6.26.2011

Reykjavik and The Golden Circle (Part 2)

A few random facts (well, facts according to me) about Iceland:

1) People are so trusting. Everything is on the honor system over there. Camping sights were to be paid for the night after your stay, and no, there wasn't a box with a slot in it to put your money in, but instead there were often hand-drawn maps to the camp site owner's house where you were to pay them for your night's stay. Oh, and there are unlocked bikes all over Reykjavik, which is where 2/3 of the population live.


(our very first camping sight in Iceland-this picture was taken around midnight. no flash required.)

2) Gas is pumped, then you go pay inside. Could you imagine how disastrous this would/could be in the states?! (Dustin tries to convince me that this exists in the states, however, I won't believe it until it is proven.)

3) There is a road around Iceland that is called the ring road. The ring road basically circles the entire island, some of it is paved, and some of it is pure dirt and rocks, but the ring road makes Iceland quite tourist friendly. You can literally drive around the island (and we did!).

4) Icelandic people are really nice, and they have some rad style (I saw a guy in 90s grunge head-to-toe?). A lot of them were very blond and fair, which I kinda didn't expect for some reason.

5) Movie theaters have bins of candy that you can scoop up, put in a bag, weigh and pay for. The yummiest gummys I have EVER tried. There is also an intermission half way through the movie, just in case you need to refill your candy bag (and we did).


6) Icelandic horses outnumber the amount of people in Iceland in some areas.

7) Icelandic horses really do have personalities, and they are seriously so friendly and fun. They are such amazing animals.

8) The Icelandic horse has roots back to the vikings! No horses are allowed into the country by law. The horses there are born and bread there, and if they leave the country they can never come back. Talk about pure bread..



9) Icelandic sheep are EVERYWHERE, and you sometimes have to dodge them when you are driving around. They also are pretty cool looking animals. And lets be honest, the baby lambs frolicking in the fields kinda melted my heart.


10) Camping there was really cold, but fun, because it never got dark and in Iceland, they don't have very many animals that could eat you. No bears, cougars, lions, or snakes, just sheep and horses and cows and arctic foxes really. I love that! Because normally when camping, I can't sleep for fear of bears.

11) The weather seems to change about every five minutes.

12) Waterfalls everywhere you turn.

13) Different landscape every few miles.

14) Bounciest softest thickest moss ever, so amazing.


15) There seem to be quaint little churches at every town you drive through. These are left open and unregulated for tourists to explore inside (see fact no. 1).


16) More European tourists than American, by far.

17) Everyone seems to speak perfect English.

18) We literally survived off of nutella, baguettes, chocolate covered cookies and chocolate covered licorice. My kind of vacation.

19) Slept with three layers on to keep warm inside the tent. So much wind!



20) Hiking! Lots and lots of beautiful hikes with no real trails and no signs and no rails at the sheer cliffs that I had to reprimand Dustin from going too close to. Seriously, his life flashed before MY eyes. I don't know how that is possible.

Day two:
We spent more time around Reykjavik, and boned up on Viking history at The National Museum of Iceland.
(This is taken at the president's house (as in president of Iceland). But we are pretty sure they don't live there right now. Seriously, no security at all. It was in the neighborhood of the house we stayed in the first two nights.)

(Harpa concert hall from a distance. How rad is that building?)

(National Museum of Iceland)

(also at the museum)

Day three:
















(Gullfoss was one of the many places I claimed to be "colder than I have ever been"--and I meant it.)



There is so much to do in Iceland, and we packed our days pretty full just driving all day, stopping at the sights we wanted to see every few miles, and when we got tired we either found a hostel, or unpacked our tent and slept on one of the many campgrounds.

Iceland is an incredible place, and like I said, we did a lot, which means I have a ton more pictures to share. Stay tuned.

15 comments:

  1. oh my gosh! absolutely breathtaking!

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  2. This is incredible! I'm loving your photos!

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  3. Yep, this is further proof that i need to get there soon!

    I'm laughing about the bears and camping. I'm the SAME way. We went this past weekend, and I swear every rustle in the woods was a bear waiting to attack.

    How was the exchange rate? Good or bad for Americans?

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  4. So glad you posted more. I love them so much, and i was feeling jipped with only one iceland blog post.

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  5. I'm so glad you got some pictures with those little horses. I want one!

    Those last pictures look kinda like Yellowstone (but much cooler).

    Beautiful pictures.

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  6. What a great time! You are so cute! Awesome pictures! LOVE the pink hunters!

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  7. I'm so jealous that you went to Iceland! Looks amazing!

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  8. my goodness, it looks so pretty there. loved this recap.

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  9. Okay. It's settled. I need to go here for my honeymoon... Here or Harry Potter World. Hopefully "someone" will send that picture of you in the moss to Hunter and they will recognize that you should model for them.. and be their spokesperson... and have free boots in every color.

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  10. ok see, i think i've lived in europe for too long because i can't remember any other way to get gas. is it really pay before you fill up in america? i guess so, huh....makes sense....

    and yeah, the movie theaters over here are like candy stories! it's crazy!

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  11. This is Dustins cousin Ashley we've only met once, but I stumble upon your blog from time to time. Love love love these photos! Iceland is definitely on my 'go to' list.

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  12. What time of year was this at? I'm going at June, hope it's not too cold. And do you recommend taking wellies or should I just stick to hiking boots? Wellies take up so much space in my suitcase!

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    1. You know, we went in June as well, but we heard that it was exceptionally cold for that time of year. So we froze, but it was worth it.

      I'd probably take hiking boots over Wellies if you're choosing. Wellies get cold if it's freezing because they're just rubber. So take a great pair of warm hiking boots. I took my hunter boots with thick inserts and just leather riding boots and did fine between the two of them. Hope that helps!

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