After decades of dreaming about it, this summer Grace Griffee decided to make her long-time dream of traveling to Iceland to visit a pen pal friend she made back in middle school a reality.
Grace, who lives in North Greece, says her pen pal story began when she was taking French in 7th grade at Spencerport Central Schools and decided to sign up for a French pen pal when given the opportunity by her teacher. At the same time, she decided to choose a second pen pal from Iceland. “I’ve always been intrigued by remote places and exotic locations,” she says.
That’s how she got to know Thordis Sigurdardottir. Thordis and Grace are the same age and have spent the last 40 years communicating by letter, cards and eventually Facebook. Over the decades, they’ve also shared birthday and Christmas presents, presents for each other’s children, postcards and souvenirs from travels.
The two met face to face 30 years ago when Thordis visited the States. Grace decided to finally make the trip to Iceland by herself this past July.
“Traveling to another country by myself was a bit out of my comfort zone,” she admits, “but this year when April rolled around and I began thinking about summer travel, I decided at the drop of a hat to book a flight.”
Grace says it is typical of her to do a lot of research and planning when she travels, but not so this time. She put herself into the hands of Thordis and her husband, Jeff, who live in Neskaupstadur, about 10 hours from the airport in Keflavik.
Thordis and Jeff provided transportation during Grace’s stay and made sure she had an extensive tour of the countryside and Iceland’s natural wonders.
“They were the most gracious hosts I could ask for,” she says. “I had never met Jeff, who is from Denmark, and had only met Thordis during her visit 30 years before, but it was like we were long lost friends.”
Grace describes the visit as an adventure. They spent the first day touring Reykjavik and Keflavik and made sure to visit light houses because Grace enjoys them. They also toured Viking World which is a history museum focusing on Iceland’s Viking heritage. Grace says the museum has a replica of a 9th century ship for visitors to climb-aboard.
The three visited Hallgrimskirkja church where Grace lit a candle for her parents. The design of the church, “was inspired by the shapes created when lava cools into basalt rock,” Grace says.
The trip included travel along the Ring Road which circles the country and Grace says her hosts were happy to make time for any spot she wished to stop. She saw rugged mountains, green mountains, glaciers, lava fields, moss covered lava fields and waterfalls. The landscape also included many sheep and horses.
Jeff, “Made a point of taking my photo at all of the stops so that I would not just have photos of places, but of myself in those places,” Grace says. “We had a lot of fun taking panoramic photos where I would run behind him when he panned so that it would look like I was in two places at once.”
Stops along the southern route of the Ring Road included the Kerio volcanic crater (formed about 6500 years ago); Geysir – a high temperature geothermal area; the giant Gullfoss waterfalls (31 meters high) carved out by glacial floods at the end of the Ice Age; glaciers; a gorgeous iceberg lagoon; and a black sand beach where visitors are warned against the, “deadly ‘sneaker waves’,” Grace says.
One of the highlights of the route was hiking behind a waterfall by herself. “Needless to say, my hiking boots more than paid for themselves,” she says. “Climbing slippery rocks just a foot or so from plunging over the edge, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so exhilarated.”
They arrived at Neskaupstadur on the third day and Grace says she couldn’t believe she was really in the little town she had heard about for 40 years. She stayed with Jeff and Thordis and met their three children – Henri, 23, Agnes, 21, and Irena, 18.
The population of Neskaupstadur is less than 1,500 and the town is nestled between the mountains and the North Atlantic.
“During my stay, I enjoyed the family meals (and ate whale, unbeknownst to me until I had finished); visited with Thordis’ best friend, Rakel Gestsdottir, in her home where she, Thordis and I sat and talked like three women who had known each other their entire lives; hiked a beautiful mountain path down to the sea; and rode an Icelandic horse – all experiences I will never forget,” Grace says.
Returning to the airport, Grace and her hosts took the northern route of the Ring Road. She says it was very different from the southern route and the July temperatures were in the 70s. The trip included a hike down to Dettifoss – a waterfall that is part of the largest canyon on Iceland – 25 km long and 1/2 km wide; exploring geothermal areas; swimming in a geothermal swimming pool and spending the night in the picturesque town of Akureyri.
Grace says she and her friends had one more drink together at her hotel near the airport the night before her flight. “Many tears were shed and I cannot wait until I can see them again,” she says.
Having such a dear friend in such a far away place is very special to Grace. “I have always felt like people come into each other’s lives for a reason,” she muses about her 40-year pen pal friend. “She has brought so much to my life – from giving me perspective as a young girl on what life was like in another country to sharing everything that two young women, and now not-so-young women, would share about working, raising a family, caring for our parents and having to say goodbye to them, and everything in between.”
Grace plans on returning to Iceland to explore more of the country, but mostly to spend more time with her friends.
“I think about my trip every single day,” she says.
