Iceland

Iceland is a mountainous island nation in the north Atlantic Ocean, located between Europe and North America. Though not part of the continental mainland, the country is considered European. The name of the country - Iceland - may not be that appropriate: although 10% of Iceland is covered by glaciers, it has a surprisingly mild climate and countless geothermal hot-spots. 

Iceland is a stunningly beautiful place if you enjoy strange and desolate landscapes. Because it is so close to the Arctic Circle, the amount of daylight varies dramatically by season. The sun sets briefly each night in June, but it doesn't get fully dark before it comes back up again. If you go in December, it's almost 20 hours of darkness. 

 The Icelanders still basically speak the language of the Vikings. Iceland has received a great number of immigrants over the last 10 years. In the last 5 years the population of immigrants has doubled. Most of these people (from Eastern Europe and South East Asia) come for employment. Immigrants in Iceland are now well over 10% of the population, giving Iceland a larger proportion of immigration than Norway, Sweden etc. 

(Check Wikitravel - Iceland to know more)


I spent almost all my time in the capital city - Reykjavik  - except for a one day tour outside in the countryside.   Reykjavik has 75 % of the population but even so it is a quiet, stress free , walk around city.

Things I learned 

Reykjavik has one traffic jam a year !
I asked  the hotel clerk if I should leave early for the airport to avoid traffic or traffic jams . She responded "Don't worry. We only have one traffic jam a year and its in summer. Everyone goes camping on one particular weekend  and coming back Sunday night there is a traffic jam.

Icelanders Don't Use Umbrellas

The day I took this picture , it became overcast and I asked the hotel clerk whether I should take an umbrella . He said "We Icelanders don't use umbrellas. The rain usually comes sideways."  What do they do?  Well there is an old saying here "There is no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing"

The view of the city.

This church is magnificent in its architecture. In front of it stands the statue of Lief Ericsson who discovered N. America a few hundred years before Columbus.

Pizza, of course , is everywhere in the world. This was one of three pizza places I walked by.

We seem to find more Thai than Chinese restaurants in our recent travels.  That's a change.  The food was good but the waiters were all blond hair  and blue-eyed.  What part of Thailand did they hail from?

Colorful shops everywhere.

The Viking Shop sells interesting souvenirs.

Our tour guide, Julia, spent four years in New York City as the drummer in a rock band and then came back to Reykjavik to form a chart topping all girl band.

At the height of the cold war, Kennedy and Khrushchev held a crucial summit in this building in neutral Iceland.

This statue is called "Gateway to Hell" based on an ancient legend.  I was not pleased to see my Icelandic airline plane had the same name.

The view from the observation deck of a geo-thermal heating center. 

On our tour, we stopped at a thermal heating center which had an observation and educational center . This high school choral from Middle View California visited Iceland after competitions in Europe.  As a "thank you", they perform a song in every place they visit. They sang the best version I ever heard of "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?

The Great Geyser draws tourists 3 hours out from the city.  Most of Iceland is heated from geo-thermal sources.

The Golden Falls :  Legend has it the falls turn a golden color in bright sunlight reflecting all the gold thrown there by a rich man who did not want anyone to inherit his money.

Our bus traveled for hours past a lonely land of volcanos, lava pits and far flung  houses. Great for those who  want neighbors at an arm's distance.

At the end of the day, I prefer the warmth and charm of the city.