Blogs from Iceland, Europe - page 113

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

In April 2010 I participated an organised trip in the south of Iceland. Booking was done through a Belgian travel-agency specialised in travelling to Iceland. They worked together with local guides in Iceland. Though the trip is open for an international public, all participants were Flemish people from Belgium. A few weeks before departure, it was uncertain if the trip could go on (stress, stress,...), this due to the -first- eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. But happily for us ;-), we could depart (and return!) without any problems. After kissing my family goodbye in the rail-station, I took the train to Schiphol (Amsterdam). From there I flew to Keflavik. ... read more

The hot shower refreshed and energized me. I got dressed and headed out into the rain to find something delicious to eat. I went to a place called Saegreifinn, which is famous for its lobster soup. Saegreifinn is a small place located right on the harbor not far from the downtown area. The owner is an old fisherman who still goes and negotiates the best catches from the ship captains. He reminds me of the soup Nazi from Seinfeld. Know what you want if you plan to go in there. I had the lobster soup and a halibut kebab. Both were absolutely excellent. I can’t remember ever having fresher fish, and the lobster soup was amazing. If you go to Reykjavik go eat at this place. I walked around a bit after dinner and then headed ... read more

I have never claimed to be great at partying; of course I didn’t even start drinking until I turned 25 years old. However, I have partied in Las Vegas, Mexico, NYC, Thailand and all over Europe. They do not compare to what I saw on Runtur. I may not even be able to call it Runtur, as I stayed at one place, Oliver’s because it was ladies night and there was a ton of action. This thing didn’t even really get started until 1:00am. People from all over the world were there drinking like crazy and dancing. I witnessed some kid, probably only twenty, getting a lap dance from a girl who was absolutely wasted. In fact they tried to go together down to the water closet and fell down the stairs. He busted his chin ... read more