You Got Iceland in my Seattlest!
Seattlest's MvB happens to be in Iceland on vacation, as the country is struggling with an intense economic crisis. Which he had no part in instigating, despite the great deals he's getting with the exchange rate. This is his post on what's going on in Reykjavik, which is Icelandic for "smoky bay." He looked that up.
Our driver from the Keflavik airport asked how things were in Seattle, economically. But mainly he was interested in taking two days off to prepare his summer house for winter. He told us not to bother changing money; people would be happy to take U.S. dollars. A tourist agency contact from Iceland Naturally said she'd heard people trying to change large amounts of Norwegian krone had had trouble, but that we shouldn't have any difficulty. But she too said paying with U.S. currency would be fine. (And so it has been.)
Our guide on a walking tour of Reykjavik, Kristin, had lived in Seattle for 14 years and just moved back to Iceland a year ago. "I had a house on Broadway," she told us, "north of where the Harvard Exit is. Then we moved to Magnolia."
She urged us to try the thermal swimming pools, and we compared Reykjavik and Seattle (sister cities, by the way): Reykjavik is also rainy, but cooler. The hot springs in town may even the balance; we're going to test them out.
As we walked past the Parliament building (above), Kristin pointed it out and said, "They're very busy in there today."
In fact prime minister Geir Haarde was about to give a televised talk, updating his progress dealing with the economic crisis that has prompted Iceland's government to take over its major banks. Iceland is still trying to talk Russia into a loan, and may even be willing to go under the IMF knife.
Icelanders, Kristin included, are upset with UK prime minister Gordon Brown for using anti-terrorist legislation to seize the assets of an Icelandic bank, as a guarantee for the collapse of IceSave. Shops in Reykjavik have printed signs in the window advise Brown and UK Chancellor Darling that they are not welcome ("Your Credit Is No Good Here"). The anti-terrorist association particularly rankles the Icelanders, who are a proud, if not terrifically numerous, lot. The total population of Iceland is less than that of the city of Seattle.
Iceland electronica cares nothing for economic collapse; the Iceland Airwaves festival is just beginning and the tiny venues are packed. In a country that held a protest concert as their economy went south, the beat is where the action is.
