This is the coldest, windiest, ugliest place I have ever been! We arrived at midnight and it was still light-- note about the airport: There is a space called "The Meeting Place" where our driver asked us to wait for him. It is a big sign in bright orange where people meet.. Next morning while waiting for the driver, I was dressed in all the warm clothes I had, including glovies. Why did I think warmer would be any part of a place with the word "ice" in it! When I looked around I could easily believe that we had landed on the moon--nothing but peat bogs and brown. Things improved as we got closer to Reykjavik--some green grass, trees and lots of colour on the houses. Our AirB&B has red siding and a lime green door. We walked around our neighbourhood and it is lovely. Visited a huge Lutheran Cathedral this evening. Did I say it is light until midnight!!! The sky is almost always awake. We think that the builders of the church must have run out of money or decided that grey concrete was attractive. The inside is quite stark. There is a tower to visit with a great view of the city. A statue of Lief Ericsson graces the front. It was a gift from the USA because according to our driver Liefor visited the USA before 1492! We found a lovely sculpture garden nearby.
We decided to stop at the Blue Lagoon on our way downtown. The area around is lava rock and here it is again easy to believe that we are on the moon. We didn't stop to swim but will visit a geothermal pool near where we are staying.
We had two trips into the country to see waterfalls, mountains, turf houses, geysers and hundreds of ponies. Our driver said there are over 70,000. and they have no purpose now--used to be ridden, eaten and sold--currently they just look beautiful and some farms have trail rides. The trip included a movie about most recent volcano eruption. We drove by an Icelandic forest and the driver told us that if you get lost in the forest, you need only to stand up. There are no big trees here unless they have been planted. The countryside was lovely, many mountains and glaciers. We walked to see the edge of a glacier. We also saw puffins.
Here is a shocker. Today, at a water closet (read bathroom) there was a charge of 200 IS KR. which is about $2, Canadian. The kicker is there were credit card machines so one could use VISA. A young fellow before me went over the bar saying he had no money so I went under as I am short. Icelanders seem quite protective of their currency. You can't get any anywhere outside the country. However, they are happy to take credit cards. Today, I had hot chocolate for 450 IS Kronurs and paid with my VISA.
The only crop that farmers grow is grass which sometimes they get to harvest twice during the three month long summer. The grass is baled into round bales covered in plastic which were called marshmallows, dinosaur eggs and tractor eggs as jokes. Most of the things grown are in greenhouses and they use geothermal energy to heat them. Geothermal energy is also used to heat homes. They tell us that the cold water is the best anywhere and can be drank right out of the tap. The hot water smells a bit like sulfur.
Our last day, we did a walking tour which was enlightening. It was a free, pay what you want tour--the guide was great. Amazing factoids are that Iceland has 330,000 inhabitants, has very little crime, no army and a great education system. Our guide said he can't understand why more people don't move here. Um, did I mention the weather. Although today was beautiful and sunny.
We had a wonderful dinner in a revolving restaurant called Pearlan. The food was lovely and so nicely presented. I had lobster and George had lamb. We also had yummy desserts.
So this is Iceland from my point of view. Would I come back? Well, maybe, well probably not, but then I have been here. Actually coming on a stopover in winter might happen as seeing the Northern Lights would be amazing!
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