One of the catchy phrases in the show "My Fair Lady" is "In Spain the rain falls mainly on the plain." That wouldn't apply in Iceland.
Two Alexandria brothers can attest to that. They recently spent eight days traveling around the entire country of Iceland. The description "around" is the operative word in this travelogue.
The only paved highway in Iceland goes around the island's perimeter and ends were it begins. Or begins where it ends depending on one's orientation. It's called the "Ring Road." Surprise.
"It rains all year round. It'll rain for five minutes, then stop. Then start again for another five or ten minutes," said Peter Brownfeld. He and his brother, Burke, both native Alexandrians, recently completed a circumfrential tour of their mother's home nation in a car not designed for such an adventure.
Growing up in the 800 block of South Lee Street, Peter and Burke have traveled back and forth to Iceland throughout their lives to visit relatives in Reykjavik, the capital city. Their mother, Solvig, is the daughter of an Icelandic diplomat. She first came to this country as child when her father was stationed here.
"She fell in love with America and moved here when she was an adult," Peter said. She went to work for Roll Call, the Capitol Hill publication. That's were Solvig Eggerz met her future husband Allan Brownfeld, another journalist.
"We usually go over every year to have a family reunion with our relatives, but we have never really explored the country," Peter said.
Burke, a senior at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, majoring in psychology, decided to spend a year studying at the University of Iceland in order to get to know the people and learn their language. "I also wanted to get to know the family better. Not just meet and greet them at family reunions," he said.
Peter, a graduate of the University of Virginia and the London School of Economics, is a writer and editor with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. He lives on Cameron Street in Alexandria. He decided to join Burke at the end of his studies to "really get to know Iceland." He explained, "I was there for eight days. We spent most of it on the road."
IN ORDER TO MAKE their circular journey they rented a Toyota Yaris. It's about the size of a modern VW and gets excellent gas milage. That is significant because, like everything in Iceland, gasoline is extremely expensive, according to the Brownfeld brothers.
"Gasoline is about four to five times higher than it is here," Peter said. "It cost us about $40 to fill our tank in Reykjavik. But, everything is high because almost everything has to be brought in."
Burke, who had spent his study year in and around the capital city, marveled that, "Once you leave Reykjavik you feel as if you're surrounded by a picture postcard. It's amazing how varied it is environmentally. There are glaciers, volcanoes, farmland — all surrounded by the sea."
Their trip totalled approximately 800 miles. "But don't wander off the Ring Road. The center of the country is volcanoes and glaciers and the roads aren't really roads. To get into the center you need one of those monster trucks that we see competing in the arenas," the both said.
That became apparent to them the one time they ventured off the main road. They decided that they had to see Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in western Europe.
"The Yaris got stuck in the mud. And we mean stuck — up to the axles," they explained. "Since there is no traffic, we had driven for hours and only passed one car, we got out and tried to free it to no avail."
That's when the brothers Brownfeld got innovative. They dislodged a traffic sign and began to use it as a shovel to free themselves. When this failed they decided to walk back to the nearest farm to spend the night. They estimated it to be about an hour's hike.
Just then a couple of four wheel drive SUV's showed up and pulled them from their muddy quagmire. They abandoned the trip to the waterfall and headed back to the "civilized" Ring Road. "It was finished in the 1970's and the only road in the country that could be classified a highway," Peter said.
"There are only two major cities in the entire country," they noted. One is Reykjavik with a population of approximately 143,000, about half the entire 285,000 national population, and the other is Akureyri, with a population of 15,000.
THEIR MOTHER had gone to high school in Akureyri for one year. "As we were trying to find the high school we asked this lady where it was. She was curious as to why we were looking for it. We told her our mother had attended. Without hesitation she asked if our mother was Solvig. It turned she had been a high school friend," Peter said.
During their trip they stayed at a series of farms that provide cabins for travelers since there are very few lodging accommodations out side the cities. At one such stop they were struck by the fact that a church existed on the farm.
"It seems that the farmer wanted a church to attend but he and his family were the only people for miles. So, he built his own church," Peter said. "It only seated about 15 people."
Although Iceland is far enough north to have the same day/night conditions as most of Alaska it is not nearly as cold, the Brownfelds attested. "The winter cold is not that much different than Alexandria," they said. "But the wind is brutal and it makes it feel much colder."
As for day and night, there is little or no darkness during May, June, July and August and just the opposite for November, December, January, and February. The other four months have a more normal light/dark pattern, according to the Brownfelds.
In the 1800's, Iceland, which is about the size of Kentucky, was "a huge collection of farms. Then in the 20th century they switched over to fishing as their major industry when farming became totally depressed," Burke explained.
What impressed the Brownfelds the most was the stark contrasts of topography all cramped into this island nation surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea. Separated from Greenland by the Denmark Strait. "Almost every hour there was a new and exciting vista," they said.
"We drove in and out of deep, beautiful fjords, to the top of snow covered mountains, through very isolated valleys with a few sheep farms, and to a glacial lagoon that appeared other worldly," they said. "In some spots it was so foggy we had to use our car horn as a fog horn in case of other traffic."
As they drove back into Reykjavik they said they had to readjust to civilization. "At first we found both the traffic and the people annoying. We weren't even used to traffic lights or stop signs," they said.
Would they do it again. Yes. In fact, Burke is considering going back to live for awhile after graduation. "I now can speak the language somewhat and I really enjoyed my year there," he said.