The word 'geyser' came from Iceland - that, in fact, is the name of the Iceland's biggest geyser - Geysir.

There is a hot springs valley with pools of simmering or actively boiling water.


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The weather in Iceland is quite crazy. You can experience all 4 seasons in one day. Sun, rain, snow, fog, winds... you name it. You can experience 2 seasons withing FIVE MINUTES. Look at these photos. I actually bothered to give you the exact time each photo was taken to illustrate the frequency and abruptness of the changes.

9:38 am (photo ( Read more... )

No Last Name For You in Iceland


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If they had to eat rotten sharks, then it must mean there isn't much of a fauna in Iceland. And it's true.

One of the truly Icelandic animals is the Icelandic horse. There was no interbreeding from any horses from anywhere around the world for a 1000 years since they were brought there. So they are direct descenders of vikings' horses.

Looking ( Read more... )

So what's so hot in Iceland? Well, other than the volcanoes that erupt and disrupt the whole western hemisphere's airline business, it's the hot water. The hot springs.

Iceland has an amazing quantity of geysers and hot springs. So much of it, in fact, that they use it to produce electricity, warm up their houses (it's really, really warm ( Read more... )

About 70% of Iceland's population (which, incidentally, totals 318,000 people) live in the capital, Reykjavik. I am not sure what we expected going to the infamous land of volcanoes, but we were surprised to find the view quite similar to those of Switzerland postcards: colourful houses with snow-capped mountains as the backdrop.


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People and sheep and Icelandic horse aren't the only inhabitants in Iceland. It's densely populated by elves, dwarfs, and trolls. Tolkien spent a lot of time in Iceland when writing his Lord of the Rings. And his elves - as tall as people - are the Icelandic elves.

We sure did feel like hobbits often enough hiking in the foggy mountain paths.

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я пока не знаю почему у меня теперь два блога
но пока что будет два
и писать я буду... пока что не знаю по какому принципу, то тут то там...
пока что буду выкладывать ссылки на англоблог
потом, наверное, перестану и проведу меж ними водораздел...
а пока:

Unicycle or Weird Spring Sightings


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