Got my first stamp on my new passport! Spent 5 days in Iceland and absolutely loved it. Things did not go quite as planned, d/t weather, but we had an amazing time. According to locals it was the most snow they had seen in years.
It was pretty amusing trying to walk around on all the ice and snow. They definitely do not have the same clear your sidewalk regulations that we do. We were pros by the end of the trip
I loved how clean everything was. The people really pride themselves on being environmentally conscious.
Reykjavik is beautiful. Only 200,000 people live there. And only 300,000 in the entire country! We ended up having more time to tour around by ourselves then planned. The sun doesn't start to come up until after 10am and people don't really seem to start moving until 11. Sounds good to me
We tried some of the local brews- good and cuisine-yum. Really didn't have a bad eating experience while we were there. Were recommended to try a local hotdog, which was very tastey. Also ate seafood soup which was always delicious and even tried some Minke Whale and Reindeer.
One of the famous sites of Reykjavik is the Hallgrímskirkja- a church that is meant to look like a mountain. It stands about 244ft high, or for my European friends approx 75 meters. It really is quite impressive.
During our tour of Reykjakik they took us over to the presidents house. We just walked right on the grounds. There are no guards or security that we could tell. Our guide even told us that he got a flat one day and the president gave him a ride. Coud you imagine Obama doing that?! I also thought it was great that 80% of their taxes go to healthcare and education.
This door reminds me of "Lord of the Rings" Found out that Icelanders have a strong belief in Elves and even have committees to make sure that Elf habitat is not destroyed during construction.
One of our tours that we did was caving and snorkeling in a glacier lake. We had a great time and it only ended up being 3 of us plus our guide. Because of the snow the entrance to the cave had to be dug out.
We slid on the snow into the entrance of the cave. There were times in the cave that we had to slither on our bellies to pass through narrow areas. It was interesting to learn about the volcanoes and formation of the caves
After the cave we went to a glacier lake where we spent some time snorkeling. The water was crystal clear and it was absolutely beautiful looking around the lake at the snow covered landscape. They had us bundled up in big snow bib type outfits which were covered by drysuits. It was freezing standing in the snow trying to get it all on.
We ended our trip with a stop off at the Blue Lagoon. A hotsprings. It was fun to sit in the warm water with snow all around us.
Had a wonderful time. Definitely want to go back!
