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Iceland
Honeymoon
and Visit
Never one to miss an opportunity, Birmingham Branch Chair
Andy Gregory sought out an IPA meeting while on his honeymoon in Iceland.
I
n 2008, IPA Iceland President Einar Guðberg Jónsson visited the UK
and spent a few weeks with West Midlands Police Operational Support
Unit (OSU) and was looked after by then IPA branch secretary Martin
Sewell. During that visit Einar was introduced to Andy who was at the time a
uniformed Sergeant.
Knowing that Andy and Joanne would be visiting Iceland on their honeymoon
in 2017, Martin suggested Andy make contact with Einar prior to their visit in
July. Contact was made through Facebook and Andy and Einar arranged to
meet in Reykjavik the day after arriving. Andy and Joanne took the unusual
step of taking their four children on their honeymoon with them. Andy said
“this wasn’t just our wedding and honeymoon, but we saw it as the joining of
our two families and it’s probably the only chance we’ll get to take our four
children away with us, without their partners, boyfriend, girlfriends etc”.
Joanne and Andy, as well as Joanne’s two children Sarah (24) and John (21)
and Andy’s two sons, Louis (25) and Oliver (21) met Einar for a coffee on
the Sunday afternoon and were able to quiz him about the sites they should
visit during their week-long trip. Einar recommended suitable locations and
marked them in the travel guide maps. Having spent a couple of hours with
Einar he suggested they pay a visit to the Lebowski Bar in Reykjavik for an
evening meal. The bar is a themed-pub based on the film ‘The Big Lebowski’,
featuring John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Jeff Bridges. After the meal,
Einar offered to show his English guests his workplace at Reykjavik Police
Headquarters and the group walked across the city with a guided tour en
route to the Police building. Einar is a Detective Chief Inspector; he explained
about his role, the history of the Icelandic Police Service and showed
everyone around the building; Joanne and Andy’s children especially enjoyed
seeing the cells and police vehicles. In Einar’s office he showed Andy his
collection of IPA and Police memorabilia from across the world, including
the West Midlands Police helmet he was presented with by Chief Constable
Chris Sims during his visit in 2008.
Andy said “The IPA in Iceland is thriving. Their section is 54 years old and
they have nearly 500 members. They have a small police service for their
beautiful island, but most officers are encouraged to join the IPA as soon as
they join the police. Almost all their officers are also IPA members, which is
really encouraging.
Following the advice of Einar, Andy, Joanne & family visited the black lava
sandy beach of Vik and the beautiful waterfalls of Skogafoss
and Seljallandsfoss in Southern Iceland, as well as
Snæfellsjökull National Park and volcano and the
pretty fishing village of Hellnar about 120 miles
north of Reykjavik.
Andy said “We had our own ideas and plans of where to visit during the
week, but it was great meeting Einar and getting his first-hand knowledge
of some other sites we hadn’t even considered. It is so beneficial having an
IPA friend in a foreign country to give advice and it was fantastic seeing Einar
during our stay in his wonderful country. We can’t wait to visit Iceland again
as there’s so much to see’.
The word Lögreglan on the front of the police vehicles translates into
‘Law and Order‘.
Joanne, Andy and family checking
the Cells in Reykjavik Police HQ
Andy and Einar exchanging gifts
Einar’s West Midlands Police hat
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Article
POLICE WORLD
Vol 62 No. 4, 2017