ICELAND: Day 3 - Reykjavik Pride!

All words and images by Roopa Cheema

These events occurred during August 2012

Today was Pride!  I am so happy I was able to be here during this time to show my support for the queer community in another country! Lucky me. By total accident, I booked my trip during Pride. Serendipity!

But, oh, the rain.  It won’t stop.  UGH.  It has rained non-stop since I've been here and today it finally got under my skin (as well as being on it!) and I became grumpy.  And then I remembered I was in Iceland, living my dream, and quickly got over it.

Before the parade, I took a stroll down one of the main roads, Bankastraeti, to get lunch at Prikid, a hotspot in the heart of downtown.

The view from the 2nd floor of Prikid. I've spotted some parade-goers!

Parade-goers equipped with their very appropriate umbrellas

A quintessential Icelandic child with her blonde hair

The main parade route

I took a stroll down the main road, Laugevegur, and made my way to the parade route on Laekjargata.  At first there weren't a lot of people but as the hour went on it filled up to thousands!  You must remember: Reykjavik’s population is roughly 200,000 (about 300,000 reside in the whole country).  My guess is that, per capita, Reykjavik is one of the most queer-friendly places on earth.  People of all ages were present – I was happy to see so many families in attendance.  Children are taught from a young age that being different is ok.  It’s a very peaceful city and country.  The police do not carry guns.  I saw only a handful of police at the parade.  This city is just so cool.  I highly recommend you go.  My flight was $780 round trip and I paid $120 a night for a bachelor apartment with a fully equipped kitchenette!

Anyway, I digress…

Icelandic police officers. No guns! 

The parade began as it does in Toronto with the Dykes On Bikes!  It was really neat to see some of the universal themes and ideas surrounding gay pride.  I felt included when I saw the rainbow flag because that’s the very image that caused so much controversy and hate toward me at my school as I launched the very first Gay Straight Alliance.  All of the backlash, the ignorance, the misunderstanding, the confusing, the hate - it was worth it because I know I’m not alone in my fight for equality for all.

Dykes On Bikes! 

I have a new mantra: STAND IN YOUR POWER.  Historically, as a woman, I don’t have power.  Historically, as a person of colour, I don’t have power.  But I’m straight and that holds power in this world. When men stand for women’s rights, that’s powerful! When White people stand for People of Colour's rights, that’s powerful! When straight people stand for the queer community, that's powerful! Of course, all of the aforementioned oppressed groups fight first, harder, and longer than the privileged groups.

This is me trying to creep under a stranger's umbrella!

The anticipation!

The parade continued with people from all walks of life being involved. Even Jon Gnarr, the mayor of Reykjavik, comes dressed in drag every year for the Pride Parade (which is much more than we can say for the mayor of Toronto). Russian punk band, Pussy Riot, were jailed for singing a song in a church that criticized Vladimir Putin. Communities all over the world implored the Russian government to release the band. Below, you'll see Jon Gnarr dressed as a member of Pussy Riot, who famously wear dresses and balaclavas during their performances. How cool is this mayor?

Jon Gnarr, the mayor of Reykjavik, protesting the imprisonment of Pussy Riot

Sports team in support of gay pride

Protecting that gorgeous make-up from the rain!

A poignant reminder...

A store-front moose joining in the festivities

At the end of the parade, the crowd joins in and walks to the end!  I got to MARCH in Reykjavik’s Pride.  I am truly honoured.  The last float took us to a bandstand where a concert commenced.  I stayed for about half of it.  My favourite part was when a musical theatre-type duo sang Don’t Rain On My Parade in Icelandic! Brilliant…As it poured down on us.  It was a perfect ending to a great parade.

Parade finale: CONFETTI!

Happy parade-goers trying to catch some confetti

After the parade, the rain finally let up for a couple of hours and I was finally able to take lots of pictures of the graffiti around town!  This city is covered in super rad pieces and took about 200 photos.  It’s not something I was all that interested in back home but the graffiti here has inspired me to start hunting down street art in Toronto.  I know that’s super hipster of me and I realize I'm late to the party on this trend but Reykjavik is so inspiring in many ways and has resuscitated my love of photography.  When the school year starts everything becomes busy and the weather become cold and makes shooting more difficult.  I will speak to this in another post but this past year I did too much at the school.  Really, I've done too much since I began teaching and I need to strike a better balance so I'm nourishing my soul and filling up my cup, especially artistically.  More on that another time – I'm in freaking Iceland! Here is some wickedly rad street art:

I shopped around for a bit, picking up lovely things for my family and myself, then headed back to my accommodations and changed to go out for dinner and drinks.  This is the only challenge of solo travelling: Going out for drinks.  Now, I’m pretty independent and do a lot of things on my own. I go to movies, dinner, shopping, travelling on my own.  But back home I don’t go for drinks on my own.  However, I’m not going to stay in and miss the infamous Reykjavik nightlife just because I’m flying solo here.  So off I went to Lebowski Bar.  Yes, you guessed it: It’s a The Big Lebowski themed bar and very popular here in town.  I bought myself a pint of Gull (refer to Iceland: Day 1 to read more about that) and took a seat.  Thank goodness for free wi-fi! I was chilling out, updating Twitter and sending messages and emails to family and friends, but keeping my eye out and up and maintaining a friendly smile on my face.  I had a table to myself and the place was filling up.  I noticed two women who also looked like travellers (we’re so obvious!) and invited them to sit down.  Turns out my new friends, Tracy and Laura, are teachers from Britain!  Instantly, we had something in common and became fast friends.  We have planned to meet up for dinner tomorrow.  One of my greatest traits is that you can take me anywhere!  I will talk to anyone and everyone and find it very easy to make new friends.

We went to Den Danske Kro where I had gone the other night and had a pint and listened to live music.  The Brits wanted to go out to the club (not my scene) and I decided to call it a night.

Tomorrow: I will spend the day shopping and strolling through the streets.  Today was great.  I'm very fortunate to be me.

Thanks for reading,

Roopa

All words and images by Roopa Cheema

ICELAND: Day 2 - Geysir, Gullfoss, and Thingvellir

All words and images by Roopa Cheema

These event occurred during August 2012. 

Ok.  This is it.  This is the day I’ve been looking forward to for years – Geysir, Gullfoss, and Thingvellir.

I booked this tour with Reykjavik Excursions and they are great! I highly recommend them! They even pick you up and drop you off at your hotel.  Very convenient.

The Reykjavik Excursions bus

We started off and spent 1.5 hours on the bus to get to Geysir (pronounced GAY-zeer).  This is one of the many areas with geothermal activity in Iceland.  The word geyser (which is an exploding spout of water) comes from this place – all other geysers are named after this place.  Cool, eh?

The rain was relentless this day but it didn’t matter; I was making my dream come true.  We pulled up to Geysir (“the Gusher”) and I saw a herd of tourists trying desperately to shield themselves from the rain.  The rain was coming from everywhere – very misty.  I followed my tour guide and approached the big geyser.  This one, the namesake, is not active now. It hasn’t erupted for about 60 years.  It’s still hot and you can smell the sulphur but it no longer spouts.  The “smaller” geyser, called Strokkur (“the Churn”) is the one that erupts every 5-7 mins.  It did not disappoint.

This is how hot the water is!

Waiting for Strokkur to explode...

The picture doesn't show just how windy and rainy it was. 

I had to protect my camera by tying a plastic bag around it. It's a good look, isn't it?

And Strokkur wows the crowd!

Next to Geysir is an electric blue pool called Blesi.  Gorgeous.  The pictures doesn't do it justice.  I’m amazed this colour exists naturally. 

Blesi

I almost missed Litli Geysir (“Little Geysir”) but was fortunate to spot it on my way back to the bus.  This little guy just boils and boils. 

Litli Geysir 
Here you can see and hear how windy it was

After Geysir we went to Gullfoss ("foss" means "waterfall"), a magnificent waterfall that gives Niagara Falls a run for its money.  This two-tiered waterfall is loud and amazing.  I took a ton of pictures but we only had 30 minutes there.  Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to see it with my own eyes for very long.  My plan is to do this tour again before I leave.  This tour is the main reason I’ve wanted to come to Iceland.  I think the weather will be improving in the next few days.  To me, it will be worth it to see it again and to enjoy the mountains along the way; they were hiding behind heavy mist.

Gullfoss 

And finally, Thingvellir.  This is the site of the oldest parliament in the world.  The Vikings started it in the year 930. More importantly (well, to me at least!) this is also the site where the North American plate and the Eurasian plate diverge!  This is only one of two places on Planet Earth where you can see this happening, the other being in East Africa.  Did you hear me? YOU CAN SEE WHERE TWO TECTONIC PLATES DIVERGE!!  I am a huge geography nerd and this was truly the highlight for me.  I was fighting back tears as we drove from the North American plate to the Eurasian plate and stopped in the middle.  I stood there and looked up at the face of the North American plate. It was pretty surreal for me – still can’t believe I was standing in the place that is featured in a geography video I show my students at the beginning of each semester. 

I feel so fortunate.  I feel so grateful. 

The face of the North American tectonic plate.

This is the moment a lifelong dream came true: 

I'm standing in between two tectonic plates!

I was so ridiculously happy.

I have a few former students who follow me on Twitter and they were saying things like, “You finally made it, Miss!” They know how much I’ve longed to be here.  The cherry on top of this awesome cake? My students get to see that dreams really do come true if you don’t give up. 

After all the geothermal awesomeness, I decided to get a hot dog at Baejarins Betzu Plysur, considered by many to be the best hot in Europe, perhaps even the world.  A man called Stefan struck up a conversation with me as he heard my accent while ordering.  I had a lovely chat with him as we ate hot dogs.

The famous hot dog in all its simple glory

My friend-for-a-few-minutes, Stefan, being silly whilst eating his hot dog!

Lastly, I met up with Jamie and Tommy (my new American friends) at Reykjavik Backpackers for a couple of pints of Gull.  I also chatted up two other Americans, one is a teacher, and we had some great conversations about education.

Great, GREAT second day.

Tomorrow: Reykjavik’s Pride Parade!!  As you know, I’m ally to the queer community and it was a happy accident that I booked my trip for this weekend.  Lucky me!  Stay tuned for Day 3!

Thanks for reading,

Roopa