2 posts tagged “reykjavik”
Everyone is asking me for Icelandic highlights. Here are my top 10 impressions - in no particular order (&/or importance): 1) Loved the breakfasts - I alternated between gravlax and skyr; 2) People really do wear Icelandic sweaters; 3) Danish and english is taught in grade school so I wasn't forced to learn any Icelandic, but did have to learn how to pronounce the Icelandic alphabet to navigate and understand directions (Þingvellir: don't say "Ping"villir; it's Thingvellir); 4) Standing at the foot of a glacier is awe-inspiring and taught me that the solid ice is clear of particles, so I really need to read up on glaciology - how DO those glacial river deltas form?; 5) Iceland loves their horses - they frolic free in fields and meadows all over southwestern Iceland where I travelled; 6) Iceland has alot in common with the Big Island of Hawaii but has many more waterfalls (and, of course, glaciers); 7) Whale steaks are available on the menus in Reykjavik; 8) I need to go back and spend time on the spectacular black sand beach in Vik; 9) 12 Tonar was my favorite shopping stop in Reykjavik & had a great selection of Icelandic music - I bought Bjork's Gling-Glo and Johann Johannsson's Englaborn; 10) On Reykjavik menus, Bacalao is really saltfish - but it is delicious, especially at Tvier Fiskar!
The magazine we most appreciated when in Iceland was the IR (Iceland Review). It did a relatively balanced reporting job introducing politics surrounding aluminum smelter construction, the closing of the US Naval base, and whale hunting.
I am very much looking forward to the next chance I get to visit Iceland. I'd love to take two weeks to drive the Circle Tour, trek across the highlands & take boat trips into the fjords off the Snæfellnes peninsula. It is a remarkable place where you can see geology in action.
Finally! mndoci and Steve Betz pointed me to Vox - and so I'm a blogger at last. I've been meaning to start a blog for friends and family using WordPress technologies for over a year now - but time never allowed. I think Vox is going to work fine for me even though my home computer is a Mac iBook running Safari.
