chronicles of my europe trip: Iceland

Iceland was our first stop on our trip and it was rad. Seriously the coolest place ever.  I didn’t know much about Iceland when we booked the trip- other than they recently had a volcano explode, is very north, Bjork and Sigur Ros are from there, and they’re the bad guys in Mighty Ducks 2. Whoa, guys, there is so much more to Iceland.

We rented a little apartment right in the heart of Reykjavik.  The town is so small and quaint, we just wandered around for 30 mins and practically saw the whole thing. And one of the most popular restaurants is a hot dog stand. And it was good.

{Hallgrimskirkja}

{view of Reykjavik from Hallgrimskirkja}

{window shopping}

{statue of a nordic ship on the coast}

{realized most of these are landscape pics so here is proof we were actually there}

We also did some tours outside of Reyk- We saw waterfalls, volcanoes, hot springs, geysirs, the divide between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, and polar icecaps. I learned a LOT about science. We took shots of Brennivin, Iceland’s signature liquor with a strong taste, high alcohol count, and a dubious reputation. We had a spa day in a lagoon of geothermal seawater. And rode Nordic horses through lava fields. So many other cool things, but I’m trying to be succinct.

{gulfoss waterfall - a lava-tiered waterfall of glacial runoff}

{geysir- the original. as in, the term "geysir" comes from this guy}

{polar ice cap}

{eurasia on the right and north america on the left! the site where the tectonic plates separate}

{blue lagoon geothermal spa}

Fun facts-

1) Iceland has a law prohibiting the import of any horse, so the horses in the country are a pure and unique Nordic breed that has remained unchanged for over 1,000 years.

2) There are only 300,000 people in Iceland and 200,000 of them live in Reykjavik.

3)They eat puffin! I didn’t/couldn’t try it.

{how could you eat one of these cuties?!}

4) They have a list of approved, traditional Icelandic names, and in order for a child to be a citizen, he/she must be named from the approved list. So yes, we met a Bjork AND a Bjorn. We thought we were incredibly lucky but its probably like meeting a “Chris” or “Katie” in the US. No offense if your name is Chris or Katie. Or Bjork or Bjorn.