Blogs from South, Iceland, Europe - page 16

The 3rd day we passed through Eldhraun. In 1783 there was a huge eruption with a catastrophic result. A lot of people and animals died. We stopped in Núpsstadur to take a look at the turf-roofed farm and church. Very nice to see how they lived in the past. After driving through Skaftafell, we arrived at the Jökulsárlón lagoon with the icebergs drifting to the sea. It's really amazing what you can sea over there... We even saw a lot of seals in the water. After walking back to the superjeep, we got the chance to taste Skyr, which was to me something between yoghurt and cheese. Thereafter we stopped at Hofskirkja, an old turf church built in 1884. On the pictures you can see the special key to open the door. ... read more

On the road, we saw a lot of testimonies of the power of nature. Even better, we saw it live! Remember, the volcano Eyjafjallajökull was erupting at the time when we were on the island. Since Iceland contains a lot of volcanoes, the history of Iceland is characterised by eruptions. Maybe I should have said "even the history of Europe", because there are voices saying that even the French revolution has a connection with a volcanic eruption on Iceland. Due to the eruption of the Laki volcano in 1783, there was a change of weather patterns, which caused disruption of the economy in northern Europe. This with a result of food poverty, which is told to be an influence of the French revolution. I've got the impression that the Icelandic people kind off "adapted their behaviour" ... read more

On the road, we saw that the national flag of Iceland was hanging half mast. So we asked our local guide Haukur for the reason. "Today somebody important died", he said. We all thought it had to be an Icelandic Viking or politician or something like that. But no, we haven't thought about the fact that it was Good Friday, the day Jesus Christ died... First we visited Pingvellir, Iceland most important historical site. It was here that the Vikings established the first democratic parliament. The name of Pingvellir stands for Parliament Fields. You can also see the valley separated by the North American and Eurasian Tectonic plates. These plates move each year 2 mm away from each other. On the way to Geysir and Strokkur we saw a frozen waterfall. In the 1950's some tourists ... read more

After arriving at the Keflavik airport, our local guide Haukur waited for us. Although it looked very sunny outside (I thought I had too many warm clothes with me, like always...), we realised when we get out of the airport, that is was very, very cold. Haukur waited for us with a "super jeep", a kind of four-wheel-drive with very huge tires. This should make it possible for us to reach the "off road" places. At that moment we also got to meet the other members of the group. Apparently they were all Dutch-speaking Belgians like me. We then went off to the Blue Lagoon. At night we saw the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull in the dark. Although it was far away from us, we could see it very clear. It was very cold and windy. ... read more

10:00 PM We had chosen to stop off in Skogar because of how close it was to Sólheimajökull, but despite being nearby, it took a very long time to get there. The site was a short distance off Route 1, along one of Iceland’s many unpaved roads, this particular one full of rocks and potholes, and yesterday’s storm had left pools and small rivers flowing across the road. Eventually we abandoned the car and walked, realising that we weren’t going to get all the way without a 4x4. As we arrived, pretty much on time as oppose to the 20 minutes or so early as we had planned, a small group were leaving the meeting area and heading for the glacier. Thinking we may have turned up too late, we ran after them (well Lyndsey did, ... read more