In this column, I often write about ways to exercise one’s body. However, to achieve full harmony and enlightenment, it’s also important to unite one’s body with one’s mind and spirit.
One of my favorite ways to nurture my spirit is through travel. According to mindbodygreen.com, “Travel is important because it fundamentally transforms us.”
In need of some transforming, I took advantage of Wow Airline’s cheap fares to Europe and booked round trip tickets for my husband and I to Amsterdam, with a stopover in Iceland. We thoroughly enjoyed the bustling city of Amsterdam — a city built on concentric canals, a city with more bicycles than people — it was Iceland that dazzled us with its unique beauty and fascinating history and traditions.
What follows is a recap of 20 interesting tidbits I learned while traveling in Iceland:
1. Dogs — considered farm animals, not pets — were outlawed in Reykjavik until 1986.
2. Preferring to stick to their vodka-soaked roots, beer was illegal in Iceland until 1989.
3. Iceland explorer Leif Erikkson was actually the first founder of North America, setting foot on the continent nearly five centuries before Christopher Columbus.
4. There were no known people on Iceland before the Vikings settled it, save for the bones of a few Africans who are thought to have wandered off course and froze to death in Iceland's frigid climate.
5. Last year, tourism surpassed fishing as Iceland top industry.
6. Tourist numbers have doubled in the past year, climbing to 2.2 million annual visitors, while the country has a population of less than 350,000 — making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe.
7. Locals worry that their language and customs will become extinct.
8. There are more sheep in Iceland than people.
9. Icelanders sometimes eat horse, but only as the result of necessary mercy killings. Horses are never bred or raised for food.
10. There are detailed public databases Icelanders can access to learn their complete genetic history and ancestry, as well as the salary of any Icelandic citizen.
11. The richest person in Iceland owns 240 Airbnb properties.
12. The fairly recent practice of wealthy businesspeople outbidding young adults for housing to use as Airbnb rentals is driving up real estate values to the point that many young Icelanders can no longer afford to live there.
13. Iceland is crazy expensive! Cocktails average $25 and the average entrée will set you back $40-80.
14. Parking is cheap, but failure to pay the designated parking fees will swiftly incur a $100 fine.
15. Rather than take their spouse’s name upon marriage, Icelanders keep their birth names which typically honor their fathers. Daughters last names all end in “dóttir,” and sons last names end in “son.”
16. Iceland gained independence from the Danish in the 1940s.
17. The primary religion in Iceland is Lutheran, though Icelanders do not consider themselves “overtly religious” people.
18. In school, children learn to speak Icelandic, Danish, and English.
19. Iceland is one of the safest countries in the world, which leads to my favorite tidbit...
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20. When the Reykjavik prison closed for renovation, the 130 incarcerated prisoners were released and asked to return a year later to finish serving their sentences. On the appointed day, all 130 convicts returned as requested.
