Blogs from Iceland, Europe - page 133

It´s been a while since I updated. No, I haven´t forgotten about this, but unfortunately good internet service is proving hard to come by outside of a wireless connection here in Iceland. And I don´t have a laptop. It´s expensive in most places, and the cheap ones don´t like to let me do anything other than email. Even where I am now I still can´t upload photos, so this is going to have to be a bland text-only post again. Oh well, sometime I´ll get them up there. So, since last time I posted, let´s see... I slept about 14 hours that first night, which seemed to get me over the jet lag fairly well. Walked up a mountain near Reykjavik the next day (Wednesday), and got some good views of the city and surrounding area. ... read more

We have lived the dream in Iceland and completed the first chapter of our epic journey around the world. Iceland is a land of distinct geological regions offering a wide variety of sights. The entire country is clean—very clean. The people are very resourceful, hardy and sincere people. Although Icelanders may appear to be distant or rude, it is there nature to be weary of strangers until they get to know you. We have completely enjoyed our time in this island nation of the north. Our entire experience in Iceland has been much better than either of us could have asked for. Perhaps the most special part of this journey so far has been the people we have met. Living in a hostel naturally lends itself to meeting people. We have met some truly remarkable people ... read more

My planes didn't crash on the way here! Yay! It was actually a relatively tolerable trip over, although I'm almost convinced to start up an airline company for tall people. I first flew Calgary to Toronto via Westjet, which seemed to have more legroom and was therefore the more comfortable flight. They also do that personal-TV-in-the-back-of-the-seat-in-front-of-you thing, and one of the channels shows a map of the plane's current location, speed, and altitude, which is vital information for a geography geek like me. The Toronto to Keflavik flight, after a 3 hour stopover where I became mildly lost because no one seemed to know where the correct gate I needed was, I flew with Icelandair. They lacked the cool personal TV and map combo, and had squishier seats, but served the absolute best airline meal I've ... read more

Iceland is now our favorite location on the face of this earth. Let me give you just a brief glimpse of this incredible country: 24 hours of sunlight, glaciers, waterfalls, volcanoes, calderas, mountains, rivers, fjords, geysers, icebergs, swimming pools, hot springs, light houses, gravel roads, single lane bridges, reindeer, sheep (yes Ray—Sheep), Icelandic horses, humpback whales, seals, puffins, etc… Lynne and I are presently sitting in a hostel in a small town in northwest Iceland. Grundarfjorour—situated in a fjord on the Snaefellsnes peninsula. We decided to stay here after meeting our new friend, Ilari, while we were in Reykjavik. Ilari is one of the two staff members at this hostel. While chatting with him in Reykavik, he invited us to come visit with him, so we took him up on it. The town is really a ... read more

Dear Friends, We have arrived safely in Iceland and are trying to get into the groove of traveling together as a family and adjusting to life in a new country. As you can imagine, our final preparations to leave for three months and the emotional pressures of such a big trip hit us hard--especially after only a few hours of sleep on the plane and the four-hour time change. Thankfully, our first stop was to visit the world-famous geothermal hot springs called the Blue Lagoon just as soon as we got off the plane. As you can see from the photo, it is the most surreal blue water at just the perfect temperture to soak the day away with caves, waterfalls, and silica 'mud' to treat your skin. The weather has been windy, rainy, and overcast ... read more