Iceland

Iceland was probably my favorite trip so far! 

And heads up, the pictures do not do this beautiful country justice!

• ​I landed around 11:30pm and it was still light out! In May it looks like dusk from about 11:30pm to 3am and the rest of the day it's light out.
• There wasn't really a customs at the airport, there no one at the station so we all just walked through! The security here is unbelievably non existent! I guess you don't need it in one of the safest countries in the world! (Ranked number 3 this year right behind UAE & Finland)
• ​There were lots of people at the airport and they looked wide awake when I landed! The 'flybus' takes you anywhere 24 hours a day... just tell them what hotel you're staying at and they take you directly to the front door. The bus system here is very organized and you can get anywhere on it!
• The driver has a paper map and asks where you're going when you get on the bus and stars it, feels like I'm on a school bus!
• Everyone is sooooo nice! And they have the coolest accents!

Hostel I stayed in & "novelty Icelandic cuisine" lol

• Iceland has this delicious yogurt called Skyr and it has more protein less and fat than 'normal' yogurt. I ate tons of it!

Downtown Reykjavik

• Reykjavik is where 2/3rds of the population of Iceland live.
• Reykjavik means "smokey bay" but probably meant steam from the hot springs when it was named.
• Reykjavik allows open alcohol containers downtown! Sweet!
• I saw quite a few red heads. I would say everywhere I went there was at least one other red head!
• There were lots of paved roads for pedestrians only which makes the city very walkable! I walked almost the entire city in an afternoon.
• If the alarm goes off when you walk out of the store and you don't stop the cashier will literally chase you down the street until you stop... totally saw it happen lol The cashier chased this guy down the street and said 'excuse me sir, did you steal something?' Very funny to watch1
• Super eco country! Everyone recycles and there are signs to not waste water posted all around. You can drink the tap water here which comes straight from the fresh water rivers.
• So my cord that charges my phone broke and I literally stopped in about 10 stores and only one had them! $25 mistake! I will now bring two charging cords on my trips from now on!

• I tried avocado fries and a Viking classic beer at a pub downtown called Sata svinid. Both were very yummy! They offer blankets for people that sit on the patio!
• Apparently the Icelandic love to drink beer! I saw two old men plastered stumbling around singing really loud and smoking downtown lol
• The pub was playing Icelandic music which was fantastic then they broke out some Missy Elliot!?!

Dried fish "tasty snack" in Iceland (top right)

"The Laundromat Cafe"... so cute!

Got the cutest, softest warmest toboggan ever made from Icelandic sheep wool!

Golden Circle Tour

• Logi ("the flame" in Icelandic) was our tour guide and the father of the three men that started "Your Day Tours" touring company in Iceland.  
• He said something feels different with the weather recently and he thinks it's due to global warming.
• "There's always a story in Iceland." -Logi
• Quick facts and stuff about Iceland:
• Iceland started back between the year 850-900 when the Vikings came here with their best horses.
• People in Iceland love their horses! The horses here are small but very strong. The Icelandics don't like when people call them ponies... so they're small strong horses lol The isolation of Iceland keeps the breed very pure and there are strict laws on importing horses... meaning it's strictly prohibited. Iceland does export these horses though. There are about 70,000 to 80,000 horses in Iceland. There are world championships for horses every 4th year in other countries and the Icelandics send their best horses. Once the horses leave the country they can't return due to the strict regulations. They're sold for a lot of money in other countries after the championships.
• Cars came to Iceland in 1905.
• There are 330,000 people total in the whole country and the language is Icelandic... only people in Iceland speak it, so neat!
• Beer was banned here between 1915-1989.
• Coal is not used to heat houses or water. Instead, they use geothermal heat (pictures with the pipes above, bottom right) by bringing hot water from hot springs to the city. There are a LOT of hot springs in Iceland. The pipelines are built in a zig zag to better withstand earthquakes.
• There are 9,000 earthquakes per month here and most can't be felt. The houses are built to tolerate earthquakes but in 2008 there was a size 6.7 earthquake that actually caused a lot of damage because these big ones aren't common. Luckily there were no deaths because every area has an emergency plan and all Icelandics know what do to during natural disasters!
• There are no family names here. You take your fathers or mothers last name then add son after it for boys and daughter for girls. You don't take the name of your spouse. All first names have to be approved by a committee here.
• There are about 4,000 wild reindeer on the east coast and 400 a year or 10% can be shot :(
• There are no preditors in Iceland. Foxes are probably the "most dangerous" animal but they run when they see humans.
• You can walk across the country with a backpack and tent and no animals will harm you BUT you have to look out for the weather! Be very very careful with the weather, that's what will kill you!
• Education: pretty solid school system, country invests a lot in education, 40% finish university, 5 universities in Reykjavik
• Healthcare: pretty good healthcare system, second best in Europe after the Netherlands
• Lots of related people! Some find out they're related once married or after having kids!
• 'The book of icelanders' was started many hundreds of years back and all people ever born in Iceland are registered here.
• In the dating scene in Iceland, you usually ask 'what's your last name and year you were born' first to see if you're related lol
• Everyone knows everyone in Iceland.The singer from Sigur Ros lived right beside our guide! "Of Monsters and Men" musician from Iceland is best friends with the guides son! So neat!
• Food is very expensive here which makes sense because it's either imported, caught in the ocean or grown in a green house! Basic lunch anywhere you go is about $18-20... I'm talking turkey sandwich or burger and fries. I paid $16 for a bowl of vegetable soup and piece of bread one day lol It was delicious though!
• There are hardly any trees here at all and if you see them they were probably planted by humans. The guide said 'if there are two trees together we call it a forest in Iceland.' 

• The green houses in the picture above (bottom left) are in a little town nicknamed "tomato town." This is where Iceland grows vegetables. They also bake brown rye bread with steam from hot springs (bottom right picture). The dough is put in a container and put down in a hot spring then you have bread!
• "Tomato town" was the first town to have street lights in Iceland. 
• They have human breast milk ice cream (you read that right) during the flower festival... you have to wait an hour in line to get it?!?

Icelandic horses

The Icelandic tree (bottom left)...a bush.

"If you get lost in an Iceland forest, just stand up"

• A 26 pound salmon was caught by the guide. A lot of people come here just for fly fishing. When a person catches their first salmon, they have to bite off a fin with their teeth or they 'will never catch another salmon in their life!' Yuck!
• There was a ladder built to the left of this waterfall to help the salmon jump up the waterfall because it's too tall and powerful! See the video above!

• There's our tour guide Logi! He let us try a malt drink that almost every family drinks on Christmas in Iceland! Speaking of Christmas, Iceland has 13 Santa Claus's that live in the mountains and they make presents for all the kids! The first Santa comes 31 days before Christmas and children put a shoe in an open window and a Santa puts a small gift in it during the days before Christmas. If you're bad then you get a potato in the shoe for a present. The Icelandics also believe in trolls and elves! So cute!
• We also got to try some "smoke lamb on bread." Old original Icelandic food at festivals consist of fermented shark seal fat, sour testicles and dried fish, yum! 'Frozen black death' is the drink that goes with these delicious foods... not exactly sure what that is but sounds intense!
• The guide said there were two huge volcanoes in Iceland that are due to erupt at any minute now! There have been lots of earthquakes around one of them recently. If either erupted while I was there, I would have been stuck because it usually means planes can't fly in and out of Iceland for a few weeks!

Gullfoss Waterfall

• Gulfoss waterfall is part of the most dangerous river in Iceland.
• The guide told us 'one photo isn't worth your life' because if you fall in it's impossible to save you.
• Paid $2 to pee here!

Horse and Lamb Farm

• The lady we met that owns the farm land makes wool sweaters, hats, scarves and gloves. So soft and so beautiful!

Lunch before the geysers and hot springs

• A potty diagram, as seen above, would have been useful when I was in China! lol

Geysers

• In 1635 the first description of this hot spring erupting was referenced (the big brother).
• From 1935 to 2000 there were no eruptions from the "big brother geyser" then it started after some earthquakes! The eruptions only lasted two months. The "little brother" erupts every 3-8 minutes 24 hours a day and has never stopped! 
• Everyone visiting stands around the 'little brother' geyser videoing for up to 8 minutes hoping to catch the geyser on video! The steam smells like a stinky egg!

Little brother geyser

Geyser pool

Between two continents

• This is where Europe and North America are splitting! I went from north America to Europe in one step!
• "Icelandic" started here in 930 when the first democracy formed. 
• In 1944 Iceland gained total independence from Denmark and the first president was elected.
• Iceland started as catholic Christian, then turned to Lutheran which is the primary religion here now.
• The split is a very important place to Iceland. Many Icelandics come here at least once a year because of its significance. You can see ruins of the parliament, an old church and farm. The most distinguished poets from last century are buried here. The guide says in his opinion it's the most beautiful spot in Iceland.

Oxararfoss waterfall (located right behind the splitting continents)

South Coast and Jokulsarlon Lagoon

• I ended up getting a fantastic little foldable back pack the first day that worked out great for all the extra gloves, hat, water & snacks because this tour is a 15 hour one!
• The tour guide says everything in English then German.
• She warned us to tell her immediately if we're feeling ill because at some points we'll be at least three hours away from the closest doctor!
• The weather here is very unpredictable and lots of roads are closed during the 'winter.'

Skogafoss Waterfall

• There were little ducks swimming under this gigantic waterfall and the river flowing from it in the freezing cold! Icelandic duckies are strong little things!

Guy hiking across the country with just his backpack! So neat!

• Iceland is called 'the land of fire and ice' because there are tons of volcanoes and glaciers here.
• In 1974 the ring road opened! This meant people didn't have to cross glaciers anymore with horses to get across the country.

Lava fields

• There are tons and tons of volcanoes and lava fields here! 
• The lava fields are the fields that look like lots of rocks covered in moss.
• It feels like you're on another planet driving through these fields. I've never seen anything like it!

• We drove through a huge black sand field (bottom picture) with sand as far as you could see! 
• Sand storms happen all the time here. If you enter a sand storm and you're in a rental turn around! It will do a lot of damage to your car and cost you a lot of money!
• A lot of the rivers and waterfalls here come from the glaciers! Glacier rivers are milky white because they come from below the glacier meaning they grab a lot of particles like ash.

Glacier from far away while eating lunch

• The bridge to glacier lagoon wasn't built until 1964! It's hard to build a 'good bridge' for Iceland standards because of the massive flooding and extreme weather here.
• The guide said Iceland has no army because they don't plan on fighting with anyone! I just love this country so much!

Glacier lagoon

• Summer trips get canceled all the time because the weather can get so bad in Iceland! They didn't tell us if we were going to get to go on the lagoon boat tour until 40 minutes from getting there! And we got to go!!!!
• The glaciers here are from when volcanoes erupted once in the 1300's and once in the 1700's.
• The ice in the glacier lagoon has five times the strength of regular ice because it's been pressed down by the glacier. The lagoon is a mix of salt and fresh water so it never freezes solid! You can come here and swim in the winter!
• The ice is 1,000's of years old! It takes the icebergs about two months to float to bridge from the glacier. 
• The sand piles beside the lagoon are the sand that was in the icebergs that floated then melted leaving the sand!
• The guide said I'm perfect for living here because I was ecstatic and it was raining and cloudy the whole time in the lagoon! The glacier lagoon was the highlight of my life so far! Literally my favorite thing I've ever done!!! Tied with snowmobiling in Alaska!!!

More pictures of the country side on the drive back to Reykjavik...

Sisters waterfall (bottom picture with two waterfalls close together)

Vic and Black Sand Beach

• Vic is a very small town on the coast of Iceland. Only about 300 people live here.

Seljalandsfoss waterfall

You can walk behind this waterfall!

Behind the waterfall

Hot springs everywhere!

Glacier climbing attempt

• So the weather was really bad this day, very cold rainy and super windy! We drove to the glacier but the guide said 'so a new river has formed in front of the glacier and it's very hard to cross so we aren't going' lol I took a pic in front of the glacier but you can barely see it for the weather! I also snapped a picture of the gear we were going use! Apparently this is normal Iceland weather so I was super lucky the past two days! You can't come to Iceland and not have at least one tour canceled! lol
• I was completely 'waterproof' this day (clothes and shoes) and somehow the rain still got to my clothes with all the wind!

Blue Lagoon

• This place is literally in a freakin' lava field! So beautiful and peaceful! 
• The water is straight from the hot springs and you can actually stand where the water is coming in but it's super hot! Oh and it smells like stinky eggs but you get used to it after about 15 minutes lol
• I got a 'lava mud' mask in the lagoon and I think it totally took at least 10 years off! ;)
• Fun fact, so obviously you smell like a stinky egg when you leave the hot springs and I overslept the morning I had to be at the airport so didn't get to take a shower ... I smelled like a stinky egg all the way back to Atlanta! lol

Blue bracelet to scan and buy things in the lagoon (so you don't have to bring your purse)

Lava mud mask

Iceland has probably been my favorite trip so far! It's just so surreal and stunning here! I totally want to come back in the 'winter' and see the entire country covered in snow!