Back from our Iceland trip...moments to remember
A trip to Iceland was a tremendous adventure and a stimulating cultural experience. Even from the moment the plane took off we were lucky enough to sit next to Porhildur an Icelandic lady whom we gained lots of helpful tips first hand about the culture,what to look out for and things to do!thanks to Porhildur! The people were very amiable, both interesting and interested so we felt like we hit the ground running when we got to Reykjavik!.
Reykjavik its self is a surprisingly small quaint city, that had a both a buzz and calm atmospheric feel. The people were laid back and friendly. Its vibrant café culture consisted of cosy cafes such as the enegmatic Cafe Babalou. And bar's ( such as The big Lebowski... yes the samename as the film) Resteraunt's such as Glo's Vegetarian cuisine, with its tasty soups of varying types.
Reykjavik felt a safe and chilled out place to explore, particularly enhanced by its quirky buildings and cosy houses that were colourfully painted in reds, greens, blues...all shades and colours!.
A trip out into the amazing wilds was accompanied by a great tour guide with lots of interesting stories about Icelandic culture- it's history, volcano eruptions too!, (not Bardarbunga) Hot thermal springs and huge waterfalls... interesting facts, such as in Iceland they grow... bananas...well I didn't know that.. The word Geysir is an actual place where the main hot springs put on a show of fantastical eruptions bubbling up form the ground.Geysir is now a known name, given to all hot spring eruptions.
The strong Icelandic horse is the only breed of horse. No other breeds are permitted. Once a horse leaves this island. Legally its nolonger permitted back, this keeps the horses free from any external diseases.
The land scape is awe inspiring. It is vast, wild, and desolate: Yet at the same time is hauntingly beautiful, this was a trip to remember.
On out coach trip we stopped off at places of natrual beauty.Although it was a 6 hour trip it was worth every moment...As you will see in the photos. We even passed over the place where the north america and eurasia plates meet - where the ground has dramatically sunk due to the plates shifting. The guide gave us a fascinating talk on this. We actualy saw this! One thing I came away with is an impression of how connected to nature that Icelandic people seem to be, because of the rawness, its ruggedness and the unpredictability of volcanoes eruptions... being what the people live with it made me aware of how disconnected one can be from the natrual elements of nature in say Europe...If you have seen the film, Oblivion, the scenery gives you some idea of the depiction of Icelands ruggedness... Oblivion was filmed in Iceland.
Iceland has become my favorite island in the sea! The people, culture and natural world made this a great experience. Now I hope to create some art work in the future...I would love to go back one day.
The same evening we went on a Northern Lights hunt tour, alas although there were yells of delight from the tourists at the first sighting of the lights, they were hidden by low clouds which in one sense brought me back to reality... thankfully somethings man can't control in nature or get all s/ he wishes!
I have come home with so many questions too! things to research and find out about...even things that seem a bit trivial like becoming aware that the only birds I saw were starlings ,are there sparrows and blackbirds in Iceland? ( I am a bird fan thanks to my dad when I was a kid ) and there seemed to be a lot of images of crows in shops any way enough rambling here's some photos....
