A warm welcome in Iceland

The weather was fine, the trip was a bargain, and there was plenty to do

Author: By Linda Matchan, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, February 23, 1997

Page: M13

Section: Travel

Me? Well, I went to Iceland for the weekend -- in January.

Why, my friends all asked, once they'd stopped laughing. I say: Why not? I figured there was no better way to get through the doldrums of winter than by heading to a place where they really know how to deal with it. Why not go somewhere where it's worse?

Besides, it doesn't cost very much; it was the cheapest exotic destination I could find. Icelandair -- the only airline flying from Boston to Iceland -- offers several tempting winter packages, through March 29.

For example, there is a ``Midweek Madness'' package starting at $299, which includes air fare from Boston, airport-hotel transfers, hotel accommodation for two nights, and breakfast both days.

For slightly more, there is also a long-weekend ``Reykjavik Adventure Package,'' which is the one I took with an adventurous friend. The cost from Boston was $379, including a direct flight, two nights' stay, with breakfast, at the very comfortable Hotel Esja in Reykjavik, which is just a 20-minute walk from the center of town.We left Boston at 9 p.m. on Thursday and arrived at Keflavik Airport, a 45-minute bus ride from Reykjavik, at 6:45 a.m on Friday. This gave us nearly three days to explore the Reykjavik area. We were on the plane again at 5 p.m. Sunday and back home by 5:45 p.m., Boston time -- a little jet-lagged but otherwise exhilarated.

To me, the opportunity was hard to pass up. I'd spent 10 days in Iceland nine years ago (albeit in June), and have never forgotten the country's charm, rugged beauty, gentle and friendly people, and infinite offerings, from art to music to history. I've been wanting to go back ever since.

But when I told friends and colleagues about the upcoming trip, it became clear that this tiny country with only 260,000 inhabitants has a serious public relations problem. To a lot of people, Iceland is sort of a one-word joke, like ``accordion'' or ``polka'' or ``Peoria.''

``What's the point of Iceland?'' a Talk of the Town writer asked in the issue of the New Yorker I happened to take with me for airplane reading. (His answer: ``It's a glacier on top of a volcano.'')

``Gonna stay in an igloo?'' a coworker asked me, more than half-seriously.

(Ha, ha. Actually, we were pleased to discover that Iceland isn't very cold in wintertime. The name is deceptive, because the Gulf Stream creates a mild climate that, during our visit, hovered around 40 degrees. And our modern hotel, far from being an igloo, had foreign TV channels, a beauty salon, even a Pizza Hut.)

``Isn't it dark most of the time?'' someone wanted to know.

(Not at the end of January. OK, so the sun didn't come up till 10 a.m. and it got dark again at 5, but on the bright side, the shortage of sunlight -- in combination with the fact that shops close early on Saturdays -- does force one to concentrate one's energies and get a lot done in a short time.)

``Won't it take a long time to get there?'' I was asked.

(The flight was only 4 hours and 10 minutes going, and 5 1/2 hours back. It's a lot like driving to Burlington, Vt., for the weekend, except you get in-flight movies and good meals. The trip was shorter and more comfortable than the one I took in 1987, since Icelandair has since added some spiffy Boeing 757s to its fleet. Because the flights aren't exactly overpopulated in winter -- ours was only about one-quarter full on the way there -- you can have a whole row of seats to stretch out on.)

``But is there anything to do in Iceland?'' I heard that question a lot.

The answer is yes, so much to do that we're already planning our next trip. The Icelandic Ballet, National Theater, National Gallery of Iceland, medieval Icelandic manuscripts, pony treks, spa visits, the new Kringlan shopping mall -- they will have to wait until next winter. So will seeing other parts of the island, like the picturesque town of Akureyri in north Iceland, and the fiords, glaciers, farms, hot springs, and volcanoes.

Our first order of business was going to sleep. Although the sights of the city beckoned, we reasoned that we wouldn't get too far if we weren't rested, so we ordered a wake-up call for 10 a.m. (which we ignored, and kept sleeping till 1) and then set out along Laugavegur, the main shopping street of Reykjavik, to the center of town. A large banner hanging across the middle of the street proclaimed, in English, ``The Main Shopping Street,'' in case there's any doubt.

My first impression of the city was: Such exoticism, just four hours from Boston! Reykjavik, which has a population of 100,000, is a kaleidoscope of colors and styles. With its blond-haired people and clean streets, it feels distinctly Scandinavian, though the Icelandic language, which has been kept intact since Viking days, seems utterly foreign, to say nothing of unpronounceable. (Just try asking directions to Kaplaskjolsvegur Street.) English, however, is widely spoken.

It is hard to avoid the word ``quaint'' in describing the city. Side streets are narrow and winding, and houses are brightly painted, many in primary colors. Cafes and coffeehouses are plentiful, and since I was last there, the city has become much more cosmopolitan, with numerous international influences.

Icelanders dress fashionably, young people have blue hair, pierced noses and carry cell phones. Residents buy scratch tickets and shop at Levi's stores, the Body Shop and Laura Ashley. (The first word in our emerging Icelandic vocabulary was to be ``Utsala,'' which means ``sale.'' Another advantage of visiting Iceland in winter is that there are lots of bargains.)

Restaurants are eclectic. When I last visited with my husband and 2-year-old son, who was then averse to eating anything but chicken and hot dogs -- he particularly detested fish, the staple of the Icelandic diet -- we scoured the city until we were able to find something he would recognize. Now, the cuisine of many countries is represented here, from Chinese to Thai and Vietnamese.

Wandering the city is a delight. With few trees and natural resources besides geothermal energy, sheep, and fish, this is a place that has learned how to make do. Few trees mean little lumber, which is why many houses are built from a serviceable corrugated sheet metal, and roads are paved with ground-up lava.

After an exhausting day of sightseeing, we treated ourselves to a fine dinner at the Laekjarbrekka restaurant, which seemed a cross between a Victorian tea room and an ornate Swedish dining room in a Bergmann movie.

On Saturday, we revisited the city area with a bus tour. For 1800 kroner (approximately $25), we took an engrossing two-hour tour organized by Reykjavik Excursions and available at our hotel, of some of the sights that we would never have seen on our own. It included The Pearl, a revolving six-story glass dome built atop seven water holding tanks that supply water to the city (the top two floors house a restaurant); an outdoor geothermally-heated swimming pool; the Asmundur Sveinsson sculpture museum; and the magnificent Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran cathedral with its impressive 5,000-pipe organ.

The next day we took another tour, a five-hour loop of the Reykjanes peninsula. The cost was 3,500 kroner, roughly $50. This time the emphasis was geology and ancient history. We learned that Iceland straddles two plates -- the mid-Atlantic and the North American, which constantly move against one another and pull apart. We saw several deep rifts, including the most recent one, in 1995, and took advantage of a photo stop for one that was close to the road.

Geology came to life as our guide pointed out the markers scattered around the peninsula, which geologists periodically measure to see how much the earth has moved.

Others stops included the Grindavik fishing village, where we dined on fresh haddock in a small cafeteria; the breathtaking volcanic coastline on the south coast; and the Blue Lagoon, where we swam. It's known for its refreshing, mineral-rich geothermally-heated water, touted for its healing properties. The air was cold and crisp, the water unpolluted -- and my forehead freezing as we splashed around in the glorious warmth.

Last stop was the airport, bringing a reluctant end to this odd Icelandic saga.

The two-night Reykjavik Adventure package costs $379 through March and includes air fare, two nights' hotel and two breakfasts. The cost increases to $489 from March 29 to mid May, to $699 until May 31, and to $889 June 1-Aug. 31.

Icelandair also offers many other tour packages, including a Mother's Day special and extensive motor coach tour of the countryside. ``We do more than just hop over there, do something funny and come back,'' says Petur Omar Ogustsson, manager of Icelandair Holidays.

For information, telephone (800) 223-5500.