Hot dogs & hot springs

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For a country that made front page news during the WFC, in particular losing a ton of British local council savings; Iceland may be a bit cheaper than it used to be, but don't come here without packing a fair bit of cash and plastic.

Stayed the week in a Reykjavik apartment, and just did day trips. Iceland is chock-full of amazing natural wonders, wacky cuisine (not for whale or puffin lovers), unpronounceable place names, funky fashion, and relaxing hot springs.

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Photos

Icelandic sample platter
Fru Berglaug restaurant - garlic minke whale; grilled lobster salad; fish stew; dried fish jerky

seafood starter
Islenski Barinn restaurant - smoked arctic charr; smoked eel; and lumpfish roe

shellfish soup
Islenski Barinn again - soup with slow cooked scallops, shrimps, langoustine, turmeric, ginger, chilli

Islenski Barinn tasty treats
garlic roasted langoustine; lightly seared minke whale; smoked puffin; slow cooked leg of lamb; and smoked lamb tartare.

slow cooked leg of lamb 'Grandma's style'
another delicious Islenski Barinn specialty

fermented shark
Looks harmless enough, but tastes like a piece of wax dipped in ammonia

Hot diggety-dog
Icelanders love their hot-dogs as much as their hot springs. This place (Baejarins Beztu) was famous for serving Bill Clinton!

porsmork glacier valley
super jeep tour

Eyjafjallajokull volcano
Scene of April's devastating volcano blast that shut down European airspace. The volcano is located under this glacier.

sub-glacier volcano fissure
Where the melted glacier waters came from, resulting in devastating floods

Around Iceland
Decided to splash out 7900 icelandic kroners (splutter!) for a swanky 4-course meal at the 'Fish Company'. The starter was lightly salted arctic charr & fried langoustine with icelandic mushrooms, sweet fennel, caramelised onion & lobster bubble sauce

2nd course
cured wild salmon and salmon tartare, with mustard jelly, cauliflower couscous dill foam, and rye bread sand

3rd course
roner cooked rack of lamb & slowly cooked pork belly with jerusalem artichokes, turnip, green peas & sherry-lamb jus

dessert
soft skyrmousse & hazelnut cake with strawberry gel, crispy biscuit, skyr sorbet & hazelnut powder

spa'ing it up
Blue Lagoon

Northern Lights
quite mesmerising, and the best picture I could get in sub-zero temperatures without a tripod

Pingvellir National Park
Site of the first Icelandic parliament, located between the North American and European tectonic plates which continue to move apart

Langjokull glacier
Still covered in black ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano