It's World Tourism Day today. I'm a traveller and have been for as long as I remember. It's in my genes. I come from pilots and sailors. Vikings and voyagers. And I follow the ancient wisdom of the Vikings who travelled from one continent to the next more than a thousand years ago.
The poem in the image is the 18th poem in Hávamál. Hávamál is written in old Norse, which is pretty much like modern Icelandic. It was written down by Snorri Sturluson, a scholar in 13th century Iceland who wrote down many of the Icelandic sagas. But it dates further back. It is said to be the words of Odin, the highest of the Nordic gods, father of Thor and Loki, and was the Vikings book of wisdom carried down from one generation to the next.
These are words to live by. Travel wide and wise and you will understand your fellow man.
Happy World Tourism Day!
Hjörtur
ps. the photo is shot near Bláfjöll, Iceland, on an early September morning as the first rays of sun melt the frost of the night, creating this mystical steam over the lava field.
The people of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are the free people - growing up in the wild, unspoiled nature of the North. Dependent on the often ruthless natrual forces of the North Atlantic they learn that the only one they can rely on for survival, is themselves.
That is the spirit of freedom.
That is the spirit of the North.
Hjörtur
This fantastic image of the clouds taking the form of a giant bird taking off was shot just before midnight last night by Ingvar Vilhjálmsson in Keflavik, Iceland.
Hallgrimur Helgason, one of Iceland's most loved writers wrote a poem in English about the economic meltdown in Iceland and the aftermath. The poem is called Suit & Tie and is performed by Hallgrimur himself. Below you'll find the poem in writing.
Suit and tie Suit and tie We're deadly afraid of the clever guy Wearing suit and tie
They used to roam the streets of Reykjavik And thought they were what made the city tic From bank to lunch with Nikkei, Dow Jones and FTSE Dressed to kill in Armani, Boss and Gucci Cheerful, laughing, full of self esteem The players of our national team
But now you hardly see them anymore The crisis took them through a different door Their bank got crunched by Euro, Dollar and Yen So now they're trying Tai Chi, Yoga and Zen Still they're good in playing the blaming game The players of our national shame
Iceland: The home of young and retired bosses And regular people busy counting their losses The high-flying heroes of good times past Have come to the ground and had their blast Hiding inside his fancy house The bull now meets his inner mouse
And both are dressed in suit and tie Suit and tie Nothing scares like suit and tie
We're left alone in the arctic sea For they left the loan for you and me To pay But they Do have enough to last an eon Silently kept in the Caribbean
So true, so true So mad, so bad But we don't want back the life we had Full of lies and numbers high Enough to keep a country high On hope of becoming the new Dubai
Where all the women were suit and tie Suit and tie Suit and tie we kiss goodbye
Communism lasted long Nations led by Mr. Wrong Western brokers, young and brave Went disco dancing on its grave But victory got to their head Big ambitions were overfed The color of blue contained some red The Wall Street Wall came down one night And we were all raped by Mr. Right. Capitalism fell on its nose Died from an overdue overdose Of arrogance and loneliness And left the world in a state of mess
We were fooled by suit and tie Suit and tie Who tricked us, told us: To sell and buy While speeding across their private skies Engines fuelled by loans and lies
The boys of Bush and global greed Left us with a local need For truth and nothing but the truth To put inside a confession booth The Brothers Lehman and all their sons The neo-cons were just plain cons
In suit and tie Suit and tie Trained to loot and taught to lie
Yet we try To struggle on A nation betrayed by an evil don A nation so small you can easily whip All of it into a cruise line ship The former captain and his crew Are still on board but out of view Sipping on Scotch inside their cabins And telling jokes like desperate has-beens Or faking calls In bathroom stalls While nervously looking for their balls We carry on, on a vessel unwell Steering away from the icebergs of hell The national body still infected By the virus we long neglected Called suit and tie Suit and tie Hoping it won't make us die
At the airport a father of three Spends his last in the Duty Free "We're going to Norway, to get a life Wife will study, I'll be her wife It's sad to leave your fatherland A bit like parting with your hand But they took the house, they took the car Does Stavanger have a strip-tease bar?"
And the politician on the TV screen Speaks of ways to cure the spleen But his words no longer do apply For he's still wearing suit and tie Suit and tie Suit and tie we kiss goodbye
And when you roam the streets of Reykjavik You spot the signs that made your city sick Empty houses, vacant office spaces And way too many fancy meeting places On the map, nearby the valley parks The financial district is now shown in quotation marks
And on the streets and freeways, parking lots There still are lots and lots Of black and shiny Range Rover jeeps Luxurious creeps Once the symbols of all our national vices Now they are the coffins of the crisis Driven by people who died a market-death But were allowed to prolong their final breath In suit and tie Suit and tie They're all still wearing their suit and tie
In Germany they have the Nazi outfits To remind them of the thing that rhymes with... outfitz
In Iceland we have suit and tie Suit and tie Suit and tie
Hjörtur Smárason, an anthropologist, an internet junkie and a traveller seriously infected with insatiable curiosity. A father of five and a marketing specialist in my daily life. You can also read my blog about internet marketing: Marketing Safari.
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