Blogs from Iceland, Europe - page 98

When you hear of Iceland, what is the first thing you think of these days? Volcanic eruptions. We have volcanic eruptions every 5 years on average. Well, should have said used to have them every 5 years, seems there are volcanic eruptions every year now. In 2010 an eruption started late night, but it only lasted a few days and everyone was excited to see it - that is Icelanders were. Many tourists cancelled their trips to Iceland because of that eruption. It quieted again soon and then we had the big bomb: the one with the impossible name woke up after 200 years of silence. AND, it sent ash and pumice into the air blocking all flight in Europe. Iceland airports were fine, didn't close at all. Soon after the eruption started I was asked ... read more

We have just completed a week in Iceland and wow, what a trip! Iceland surpassed all expectations that we had and we cannot recommend it enough for you to take a trip there. Flights were easy, just a two hour hop from Manchester, we collected our hire car at Reykjavik airport and we were off. We spent our first few days using the capital Reykjavik as our base and would wake up early each morning and set off for a day’s driving and exploring. We stayed in a lovely guesthouse called “House of Spirits” (Thankfully we didn’t get visited by any ghosts :) ) which was right next to the main shopping district, harbour, bars & restaurants etc. Many people think Iceland is crazily expensive and whilst it definitely can be, there are ways around this ... read more

Some dive are more impressive than others...some are actually even colder than your average dive! Today challenge, diving the Great Divide of Silfra in the Thingvellir National Park. I know, you are asking me but what the hell is he speaking about. Fifty kilometers from Reykjavik lay the Thingvellir National Park with a huge lake in the middle of it. This lake is actually fed by water filtring from glaciers way away from here. And in the middle of this wonderland is Silfra. This is the crack in between two seismic plates, being the European plate and the North American plate. In some places this crack has been filled through the centuries by water melting and filtering from surrounding glaciers. This means the water is at a constant 2 degrees celsius...but better, this water is so ... read more

Wow, I only spent a week in Iceland but it really has been the most special place I've visited on this trip. The landscape is so unique, changing rapidly and ALIVE. After our near-death experience on the hike, things calmed down and Melissa and I had the chance to relax in the Blue Lagoon - an innovative idea to use the warmed water filled with natural silica as outdoor baths (plus they make very nice beauty products). Then we had dinner out where I tried Minke whale - a strangely beef-like meat. The next day, I had the chance to see my first real Minke whale in the bay. It was more whalespotting than watching, but it was a calm, gorgeous day on the boat and the dolphins and Minkes just rolled up and over in ... read more

After some action packed days, driving on the wrong side of the road scaring the locals, we figured it was time to chill out and hang around town in one of the many natural the hot pools. The weather started to get alot cooler so it was nice to have done all the outdoorsy hiking etc during the 1st few days, so we didn't freeze to death. We ended up in a last min decision going to an orchestra at the Harpa concert hall (the big square glass building). Being all civilised watching pieces of Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. The concert hall was amazing, apparently one of the top 7 in the world of acoustics. Icelanders are very arty and love their concerts etc. So even though Iceland had an economic meltdown, they still found enough money ... read more