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Background: Settled by Norwegian and Celtic (Scottish and Irish) immigrants during the late 9th and 10th centuries A.D., Iceland boasts the world's oldest functioning legislative assembly, the Althing, established in 930. Independent for over 300 years, Iceland was subsequently ruled by Norway and Denmark. Fallout from the Askja volcano of 1875 devastated the Icelandic economy and caused widespread famine. Over the next quarter century, 20% of the island's population emigrated, mostly to Canada and the US. Limited home rule from Denmark was granted in 1874 and complete independence attained in 1944. Literacy, longevity, income, and social cohesion are first-rate by world standards.

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By Dolemitesprint
November 25th 2009

A day in Iceland Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

Great white open
Brennan stares off at the compelling white mountains of Iceland's interior

Iceland is like Bizzaro Hawaii: a rocky volcanic island, with settlement all around the shore - but very cold. As my travel buddy Randell and I wandered into the capitol at about 10a.m., we wondered if the sun would ever rise. It did, by 11, and stayed up until at least 3:30p.m. The day started with a long, dark bus ride. We watched as Reykjavik’s city lights began to come into focus, and wondered what wonders they would illuminate. After a short breakfast of bagel with Icelandic cheese and Icelandic butter (was starving because I didn’t eat on the Icelandair flight [View Full Entry]

By stephenturner
October 3rd 2009

The Golden Circle (Part 3) - Gullfoss, Rain and Þingvellir Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

Looking Wet and Cold

Gullfoss is where the Golden Circle gets its name from, literally meaning ‘Golden Falls’. It is also the furthest inland we can get along this road; Route 35 becomes Route F35 from here, and while I have no idea what the ‘F’ stands for, it basically means if you’re in a minibus with a bunch of other tourists the only way is back, come back another day in a souped up 4x4. As we pulled up onto the car park, the weather looked worse than ever. “I normally give people a good half an hour to look round here, but because [View Full Entry]

By stephenturner
October 3rd 2009

Day 4: The Showers, The Pub Again and Moving South Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

Thorlakshofn

7:20 PM The Golden Circle tour left me cold and damp by the time Herman dropped us off, but I had already formed a solution to this, a solution that lay in City Hostel’s basement in the form of a nice, hot shower. There were showers upstairs on the same floor as our room, but a tip-off from Joe had led me down to the dungeons, to a bathroom nobody else seemed to know about, where I could get a shower in the morning without queuing or having to be as quick as I can to avoid other people having to [View Full Entry]

By stephenturner
October 2nd 2009

Day 3: A Day in Reykjavik Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

The Three of Us
Obscuring the view of a perfectly nice Viking boat

5:25 PM I found out while shaving yesterday morning that the Canadian bloke is called Joe. He was also a man without anything particular to do, so he joined us for the day while we perused the sights of Reykjavik. We decided to take a walk along the bay towards the city centre, the same route that we had started but given up on the night before, except that this time I had a fleece, John had a woolly hat and Lyndsey had a thermal vest. With those, there was no stopping us today. Joe didn’t seem so bothered about the [View Full Entry]

By stephenturner
October 2nd 2009

Day 3: An Evening in The English Pub Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

Polar Beer

The City Hostel in Reykjavik is a really nice place. It is a pretty hefty walk into the city (although there is a bus stop right outside for those less inclined to walk than we are), but the place is clean, the staff are friendly and it just has a generally nice atmosphere. Once back at the hostel, we popped on the internet for a while to try and find a cheaper price for whale watching, but, being out of season, there was a restricted choice. Eventually we asked Ricardo, on reception at the hostel, if he could find us anything [View Full Entry]

By Delaine
October 1st 2009

10/01/2009 - Reykjavik, Iceland Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

Arriving at the port - see the glacier in the distance

All 10 of us went on a private tour of the Golden Circle. This tour was awesome and one of the best we have experienced. Our guide was in the Air Force in Iceland - went back to the states for a few years before Iceland allowed foreigners into the country. He got a call to be a radio/TV announcer in Iceland and has lived here ever since. He absolutely loves the country and loves being a tour guide. We got to see several things that others did not. We left the port around 10:30-11:00 and didn’t return until 7:30 p.m. [View Full Entry]

By stephenturner
October 1st 2009

Day 2: Heading to Reykjavik and Seeing Our First Sheep's Head on a Plate Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjanesbær

Yo!
Sheep's on a plate wearing a baseball cap. Proudly held by head chef.

Keflavik airport is often known as Reykjavik airport to avoid confusing stupid travellers, but it is actually a good 23 miles away from Reykjavik (not close, although this is less than Gatwick is from London), and the capital has its own airport right on the edge of the city, so I’m not sure how well it succeeds in not confusing stupid travellers. However, being the only international airport in the country (Reykjavik’s being used for domestic flights only), you can’t really go far wrong, unless you decide to get a taxi into the city instead of the bus, in which case [View Full Entry]

By Kurogawa
September 19th 2009

In the land of the Vikings. Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

I was so excited conming here...more excited than I have been in a very long time. A new air company... Air Iceland... all so new. I got so many lovely insights...the scale of time, volcanos, hundreds of years of continuous written history, almost no carbon footprint, everyone we met has been so nice and helpfull, lovely food, not so expensive, fantastic landscapes... and the list goes on and on. This is just a note from the spot, i hope to elaborate when i get home, so keep tuned. Doug. [View Full Entry]

By BrattleTravel
September 14th 2009

Ode to the smell of eggs... Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

Gullfloss

Okay, so I'm slacking on the blog entries. It seems like each day, 75% is spent seeing things and 25% is spent planning things to do next. I don't mind it, really, especially now that my sleeping schedule is beginning to get on track. Each night I write down what I did during the day so that I remember. Seems like a bit of a blur since I landed and catching a cold over four rainy days in Reykjavik didnæt help much, either. I landed in Oslo yesterday morning, but want to catch up on the things that happened in Iceland, [View Full Entry]

By BrattleTravel
September 13th 2009

Random Reykavik Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Reykjavík

Part viking ship, part fish bones...

Just some random pictures of the city... [View Full Entry]

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