My Iceland holiday
Now I've also sorted and edited the Iceland photos. I ended up dividing them into three sections; nature, culture and 'flora & fauna' as that made more sense than a completely chronological sequence.
Nature
Flora & Fauna
Culture
We brought the car on the ferry, which lands at Seydisfjördur on the East coast. From there, we drove around Iceland clock-wise; south, then west, then north, and back to Seydisfjördur in the east. It's a 1400-1500 km trip in total, and I would say it's an 'okay' distance, but a few days more, up to a week, would have been better.
Iceland is geologically very interesting, as it is a volcanic island, situated at the junction of several tectonic plates. This means that there have been - and still are - a great deal of geological activity, and Iceland is a great place to see what a 'young' country (geologically speaking) is like. My home country, Denmark, is all lime-stone underground with a flat, gently rolling landscape, so it is quite different to experience the volcanic landscape of Iceland. It is either mountainous - or the completely flat marshes of the southern coast.
The, by far, most dominant type of wildlife in Iceland is birds. There are very few species of mammals, as the island is so isolated, and most have come after human habitation started in the late 9th century. The insect life is also quite limited, mostly because of the cold - there were no mosquitoes, and only in one place enough flies to annoy. We saw a lot of interesting birds, and especially the wader birds were a kind of revelation to me - there used to be lots of them in Denmark, but since the middle of the 20th century, farming has eradicated many of the areas those birds thrive in, so they have become much less common. I got some 'okay' photos of birds - but I really need a tele lens if I want to get 'good' photos :)
Iceland is also interesting culture-wise - at least if you're a saga-reading Dane, with an interest in ancient Scandinavian history and culture like I am. Iceland belonged to the Kingdom of Denmark for about 550 years, so that creates a sort of bond, too. The Icelanders do see it a bit differently though - and I don't blame them. It was especially great to see the old saga manuscripts, the ruins of an ancient long-house at Stöng in Thjórsárdalur, and Reykholt, where the renowned scholar and politician Snorri Sturlason lived and worked.
The weather was nice - for Iceland, that is - with hardly any rain, sunshine or lightly overcast, and temperatures between 8-15 C. I'm sure it sounds cold for some of you hot-house flowers out there ;) But personally I'd rather have a little too cold, than too warm when sightseeing like this. Culinary-wise, Iceland is not hugely interesting, though there are several local types of food that are interesting to taste - but it's generally easier to find pizza 'n pasta places than really good food.
I can really recommend Iceland as a tourist destination - especially right now, where the currency rate is so favourable fro tourists. Iceland has been known for being so expensive, but tight now, it's noticeable cheaper than Denmark, another expensive country. Another great thing is that Iceland is so big - there's lots of room, it never felt crowded, neither by tourists, nor locals. People are friendly, most speak English, and it's all in all very easy to be a tourist.
(cross-posted at my Multiply journal)
Nature
Flora & Fauna
Culture
We brought the car on the ferry, which lands at Seydisfjördur on the East coast. From there, we drove around Iceland clock-wise; south, then west, then north, and back to Seydisfjördur in the east. It's a 1400-1500 km trip in total, and I would say it's an 'okay' distance, but a few days more, up to a week, would have been better.
Iceland is geologically very interesting, as it is a volcanic island, situated at the junction of several tectonic plates. This means that there have been - and still are - a great deal of geological activity, and Iceland is a great place to see what a 'young' country (geologically speaking) is like. My home country, Denmark, is all lime-stone underground with a flat, gently rolling landscape, so it is quite different to experience the volcanic landscape of Iceland. It is either mountainous - or the completely flat marshes of the southern coast.
The, by far, most dominant type of wildlife in Iceland is birds. There are very few species of mammals, as the island is so isolated, and most have come after human habitation started in the late 9th century. The insect life is also quite limited, mostly because of the cold - there were no mosquitoes, and only in one place enough flies to annoy. We saw a lot of interesting birds, and especially the wader birds were a kind of revelation to me - there used to be lots of them in Denmark, but since the middle of the 20th century, farming has eradicated many of the areas those birds thrive in, so they have become much less common. I got some 'okay' photos of birds - but I really need a tele lens if I want to get 'good' photos :)
Iceland is also interesting culture-wise - at least if you're a saga-reading Dane, with an interest in ancient Scandinavian history and culture like I am. Iceland belonged to the Kingdom of Denmark for about 550 years, so that creates a sort of bond, too. The Icelanders do see it a bit differently though - and I don't blame them. It was especially great to see the old saga manuscripts, the ruins of an ancient long-house at Stöng in Thjórsárdalur, and Reykholt, where the renowned scholar and politician Snorri Sturlason lived and worked.
The weather was nice - for Iceland, that is - with hardly any rain, sunshine or lightly overcast, and temperatures between 8-15 C. I'm sure it sounds cold for some of you hot-house flowers out there ;) But personally I'd rather have a little too cold, than too warm when sightseeing like this. Culinary-wise, Iceland is not hugely interesting, though there are several local types of food that are interesting to taste - but it's generally easier to find pizza 'n pasta places than really good food.
I can really recommend Iceland as a tourist destination - especially right now, where the currency rate is so favourable fro tourists. Iceland has been known for being so expensive, but tight now, it's noticeable cheaper than Denmark, another expensive country. Another great thing is that Iceland is so big - there's lots of room, it never felt crowded, neither by tourists, nor locals. People are friendly, most speak English, and it's all in all very easy to be a tourist.
(cross-posted at my Multiply journal)