OMG! House Hunters International are in Iceland tonight! Watching it is making me miss Iceland SO badly.
Part of me wishes Brian was part Icelandic, as it would be a bit easier to move there :) Of course, IF we had unlimited resources, we'd study the Icelandic language 24/7 (right now I am studying Icelandic and Hindi, which is not easy going with a 10 month old and house chores to do), and we'd pack up and establish residency in this amazing country.
Since I've always been into geology and volcanology, I've always been fascinated with Iceland. I mean, this place is a geophysical playground - consistently erupting volcanos, virtually non existent energy bills due to GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, hot springs, GORGEOUS landscapes... Of course, I could not really begin to appreciate any of this until my husband and I ventured there ourselves.
It was PERFECT. My husband is a Texan, and until he met me, he would probably be content to live and die a Texan (his words, not mine). He fell in love with me, and I pulled him over 1,000 miles away to Pennsylvania (not to mention a variety of road trips all over the states, Mexico, and most recently, ICELAND). Since I wanted to go to a beautiful place I've never been to but have ALWAYS wanted to travel to, Brian took me to Iceland, and he fell in love with it the moment we set foot in Reykjavik.
Actually, my first moment in Iceland really occurred like a movie scene. When we landed in Keflavik, we could not see a thing. It was dark, and when I say dark, I mean DARK. It was during their "normal" end of summer days, but we arrived after midnight, and started driving to our hotel in Reykjavik at 0100. Aside from road signs and other cars, we couldn't see anything. We arrive at our downtown hotel and find a place to park (a few blocks away. Parking isn't hard to come by in the city, but you need to know where to look), and we're exhausted, so we check in get into our room and go to sleep. In the morning, Brian went out to the car to get some things we left from the previous night and he comes back and tells me "You HAVE to go outside." From our window, we see people's backyards and houses, so it wasn't a very scenic view, though it was kind of neat. We get ready for our day and exit the hotel and I saw what he meant! The landscape is indescribable. The sky itself is gorgeous. It's gray and moody - the land is jagged and pronounced - the water is absolutely blue - and it smells faintly like sulfur throughout the country (seriously - but after a while, you don't notice it anyway).
We drove all over in Iceland. The only thing I regret, is not being able to travel to Grimsey Island. We drove to Dalvik, but did not make the boat to the Island. Oh well, next time.
BTW, even though their economy has crashed, you can still expect to spend a pretty penny up there.
Here are just a FEW of the many great pictures of our experiences there
Part of me wishes Brian was part Icelandic, as it would be a bit easier to move there :) Of course, IF we had unlimited resources, we'd study the Icelandic language 24/7 (right now I am studying Icelandic and Hindi, which is not easy going with a 10 month old and house chores to do), and we'd pack up and establish residency in this amazing country.
Since I've always been into geology and volcanology, I've always been fascinated with Iceland. I mean, this place is a geophysical playground - consistently erupting volcanos, virtually non existent energy bills due to GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, hot springs, GORGEOUS landscapes... Of course, I could not really begin to appreciate any of this until my husband and I ventured there ourselves.
It was PERFECT. My husband is a Texan, and until he met me, he would probably be content to live and die a Texan (his words, not mine). He fell in love with me, and I pulled him over 1,000 miles away to Pennsylvania (not to mention a variety of road trips all over the states, Mexico, and most recently, ICELAND). Since I wanted to go to a beautiful place I've never been to but have ALWAYS wanted to travel to, Brian took me to Iceland, and he fell in love with it the moment we set foot in Reykjavik.
Actually, my first moment in Iceland really occurred like a movie scene. When we landed in Keflavik, we could not see a thing. It was dark, and when I say dark, I mean DARK. It was during their "normal" end of summer days, but we arrived after midnight, and started driving to our hotel in Reykjavik at 0100. Aside from road signs and other cars, we couldn't see anything. We arrive at our downtown hotel and find a place to park (a few blocks away. Parking isn't hard to come by in the city, but you need to know where to look), and we're exhausted, so we check in get into our room and go to sleep. In the morning, Brian went out to the car to get some things we left from the previous night and he comes back and tells me "You HAVE to go outside." From our window, we see people's backyards and houses, so it wasn't a very scenic view, though it was kind of neat. We get ready for our day and exit the hotel and I saw what he meant! The landscape is indescribable. The sky itself is gorgeous. It's gray and moody - the land is jagged and pronounced - the water is absolutely blue - and it smells faintly like sulfur throughout the country (seriously - but after a while, you don't notice it anyway).
We drove all over in Iceland. The only thing I regret, is not being able to travel to Grimsey Island. We drove to Dalvik, but did not make the boat to the Island. Oh well, next time.
BTW, even though their economy has crashed, you can still expect to spend a pretty penny up there.
Here are just a FEW of the many great pictures of our experiences there
This is the famous Viking Sculpture, which was very close to our first hotel (Hotel Plaza)
Walking in Downtown Reykjavik. There are loads of things to do in town, lots of shops...and COFFEE!
Our purpose in visiting this Scandinavian gem was to get our Norden Voyager cards! These gave us discounts at places all over Iceland...(tip for travelers to Norwegian countries)
A yummy food stand conveniently located outside our hotel. It's about 10:00pm in this shot...
A shot of me getting into the drivers seat (I was the official chofer of the journey). Yes, they drive on the "right" side of the road in Iceland - just as in America.
That LOVELY view from the hotel window I was telling you about :)
Some of that awesome landscape...
A little "out of this world"
Reykjavik was awesome, but I REALLY loved Akuryeri
More Akuryeri...
The Blue Lagoon, a tourist must see...
More Blue Lagoon (It's a Spa, and it's awesome)
All in all, Iceland is a very interesting country. The cities are obviously where most of the people reside. It took us 6 hours to drive from Reykjavik to Akuryeri, and the drive was a very, very long one (but in a good way). It's very sparse. You'd better enjoy the landscape, because there is a whole lot of nothing, a gas station here and there, a farm here and there, and random people where you wonder where the heck they've come from. heehee. It's obviously that Reykjavik is the hub of the country, but there is such much to discover, and Brian and I have only experienced a sliver.
Whenever we see something about Iceland on TV, we tune in to watch. When it comes up in conversation, our ears are piqued...Can't wait to go back!
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