Welcome to the land of the ice and snow, with the midnight sun and the hot springs blow... Iceland is the old home to the vikings and, despite its long history, is an amazingly cool place. The Icelanders, although outnumbered by sheep in their homeland, are a chill and unique group of people, who can all date their family histories back to the original viking settlers. There are a number of interesting adventures to embark on in Iceland (although their tourism page displays a day trip to Greenland as the #3 top attraction) so let's explore the stunning country of elves and glaciers... |
My party first landed in Reykjavik and rented a car from the airport, which is modern and well organized (except for the one time when 5 flights all heading to the states were leaving the same terminal within the same 20 minute period, which was a grand mess). As we drove into the new country, a large sign greeted us, reading, "EU? No thanks!" After passing through the outskirts of Reykjavik and into the country side, we set up a long road into the distance towards the small town of Vìk, with a population of about 300. The road is bordered with large mossy stones that do in deed look like trolls, and you can see how the half the population would still believe in fairies and elves. When we arrived in Vìk, we checked into our hotel which smelled oddly of mashed potatoes and went to eat overpriced dinner in one of about 5 restaurants in Vìk. Following dinner, we went out to the Basalt Caves of Reynisfjara Beach. |
The beach was covered in black sand and stones, bordered on one side with sheer cliffs of basalt that curved to form caves and on the other, the fierce-some sea. The walls of the caves ran with water and were constructed like geometric columns. Puffins sat atop a grassy hill above the cliffs, and would dive down to the water to float in the breaking waves. |
The next day we went to Dyrhólaey, a point up a hill from Vìk, that was home to hundreds of puffins. The stretches of black beach, the raging ocean, and hundreds of puffins was an environment like all others in Iceland, completely different than you have ever experienced before.
We continued North and saw why Iceland is commonly chosen as the location to film movies. The dramatic landscape needs no digital editing, and is as beautiful to the naked eye as it is on the screen.
Dozens of huge Hollywood films have been filmed on Icelandic glaciers and landscapes, including: Batman Begins, Interstellar, Die Another Day, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Oblivion, Prometheus, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Thor: The Dark World. Just this list is proof of the greatness of Icelandic landscapes...
For more Iceland, continue to The Icelandic West Coast.