.
We'll probably make a circle around the country and take a couple of
trips to various islands and into the interior. Tell me about
interesting things there, no matter how isolated or remote they are.
(I already have the standard guidebooks, so just tell me things that
are off the beaten trail, thanks.)
I notice there are no Usenet sites in Iceland. I'd be willing to
spend a day or two doing occasional hacking at any UNIX sites up there
(like putting up netnews or getting uucp running). My companion has
similar strange ideas - he wants to climb up some shear ice walls.
One thing we both agree on, is that we've got to get ourselves a stoic
Eider duck hunter and a couple thousand miles of rope so that we can
explore the central cone of Sneffels. I'll let you know what we find.
Don Libes {allegra,seismo}!umcp-cs!nbs-amrf!libes2141smh@aluxe.UUCP (henning) (06/15/84)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA aluxe!2141smh First, if you want to get off the beaten track in Iceland, all you have to do is go about 2 miles outside Reykjavik. There are no highway signs. There are almost no paved highways. The weather is cool, wet, and very windy. There is bus service which circles the island. There is a chain of Edda "Hotels" which are at or near ten of the nicest spots. These are actually schools. Since it is impractical for many of the school children to commute to school, many stay in public boarding schools. During the summer months these boarding schools become Hotel Eddas. The Hotel Eddas had no menus and served family style, usually seafood. My wife and I are not seafood eaters, but the meals at the Hotel Eddas were fantastic. We traveled by bus, and the hotels were set up to serve the bus passengers. The bus, or van as it usually was, frequently took off across country with no signs of any vehicle ever going there before to show us one of their trees or sea lions. Their trees are about 10 feet tall and not very often seen. Take lots of money. Everything is expensive unless you get a package from Icelandic Airlines. Then you start with at least a 20% discount off. The language is an old Viking tongue similar to Danish.