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Sunday, October 13, 2019

Iceland Part II: Transportation and Food

The taxi dropped us off at the Cozy Campers headquarters, located in a neighborhood that was a strange mix of industrial and residential. The driver helped us unload our bags and thankfully, as we wheeled them into the office, a worker ran out and handed him what looked like a voucher. He seemed happy with it, so we were released from the worry the poor guy wouldn't get paid.

The office had a nice reception room with plush couches and chairs with a fake fireplace that was glowing with electric flames. Lining one wall was shelving and a small glass-doored refrigerator loaded with jars, cans and bottles of food items, some half empty. A young woman at the counter asked for our names. In case you were wondering, we knew how to pronounce them.

"Ah! Yes, here you are." She pulled up our information in the computer and printed out our paperwork. "Two weeks, returning on September 14?"

We signed everywhere she pointed, promising not to take the van off-road, acknowledging any traffic tickets or driver induced accidents were our problem, and most importantly, that we would be fully responsible for any damage caused by unsafe water crossings. Yes, water crossings. This is a thing in Iceland.

She took us outside and showed us the camper van, our home for the next two weeks. The front was a regular mini-van set up, a bench seat with room for three passengers or in our case, two passengers and all our camera equipment. The back was accessed by a sliding side door. Inside was a bench seat that cleverly converted to a bed at night, with storage underneath for pillows, feather comforters, and a bottom sheet, along with anything else we wanted to stow away. The other wall and back of the camper had a built in counter top/cabinet system where our pots and pans, tea kettle, stove and kitchen utensils/plates/cups/bowls were stored. The large cabinet across the back had plenty of room for food items. There was a small built in sink with a faucet and a small fridge wedged in there too.

The extra seat came in handy when one of our occasionally friends needed a ride.
Most of the time though, it was taken up by our camera equipment.

The interior included a couch with pillows, fridge, and even a handy map on the wall with all the major roads listed (including the roads we were banned from taking)

The back hatch opened up to reveal more storage, the water tank with easy snap connections (so removal for refilling was quick and painless), and the camper battery. The battery ran the faucet, the fridge, the cool LED lighting system that was built in to the cabinetry, and most importantly, the heater. This battery was charged when the van was running, and if it went low only took a few minutes of running the engine to top back up.

There was extra storage in the back, perfect for beer, soda and boxed food.

Water bin and electrical, simple and effective.
It all looked pretty straightforward, so after walking around the vehicle noting any existing dings in the paint, we went back inside to finish off the paperwork. After signing a few more things, and getting handouts explaining road signs that are unique to Iceland, she told us to help ourselves to any food on the shelves or in the fridge.

This was new to us, but turned out to be a common and delightful occurrence throughout our trip. Here and at most of the campgrounds, there was a spot set aside for extra food and stove fuel canisters. People were welcome to help themselves, and those that were finishing up their trip and found they overbought were welcome to leave their extras. I wish this would catch on in the States, what a great idea. Of course you'd run the risk of having people sue because they got sick, or worse, someone would decide to poison something and leave it for a hapless victim. Maybe not such a good idea in the US.

We picked up salt, some spices and condiments, oatmeal, and a packet of little tiny sausages that looked good, then loaded our luggage and free food into the van. We sat in the parking lot for a minute trying to get our bearings.

Mark demonstrates the best feature of a full size hatch door: it doubled as an awning in the rain enabling us to cook outdoors in bad weather.

Before leaving the airport, we stopped by the ATM and got some cash, and we had also purchased a SIM card for our phone. Verizon had a number of options for overseas use, but they had all worked out to be more expensive than the SIM card. We bought one that was good for unlimited data and cell use for 14 days, just enough to cover us until we got to the apartment we would be staying in for the last few days of the trip (WiFi included!). This meant our phone number was changed to an Icelandic one, but it allowed us to have the use of our phone for navigation, texting relatives back home, email, and who are we kidding, the occasional Instagram moment. I typed in "grocery stores" and Google maps came up with a few options nearby, then we were off.


We made a list before we left home, having learned a basic math lesson in Tanzania:

 New Country+No Sleep+Unfamiliar Labels=Hungry Campers

We weren't going to get caught out again! Armed with our handy list, we arrived at a Kronan Grocery store ready for quick and efficient shopping. Piece of cake!

The store looked just like grocery stores here. There were aisles for baked goods, cereals, chips, sodas. Instead of cold cases they had an entire room that was chilled, you entered through separate doors to get to the dairy, eggs and chilled meats. For the most part, there was at least some english on the labels so we could tell what we were buying. We had to guess the jam flavor by inspecting the color, and the juice luckily had the mix of fruits displayed on the label. There were some American brands—especially kids cereal interestingly enough—but most were European.

The produce area looked the same as well, except for the lack of diversity. There were piles of hot house tomatoes, bins of apples, potatoes, and some greens like broccoli and lettuce. There was very little citrus of any kind, and certainly no pineapple or mango or other warm climate type fruit, not surprising given the latitude of Iceland. What was in great abundance though, were zeros. As in lots and lots of extra zeros on the price markers.

(Photo credit: What's On)
Virtually everything in Iceland is imported. They have geothermally heated greenhouses where they grow certain vegetables, and of course sheep and some dairy farms, but everything else comes in by boat or plane. This is costly of course, and it shows up on the price tags. We stood in awe as our yogurt, granola, apples, milk and bread added up on the monitor. Throw in some cheese, a few cokes and some chips and it bumped up much quicker. We walked out with two smallish bags of groceries having paid well over $100. Guess we'll be eating a lot of PBJs on this trip.

(A word about alcohol in Iceland: Beer, wine and liquor are not sold in grocery stores here. There are separate stores, Vinbudin, that are the only ones authorized to sell it. They have limited hours and are not as plentiful as grocery stores; we mostly saw them in the larger towns. If we thought the grocery prices were high, a visit to a Vinbudin put that thought to rest: A six pack of beer was $25.00. Fun Beer Fact: it was illegal to make or buy beer in Iceland until March 1, 1989. That's right, 1989. To this day, March 1st is a National Holiday called, fittingly, Beer Day.)

Out in the parking lot, we loaded our purchases with great care, not wanting to lose even one precious carrot. It was time to take this van to its natural habitat, the campground in Hafnarfjör∂ur where our friends would meet us. On the ride over, we practiced saying the town name; Hahf-nahr-Fyor-thish. 

Or something like that.



(Next up: we take this van on the road and meet Siggi at his lighthouse cafe.)

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